Monday, February 16, 2009

Curious thoughts or thoughtful curiosity?


As a kid, I was always very curious about new things, which is very normal for children. And as all normal people grow up, or at least they think they do, I grew up too. (Lets not consider Peter Pan- I still want to meet him!). I thought my curiosity for things will decrease,but that is not happening for the next 100 years! I think about curiosity and always visualise the dog from Dr. Dolittle , he keeps on counting the white lines on the road or the trees passing by - untill his head starts to spin! Most of the time during my road trips (which greatly increase during my vacations in India), I find myself doing the same involuntarily! I mechanically keep a count of huts passing by or trees-one by one, or trucks on the highway. And when I get to sit in the front seat I move my head from left to right to read everything on the backside of the front vehicle. And then when suddenly some stronger stimulus (usually My Dad shouting- coz i paid no attnetion to what he had been trying to say for a fairly long time. How long - I cant say ) around me leads to a mixture of feelings/realisations in chronological order, eyes rotating- headspinning- awareness-looking around -coming back to reality-too boring- eyes rotating -headspinning- you lost me again! - again I start gazing outside hoping to find something new among the same huts, forests, trees or trucks on the highway!
A few days back, a new thought of reading "ALICE IN WONDERLAND" entered my mind. And as I read the book- I concluded that Alice actually had a more bizzare and haphazard way of thinking than I did! This conclusion was a result of two realisations - somebody with a more eccentric way of thinking exists atleast in the thoughts of Lewis Carrol and my thoughts do make some sense as compared to the thoughts of Alice (lets try to forget that she lives in Wonderland and I live in this incredible, mortal Humanland -on which wonderland is based hence making it a subset of my humanland!) There, I score Alice, atleast I dont cry to make a pond out of my own tears and I dont have to dry myself as instructed by the wise mouse who happens to be drowning in the same pond!
I have accomplished a number of feats thanks to this undying - ever increasing - regularly updated curiosity and a chain of thoughts which actually might be faster than the speed of sound ! (wait till I prove it and win The Nobel Prize in the near future) I remember walking faaaar ahead of my destination, lost in my own world of curiosity about what lies ahead. As a child I have tried to walk farther in the woods to see if there is any unexplored castle or some forgotten ruins waiting to be discovered by me. I even remember once spying on some squirrels in my backyard to find out which tree they live and who is whos who in the squirrel family. My curiosity has made me wake up early in the morning to find out which different species of birds chirp while I sleep - I remember getting ready and all set to leave for the village outskirts (some 5 minutes away from our Government Quarter) just to find the above mentioned birds and return home at about 9AM - famished after my adventure and smeared in dust :). I also remember accompanying my house-maid in the evening to the distant fields to hear the wolves howling .... those were the days!
Destiny plays a big role in keeping my curiosity alive . The "grown- up " version of me goes on roaming far and wide in order to explore this whole new city I now find myself in! I remember the first time I set foot on the city streets.... I used to roam around searching for short-cuts, new shops, new places to spend time (ironically, there was no time left to spend after all these excursions). .... And I am now so well versed with this city that I can take anyone out on a fully guided city tour on foot! And I can proudly put down here that we actually went on a trip to Moscow and saved a lot in one of the most expensive cities thanks to my curiosity. :)
..........So, thats about my curiosity so far (as far as I can put in human word format... if I decide to put down more.... it might just be some incomprehensible gibberish with neither head nor tail why, it might even lack the soul of thoughts)

4 comments:

  1. I can relate to the counting huts part. Curiosity is inherent in human nature and it is great that you have managed to hang on to something that usually fades away as the years go by. The piece is very well framed and 'curiously' witty.

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  2. @ Vasu: Thank you. Glad to find one more of my kind. :)

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  3. just one suggestion...the fog index of your posts is too high (atleast for me :P)

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  4. @ani-aset: your suggestions are always welcome.
    After all, thats one way to improve ceaselessly.
    I studied what fog index means and I realised that you are right.
    I will try to improve in that area.
    Thank you.

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