My story of asking questions

The purpose of education is not to enable students to ‘answer’ questions. But to inspire and encourage students to ‘ask’ questions.

Unfortunately, the education we receive in schools and colleges is only preparing pupils to answer questions. Even the kind of home and social atmosphere a child gets discourages questioning.

I learned to ask questions when I had doubts about Gods and Goddesses as a kid. For instance, why is Lord Shiva always blue in color? How can a woman (Goddess Durga) have multiple hands? And similar queries.

One incident was particularly strange. The Vishnu Puran was being aired on the only free channel, Doordarshan. In one story about the Varaha Avatar of God Vishnu. A demon named Hiranyaksha stole the Earth and drowned it in the depths of the ocean! And the Varaha Avatar fought the demon and lifted the Earth out of the ocean.

I was confused. Oceans are on earth. So how can someone drown the Earth in an ocean? It was like someone burying a football stadium in a football field. How could this be possible? What happened to those living on earth when the earth was submerged in salt water?

I queried my father, and he clarified this doubt. He said that these stories are mythical. They are stories, born out of people’s belief systems. In this way, he enabled me to put things in perspective. This encouraged me to keep asking questions to anyone who would entertain them. This curiosity led me to buy an Atlas. I was fascinated by what I saw in that Atlas – the world was huge. It also had a section about planets and the solar system. This was the starting point of my love for astronomy and physics.

I was encouraged to ask questions from a young age, and because of that, I was able to discern that as human beings, we have a need to believe in something. But that something, real or otherwise, can always be put into question. I also figured out, not everyone around me was happy with my questions.

Most of my questions in the realm of mythology and religious beliefs remained unanswered. But I was always able to find satisfactory answers to questions arising from my quest for science, astronomy, and physics.

I wonder how my life would have turned out if my father had discouraged me from questioning. And justified popular stories with some version of supernatural or godly beliefs. I don’t know how my life or my relationship with physics and astronomy would have turned out. But I am sure about one thing – I am very grateful to have someone in my life who inspired me to keep asking questions.

#BeCurious #AskQuestions #LearningNeverEnds