Answer that!

“You know that children are growing up when they start asking questions that have answers.” –John Plomp

I swear it’s true. I’ve seen it during my babysitting days, when I watched over my niece, Aparna.

When she was six, she was closer to an automated machine gun than an ordinary human: questions would shoot out of her mouth in all directions, and before you can answer the first bullet, you see a volley of ‘em raining on you and you have no choice but to retreat.

“Tom died in the last cartoon, how come he’s alive now?”

“Why can’t I touch Jerry on the screen?”

“What are those black and white dots?”

“Why are they dancing like that?”

“Why’s the sofa softer than my bed?”

“Can’t God change that?”

“Why is Arvind younger than me?”

“Why can’t I grow backwards?”

“Can YOU grow backwards?”

“Can Mumma grow backwards?”

“Can plants grow backwards?”

Enough said.

Honestly, I love inquisitive kids: they’re a sign that creativity and imagination still thrive in this crazily sane world. When you’re faced with a downpour like that, however, you’d sooner shoot yourself than face them all.

But what’s worse is that sooner or later they’ll stop asking questions like that. As she grew older, Aparna’s questions were more knowledgeable; true, but they lacked any depth, wonder or curiosity. It was just another thing to be known, not absorbed or admired.

“What’s the capital of Cuba?”

“Why do we water plants early in the morning?”

“What’s f***?” (Goodness, she scared the hell out of me with that! And I don’t even remember my answer!)

Soon enough, she stopped asking questions altogether, as she preferred to Google them up.

“Yeah, I read that on Uselessfacts.com”

“Oh yeah, there was this blog on that…”

Well, at least she has questions, I tell myself. But I miss the “Why’s the sky blue?” and “Where is God?” that every little child utters at some point or the other. I wonder what he/she thinks when they get their answers…