“Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice

Human beings are inquisitive by nature.  It's part of who we are.  It is part of our learning process.  And it is a good trait.  A person who is not curious, usually ends up dull and lacking information.  People who are not interested in things do not learn either.  People who do not learn (or keep learning) quickly dry out.  People whom others consider to be 'dry' quickly get avoided.  People who are being shunned by others, end up being lonely and miserable.  So, in order to be part of the happening world, a certain sense of curiosity is necessary.  However, too much is not appreciated either.

I come from Kerala where people seem to be blessed with an over-abundance of curiosity.  If one steps out of one's house to go anywhere, you will have all your acquaintances on the road asking you, "Where are you going?  What's the matter?  Is there any occasion?"  It is unavoidable.  Even if one tries to evade the question by saying, "I am just going to town", it begs the next question, "To buy something?"  And it goes on and on.  People are relentless in their queries.  I remember, when I joined a local school in Kerala after my family returned from Germany, my classmates needed to know everything, "Do you have a TV?  How many refrigerators do you have?  Do you own a computer?" and so on and so forth.  An endless assault of queries.  But one learns to live with it.  The trick is not to succumb to the trend.

The picture makes it quite evident that curiosity is not a human trait alone.  In fact, animals show an equal if not larger tendency to be curious.  I have heard that one catches monkeys by laying a simple trap.  I am not going into the details of the trap, but apparently the curiosity of the monkey is aroused so much that it cannot help but overcome its instinct to run and allow itself to get trapped only to satiate its hunger to know.  So, it is something that nature itself has provided...maybe it is part of how one survives in the world...maybe it is part of how one evolves...but it is part of existence.

Jennifer is no exception to the rule.  Her curiosity seems to be limitless.  And mind you: she is not fully mobile yet!  If I might quote a general example: while carrying her around, she might suddenly swoop around and turn a weird angle just to check out a sound!  Sometimes, when the three of us go for walks together and my wife falls a step or two behind, Jennifer just jumps across my chest to look behind me if her mom is still with us!  The girl doesn't know how to just turn her head, it seems.  She has to lunge forward in order to see what she wants to see...which sometimes makes holding her a tricky matter...unless one holds her steady and strongly, who knows what would happen during her next 'jump for knowledge'!

And this is just one aspect...there is so much more.  When she crawls around, everything is new and everything needs to be studied and explored.  The feel, the shape, the texture, the taste...everything has to be examined...and I am not necessarily including food in the list of study objects!!!  Even if she is crying her heart out, one just needs to give her something that she hasn't held before (like a plastic cup, or a remote control) and curiosity does the rest!  Is it any wonder why kids learn so much when they grow up?  Do they take anything for granted?  Don't they really learn about things by using their senses?  I cannot even begin to fathom how long it would take me now to learn the equivalent of what Jennifer is learning during her first year.  The way education has spoiled us grown-ups, I doubt we would learn things as effectively as infants do...