Hi Parents and Parents to be!

One parenting tip – Don’t ever…ever and never kill the curiosity of your child. That’s it. Read on.

I had always been an average kid with high levels of curiosity. Most of my under-ten-year-old time was spent observing nature, questioning it and staying confused for days together. A frail, little boy with dark, skinny knees. That would be an adequate description of me, 12 years back. Post the school hours, I would often be spotted sitting in the garden, bending to take a closer look at the ants. I would supply them with crumbs of food waste or even finger nails and would see where they would take it. Magnifying glass was a possession which I truly treasured. Once I scraped glue-like substance oozing from our mango tree, took one dry mango leaf from the same and applied glue to one half. Focussing light on both halves one after another, I gloated over simple findings. Toy car motors were another fascination! Pieces of curved plastic acted as drill bits. The assembly of both created the perfect mini drill machine. During all this, my dog watched over…uninterested. He was sure that I was as dumb as he was. The only difference was in thrill levels. He had the upper hand on each occasion. I feel very proud when I slate down the following. He killed many birds, chameleons, rats and squirrels. Occasionally he entrapped mongooses too. Once he also pawed a cat. Luckily, he left all bodies for post mortem, as it is. He waited for his master to come and pat him for providing ‘fresh’ test objects. I specifically say fresh because they didn’t stink. Together we used to examine all the body parts. I used to start from the eyes, pull the cheeks to make out the teeth pattern. Next we poked and peeped into the ears and nose. The modifications of each test animal were juxtaposed against our own sense organs and body parts. In certain cases, they matched more with mine than his. Nails/claws and paws were the last activity on the list. Then I would happily dispose of the poor animal before my mom would get angry at me.

I would gather ice cubes from the refrigerator and place them on top of ants- those big, black ones. They would squeeze under the weight and after a minutes time, lock into a position. Even after lifting the ice cube, they would remain still. After another minute or so, they would be up and moving as if nothing happened. This experiment taught me 2 things- one, they were cold-blooded, two, they could manage 100 times their own weight on top of them. Many a time, my mom left me alone at home. I liked solitude too. We have this almirah at home with mirrors at all 3 sides and top. I would press my face against the mirror and stare deep into my eyes. Within 3-4 minutes I could see planets and the entire solar system. Geography was new as a subject in class 3 and the middle plastic page in the book binding was that of the planets. This was surely an after effect of over imagination.

Forest Research Institute was close by. We used to go there to play cricket, table tennis and badminton. On my way, I pocketed everything which caught my attention. It could be a simple pebble, a bird’s feather, flower buds…anything. We didn’t have google to kill the curiosity. I would ponder over the collected object for hours sometimes. Another fact, I didn’t have a mobile phone till 1^st year of college so obviously ‘hard’ copies were required. Now I click photos of the latter. My dad had brought home a nice pair of binoculars from the ship. In summer vacations, I liked bird watching. Our neighbouring doctor has huge 40 ft tall trees where queer birds come at early hours of the day. Now I watch birds without feathers. Use of binoculars would now seem too rude and make me conspicuous.

I spent most of my childhood in confusion and awe. I didn’t understand things easily, didn’t google much and most of my teachers thought me to be bemused most of the time. With age and passing classes, I started getting answers in Biology and Environment classes. I liked both my teachers. No one bothered to watch me over, no one called me inside, when I was in my garden outside. My brother was rarely interested. He was always smarter and thought these activities to be frivolous or ‘faltu’. I used to ask him questions at night, from my study and observations. Sometimes I got the answer, sometimes not. I always kept myself in the company of seniors; bug them with my impertinent questions. They would get bored or tired of my doubts and shoo me away too sometimes. But then on the other hand, I always had my dog, the patient assistant and accomplice. He didn’t disturb me while working/examining and maintained perfect silence. Probably he wished to see me grow smarter than him, and here I am. His wish does seem to have come true! Hahahaha.