THE JOHANNESBURG DIARIES - QUESTIONS - #BLOGCHATTERA2Z2023

 Have we ever thought of how many questions we ask during our lives, how many times we affix squiggly question marks in our writing? How the inflection of our voice changes when we ask a question, rising to indicate a sense of enquiry?

For example – when we see a grumpy person who is constantly snapping at others, the automatic reaction would be, “Hey, did you get out of the wrong side of your bed?”

                                                                  Grumpy - Clip Art

From childhood we have been encouraged to ask, to enquire and to engage, whether at home, at school and later, at our workplaces and social gatherings. Of course, it is better to be a bit circumspect at the latter. One gentleman was struggling to make small talk to an attractive lady. After a few harmless questions, he became bold enough to ask, “So, are you married?” She answered that she was not. Further emboldened, he went one notch forward to as, “How many children do you have?”

In the past, this would have been considered scandalous. Today, norms have changed. No longer are eyebrows raised if children are born out of wedlock, an expression now considered Victorian.

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, in Johannesburg, the mode of greeting is simple. People are polite and invariably cheerful, be it a salesperson, a car mechanic or a waiter. The ice breaker goes, “How are you?” and is answered with, “Good, and yourself?” A question countered with another question!

When we go out somewhere, the kids start their favourite guessing games. “Which is your favourite colour?” translated to looking out for cars with the same colour, and we end up pointing and shouting for all we are worth, till we are asked to “Calm down!” by the more mature folks in the car. 😊

The next question that comes up when peace has descended is, “Where do we go for lunch?” The question gets thrown around like a volleyball, choices are bandied about, more questions juggled till finally the perfect choice is arrived at.

What really warms the cockles of my heart is to see how well V and P answer the little ones’ questions. Even when they are busy, they stop what they are doing to give concise and clear answers. As a result, when we are out for a twilight walk, both Z and S point at the sky and ask, “Mooma, can you see Orion’s belt?”

                                                                              iStock

Alternatively, they jump atop the couch in the living room, screaming, “Mama, can you see the lava?” Volcanoes, obviously, have been discussed in the course of conversation. S, in particular, prefers to ask ‘Why?’ questions… “Why is the sky blue? Why does Bronn have such long sharp teeth? Why do I need to brush my teeth and sleep early?” The last one is thrown in as a diversionary technique so that he need not sleep in his own room.

 Music, of course, is a perennial favourite. This time, I am the one who asks the questions. “Which song is this?” and both Z and S are vociferous, hastening to identify their pet songs, singing along in perfect rhythm, interspersed with a familiar refrain, “Can I have a snack?”

We love going to pick Z and S from school. Often when we get there, S is lying down as they have a sleep hour just before they leave. Not surprisingly, considering the amount of energy he expends in asking questions, I suppose. Z has an extra period of Art, Dance or Drama on certain days. The drive back home is amusing. P asks them, one by one, “So, what did you do today?” There are days when S answers, “I don’t remember.” However, two days ago, when he was asked the same, his reply was, “I have a routine!” Then he went on to expound on his routine which took the better half of ten minutes. Z, not to be outdone, took over and for the next ten minutes, told us every detail of how her day had gone. 😊

How wonderful is it to encourage children to ask questions? Isn’t that how they evolve, after all? Teachers, especially, are the greatest catalysts in the lives of their little learners. All questions are relevant, especially if they add even an iota of knowledge to the child’s cache of information in any manner. As someone put it, “‘Why’ or ‘How’ are words so important that they cannot be used too often.”

This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z2023.

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