In the present era, imagine a man who follows blindly without any curiosity, always accepting what is being thrown at him and submitting to the orders and pretexts of others without questioning the motives and purposes behind them. He would be led by the nose, tied to others’ apron strings and remain under others’ heels or thumb.

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing,” said Albert Einstein. Curiosity is what drives man towards discovery, realization and contemplation. However, are there answers to all questions? Can the curiosity of man really be satisfied all the times?

From the day, a toddler takes a grip on the founding bricks of language and sentence structuring, questions start to sneak into his mind. “Is this me? Am I like this?” The first questions make him wonder about his own world and existence. Being repeatedly called and cajoled with a particular sound, the toddler becomes familiarized with it, without realizing the fact that this sound is actually the name attributed to him and consequently failing to recognize himself by his own name. Gradually, he would refer to himself by using his name and speak in a third person’s point of view. The name becomes a sort of code, which will fulfill his needs and wants upon mention.

As the toddler grows, he becomes prepared for the schooling process, starting with kindergarten. The initial name tag and the attendance register in the morning make it crystal clear to the kid; he is indeed that person he used to refer to all the time. The connection between that name and himself is sealed as he finds the answers to the first questions formulated in his own little toddler’s mind. He finally realizes his own identity through that name and knows the difference between other people and himself.

However, like a monkey jumping from one tree to the other, his mind jumps to other questions. “Are all the things around me for me? Are they really mine?” The questions about his surrounding and environment keep on popping in his mind. The parents’ teachings become a crucial part of their child’s life, and will eventually shape the child’s growth, character and personality.

There comes a time, normally after figuring out what belongs to him and what not, when the kid starts asking himself: “Where do I come from?”. The answer, obviously, cannot be revealed to a little 6 or 7 year old kid. The parents, however, never fail to be creative and imaginative while replying to this particular question! Under the bridge, on the roof of the house, Santa Claus, a big bird dropping them on their doorstep; the answers are endless.

The parents’ response to the toddler on these inquisitions further sows seeds of doubt in their own minds. “Are our principles good enough? Are we up-to-date? Should we be more tolerant or imposing?”

The questions cropping up in the parents’ mind are endless, shattering the peace out of their life as they start to lay a foundation for the mindset of the child. They know that they could end up hurting themselves, their own child or even others through the teachings they passed to them.

At this particular stage, I can still remember the way the adopted child in my class was initially treated by the other school children. It scarred him, being told that he was abandoned and had no real parents. It must have tainted part of his childhood with a colour of dread. If I were in his place, I could not imagine how life would have been at that time. Letting bygones be bygones, all the kids eventually grow up old enough to start thinking about themselves, yet remaining too young to actually choose their own lifestyle and take their own decision properly. Yes, it is all about adolescence.

“What is love, and where is it? Will this be the right choice for my career? Should I listen to my peers or my parents?” The raging hormones of the growing body of the teenager begin to take a toll on his mind. He starts to question about the way he is leading his life, about his priorities and ultimately about the future. As he approaches the peaks of puberty, the answers to the fleeting questions in his mind begin to unveil themselves through life lessons, if not his own then of the people surrounding him. He slowly begins to understand the way the world works and slowly but surely gains maturity or even experience. Again, with time, he gets the answers of the questions that he had earlier asked himself as he moves out of puberty.

Steeping into adulthood, he starts to face the reality of things, experiences the feeling and responsibility of being the breadwinner and gets caught in many issues. The questions that revolve round his head are not necessarily as self-centered as they were before. He begins to ponder about the different ways of parenting, to question the achievements he had so far made, to scrutinize his work and that of others and to reflect over many facets of life.

“What is success exactly? Is there really a God up there or are we simply alive because of life force and energy? How will my children lead their life after my death? What will happen after I die? Am I going to heaven after death or am I going to be reborn?”

A flood of question inundates the mind of an adult as he approaches the time to part from life. While some answers are eventually found with time and experience acquired, unfortunately some questions do undeniably remain unanswered. No human being has ever died and came back to answer our questions about death. No living man knows what really happens after death. Though there are people who had a Near-Death Experience, we can never be sure that whatever they witnessed was the truth about the path of death or simply a mere piece of their imagination about parting with life. It can thus be concluded that indeed, there will always be more questions than answers, though the imagination of mankind knows no limit.