Intrinsically inquisitive

While some folks are the irredeemable nosy-parkers; some are just wee whit nosy.

We humans are intrinsically inquisitive - ever curious to know the things happening in others’ life. Maybe the degree of our nosiness varies from person to person. While some folks are the irredeemable nosy-parkers; some are just wee whit nosy, nearly to an innocuous extent.

As an instance, consider this quintessentially inquisitive query that many female-folks often fling at you. “Enu adige nimma maneyalli eevathu?” (What’s the cooking for today at your place?) You wonder what’s cooking in their mind, and why the heck are they curious to know what food you’d be cramming down for your lunch/dinner, etc. Maybe some sort of vicarious gustatory pleasure?!

And then, on suddenly meeting someone you know at some place, try striking the conversation with your rhetoric question “En samachara?” (What’s news?) Pat comes the counter question shot at you squarely. “Ella neevu hella beku” (You should tell about everything!) Well, when we’d like to keep our personal matters all wrapped, we’d love to winkle out snippets of info from others’ life!

In fact, you can see a classic case of inquisitiveness manifesting itself in mega social events such as shaadis, munjans, etc, wherein the women-folks are gifted with saris by the host.

You behold these females, who instead of appreciating their gift saris, would be busy subtly throwing glimpses at the saris received by other women. And quite naturally, they’d be simmering inwardly feeling that others’ saris have better hues/designs/prints, than their saris.

And, when you step into the Foodworld, just watch the people standing in the queues at the cash counter. You find some of them flitting in and out of the queue, making an impetuous dash to the shop shelves, getting some item or the other. How they remember those last minute purchases is a different story. Obviously, instead of concentrating on the things they require, they’d be inquisitively scrutinizing the things bought by others, and piled on their trolleys! 
   
Speaking of inquisitiveness, in Mumbai I had an acquaintance, a veritable sticky-beak, who simply loved snooping on others’ matters. Apparently, she kept a tight vigil on me too. Interestingly, she wouldn’t overtly display her prying traits. Her signature queries were prefixed with “Looked like”. Whenever she spotted a guest at my place, she’d obliquely ask “Looked like you had guest?” Then slowly she’d wring out all details about that person. And a new dress on me would elicit her trademark query, “Looks like a new dress?” She’d then wait for me to dish out all minutiae related with the dress.   

As I’m penning this piece, I can see my neighbour sashaying and swaggering around her place in her shimmering silk salwar. Wonder where she is going…. Ha! “One’s freedom ends where the other person’s nose begins….!” right?