QUESTIONS

There are so many questions everyone has to face in life at different times.

When you are a baby and had just started talking the baby-talks, people will start asking, ‘what is your name?’, ‘what is your father’s name?, where is your mother’s house? And innumerable questions similar. And when you answer correctly, they appreciate it by pinching your cheeks. They wouldn’t know how annoying those pinchings can be.

Then when you are in the school, the teachers will start asking many questions. There is hardly any appreciation for the right answer but for a wrong answer you are most likely to be punished, most likely with the cane.

The examinations are no different. Here you will be judged by both teachers and parents.

When I was studying in school, one different kind of teacher had told 'me' to ask questions, try to find out the answers and learn. He gave me a book in Malayalam written by an eminent author of childrens’ science books, titled ‘Hundred questions’. He had given hundred questions – all on science-and given the answers for us to learn.

He wrote a sequel later ‘Again Hundred questions’ with a new set of questions and answers.

My further exposure to questions was the famous ‘Cadbury’s Bournvita Quiz Contest’ . It was originally held live in various cities, later started on radio and then as avery popular TV show. I think now it still lives on, on YouTube. These questions were published as books. On TV, many quiz shows had started such as 'quiz time', 'what is the good word' etc.

Nowadays I think there are books with examination questions from the past and sample answers for almost all classes in schools and colleges. The students can even ‘by-heart’ them, write and pass the exams. And since long, students have the facility to choose from 3 or 4 answers given for a question.

Then the TV show started with, ‘who wants to be a millionaire?’, ‘kaun banega krorepati?’ and a host of other shows. And then there are questions by police, questions in the court of law, ‘questions here, questions there, here a question, there a question……’

There is another type of questions that I come across now. These are on Television news channels and generally there are no answers given. Whatever news channels I watch, in the news bar below, there are questions. Will the minister take action on the officer? Can we win the world cup with this team? Will the thief be punished? In fact, there are so many questions we see daily with no answers to most of them. May be by the time, the answers are known, another set of more important questions are raised.

Shish has caught on and is preparing a question bank of 100 questions from which a few questions will be selected each day for Naradaa TV, when it starts.