? by Aditi Mundra

Thesis Abstract:

Humans have a deeply curious nature, and more often it is about the minor tittle-tattle in our lives. Our curiosity can lead us to do unproductive things that include gossiping about people we don’t know or doing things that are irrelevant to our lives. We love knowing the answers to things, even if there’s no obvious benefit. Indians have always lived in a collective, close-knit society where individualism is not an accepted ideology. Since the very early days, living in joint families where we knew everything about one other. So in today’s day, when these families are broken up into nuclear ones, curiosity still persists.

Be it nosy aunties gossiping or a crowd gathering out on the road as spectators to witness a random argument – humans are inquisitive beings. Our curiosity stems from the collectivist culture that we are a part of and the culture in turn impacts our behavior, leading to pervasive differences impacting society. The interconnectedness between members of the group plays a central role in each person’s identity. When highly involved in a community, you experience a sense of belonging and you tend to look out for one another. But the question arises when and where does one draw the line?

Indian culture is conservative; it takes a while for people to digest facts and accept new thinking. Coming from a civilization thousands of years old, and not having bought into extreme ideas of privacy, we consider this curiosity as a channel for communication. In our society, knowledge about others is considered a valuable thing as people want a perfectly aligned society, thus an invisible code of propriety is maintained.

Credit- Aditi Mundra