Queries

The sole business of the fools is to speak sixteen to the dozen and ask tireless questions, and that of the wise is to answer them. But it is an undeniable truth that the eyes of the wise are often suffused with tears in answering the dunces. Of course, truly innocent and truth-seeking queries do not disturb the men of wisdom; rather such queries give them an overdose of emotional delight. Here is a striking example:

> “When I take up father’s pen or pencil and write upon his book just as he does, — a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, — why do you get cross with me, then, mother?

> You never say a word when father writes.

> When my father wastes such heaps of paper, mother, you don’t seem to mind at all.

> But if I take one sheet to make a boat with, you say, ‘Child, how troublesome you are!’

> What do you think of father’s spoiling sheets and sheets of paper with black marks all over on both sides?” > — Rabindranath, The Crescent Moon

From:Sri Chinmoy,Rabindranath Tagore: the moon of Bengal’s Heart, Agni Press, 2011
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