Emanating from curiosity, quest, or doubt, questioning had always been a part of our rich ancient intellectual, theological and philosophical traditions. This tradition is manifested strongly in our ancient learning system. In the Prashna-Upanishad, one of the earliest of the Upanishad texts, pupils used to pose six great questions to a wise teacher. Our Vedas, epics, and religious and philosophical texts grappled with many questions, quenching in the process our intellectual thirst and broadening our world-view.

Speculating on the very creation of the world, Rigveda posed deep dialogical questions: “Whence this creation has arisen?”, “Is there a God?”, “Who really knows?” The profoundly important question that Maitreyi asked her husband, the great philosopher and sage Yagyavalkya “Whether the whole earth filled with a wealth will make me immortal?”, spoke volumes on the limitations of the material world and reach of wealth. 

In Mahabharata, Draupadi, having found herself being put on stake in the game of dice, questioned her husband, King Yudhishthira, “As the owner of whom did you lose me?” The question put in focus the scope of a husband’s authority over his wife, and the moral paradigm of the day. Caught in contrary moral positions in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna expressed many valid doubts before Lord Krishna. Thanks to these questions and the responses, we have Bhagavad Gita, a treatise par excellence, on philosophical, ethical, and social dimensions of human life.

In both Buddhism and Jainism, the commitment to discourse, contestation, and reasoning have always remained pronounced. In fact, many of the dominant beliefs and practices prevailing in society, undermining human equality and dignity, were subjected to severe scrutiny. Early Indian Buddhists, with their commitment to reasoning and discussion, regarded the practice of questioning as a means of social progression. The so-called Buddhist Councils were a powerful platform used to reconcile different points of view. Ashoka the Great, who ruled over a major part of the subcontinent (including Afghanistan) leveraged these Councils effectively for healthy and non-acrimonious public discussions.    
                                                                  
Mughal Emperor Akbar demonstrated his ease with diverse beliefs when he espoused a strong case for a new religious path Din-i Ilahi, which envisioned embracing and synthesizing the best in multitudes of religious beliefs and convictions. As a process, he advocated Rahi Aql, the path of reason, rather than blind faith, in deciding the path. Reason cannot but be supreme, even in matters of so personal as faith, he maintained.

Last but not the least, Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi too championed the tradition of reasoning and deliberations in their work and life, as the foundation of a vibrant and good society. Yet, with this proud questioning legacy as an endowment, what accounts for its distaste now? What makes us so uncomfortable with questions?

Questioning is frowned upon today

Starting from homes, schools, colleges to society, corporates, institutions, and government, the question is not only not invited, but they have also frowned upon. Girls can’t open mouth before parents, students are shy of asking questions to teachers, women can’t question society about the constraints of space and time they face, directors dither asking a question on unethical decisions of Boards, and media and civil society tread with caution before asking questions to governments of the day. Social behavior and attitudes of remaining silent or compliant, toeing the line, going with the flow, respecting status quo, are common and pervasive.  
                                                                  
Several cultural and non-cultural factors present barriers. Parents and elders are too respectful to be asked questions. Teachers are too knowledgeable and revered to be embarrassed with follow-up queries. Society is too overbearing and judgmental to speak or rise against. Boards are too dominant and unrelenting to be shown in a mirror. Further, Institutions are too venerable and strong to be subjected to scrutiny. A government is too powerful and patronizing to be questioned.  Apart from the customary morality, traditions, taboos, and mindsets, there are also the factors of entrenched and vested interests that make all attempts to suppress intimidate or arm-twist those seeking answers for the asymmetry of interest and power. 

Questioning explores and enlightens

However, it is not the case that we have not been asking questions in recent times at all. The profoundly important question of why a widow should end life in a funeral pyre along with her dead husband gave us anti-sati regulation. The question of why public institutions will work in a veil of secrecy brought the sunshine by way of Right to Information (RTI). The question of why the nation will remain unclean and people will defecate in public gave Swachh Bharat Mission or Clean India Mission. The question of why women would suffer indignities due to triple talaq, or instant divorce, brought an act criminalizing the practice. The question of why willful defaulter-promoter will enjoy at the cost of creditors and game the system brought   Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). There are other such positive examples too. But, the pain is, they are few and far between, and have come about after a tremendous time gap.

Questions not only reveal and unmask, but it also explores and enlightens. The dividends of questioning obtaining to society in terms of intellectual progression, innovation, research, and timely public action and reforms are huge. At the same time, the absence of question robs society of the vitality of hand-holding, critical thinking, reasoning, and public scrutiny. How many lives, on a personal plane, for example, suffer and are lost in this non-asking and a non-sharing climate? Mental health is an example. How much a society suffers in this culture of non-questioning, non-debate, and absence of social scrutiny? The pandemic catastrophe engendered by an authoritarian regime, abhorring scrutiny in our neighborhood, is another example.

Questioning climate needs political courage 

How to change our mindset where asking questions is not treated with disdain but viewed as a precondition to change the status quo, ushering modernity and social advancement? Parents and teachers have to play question-friendly roles in developing the right mental makeup for inquiry and quest. They can find creative ways to coax and nudge kids to ask and clear doubts without any shyness, embarrassment, and hitch. Sure, asking good questions, at some level, is a skill that requires practice, training, and mentoring. Here, the teachers can lend a helping hand and support. They should, if needed, incorporate flexibility in curriculum to accommodate quest.

Institutions can design a mechanism where inputs, feedbacks, and inquiries could be leveraged to put in place more effective responses and transparent systems. They can institutionalize the framework for protecting whistleblowers and rewarding honest. Boards can encourage questions by unhesitatingly recording dissenting notes, incentivizing valuable inputs and suggestions, re-designing appraisal systems, and incentivizing experimentation.                 
                                                   
Most importantly, governments can foster a questioning climate by showing political courage, open-mindedness, and magnanimousness. Publicly acknowledging, welcoming, and rewarding those with unmalicious dissent, constructive criticism, and alternative perspectives can usher in a new paradigm of good governance. The day we all start viewing questions as a value it brings to the system (and the incalculable damage its absence does), as a virtue of curiosity and courage, and as competence to frame and time right questions, the ingrained inhibitions, complexes, and impulses against a question will die their natural deaths. Embracing questions whole-heartedly then could be easy, comfortable, and even celebratory!

(The writer is a former bank executive who has authored the book X Factor @Workplace. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at rkrishnasinha@hotmail.com)