Vedanta - Knowing Is Joyous

ISHAN CHAUDHURI





Somewhere down the line, proclaiming oneself as ignorant has become a hallmark of virtue. People are regularly heard to take pride in the fact that they don't know things.`Oh, I don't read books' or `I don't watch that kind of movies' has become a general refrain of `coolness'. In a reversal of roles, people who once exclaimed being informed in certain aspects of culture and life now prefer keeping mum, lest they be construed as ponderous showoffs or, worse, snobs.The trend of being proud of possessing a curious, hungry mind has suffered over time.Wearing one's ignorance on one's sleeve is, of course, a virtue made out of necessity for most people.
But the earli er embarrass ment of not knowing has been replaced by pride. It is also in reac tion to the genuine snob who can be such an incentive for people to want to be considered ignorant. Being an `intellectual', a veritable gaali in our age, has come to mean a boring personality who loves listening to his own voice, and who looks down upon others less informed than him. This was not the plan.
The intellect is marked by playfulness, the way a youngster collects stamps or keeps a scrapbook or `curates' her Facebook page. To take in knowledge and to bandy it about is not a dry crusty activity, but can be as joyous and fulfilling as, say, dancing, singing or eating out. To know is not an embarrassing thing. It is a thing worth flaunting, and spreading.