CURIOSITY AND ITS EFFECT

Curiosity is an inborn or innate attitude. We are curious about things we do not have or see. We want to know about others, their belongings, actions, happenings or a simple secret.

            One such incident still lingers in my mind and the name still rings in my head. The name is Hew Mun Seong. This incident involving this name happened in Standard 2.

            We were in the afternoon session with the standard 3 and 4. only the Standard 1, 5 and 6 were in the morning. At midday, we had to line up along the wooden corridor to wait for the morning classes to vacate. Only then we entered the class with the permission of the class teacher.

            As were lining up I saw at a glimpse, the above mentioned boy acting suspiciously in front of his school bag. He was in the process of placing or concealing something. Curiosity got the better of me. It was an act of impulse or a sudden miscalculated action. I wanted to know what the mysterious object was.

            I remembered asking him to allow me to have a look at the item. He refused and tried to push me away. Another friend called him and he walked away.

            Instantly I went through the contents of his bag and retrieved a bottle. It was just a bottle. This boy was what I was doing and grabbed the bottle and he was rather furious. In the struggle he snatched it and hit me on the head with it. I was stunned and shocked.

            Everyone stopped and stared at me not because of the struggle but at something on my head. Some shouted and others kept silent probably due to the shocking scene.

            I felt something warm and it was trickling down my head. I touched my ears and noticed that my finger was red. Only then I knew that I was bleeding. I did not feel any pain but a slight sensation. Furthermore I did not panic and neither did I scream. I was speechless.

            By then the class teacher had arrived. He took me into the class and asked me to sit on a chair. In those days there was a first aid kit in every class. Mr. Perumal, my class teacher took a piece of cotton bud and pressed in on the spot or wound. He took it away and said that it was only a scar or slight cut and it was serious. If it had been serious, I would have to go to the hospital and there would be stitches.

            Anyway the bleeding stopped and he applied some yellow solution onto the cut and then a little plaster finished the job.

            After inquiring from me and my friend, he understood the cause of the incident. Bothe of us got warning so that a similar incident would not resurface. I was lectured on the importance of privacy and the need to ask for permission if I wanted to see or borrow something. If the owner refused I would have to stop pursuing the matter.

            On the other hand, Hew Mun Seong was reminded not to use physical violence or action on friends but to report to the teacher to solve the misunderstanding.