How Are You?

We often ask and get asked with this question when meet someone – a stranger or even someone whom we meet daily. This question has few variants too such as “How you doing?”, “How is life?”, “How is everything going on?” etc.

How Are You?

This question has been a form of superficial gesture. It really means nothing to either of the person, i.e. person who asked it and the person who was asked. The person who asks, asks without the intention of really knowing the true answer for it. And you would have observed that when we ask this question, sometimes we don’t even wait for its answer and start with another statement instantly after it, like its answer doesn’t matter at all.

I was pondering on this question and I encountered with few questions such as:

1. What should be the core purpose of asking How Are You to somebody?
2. If we ask this question to somebody and answer comes as negative, shouldn’t we put our efforts to sort it out?
3. If not, why in the first place we should ask it out? Does it really look good asking this question in a superficial manner?
4. What message it gives to the person whom we ask this question when we are really don’t care for its answer?

After some brainstorming on these and other related questions, I came to a feeling that only Almighty has the TRUE RIGHT to ask this question, because if he asks and finds out that the things are not FINE, he is CAPABLE enough to sort it out. But we know that Almighty won’t come to us and ask this question, so if we think we are CAPABLE enough to sort someone’s people then only we must dare to ask this question.

Recently, I was reading a book, which was about the Saints living in Himalayas, and there was one incident mentioned when two Himalayan saints met. When they met, they didn’t ask each other any such superficial questions, rather they sat together and remained in mauna (silence) and that way did the conversation. A layman observing their way of communication, later asked one of the saints who was his guru about why they didn’t ask each other How Are You? and such things? To which he replied that “We don’t ask them because if we ask them and if there is some problem, we are bound to sort it out, leaving everything aside. So when we don’t mean, we don’t ask.” How BEAUTIFUL his answer was!

As I pondered a lot on this question, also another idea evoked out of it to make a short film or film on this subject. Broad idea is that, there is a solo leading male character in the film who gets crazy when somebody asks him this question. He meets people from all different sectors (doctor, lawyer, student, teacher, friend, boss, co-worker, shopkeeper, beggar, parents, neighbour, poor person, rich person etc.) who asks him the same question. He gets nuts on hearing this question. He observes people while they ask this question to him. He laughs inside knowing that they really don’t want to know its TRUE ANSWER. He then ponders a lot on it to himself….. well, there is no such filmy END to this story…. but it’s a series of encounters that this person goes through when he is asked the same question…. I think, Irfan Khan or Kay Kay may be the best cast for the leading solo character!!!!