The Most Irritating Question In The World

There are a lot of pesky questions that seem to float in our world - Why so quiet? Is it that time of the month? Are you sure? For me, the single most annoying query is ‘What is your hobby?’

It irks me so much that I make up fantastical answers to it. Once, at a party, when a slightly eager rabbit pinned me down and demanded to know ‘my hobby’, I told him I breed fish to feed other fish. 

Then, I went on a long and complicated explanation on how I had to weigh each fish before feeding them to their cousins so that a strict calorie count is maintained. He began to change into a paler shade when I informed him how pregnant fish are special treats given on Tuesdays, and I had to take care that the food-fish mated and conceived before that day. I never saw him again after that tête–à–tête. 

This question is particularly vexing now that I am writing full time. The minute I tell someone my occupation, a look of befuddlement floats over their face and most of them say, ‘...but what do you seriously do?’ Umm, I write. 

To fuel my hate for this word, when I had just begun taking baby steps into writerdom, an uncle of mine took me aside and with all the benevolence of an assassin said, ‘You know this art, music, writing, it’s all good as a hobby. You need to stop wasting time and think of a serious career.’

The other peeve I have against this concept is that it is a loaded gun filled with multiple sub-contexts, none of which are very nice. For example, in a traditional  milieu, a woman will have cooking, singing, embroidery as hobbies. All of which, add to the allure of her femininity. Nobody in that world will say her hobby is making ants dance on matchboxes. 

Or if we move to another parallel world, a staid person who has no other interest other than office may claim his hobby is singing so that there is an added dimension to his cardboard personality. The unfortunate truth is that he probably hummed in the school choir and thereafter forgot about it entirely, except when asked, ‘What is your hobby?’

A hobby diminishes things into being a trivial pursuit. Most people I know, even if they have more than one interest delve deep into the examination of their subject. If they are learning how to play the violin while managing human resources, they make sure their study is nuanced and committed. 

They take classes, attend concerts and sometimes even do exams. If you told them playing the violin is their ‘hobby’ they’d probably hit you on the head with their instrument of choice.

If we allow ourselves, each one of us is multi-dimensional, multi-talented and multi-faceted. To call this spending of our time and energy on the pursuit of knowledge for the sake of knowledge, a ‘hobby’ is horrible. 

Perhaps, a better word would be passion.

Still Figuring It Out’ a funny, sad, questioning take on adulthood will appear every Saturday on newsable.com. Arathi Menon is the author of Leaving Home With Half a Fridge, a memoir published by Pan Macmillan. She tweets at https://twitter.com/unopenedbottle. The views expressed here are her own.