What is a Spice Box and what makes it a standard feature in Indian kitchens?

Growing up as a picky eater who could pick the vegetables out of their fried rice in under 2 minutes, I really had a limited food palate. I was not a huge fan of meat based dishes, fish dishes scared me and my reaction to vegetarian dishes was, EW! But there was one thing that I really liked and that was, being around food and listening to my family talk about food and food history.