Gerald D'Cunha

“May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.” George Carlin   T oday, we talk a lot about Good over Evil . Lord Ram’s triumphant victory over Ravan is what we celebrate, today. Well, to many of us, it’s symbolic… Ram and Ravan, we believe, lived on this earth thousands of years ago. But, the idea of Good and Evil still lives in this world, today… And, importantly, it lives within our hearts, right here, right now… Yes, it’s a constant personal battle you and I have to engage in… It never ends. I think, that’s why we celebrate Dussehra – to remind ourselves to stay vigilant… To choose Good over Evil in every step we take… It’s a tough choice… but, the right one to make… Incidentally, today is, also, Gandhi Jayanti … Bapu ’s last words keep haunting us: “ Hey Ram !” E ach one of us has spent these ten days in his or her own way… My colleague, a college Professor, has lived on only water – no food at all – only water… and, he has walked barefo...

  “On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own buttocks.” Michel de Montaigne   A ttentive listening has another name: Humility. Putting it in another way, we cannot pay complete attention, unless we listen with a desire to learn… and, for that, we need to drop our guards, our defenses, our judgements. In fact, the thought, that ‘We know’ blocks us from absorbing the good lessons from others… Often, we listen with an intention to defend our positions… We are ready with our responses even before the other person has completed his statements… We are busy judging the other person… We are busy proving our knowledge… We seem to get a strange kick in being right… “I will not utter a word unless you look up and listen to me completely,” I said, once again, this morning, to couple of my students, “Your eyes listen better than your ears do.” From my decades of teaching experience, I have realized this: Attentive listening stems from our desire to le...

  “Everybody is talented; \because, everybody who is human has something to express.” Brenda Ueland   T he quote above makes me reflect… “Everybody who is human has something to express.” Hence, it says, “Everybody is talented.” Now, is that really true? To think, that God hasn’t created any human without this incessant desire to ‘express is what ‘belief’ is all about… Yes, there is something special preloaded when God sends us into the world. He knows about it; but, very often, we don’t. And, to me, waking up to our special gifts preloaded by God – is our enlightenment… I did not know, that my special gift from God was to teach and write. But, I remember how restless I was to express myself in some form or the other. When I was a little boy, I found great joy in drawing and colouring… I remember spending hours trying to express something through this medium. But, soon, it died down… Sports, dancing, singing, acting – I never came anywhere close to these form...

  “We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.” Martin Luther King Jr.   W e cannot be aware of everything and everyone around us… Some things and some people – yes, we, always, can. Like, if I told you about the language and culture I grew up with, the food habits, the worship and customs I was accustomed to, the local music that I adored – yes, you may not be aware of any of these. Likewise, I may not be aware of yours. So, in a way, our respective exposure will, always, be limited… Even with all the social media explosion on our faces every second of the day, and even if you and I do a hundred round trips around the globe, let me tell you this: we wouldn’t be able to know it all… Every corner of our own country is blessed with its own music, culture, cuisine, clothes, language, worship and unique tradition and custom. And, to say, that my country should have a single language, single deity, single food and attire – come on, it’s beyond...

  “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Virginia Woolf   Y esterday was a Sunday. The night before, my wife and I decided to go out (on Sunday) and watch a good movie at a fine theatre, after that eat some delicious food somewhere, and simply spend some good time together… Importantly, together with our young son. We both knew, that we were able to make the most of this experience only if we let our young son decide on the movie and the eating place… What is best for the Prince is, always, the best for the King and the Queen, you see… Son chose to watch a movie my wife and I had never heard of… ‘Boong’, a short Manipuri film. Apparently, this film had done well in many international film festivals. Here at the INOX/PVR auditorium of the glittering Jio world, it sounded very weird for us… We were the only three spectators till the movie started. Then, another couple joined… and, that’s it. The film was about this poor family of M...

  “It does not matter how slowly you go,   as long as you do not stop.” Confucius   O ne of my young friends is a passionate marathon runner. It’s a delight to watch his running posts which he shares regularly on his social-media account. I simply admire his dedication and commitment to long-distance running… “How can these guys do it for so many years?” I have, often, wondered… Yesterday, I was equally delighted to see a different kind of post shared by this friend… He had captured on his camera the maiden step taken by his baby boy, with the caption: “Our baby boy has taken his first step, today… We are so thrilled!”   Doesn’t this feeling sound so familiar to all of us, whether we are runners of just bystanders… We all know how important – and thrilling – is that maiden step of a baby… You and I, when we grow up, simply forget about our baby steps and get caught up only in the big races, long marathons… We are obsessed with the speed and the stamina… “...

    “Growing old is mandatory; but, growing up is optional.” Walt Disney   W e don’t think about ageing when we are young… and, why should we? But, when we are getting older, whether we like it or not, we realize, that we are no younger… Now, no matter what positive philosophy we choose to weave around getting older – ‘aging gracefully’, or ‘age is only a number’, or ‘age is only in your mind’ and so on - the hard truth is this: Growing old is mandatory… But, what we try to do is to choose the option: never to cease growing up… That’s what the legendary Walt Disney said, and did… The Disney Land, Disney World, Disney Movies – everything about Walt Disney testifies for his commitment to remain childlike, never to lose the sense of wonder… curiosity and that incessant hunger to keep growing up …   Y esterday, our son turned 33. During the day, he shared, in our family group, an AI-generated picture of himself – he, at 33, hugging his baby self. Probab...