Gerald D'Cunha

  “I have always imagined, that Paradise will be a kind of library.” Jorge Luis Borges     O n last Sunday, my friend (once, my dear student) Shankar and his wife Swetha had invited some of us to their house located in a plush society. They have two beautiful, talented daughters – Anvesha, 13 and Avyakta, 9. I had carried two books – a novel for Anvesha, another book of   Japanese Folktales for little Avyakta. While the novel was a new one, the book of Japanese Folktales was an old one which I had at home for quite some time. Did I hesitate before gifting this book to the little girl? Not at all... It’s what the book contained inside, and not how new or how nicely it’s packaged – yes, I firmly believed in this. The little girl, I am sure, will appreciate the amazing folktales from the land of Japan... and, once she is done with it, I am sure, she will pass on the book to another deserving kid... Books are meant to be circulated... While we were at...

  “All human miseries derive from not being able to sit quiet in a room alone.” Blaise Pascal   S ome days’ ago, I had attended the wedding nuptials of my nephew, Wendel in one of the churches is Thane. The bride, Olivia, looked beautiful in her wedding gown. My wife, having undergone two angioplasties lately, had opted to bless the young couple from home... Thus, I sat alone among several guests and witnessed the solemn event... You see, in today’s hi-tech and social media world, we get to see several guests busy clicking pictures of everything that unfolds, both at the nuptials as well as the reception venue. The work done by the official photographers and videographers may take days and weeks to reach us. But, the pictures and videos captured by these guests do reach wide and far instantly – mostly in family groups... I am bad in clicking pictures. I, also, have this bad habit of involving in what is going on at present... One such moment, at the nuptials, has a...

  “Most brilliance arises from ordinary people working together in extraordinary ways.” Roger von Oech   E arly this morning, I saw a message from the mother of this 15-year-old boy. He studies in one of the top schools in Mumbai (IGCSE). These kids have my subject (Accountancy) right from class 9. I have been teaching this boy along side another couple of kids from   different international schools – all online. And, let me tell you this: compared to my B.Com students, these school kids, who are now in class 10, are brilliant! Did I say ‘brilliant’? Yes, I did. But, brilliance, in my view, has nothing to do with one’s syllabus or school. It has a lot to do with one’s own outlook towards the task in hand. You see, every task in hand can be done in the best possible way... with all the brilliance one’s heart possesses... The mother who sent the message, early this morning, was asking me to take ‘solo’ classes for her boy just to focus on his MCQs. I smile...

  “People inspire you, or they drain you. Pick them wisely.” Hans F. Hasen   I have, regularly, used the phrases - ‘toxic people’ or ‘a toxic person’. But, I have not so regularly paused to seriously ask - ‘Who are these?” Yes, who are toxic people? Who is a toxic person? And, just as I find someone toxic, do some find me toxic, too? Thus, labelling someone as ‘toxic’ may portray me as judgmental... You see, people behave differently to different people. I try to surround myself with those who lift up my positive spirit, and avoid surrounding myself with those who make me feel low, depressed and drained. We can easily come to know who inspire us, make us feel good about ourselves. Likewise, we can, also, easily come to know who drain us, make us feel low. Therefore, to me, whoever lifts my spirit up and makes me feel good about myself is a positive soul, and whoever dampens my spirit, makes me feel bad about myself, is a negative soul... and, when someone re...

“Whatever we perceive as good in the world   has always endured, and it always will.” Carmen Agra Deedy   L ast evening, while returning home, I met a stranger. Though I just said, he was a ‘stranger’ to me, I wasn’t a ‘stranger’ to him. “I read your blogs regularly, though you do not know me,” he said enthusiastically, “I look forward to read them every time... How do you find your topics, the simple but touching stories?” Obviously, I felt nice on what I had just heard from a person, who, without my knowledge, was reading what I have been writing, almost every day. I had to answer his question: “How do you find your topics, the simple but touching stories?” Well, I do not know whether or not my answer to this question was what I will be writing in this Post, today... W e all step out into the same world, each day... and we only find what we all are looking for. I do not know what you were looking for in the world outside as you stepped out of your house, this m...

  “Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.” Helen Keller   A few weeks ago, I was watching this intense English movie at home, with Harry Connick and Sandra Bullock as lead actors. Though the subject of the story was very intense and heartbreaking, I just loved the title: ‘Hope Floats’... Well, this Post is not about the movie... It’s about ‘Hope’ and why mankind has placed its trust on it so much and for so long... Desmond Tutu said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”... Yes, hope is something that makes sense just because there is this thick smog of darkness around us. Else, why would we ever think of Hope? Why would we ever say – ‘Hope Floats’? Hope does float... Therefore, Martin Luther King Jr. said so strongly , “Everything that is done in this world is done by Hope.” You and I will never be able to comprehend the times this charismatic leader, who fought and died for the c...

  “You will never be the person you can be if pressure,  tension and discipline are taken out of your life.” James G. Bilkey   I  remember what great Albert Einstein once said: “Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing, that it’s stupid.” Well, with the permission of the great scientist, I wish to replace the word ‘Genius’ in this quote with ‘Champion’... T his morning, I was teaching this batch of twelfth standard. Two days ago, one of the students, Maansi, who has been always regular and committed to her studies, had requested me for a leave. “Sir, I will be leaving to Chennai for my tournament (Rifle shooting), early tomorrow morning. I will miss a couple of classes. But, I will try to attend online.” I sent Maansi the zoom link. But, due to a weak network, she had to miss one of the sessions while she was travelling by train. “But, Sir, I will make it up... Solve the sums a...