Gerald D'Cunha

As I walked into the lift, this morning, I said, 'Hi, good Morning' to the man who was already there inside. Then, instantly, I prayed to God - with all my honesty - to help me not to be a hypocrite. For months, both of us had not been talking due to some unresolved Society issues. (I am the present Chairman.) The man responded, instantly. "How are you?" I asked. "Good, thank you," he replied. Then, probably, the ego took over... and, there was an uneasy silence, till the lift stopped on the ground floor. "Bye, see you," I managed to say. I did not hear his response. Probably, he did not wish to 'see me'. I felt a bit offended, and angry. "To hell with you man... You do not deserve my greetings," my mind was yelling at him in the roaring silence. At the gate, I did not find an auto, and I was waiting. I was already late and getting restless and irritated. Suddenly, a car stopped behind me and the window glass came down. "Plea...

We are sane people, not idiots. Will any one of us get the moving plane return back to the airport, get down from it... and, then, run away to meet a long-lost friend? Or, will any one of us, drop everything aside, and jump into your car - minus your pants - for the same cause? What about this: will you agree to spend years in your engineering college, come out with distinction - only to be a dummy of some rich-guy's worthless son? We know such things happen only in our Bollywood films. Not in real life. Still, think of it - we all loved the '3 Idiots'! Hey, it seems, it is Bollywood's highest grosser of all-time! Idiots are not straight people... They do odd things, at odd times... and, above all, in their odd ways. On the screen, in the darkness, we loved the idiots... we kept our hands on our 'dil' - and, 'siti bhajake' - sang with them - AL IZ WELL. We laughed, we cried... we loved these characters when they peed on their dean's name plate. Yes, ...

Sylvia was beaming, this morning. I bumped into her on her way to office. What a change! Just a year ago, she had come to me looking depressed and broken. She had resigned from her work unable to cope with pressure. Sylvia's pressure came from her own low self-esteem. She suffered from a nagging inferiority complex... constantly compared herself with others, put herself down. She felt threatened at the slightest criticism, magnified the tiniest of the problems, personalised every comment and even others' problems. The work place had become a traumatic battle-ground for Sylvia... She simply wanted to run away from it. And, she had done it, when she had come to meet me. We had discussed the issue over a couple of sessions. From my own experience, I had told Sylvia that this is an imaginary war... and the enemy is our own creation. That, till we don't see this fact, we would keep fighting a loosing battle, and keep getting battered in life. I had told her to even laugh at it, ...

For a long time, there were no calls from Ramesh. It meant: He was tension-free. But, was he? Ramesh was my student about fifteen years ago. That was when he was in his final-year B.Com. He came from a very ordinary Maharashtrian joint-family. During these fifteen years, he would call me regularly, take appointment from me, and discuss his problems - his 'tension', as he would call them. All his 'tension' sprang from either his job, or his joint family, or - after his marriage - the relationship with his wife. Every time Ramesh called, it would be to discuss his 'tension'. Nothing else. So, when there was no news from Ramesh, for quite a long time, I felt happy for him. Then, just the day-before evening, he called me up. "Sir, tomorrow will be my son's first birthday," Ramesh announced, sounding good. "I want to bring him to you... What time is convenient for you?" We fixed for 9.00 the next morning. That was yesterday. Sharp at 9, Ramesh...

Shah Rukh did not say 'sorry'... The evening passed. In fact, today is another Friday... the time for another movie to come out, another show. My head has stopped spinning. I have stopped watching TV. I do not know which happened first! If my country is hurt, it needs a healing touch... and not another blow, another blast. Hatred only breeds more hatred... It is the breeding ground for terrorism. To drowse the inferno, we need the cooling effect of water. Only, compassion can heal. This morning, I met the autowala, again. "So, Shah Rukh did not say 'sorry'," I reminded him. "But, al iz well, no sir?" he looked back with a carefree smile. "No body has time to remember, all these silly things." It doesn't take a lot to forgive a man who says 'sorry' to me. But, it takes a hell amount of inner strength to forgive him when he is reluctant, unrepentant. And, what about the man who wants you to say 'sorry' when you think you h...

My name is Khan... Shah Rukh Khan. Today is Thursday, and tomorrow will be Friday. Shiv Sena is hell-bent: Unless Shah Rukh tenders an apology to the nation, it would not allow SRK's movie - "My Name Is Khan' - to be released, tomorrow. What apology? I think, it is for SRK's statement, that he was hurt - for India not allowing any Pakistani player to play in any of the IPL teams. Sena says, the 'nation' is hurt by SRK's statement... That, he is a 'traitor'. So, the noose is tightened... Tomorrow is the date of release... Already, the Sainiks are let loose; they are on the rampage. I do not watch TV. But, last night, I happened to have a glimpse of it in some one's house. Just watching it for ten minutes, my head started spinning! Now, I am anxious; I want to know - "What is going to happen?" In the Auto, this morning, I asked the driver the same question: "Kya hoga?" ... "What is going to happen?" "By today ev...

When I was in college, I used to be fond of attractive wall posters with inspiring wordings on them. I remember one such poster. It had about six tiger cubs with their mother, all peacefully sleeping, cuddled to each other. "If you are comfortable with yourself, you are comfortable with the world." I loved those wordings, and the poster adorned our wall for some years. When we are young, we rarely think about the 'world within' - the world of spirit. The 'world outside' - the world of matter, the material world, is what fascinates us. Success means the material success - more money, more fame, more power and prestige. Our search for success begins with such pursuit and continues relentlessly, there after. Like chasing a mirage, we chase Success. But, we remain unfulfilled, disillusioned, eternally running ... hoping to come to a stage when we can stop running, remain fulfilled, content and happy. What we do not realise is, that, so long as we depend on the ...

I hate to watch horror movies... Perhaps, I am too scared. But, I watched Ram Gopal Verma's 'Bhooth', by default. I had rushed at the last minute, on that Friday, to watch an Amitabh starrer. The movie had already started. So, there was no time to think or check. I bought the ticket and slowly made my way into the dark hall to find my seat. It was a single-screen local cinema hall. The atmosphere was electrifying! The stall crowd was screaming, whistling making all sorts of weired sounds... and, it took some time for me to realise that I was in to watch a different movie... And, that too, what I would have never, ever otherwise dared to do - a horror film! By the time the movie ended, I was truly satisfied. I was scared, but the movie was good, great! Ramu was great! After two days, I read the Sunday review. The critic had given one-and-a-half stars! There was nothing great for him... The movie was mediocre, Ramu was mediocre! I was surprised. "What is this? Am I so ba...

The pretty young girl was there in the hotel lobby. On the sofa, lay some lovely balloons and decorations. As I spotted this young girl, I smiled. For a short while, the girl did not reciprocate, but kept staring at me. "I have seen you somewhere... I don't remember, where," she said, gently. "Ma'am, you may not remember, but I do," I told her, "I am Gerry, your teacher." "Oh, hi sir... I am very sorry; really sorry," she exclaimed in embarrassment. "You know, your look so different, so young, in these formals." I nicely ran my hand over my silk tie. The massage by the young lady made me feel - 'Not bad'! She was there waiting for some of her friends. "We are here to decorate the room. A friend of ours will be spending her first night in this hotel, today," she told me. "When was the wedding?" I asked in excitement. "Not me, my friend, sir," she thought I had heard it wrong. I was in my own ...