Gerald D'Cunha

    There are a hundred reasons Why I feel so frightened and sad When I look at the sky… The darkness is one of them; The deafening thunders And blinding lightening Are two more; The fierce clouds And the moonless night, The burning Sun And the angry wind, The Stars that deceive, The angels that fail, The broken dreams, The sorrow, Pain. And , there are another hundred reasons Why I feel so happy and confident When I look at the same sky… God is one of them, Hope is another, Promise is yet another, Trust is one more; The billion stars And the smiling Moon Are two more, The rain clouds And the dancing breeze, The guardian angel And the waking dreams, The tears of being forgiven,  And warmth of being loved, The thought of abundance, The might of newness, The peace of coming home, The closeness, Joy. ...

The last thing I did, last night, before I went to sleep was: delete all the messages from my cell-phone. From the in-box and the out-box, both. With this, I closed my eyes, thanked God for the wonderful day… and I went off to sleep.  I opened my eyes straight at 6.15 this morning. What happened in between, I don’t remember.  Nothing.  Last when I had checked, there were about a dozen messages… some happy and some sad, some blunt and some kind… yes, some giving hope and some making me anxious. I had the choice to let them be… to hold on to them so that I could revisit them when I would rise this morning… And, I had this choice, too:  to let them go. Even the so-called happy memories, when I try to cling on to, leave me only anxious and sad! Happiness is not something  I can refrigerate…  for my tomorrows.  Yes, as that old-time saying goes, Happiness is also an ice-cream…  ...

At times, The need in me to win an argument  Is stronger than the need to win the person... The charged emotions cloud this truth And I I see myself  driven by That lone obsession to make my point... To have my last word... To see the other person lose! And, often, this happens with my nearest people... Yes, surprisingly so... Even though I know that they are my nearest people... And, therefore, they should be my dearest! Yes, even after knowing this basic truth, I see myself involved in such silly mind-games! Many a times, With a slight awareness, When I have chosen to be a little light-hearted, Little patient, I have beautifully smiled my way Into the other person's heart... Yes, I have lost an argument, But, won a friend! The best time to smile our way Is before we walk into The trap of arguments... When we see the very first sign Of the doom that is coming! No one ...

Last night, I watched on T.V.   the Oscar-Awards ceremony, with my family. Some of my Hollywood favorites were present: Spielberg, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Oprah, Meryl Streep, George Clooney... and, many more. And yes, there were our own A.R. Rehman and the rich-couple, Anil and Tina Ambani. Meryl Streep got the Best-Actress Oscar, last night, for portraying the stupendous role as Margaret Thatcher, The Iron Lady. It was her third Oscar... and seventeenth nomination! When this otherwise tough-as-iron lady came on the glittery stage to receive her Golden Trophy, her heart had almost stopped! When she collected herself and spoke, there were tears in my eyes! The French actor, Jean Dujardin, who bagged the Best-Actor Oscar for his leading role in 'The Artist', was hysterical as he stood there with a note in his hand... His heart pounded so much, that I could sense that, here, ...

No one will come to know When I feel happy, today… The birds will be too busy To stop and sing for me; The breeze can’t be too friendly, And, a Comet is a distant reality! Still, when I am happy, The birds sound sweet to me, The breeze feels gentle… And the Comets do hold hope! It is very hot outside, now… Breeze has come to a standstill, The Sun is angry… But then, I am happy Despite the fact That the breeze and Sun are not with me. When I am happy, The world is an amazing place to be! GERALD D’CUNHA Pic.: Vivek D’Cunha

There is something called the inherent nature in a man and an animal. In birds and the fishes. In snakes and the flowers. But, all men are not alike as all animal too. All birds are not alike as all fishes too. The snakes and the flowers,  can’t be an exception, either.  I have an inherent nature in me, which, sometimes, leaves me perplexed. I wonder: How has this nature come in me? I have tried to keep grudges, at times. But, I have failed. I have tried to hide my dark side… or the vulnerable side… abstain myself from revealing it to others easily… but, I find myself being very open and vulnerable, time and again. Hurting someone or trying to get even with him, taking revenge or trying to destroy someone’s reputation  - all this doesn’t come easily to me… And, even if, rarely, I fall into its prey, I see myself restlessly trying to amend, make peace… re-align myself and move on in life. Now, why do I, today, touch upon th...

If peace is what I yearn for, Peace should be my call! Peace always involves another person... And, I really wish, He too yearns for it... the way I do! I wish, He understands me - My hurt, My anger, My fear...  And my pain. Yes, I wish, He will not repeat his acts -  Deliberate or otherwise... I just want him to drop the weapons... Understand me, Apologize to me, Promise me... Love me! But then... It is my wish! Why do I yearn for peace? For whose sake - his or mine? What if he doesn't come around? Doesn't understand me? Doesn't apologize? Doesn't promise? When we drop our guns, The world thinks the war has ended... And peace has come. But, we alone know what peace is... And when does it come! If peace is my heart's thirst, Peace should be my call... And, therefore, it goes: Peace can come in my heart... Even in the midst of war! I needn't wait till he is rea...

  This morning, I woke up at 5... and I was fresh as a morning flower. It is a Sunday... and it is 7 now. Not only in our house, but all around, people wake up late on a Sunday... Yes, they need that extra rest... They need to let go the stress, take it easy. What was my state of mind when I woke up early at 5, today? Was I up-beat or low in my spirits? Was I looking  forward with hope and excitement or was I looking back with regret and irritations? Was it just one more day or one more opportunity... to learn, grow, make friends, heal wounds, make peace, laugh, thank and LIVE? As I said at the start, this early morning, when I rose, I was fresh as a morning flower. Yes, I was up-beat and looking forward with hope and excitement. Yes, the day that was coming did seem to me, today, as one more chance to learn, grow, thank, celebrate... and LIVE! I remembered this sweet story told by a priest during a Sunday sermon. There was this very elderly lady. O...

I have just returned from my session with the BMS kids in the Mumbai College which I spoke about in my today’s morning post.  Anupam had invited me to conduct it, and I had agreed, without even my second thought. Anupam wanted me to make these kids ponder over the questions: How I chose what I did? Have I chosen BMS by a conscious choice or by default? Is BMS my choice or my parents’? Am I happy doing it… or, do I regret? Am I giving my best… Or, is my heart somewhere else?  Anupam is a young, dymamic trainer. In fact, he is a fresh BMS kid himself. But, unlike any other BMS kid, in Anupam’s case, it was training and mentoring that was crystal as a summer-day sky… He would invest his energies to achieve this goal. His, uncle Uday, had sown the initial seeds in Anupam… His late grandpa had inspired him with his volcanic energy… His aunts and sister had propelled him to go the extra-mile… And, so, here was our Anupam, at a very young age, in the ‘bu...

Last afternoon, Anupam, a very dear ex-student of DAWN CLUB, called me. He wanted me to take the concluding session for the batch of young BMS-students at a Mumbai college.That is, today morning! Even before I I could ask the other details such as the topic, the duration,, the venue etc., I had promised Anupam - 'I Do'. Anupam is my good friend Uday's nephew. Way back in 1989, when I had just started THE DAWN CLUB, I had started it not because I knew how to carry out all those activities on personal growth, but because, my heart was propelling me to do so. I did not know how to go about it... Still, I had started it. Hundreds of students had come around me to cheer me up... and, that was my greatest strength. But then, that could have been my potential doom-device too! I could easily succumb to the pressure of expectations from all my well-wishers! No, it was not supposed to be so. If your intentions are right, God sho...