Gerald D'Cunha

There are two kinds of people in this world: the cribbers and the doers. Those who habitually complain about what is wrong with everything around… and, those who come forward and do something to solve the problem. Yes, those who curse the darkness - the reactive people; and those who light a candle do dispel the darkness - the proactive ones. All around us, we find these two kind… They have been there since the time of Kane and Abel. Last morning, a member of my housing Society showed me a ‘mess’ created outside by some other members and started cribbing. What mess? These members love crows and pigeons…. so much, that they throw from their windows all sorts of food items, particularly the leftover chapattis, so that the hungry crows can be fed. A good value. They also argue, that the food should not be wasted. Another good value. But, then, they are blind to other values… that they make mess outside and cause inconvenience to other members. These mem...

When our little-ones get bored during their two-hour PD sessions, they want something to light-up their hearts... Some short movie, some songs-videos which can make them dance, some quiz, riddles or jokes and, mostly, some games. Because I want them to become leaders, overcome their shyness, I always encourage them to come out with their own stress-buster ideas. Believe me, they come out with plenty... It's always games galore... Right from Dumb-charades to Chinese Whispers. They enjoy.... I, too. Last afternoon, while they were playing 'Chinese Whispers', I wondered if they knew that's how almost all of us went about communicating in our daily lives. There were about twenty-five of those little ones, all below age 13. The little lady in the first bench here whispered something into the little-fellow's ears, next to her. The message got transmitted from ear to ear till it reached the last b...

Little children are so pure, so beautiful. These days, I spend a lot of my time with these innocent angels… Yes, to teach them some things, which will help them grow up as fine individuals in life. The world calls such things as ‘Personality Development’. Whatever they call it, it is about growing up in life with a strong mind and a beautiful heart. Yes, a healthy body, as well.  From my own experience of growing up over all my fifty-four years in this world, I have been whispering in those lovely hearts two things in this regard: “Honey, don’t complain too much.”… “Learn to forget and forgive quickly.” In fact, little children have the shortest memory: One moment they fight like worst enemies; the next moment they cozy-up like the best pals! That’s really so refreshing about children. They don’t bear grudges; they don’t conspire against others… They don’t like poison in their hearts… In fact, they do not know what poison is! Beari...

Last evening, during the PD session, a twelfth-standard student was speaking on the topic: “Growing up as only child or growning up with siblings – My stand”.   The young-boy had a wonderful younger-sister and, was quick in taking his stand: Growing up with siblings was a heavenly experience for him. So, he shared with us that… It was really touching. But, what touched me most was the line that he unwittingly coined before us. “My dad is a sailor and for a major part of the year is away from us. So, our mom has to play the role of our dad too,” he told us, “but, she has never been a ‘Helicopter Parent’! I loved that phrase – ‘Helicopter Parent’.  “Do you all know what a ‘Helicopter Parent’ means?” I asked the class, “Have you heard it before?” “No sir,” was the answer. “Where did you find it, dear?” I asked the young-man. “Sir, in our Psychology text book,” the boy, who was in an ISE Board said.  ...

We live in an imperfect world… and with imperfect people all around us. Above all, we are imperfect people, too. This imperfection should instill in us the wisdom not to keep unnecessary expectations from people around us… Rather, keep them to the minimum and keep only reasonable ones. Similarly, it should not turn us bitter when we see others spreading false propaganda against us… even plot against us. It is an imperfect world, and people around us are imperfect. We, too, are imperfect. So, people can be unreasonable, ungrateful and vengeful and vindictive.  The main thing is that we have to live in this world and with the people around us. It is important that we keep our respective faith in our values, our God and life itself… in the goodness of life. We should remain buoyant… Pro-life.    The persons who act mean towards us are there to make our faith in life even stronger… and not to rob us of it. It is not ...

One of the mightiest breakthroughs in our lives comes when we find ourselves.  I am talking about, here, about our vocation – our calling – in life. Scores of parents keep complaining about their young-ones: “Sir, he has no interest in studies,” “She gets carried away by her friends,” “He is wasting his time,” “She is wasting her talents,” “How can we make him decide what he wants do in life?” “Why is she not listening to us?”… Where are these complaints coming from? Why, even though a young-one knows that it is about his or her own life, about his or her own success and happiness… yes, in spite of knowing it so well, why do they cause such anxiety in their parents’ minds? Yesterday, parents of three young boys met me through the day… Yes, with the very same anxiety: “Sir, please do something!” These young men are lost.  All that is needed is to help them, in some way or the other, find themselves.  Y...

A nother lesson we should teach our children, very early in life, is to celebrate our differences… All sorts of differences. In fact, I am wrong here. This lesson we should learn from our little children! For, children are pure… They are unbiased… Division and hatred doesn’t come to them naturally. It is when they see us talking about division – when they see our prejudiced reactions towards people around us, including the ones within our own families – yes, our children pick them up from us. In my last Post, I had focused on our uniqueness… How God has made each one of us unique, special. I had emphasized how powerful that faith of ours in uniqueness could be. I had called it – ‘The Gospel of Faith’! Today, I wish to focus on the other side of this faith: that, as much as I am unique, special, my fellow-being, too, is… That, I should not only believe in the beauty, strength and power of my own uniqueness, I should believe in h...

  “God doesn’t mass produce His children… There is no assembly line in His production house.” W hen I first came across this line, I remember, I had felt immensely re-assured. I was a young boy, then… very anxious, scared to approach life… constantly comparing myself with others… constantly putting myself down… Constantly hammering myself with the self-judgment - “He is good, I am no good,” …“He is okay, I am not okay.”… I worried, with great pain, if there was a place for me in this world. Yes, it was during these anxious days of mine, I came across the assurance, that God had created me as a unique person on this planet… That, no matter how many billions had come and gone, would come and go… each of us was born to be ‘special’… incredibly unique. I realized, with great surprise, that there was not a soul on this earth exactly like me… with my finger-prints and voice… with my one-of-kind look.  So, if God ...