Gerald D'Cunha

Pic.: Pradeep Nanda “S o, what’s your big plan for 31 st night?” Either some have, already, asked you this question; or, you have, already, asked this to some… ‘Big plan’, here, invariably, means a ‘big party’… Yes, the New-year party! Well, though many around me still ask me this question, I have, somehow, stopped asking this to others… There is hardly any sense in it… hardly any meaning. I have given my students a holiday on 31 st and 1 st . They are very, very happy. “Happy New-year to all of you,” I wished them, when they left, this morning. “Happy New-year sir,” the response was resounding! “Sir, what is the big plan for 31 st ?” some asked me… “Go, enjoy yourself; have fun,” I smiled without answering their question. Now, I will be meeting them, directly, on 3 rd January… that is, in the ‘new year’… What difference will I see in my students, and what difference will they see in me? I am shaking my head... and smilin...

Pic.: Pradeep Nanda “I n Life, if we can turn our hobbies into our professions,” the famous line reminds us, “we do not have to ‘work’ at all!”  But, many of us may not be so lucky. We do have our hobbies; but, they  aren't  our professions… So, I, always, tell my friends and students this: “Never ever give up your most intimate hobbies… They will help you enjoy your work; they will help you do away with your stress; they will keep you, always, childlike with curiosity and zest… they will keep you, forever, young and spiritual… Yes, they will give you a good reason to live, hope, work and love.” A hobby is the only thing that we do with our total heart… Our passion, enthusiasm and dedication go into it completely… No one needs to coax us to do it, let alone force… Money and reward are not at all the concerns; there is nothing to prove to anyone, anything… Out hearts prompt us to do it, and we just do it… Yes, often, without being worried a...

Pic.: Bhupen Kalyani L ast evening, Vikas, one of the participants of our on-going Public-speaking course, told us a beautiful story. O nce, in a forest, there lived a crow. He had no worries or complaints and was fully content in life. “I am the happiest bird in this forest,” he kept reminding himself. And, then, one day, the crow saw a swan. “She is so white and beautiful; and I am so black and ugly,” the crow was now lamenting. With his saddened heart, he said to the swan, “You have been blessed with such whiteness, beauty and grace, that you must be the happiest bird in this forest.” “My friend, that’s how I would think for a long time;” the swan responded, “Then, one day, I saw a beautiful parrot, and everything changed inside me. The parrot had two colors; he was gifted to speak; humans loved to take him home and raise him like one of their own… So, I think, it is not me, but the parrot who is the happiest bird in this forest.” The cro w, thus...

Pic.: Pradeep Nanda “I call a spade a spade.” Whenever someone uses this phrase, I quietly say a prayer for him: “O Lord, have mercy on my friend; please save him!” Save him from what? Till someone doesn't tell this man the same thing, with the same bluntness and arrogance, he will never realize why, many a times in life, it is not sensible to call a spade a spade… I have noticed this: the guy who makes a big deal about calling a spade a spade, is most touchy about someone treating him with the same medicine! A gentleman I know has just started a food business. He sent me some complimentary dishes to taste which were reasonably good. The other day, I gave him a substantially-large order. Some of the dishes turned out to be very good, while some, really bad. Now, he was not my thick friend, nor he was a total stranger. I knew him fairly well and he sincerely wanted me to give him my feedback, too.  Though, for a moment, I felt annoyed and I wa...