THIS LIFE COULDN'T HAVE BEEN BETTER
Pic.: Aparna Khanolkar Sheth
I have
never asked God to give me a long life. But, I have, always, asked Him, and
still ask, to give me the ability to live it passionately... with all the ups
and downs, highs and lows... with the eyes and heart of a little child – always
filled with wonder and awe, always feeling small before His incredible
vastness... remaining strikingly aware of my limitations as well as of the
power hidden in my soul...
Fifty six years! It is not a short life-span. It is big,
it is long. And, yes, I haven’t abused it, haven’t taken it for granted... And,
for this, I do feel happy and proud of my own self.
So, today, if I have to go on my knees and thank God for
fifty-six reasons, what they would be?
My heart pours out...
1. For giving me those simple, yet amazing, parents.
2. For giving me my four wonderful – yet strikingly
different – brothers.
3. For the opportunity to be born in a Christian
family... For giving me my most incredible idol – Jesus Christ... Yet, helping
me remain absolutely alive to the priceless wisdom of every other faith
4. For making me more spiritual and less religious....
Never ritualistic, leave alone dogmatic or rigid about what I believe in...
5. For the simple, warm and diverse relatives in my life,
so many of them, so many...
6. For the warmth and the richness – and the craziness –
of all my friends... so simple, so honest, so caring...
7. For every teacher, right from my baby days till now –
the one I adored or - in my ignorance – abhorred, the one I feared and the one
I worshipped... yes, for every one of them, for making me whatever I am
today...
8. For the humble, cash-starved home in which I was
born... where, I could learn the value of dreaming, hard-work, hope and
faith... Where I could learn what living with constrains means, what ‘the next
meal’ really means...
9. For sending me to the local vernacular-medium
school... so that I could know how to learn to think, write and speak in
English, and above all, why I should not stop learning it once my school and
college was over...
10. For sending into my life my idol, Prof. B.S. Raman,
to teach me for all three years of my degree college... so that I could sit in
his class and constantly dream of becoming like him... a fine, committed and
passionate teacher...
11. For the opportunity to come to this great city of ‘Bombay
12. For those initial jobless-days in Bombay, when I could wander through
the nook and corner of this city, on whose footpath I could pick up ‘Think and
Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill... which would give me the tools to translate my
own dreams...
13. For the train TC for catching me when I traveled
without ticket, making me go through the embarrassment that afternoon... and,
because of which, I could get up and decide that night, say enough of wandering
and thinking...
14. For giving me my shy-as-a-touch-me-not grandpa, whose
shyness and philosophical-streak I could inherit... my vivacious and
to-the-boot extrovert grandma, whose graceful and confident nature I could long
to own, all my life...
14. For the love of books, where I could find my true
resting place... where I could experience what legend called - the flight of an
eagle...
15. For the love of poetry... the kind my heart would
feel at ease with... straight from the heart, and straight into the hearts...
16. For instilling in me the fondness for good movies and
music... where I could feel centered, inspired, transported and even charged...
17. For teaching me the value and power of writing my
simple notes in diaries... and, eventually doing the same in my daily
blog-posts... and feel stupendously happy about it...
18. For teaching me early in life the lesson: ‘Nothing is
a waste is life’...
19. For giving me my quick temper... through which I
could be aware of my mortality, my fallibility...
20. For teaching me the value and power of
reconciliation... Never ever to harbor ill-will against anyone, for long...
Make peace before it is too late...
21. For helping me express all my emotions fully and
openly, even though quite often they would make me seem very, very
vulnerable...
22. For helping me to remain, always, simple,
down-to-earth and approachable...
23. For helping me the secret of making money, yet hiding
away from me the secret of hoarding it...
24. For helping me recognize, quite early in life, my
hidden talents which I could discover and encash fully... Place them on a high-stand
and allow them to shine, give light to the world...
25. For enabling me to impact lives – plenty and plenty
of them, each day... just by doing the work I am blessed to do best...
26.For the wonderful gift of seeing the beauty of wayside
flowers and capture it in my daily writings...
27. For the amazing ability to weave stories out of
ordinary events in my life...
28. For keeping me an eternal idealist...
29. For keeping me a kid-like dreamer...
30. For keeping me a never-say-die romantic at heart...
31. For storing loads of sensitivity in my heart...
32. For making me a peace-maker...
33. For making me an excellent organizer...
34. For teaching me, early, the value and power of initiative,
the quality of going the extra-mile, working more than what I am paid for...
35. For helping me become aware of my fears,
insecurities, envy, and anger, through which I could learn to be compassionate
and tolerant...
36. For showing me, time and again, the ugliness of my
ego, so that I could quickly get off the tiger’s back before it is too late...
37. For the ability to survive with little...
38. For teaching me, to a great extent, the truth: no
matter how good you are, some people will, always, criticize you... which
means, you should never stop being good...
39. For reminding me, again and again and again, that I
may be an important person in this world... but, the world can, and will,
function – very, very smoothly – without me...
40. For the awareness that what work I do, so many around me do... But, I can still do it in my own special way...
41. For the awareness that there is always scope for
creativity... it is endless, infinite... and, abundantly available...
42. For the great truth that everything man creates comes
from the ‘thin air’... and, it is forever available to each and every earnest
soul on this planet...
43. For the old truth that time and tide wait for none...
44. For teaching me the priceless lesson in life: You can
not be grateful and unhappy at the same time... That, ‘Thank-you’ is the most
sincere prayer you can ever say...
45. For another powerful lesson: If you have patience, a
lot can be done in life...
46. For giving me a sound mind and able body... I couldn't have asked for better...
47. For teaching me not to judge others too much; and
whenever I do, to retreat immediately...
48. For teaching me, again and again, that I can not make
anyone in this world happy in spite of whatever I try to do for them. One has to
learn to be happy...
49. For teaching me to be more proactive and less
reactive in life... Blame less, take charge more...
50. For helping me see the good in others, operate from
there... and be blind to their flaws...
51. For reminding me, again and again, that I should seek
help from others... Life is inter-dependent... and, if I am earnest, there is,
always help, around...
52. For helping me to be a good a team-player and, then, a good
team-leader...
Finally,
I have kept these four reasons last, consciously... Because, they are so
important to me... that I want them to live in my mind, and in your mind, forever...
53. For thousands of my students, who are my constant
source of inspiration, who keep me forever young and kicking... who have helped
me to found THE DAWN CLUB... who give me the constant hope to live for...
54. For my wonderful son, who has helped me understand
what Kahlil Gibran famously said: “Your children are not your children... They are
Life longing for itself...” For teaching me what ‘Being your own man’ really
means... A mighty blessing...
55. For my amazing wife, my constant companion... for
helping me practice what I preach, for reminding me the age-old truth –
‘Charity, always, begins at home’... For keeping me firmly planted on the
ground... For sending me back, constantly, to the nursery of Love-school and
brush up the very basics.... Very, very honestly so... A great force in my
life...
56. For the first and the last reminder in life: Life is,
really, really, short... Live it to the fullest, without regrets, without
guilt, without animosity, without blame, without carrying excessive baggage...
Love now, forgive now, dream now, embrace now, thank now... and celebrate
now... be at peace now...
Thank-you Lord, thank-you all...
I am saying ‘YES’...
This Life couldn't have been better... I really mean it.
GERALD D’CUNHA
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