Gerald D'Cunha

“Each of us guards a gate of change that can be opened only from the inside.” - Stephen Covey L osing my patience with my students – when they do shoddy work, when they bunk, when they don’t do home-work, when they show total indifference etc – has almost become part of my nature. After all, I have been teaching for over forty-one years or so (I started teaching since age 18 when I was in F.Y. B.Com). So, like everything else in life, we all tend to become a bit tired and irritated doing the same thing days after days, years after years… My love and passion for teaching have not died and they will never die… But, patience, quite often, dries up… and, I tend to show it before my students… Well, mercifully, my students think that my impatience and irritation with them do not stem from my bias or hatred. They empathize with me and think it is for their good… Let me confess: that’s a huge relief for me! Yes, I love my students and I am really co...

W ho is the richest man on this earth? Who is the strongest? Who is the most intelligent? And, who is the most beautiful woman in this world? Who is the fairest? Tallest?Wittiest?... All that rubbish, I say. This world has more than 7.6 billion people, today… and, I am supposed to vote for the richest, the strongest, the most intelligent, the most beautiful, the fairest, the tallest and the wittiest… Right? The wealthiest men do not flaunt their wealth, nor do the strongest men flaunt their bodies… The most intelligent men and women do not take part in the IQ and JK contests… nor do the most stunning women walk the ramp… Beauty, always, lies in the eyes of the beholder… Some of the tribal women are the most beautiful creations on this planet… While the wealth made of gold, stock and cash can corrode, the wealth made of intangible substance cannot… And yes, self-confidence can be the best attire we can ever wear… Ironically, our shyness can be th...

“ It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out;  it's the pebble in your shoe. ” - Muhammad Ali F or the last three weeks or so, I have been watching videos of Muhammad Ali’s boxing contests… the famous ones and the less famous ones… His knock-outs and knock-downs… I have been reading anything and everything about Muhammad Ali… Watching his interviews, listening to his songs and speeches and, not to miss – his famous ‘trash-talk’. Call it ‘bragging’ if you like… Of course, at your own peril! People who thought Ali was a loud-mouth bragger and too self-obsessed - which include his legendary opponents like as Joe Frazier and George Foreman – later changed their opinion about Ali’s flamboyant-and-brash-sounding lingo… They ended up being his lifetime friends harbouring in their hearts tremendous respect for him… I was first introduced to Muhammad Ali by my dad when I was a little school boy, back in my village… Th...

“I t takes twenty long years to become an overnight success.” This used to be Dr. Deepak’s – let me call him only Deepak in this blog – constant reminder to the young ones in our PD sessions. He has been my student, friend, well-wisher, associate and, above all, teacher… However ironical it may seem! Deepak knew the profound message packed in the statement he was making… Life was tough for him and his two brothers while growing up. Their father, a technician, had shut down his small business due to financial setbacks… and dreams of becoming ‘somebody' in life seemed difficult and distant. They lived in a one-room house with common toilet… Studied in the reading room facility provided by a local organization… Worked hard and achieved whatever they have on sheer merit. Deepak became a doctor in Psychiatry (He chose to use his expertise in the Corporate sector in order to fulfill his desire to train, lead and inspire)… Rupak became a Catholic Priest (He is, presen...

“The only barrier that's blocking us from living an abundant life is our unwillingness to share what we have” ―  Dragos Bratasanu W hen I was closing my office around 7:30 last evening, my friend Vivek, who lives in the same building where my office and classes are situated, called me up... “Sir, I will be going to your side (towards my residence)… Please wait for a minute… I will drop you.” In a few minutes, Vivek was ready to pick me up. He was accompanied by his 14-year-old son, Vyomesh… They both were tucking inside their small Maruti car (on the back seat) their TV. It was an old box-type TV. “Are you taking it for repairs?” I asked Vivek “No sir, it is 15-year-old, but in a fantastic condition… We all love this TV,” Vivek said. “Then, where are you taking this?” I asked. Vivek looked at his son and smiled… “Sir, we are taking it to our maids’ house,” explained Vyomesh, “We just bought our new TV, today.” “How nice!...

I don’t understand a word of Tamil. But, last evening, I went to watch ‘Mersal’ all alone. Normally, I watch all movies with my wife. Yesterday, when I asked her to join me, she flatly refused. One reason was that she was not free… But, the main reason was, that she wouldn’t understand anything… That’s what she thought. Thus, I ended up watching ‘Mersal’ in the nearest multiplex all by myself. It was a packed theatre… I was surrounded by all Tamil-speaking audience… young boys and girls, little kids and elderly… I guess I was the only ‘oddball’ out there, who sat through this nearly 3-hour-long latest Tamil blockbuster without the ability to understand a single word in Tamil! For your information: there were no sub-titles either in English or Hindi or my mother-tongue, Konkani! But, that hardly made any difference. For, the movie was so fast-paced… the Music (by ‘The Mozart of Madras, A.R.Rahman) was so brilliant… the cinematography (by G.K. Vishnu) was world-c...

O ne of the toughest questions – in fact ‘THE’ toughest – I get to answer before my young students is:”Sir, what should I do after tenth?” I, also, encounter this question after twelfth and after T.Y, too… Frankly, some twenty years ago, when there were fewer options on Boards (SSC/ICSE/CBSE/IB etc) and, when there were fewer options after twelfth… Yes, I think, when options were fewer, it was easier for kids to choose… Now, more the options, the more the confusion! One of the biggest fall-outs of this ‘options-galore’ phenomenon is, that young ones come out too shallow in their academics without any depth… or love and passion for any particular subject or subjects… I come across this situation on a daily basis. It is difficult to bring about the depth, love and passion in young ones the way it was possible for us, the teachers, once… There is a story behind the choices most of us have made in life… I am talking about the career choices. Most of us have...

“The joy of seeing another person in pain, frustrated or angry is a delicacy only for the most wicked.” ―  Robin Sacredfire I think, in Life, our goodness is not goodness unless and until it is tested in the burning oven called evil. No matter how good, you think, you are – how virtuous, compassionate and pious – there has got to be someone in your life as wicked and evil-some as a Kamsa in Krishna’s life, Herod in Jesus’, Ravan in Ram’s and Hiranyakashipu in little Prahlad’s… Sometimes, I really wonder, if stories of Krishna, Jesus, Ram and Prahlad would have been ever complete without their respective villains… Yes, we need our villains to complete our stories… the stories of triumph of good over evil! Still, humans that we are… We get anxious and fearful to approach our lives with the thoughts of ‘battles’… We pray to God, each new day, to do away the ‘test’ from us… and, in the end, we all come to that silent zone of acceptance an...