Gerald D'Cunha

W hat is genuine and good reveals itself, sooner or later… Yes, no matter how much our opponents try to tarnish it with taint or bury it under muck. They cannot stop what is genuine and good from revealing itself, when time comes. Similarly works its counterpart: What is fake and bad reveals itself, sooner or later, too… Yes, no matter how desperately and aggressively we try to ‘sell it’ through our might and propaganda, along the way suppressing and oppressing the genuine and the good. When time comes - and as they say, when the tide changes – the bluff gets exposed… That’s the cycle of Karma: If we do good, the good comes back to us… It’s only a matter of time. The question, therefore, is this: What about those who hurt us and try to destroy us relentlessly?   Yes, many a time, we find ourselves helpless in front of this tyranny. We do tend to think, often, that there is no divine justice… There is… There is! Time doesn’t spare any tyrant. Ever

W e all have close people in our lives…. Some of them are very, very close. But, ‘closeness’ does not mean we should hold the same political, religious and other beliefs. It does not mean we should follow the same eating, dressing and living habits. Some of my close friends do not eat non-vegetarian food, while I do. Some blindly follow a certain political party or its leader; I don’t. Some love big cars and houses; I am fine with a small house and no car. Yet, for years, there has never been a dent in our closeness… Yes, despite these differences in our preferences.   In my view, the dent in our closeness comes: when we are unwilling to accommodate our differences in our preferences… Like in our eating or praying habits… Or, when we are willing to root for our political leader more than our close friends… When we are willing to let our years of closeness fall apart, just to win an argument and prove a point. S ome days ago, I found myself discussing, with one o

S elf-importance and Self-respect are different - as different as chalk and cheese. Self-respect is healthy; self-importance is not. I think, all of us have this chalk-and-cheese stuff tucked inside us. If self-respect outweighs self-importance, it’s good for us, as well as for people around us. On the other hand, if our self-importance outweighs our self-respect, it’s bad for all of us. Often, we fail to recognize if a certain behavior of ours stems from our self-respect or self-importance. In that lies a lot of our misery, too… Let me not talk about others. I am nobody – in fact, too mortal a soul – to judge others. I am aware how frequently I throw my weight in my class room… when I use my temper and tantrum, when I am driven by impatience, when I act with intolerance. It, certainly, can’t be coming from my self-respect. It’s coming from my deep sense of insecurity, the area I haven’t still worked on fully; rather, I haven’t completely gotten o

S ome of the most beautiful houses on this planet are built by not humans… but by birds, spiders and ants. Yes, we may not call them ‘houses’, but ‘nests’, ‘webs’ and ‘anthills’. But, are they not their houses, which they raise with the same love, passion, dedication, patience, sacrifice and hope – yes, for their loved ones? And, despite the harsh reality of imminent destruction, these creatures make no compromise when they go about raising their houses… They raise them with no fear, bitterness or sorrow… They build their beautiful houses, all over again, even after you and I demolish them in a blink! Well, you and I have a different story to tell… We raise our beautiful ‘homes’, giving our all to our little children, raise them up to adulthood, and then, one day, we see them go away to raise their own… And, knowing it very well, we still do it with all our love, dedication, patience, sacrifice and hope… Yes, only to send them off, so that they can raise their o

C an we remain simple as we achieve great success in life – name, fame, power and position? For most of us, it’s extremely difficult. When we succeed – when name, fame, power and position come – we do change; often, we change beyond recognition! So, whenever I see successful people who have chosen to remain simple in their lifestyles, I feel very inspired. Their choice poses a challenge to me… and, I feel a lot humbled, apart from being inspired. Yes, it’s very difficult to make that choice; it’s very difficult to remain firmly planted on the ground when we are so successful… To me, two such people are our former President Dr. Abdul Kalam and Mrs. Sudha Murthy, the Chairperson of Infosys Foundation and a well-known author. D r. Kalam was born in the temple-town Rameshwaram. He father was a fisherman and a boat-owner, who was also the imam of a local mosque. Dr. Kalam’s mother was a housewife. With seven siblings, his family was poor. As

“O pinions are the cheapest commodities in the world,” I had come across this line in a book when I was a new-comer in Mumbai (Bombay) and struggling to get a foot-hold here. The context was: what I wanted to do in life and what others thought I was capable of doing. The book I was reading was ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill… “ Whatever  the mind of  man can conceive and believe , it  can  achieve. ” I needed to hear this message desperately at that time; because, I was so full of self-doubts… and so full of low-confidence. In such a state, one was so susceptible to external voices: “No, you can’t do it… Give up.” So, the advice of Napoleon Hill had come just in time. I quickly realized, that others’ opinion – no matter who those people are – was only their opinion… It’s their truth, their belief and their story. Not mine. I became almost immune to such gloomy, defeating prophecies… I began to focus on what was important and dear to my heart… If it was

“What is destined will reach you, even if it be underneath two mountains. What is not destined will not reach you, even it be between two lips.” - An Arabic Proverb I was watching an interview with an actress – a great dancer - of yesteryear. She was an outsider with no connections in the film industry. She did not look Indian and she did not speak Hindi at that time. But, she went on to carve a place for herself as a sensuous and graceful dancer. What surprised me the most was her outlook towards Life and Success. She said, “If you are a hard worker and if you are very sincere with your work, your destiny has to be good… So, that counts a lot. There are so many artists who are much-more talented than we are…They are struggling, and they are struggling all their lives. So, you need Lady Luck along with your hard-work and sincerity. It’s everything put together. In my case, everything just came my way. See, I will tell you this: What is yo

I f you do not know where Mangalapuram is, let me help you: it’s Mangalore, now called Mangaluru… Magala Uru , which, in Kannada means ‘Daughter’s place’. Anyway, friends from Kerala, always, called it - and they continue to call it - as ‘Mangalapuram’. We are immediate neighbours… a lot of spill-over! Mangalore is so full of Keralites… They run so many businesses - from hotels to recruitment agencies… They work in every sphere – in hospitals as doctors, nurses and technicians… in offices as mangers and clerks… in schools and colleges as students and teachers. St. Aloysius College, where I studied, had hundreds of Malayalee students and scores of teachers, both in school and college. They belonged to all communities – Hindu, Muslim and Christian. But, the amazing thing about them was: they spoke only one language – Malayalam. The language bound them so much, that their religious affiliation dissolved when it came to observing festivals like Onam, Eid and Christmas. It