Gerald D'Cunha

“I think, there is a human instinct to tell stories, no matter who you are and where you live.” -      Sara Kay T wo days ago, I happened to see a video shared by my younger brother, Vivek. It was around 10.30 in the night, and I was all set to hit the bed. Vivek, perhaps, had shared this video with me, because he knew how much I loved spoken and written words… how much I believed in the power of emotions in our speech and writings. Or, perhaps, he thought it was appropriate to share this video, as the subject of the story was quite relatable in my life: Cancer and my Chulbuli Zindagi … Spoken-word poetry is a great form of storytelling. Apart from the power of words, what makes this form terrific is the control, the evocative emotions, timings, subtle pauses, voice modulation, gestures and, the close - surprisingly, often, abrupt… leaving us gasping for more! Yes, watching a video like this, in a way,...

D o we have to agree with everything everyone says every time? The ‘everyone’ may be my best friend, parents, teachers, authorities and the government? My son is 27 and I am 61. When he was a baby, yes, he agreed with whatever I tried to teach him or convey… It’s no more so, now. And, that’s how it should be… I, seriously, think so. The movies, music, icons, leaders and philosophy that I love, my son may not… my wife may not. But, we are not enemies, we are not each other’s conspirators. In fact, I wonder, at times, if my son and wife had agreed with everything I believed in and every time… what kind of mind theirs would have been! Herd mentality… Just think about it! For thirty years, The Dawn Club has been helping young ones and little ones to speak and debate in public. Our senior Sir, Mr. Ramakrishnan, would, often, use the phrase – ‘The Parliamentarian Language’… to convey to us all, that we should be civil, gentle, graceful and, yet...

"I want you to act as if the house is on fire,  because it is."  - Greta Thunberg "N o one is too small to make a difference," this is the message Greta Thunberg is striving to impart through her life. This Swedish school girl is barely 16. Yet, she can pierce our collective  conscience as no other leader - be it political or be it spiritual - can do.  You and I are busy with our own things, mostly trying to secure our future by amassing wealth. Greta says, 'Our house is on fire... Act!" She says, that our governments and leaders give their fairy-tale speeches, while robbing off the children's future... The Greta effect is showing its ripple effect. Millions and millions of people, across the the world - little ones and grown-ups, ordinary citizens and tall leaders - yes, she has shaken them up all. Just as  she says, "We (little children)are watching you," the world and its tall leaders...

"Security is not the absence of danger,  but the presence of God,no matter what the danger." Anonymous A friend of mine, who lives in our housing colony, will be retiring from his government service on 30th of this month. He has organized a lunch party in his office, on this Friday (27th Sept), for his colleagues, close friends and well-wishers. Yesterday, I received an invite for it... "Please grace the occasion." I was delighted and quickly sent to my friend a thank-you message. "Can't believe! Too early to retire! I will be there, definitely!" This morning, my friend sent to me another message. "I have invited only five persons from our colony..." He had named all five invitees, including me.  I replied with a laughing emoji..."Thank you friend for counting me in the 'Magnificent Five'... Looking forward to it!" "Yes my friend, these '...

“Heroes are people who rise to the occasion and slip quietly away.” -      Tom Brokaw C hristopher Reeve, who became famous for playing Superman, was a hero for millions of his movie fans. He possessed an exceptionally-chiseled body. He played adventure sports and was passionate about acting. In 1978, when the first Superman movie was released, he was only 26. Since then, it was hard for most of his fans to disassociate him from that hallowed position of being a ‘hero’… ‘The Superman’! Then, the tragedy struck Reeve in 1995 (He was 43) while he was participating in a horse-riding competition. He was thrown off and the grave spine-injury left him paralyzed for rest of his life! ‘The rest of Reeve’s life’ means only nine years. For, he died at the age of 52! But, this life of Christopher Reeve on the wheel-chair, with the support of a portable ventilator, was a more heroic one than his life as a celluloid Superman. Reev...

"S ize does matter!". This was how the Hollywood movie, 'Godzilla' (1998) was promoted...  Little children - that we all are - are eternally wooed by size! The bigger the better... Be it a man or be it a creature... be it a birthday party or be it Olympics or 'Howdy, Modi'. We are all little children; and, as I said, we all like, eternally, anything that is big... huge... colossal! My son was a little boy of age 5, when I had taken him for the late-night show of 'Godzilla', in one of the local cinemas. All that I now remember about the monstrous creature was the mayhem it had created on the streets of New York City and the famous tagline used by the makers to sell the movie  - 'Size does matter'! Well, how do we all grow big like the Godzillas? This question has set all of us on our respective ambitious journeys... And, have we become the Godzillas? Does size really matter? Ambition is a powerful force...

T o me the biggest take away from the movie, ‘Section 375’ is its fundamental message: ‘The Law and the Justice are not the same’… For long, and for some strange reasons, I was waiting for someone to put forward this point strongly. ‘Section 375’ has done it, with hammer and tongs! Another point, though central to the story of the movie, again, for some strange reasons, I was waiting for someone to convey it strongly, was: the sexual relationships – be it within the marriage or outside the marriage – when turn sour can, also, turn unpredictably dangerous, traumatic and ugly… It is, always, as long as it goes… But, the ugly turn, pray, never comes… The Wise have always advised us to keep the hospitals and the courts away… How can we, but? We need doctors and we need lawyers… just as we need teachers, priests, traders and all in life… The hospitals and the courts, however despised they may be, do come calling like uninvited guests… ...

"I wonder what ants do on rainy days?" ― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood I t's raining relentlessly outside. Like Haruki Murakami, I, too, wonder what ants do on rainy days! Two days ago, while I was teaching Sharan, my eyes fell on his smartphone...  "New one?" I asked Sharan, feeling the beautiful baby in my hand. "Yes Sir," Sharan replied. "What is special about it?" I asked not realizing, that I was exposing my lack of general knowledge. "Sir, you don't know about this phone?" yelled Varun, Sharan's friend, almost mocking at my ignorance. "It's the latest Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus... It has five cameras... It can charge your phone just by placing yours on its back... etc. etc.," the young gun kept blazing. "How much did you pay for it?" I asked Sharan. "Sir, everybody knows about its price," Sharan said, ...