Gerald D'Cunha

  “The toughest opponent you’re ever going to have to face is in the mirror.” Rocky Balboa S ince last evening, I must’ve watched this video, at least, half-a-dozen times…  And, let me confess: I did so for Pete Seeger! Pete Seeger was 90 when he was pumping life into that mammoth crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C, in Jan., 2009. It was at the inaugural concert of Barack Obama’s first Presidency. I bet, almost the entire crowd was made up of people around a quarter or a third of Pete's age! During his lifetime, about two dozen Presidential inaugurals came and went, two devastating World Wars exploded, apart from many more wars his country plunged into… He lived through the Great Depression… the Cults and the Isms, the Godliness and the Godlessness… And, through it all, he survived with his songs and music… Yes, I watched the video – ‘This Land Is Your land, and This Land Is My Land’ - just for Pete Seeger, the Legend… Yes, I prayed, as I watched it ov...

  “Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” Carl Sagan   A while ago, I was talking to a friend of mine from Kerala. The topic of discussion was, how, through tough times, some survive, while some don’t. He gave me an example of what he had just witnessed around him. Apparently, one of his elderly aunts, who was fair and beautiful, suddenly seemed a lot anxious to notice some dark patches on her face. When she went to see her doctor, he prescribed some cream so to do away with those dark patches from her fair face. But, then, Covid struck her the very next day, and within the following two days, she was gone! Meanwhile, in the same household, a cat had given birth to four beautiful kittens. As soon as the babies were born, some dogs attacked the mother cat, and the babies were left orphaned, all of a sudden. There was fear of attacks from not only the dogs, but also from some male cats. The kittens, somehow, survived… “Now, they are young, hale and health,” s...

  “The best kept secrets are those in plain sight.” George Banister   “T he whole Universe conspires in your favour when you really want something.”…   Is this what they call a ‘Conspiracy Theory’? If not, this one must be: “When your mind is idle – and heart is bereft of trust -   the whole Universe conspires against you.” “Idle mind is devil’s workshop”… Whoever said this first, he must have been a true angel! He must’ve, also, said this: ‘A heart bereft of trust, is the breeding ground of unhappiness.” Why would anybody – I say ‘anybody’ – be so obsessed to see me doom? Why would he be so sadistic to pull me down? Yes, there IS jealousy and there IS insecurity in this world. Yes, there ARE some people who believe, that my success means their failure… My happiness means their unhappiness and so on. But, that’s not the ‘Whole Universe’… Everything is not a ‘Plot’… a ‘Coup’… a ‘Conspiracy’. Sorry. Everybody, out there, is not a ‘conspirator’. Sorry....

  “You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.” Saul Bellow   L ast morning, my very trusted friend, and a fellow-trainer, Dr. Deepak, had shared a beautiful poem titled ‘The Will of Amrita Pritam’. It was so beautiful, that it had inspired me to write my yesterday’s Blog – ‘The Language of the Heart’. This morning, my trusted friend sounded a bit concerned… He shared another post which claimed, that the poem attributed to the revered poet from Punjab was a ‘FAKE’ one! Now, what would I do? I wrote this reply to my friend: “As desired in the Will (Kisi ka bhi ho), our ‘Lies, Greed, Envy, Selfishness… all have gone into the funeral pyre. Let’s not lose our sleep over it, dear Deepak. I wrote that piece from my heart. There ends the story. Thanks for the sincere concern. Love.” J esus Christ did not write the Gospels... Mathew, Mark, Luke and John did. These four men are telling us Jesus’ life story using His own words. Now...

  “The burning embers within me burst into flames, My body becomes a fire-lit torch. Ho someone! Send for the mid-wife.” Amrita Pritam   I don’t remember liking prose or poetry while I was in school. It was in my junior college, that   I started liking both. Amazing teachers had sparked this liking in my heart. It continued in my first-year degree, too. English or Kannada – it made no difference… Amazing teachers did. Later, as I started expressing my deepest feelings – love, joy, fear, worries all – in my private notes, I freely allowed myself to do it. Oblivious of the so-called ‘rules’ of prose or poetry, which the school syllabus stressed upon, now, I was blissfully and freely expressing whatever and however I wished to… When some of my close friends exclaimed - “It’s a beautiful piece of prose/poem”, I wondered - “Is it?” I still wonder!  For, I have no clue about the 'rules' of prose or poetry… School and college are long over, and there are no ...

  “We forget that life isn’t as bad as we are making it out to be. We also forget that when we blow things out of proportion, we are the ones doing the blowing.” Dr. Richard Carlson   I t’s very difficult to tide over the ‘big stuff’ in life, unless and until we learn to tide over the ‘small stuff’. Now, what I may refer, here, to be ‘small stuff’, may not be ‘small’ for you, and vice versa. Most of us tend to lose perspective when faced with small irritations in life… We tend to ‘react’ without even   waiting to take the next breath. In the process, we blow it all out of proportion… We end up making mountains out of the molehills, as the old saying goes. The ability to pause before we ‘respond’ is, rightly, the definition of the word ‘Responsibility’… Our ability to respond. It helps us react less to what happens to us in our daily life… to every small, little thing. We are able to stand back – stand aside – and see the ‘small stuff’ as only that – a ‘sma...

  “Fear is only as deep as the mind allows.”   Japanese Proverb   D o we all have some regrets in life? Like “If only I had not done that.”… “If only I hadn’t taken that decision.”… “If only I hadn’t worked for that person.”… “If only I hadn’t married that person..”… “If only I hadn’t invested in that Stock.”… “If only I was employed and not self-employed.”…"If only I hadn’t trusted that person so much.”… “If only I did not live at that place.”… “If only… “If only…” “If only…” Often, we are advised not to keep any regrets in life. Yes, that’s a sane advice. However, the reality is, that we do have many regrets in life. Not having any regrets means, that we haven’t lived at all… haven’t made any mistakes… haven’t taken any wrong decisions… haven’t had any bad relationships… haven’t burnt our hands… haven’t lost any money… haven’t come across any wrong people… haven’t eaten any junk food… haven’t ignored our health… etc. etc.   etc.… And, if we haven’t ‘commi...

  “If wishes were horses, even beggars would ride them.” Old Proverb I am a firm believer in the power of positive affirmations. Years ago, when I had no hint about even the ‘A’ in this word ‘Affirmations’ – and had no hint about how to go about achieving what my heart desired – I was introduced to this concept by Napoleon Hill in his inspiring book, ‘Think and Grow Rich’. But, with one difference: He called it ‘Auto-suggestions’… Mind is a fertile field… We reap what we sow in it! Two days ago, when I had blogged on this theme, it seemed to have resonated with many. Paulo Coelho – in his beautiful fable ‘The Alchemist’ - had coulorfully described this phenomenon, with this line:   “When you want something, all the Universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Well, Paulo Coelho, certainly, did not invent this theory… Life, already had it in the air… Every Yoga practitioner breathes in and breathes out affirmations… “I feel connected”… “My mind is relaxed...

  “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” Abraham Lincoln   W e, often, use the phrase – ‘One day at a time’ – more as a cliché. When everything is going fine, and when the sky is sunny and bright, who cares for ‘One day at a time’… Life is, always, ‘stored’ for the future, you see… When the chips are down and the tomorrow looks totally clouded – as it does now – to most of us, the phrase ‘One day at a time’ – is no longer just a cliché; it’s is a fresh commandment to live by… Abraham Lincoln – or whoever said it – was right: The best thing about our future is, that it comes one day at a time… Yes, for all of us, that is. It’s not possible, for any of us, to foresee our future or secure it completely. When our ship is caught in a storm, the focus should be on stabilizing… with loads of patience and with all that we can… Only once the ship is steady, and storm subsides, can we sail on towards our destinations… To be desperate in a s...

  "Your passion is waiting for your courage to catch up.” Isabelle Lafleche   T alent and passion are a deadly combination. While God has placed in us one talent or the other, I believe, that He has left it for us to, both, discover our talents and pursue them with sufficient passion… Passion is personal… God wants us to find our own. Exactly a year ago, in last February, Aadi and Tanmay, who were in eighth standard in the same school, were brought to me by their very involved mothers. They wanted to enroll their kids for our Summer programme on Personality Development. As the programme was to take off post Mid-April, the mothers insisted, that I should keep them engaged in some helpful activity. Apart from his studies, Aadi was already busy with cricket coaching.   Tanmay, though didn’t have a major interest, was a very enthusiastic and well-cultured kid. I instantly fell in love with both of them, and went about helping them in my own way… Lessons of the hea...