Gerald D'Cunha

  “Afternoon knows what the morning never suspected.” Robert Frost   T he morning, soon, becomes the afternoon, you see! We grow old… It’s afternoon, now… What the morning suspected, yes, the afternoon knows… That’s something so beautiful about Life… With age, we mature like good wine… That’s something so beautiful about Life, too! So, when I complete 64 tomorrow, how shall I celebrate this milestone? Do I know, that some hours are still left for the celebration, and, anything can happen in those few hours? I think, this tendency of counting our age by the number of years simply drops when we begin to value each blessing in our lives. Rightly, it is said, “Count your age not by the numbers, but by your blessings.” So, I ask myself on the eve of completion of my 64 years on this planet, “Can I start counting, at least, 64 blessings in my Life?” It sounds silly! Like everyone else, I, too, have never bothered to count my blessings. I know, I will get ti...

  “Animals are my friends, and I don’t eat my friends.” George Bernard Shaw     T he definition of ‘Integrity’, I leant many years ago, went like this: “When you do what you know.” As per this definition, one of the areas of lack-of-integrity in my life is the fact, that I still eat animals. Well, if that sounds crude, let me put it in a more acceptable way: I have been a non-vegetarian all my life. Paul McCartney’s famous words come to my mind: “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian.” I don’t think, my favourite ‘Beatles’ had seen any slaughterhouse with a glass wall. By all probability, somewhere along his adulthood, his inner walls must’ve seen how innocent animals were slaughtered to satisfy his fellow-human’s tastebuds! I have not seen a slaughterhouse with glass walls, either. But, my inner walls have not registered what Paul’s had. I and my fellow animal-eaters are perfectly selective in what our eyes wish to see! So, ...

  “Throwing away food is like stealing food from the tables of those who are poor and hungry.” Pope Francis   I love good food. Yes, I, often, indulge in it… Eat more than what is required for my body and nourishment. Some of my friends keep consoling me, “Friend, it’s okay… Life is short… Make merry when it is there… Don’t feel guilty; don’t regret.” Well, regret I would, when the excess food in my belly refuses to digest. That’s when I stare at the reality, that I am supposed to be eating to live, not living to eat. Meanwhile, I am not writing this Post to highlight the merits and demerits of overeating. I am writing it to highlight the respect for food… The simple food. The maid, who keeps my office and classrooms clean, has been helping me for over twenty-five years. She lives in one of the hutments, clustered along a nearby hill… ‘Dongar’ , they call it. When an elderly woman has served you for over twenty-five years, it’s natural to have in her a deep sens...

“Getting stuck in the past is like guarding a cemetery.” Hugo Pratt   I n one of his inspiring books, Dr. Wayne Dyer narrates a moving story from his life. By this time, the famed author, counselor and motivational guru, was a young doctorate in psychology and had touched lives of millions of people through his books, talks and insights into human mind. But, something inside his own mind was weighing upon him like a heavy rock. Rather, it was holding him back in chains, like a prisoner of his own mind. It was his anger, hate and inability to forgive his own father, who had deserted Dr. Dyer’s mother and three little children (Dr. Dyer being the youngest of the three) years ago. This episode had, obviously, brought upon the family a great deal of pain and suffering. As a little kid, left to live in an orphanage, the experience had left a lasting   negative-impression on him. Years rolled by… Dr. Dyer became a doctorate in psychology… Started healing people… Wrote seve...

“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” R. W. Emerson in his essay, ‘Self-reliance’.   I was introduced to Ralf Waldo Emerson’s inspiring essays through Napoleon Hill’s books. In his famous classic, ‘The Law of Success’, Napoleon Hill has separate chapters on topics such as ‘Initiative’, ‘Enthusiasm’, ‘Leadership’ etc. What hit me the most, at the young age of 21, when I was reading this book over and over again (alongside his ‘Think and Grow Rich’) was the idea called ‘Initiative’. I learnt, that it’s the personal quality of an individual to do tasks without being told… doing them without looking at the watch… doing them for not money alone… It’s going the extra-mile to do them and, above all, do them with a great deal of self-reliance. As I said, at an age of 21, when one gets to grasp the importance of these personal qualities, one, also, realizes how it helps to build his personal leadership. I learnt, early, that through these qualities, I was in ...

  “Don’t use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word would do.” Mark Twain   O ne of the advantages of being with young college-students – and also having a young son and daughter-in-law around – is, that I get to know many English words and expressions which are in vogue. I will not call them as some great vocabulary, but something that makes one feel like belonging to today’s world. Whether that word makes any sense or not is not at all important. Important thing seems to be this: Sound modern! Chalo , one such word, which I have stated ‘receiving’ from young lot is - ‘Heads-up’! I did not know at all what this word meant till quite recent days. Obviously, I first heard it from my son and some of my students… “I am giving you heads-up”… I slowly realized, that it meant: “I am telling you/informing you/warning you in advance.” Giving an advance notice, that is. For instance, while leaving for work in a hurry, this morning, my dear wife said calmly, “I have to ...

  “The person who cares about the problem owns the problem.” Henry Cloud & John Townsend   I f I had to describe, in one suitable phrase, my growing-up experience, it would be this: ‘Countless mistakes’! I am being honest! And, let me tell you this, with equal honesty: Many of those mistakes had come out of my poor self-image… I don’t remember holding a healthy self-image in my mind in my early years, particularly in my teenage years… It was very poor. It was only from my F. Y. B. Com days, I started dreaming about becoming a fine teacher and a writer – with that came a healthy self-image, and the desire to translate that image into a reality. Frankly, that’s all one has to do to ‘grow up’… Growing up, definitely, didn’t mean growing up into this 64-year self. I understand, today, that ‘Growing up means owning up’!   W ell, I just said that to a young student of mine a while ago. It was raining heavily this morning… Some of my students messaged me ...

  “Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many  days in the year as you make use of.” Charles Richards   I t’s has been raining heavily for two days, now. The skies are dark, the downpour is heavy and relentless. But, then, it is the rainy season… It is supposed to rain, the skies are supposed to be dark during this season. And, soon, this season will pass… the Winter will come, when, it is supposed to be cold. Finally, when the Summer comes, it is expected it to be hot, we expect ourselves to sweat more… The Nature goes about doing her job quietly, and faithfully. She sends seasons to us, each one with an expiry date… No season comes here to stay forever… One goes, another comes, another goes, yet another comes… That’s how Life, here on Earth, is designed to be. The key to happiness lies in making the most of each season when it presents itself before us. For example, it’s pouring heavily right now and I can see darkness outside my window even at 12...

  “If evolution really works, how come mothers have only two hands?” Milton Berle     T oday is my mom’s birthday… She completes 87. On her last birthday, mom was able to know, that it was her birthday. She was able to walk (with some support), talk, eat, pray, laugh, cry and feel. She was able to recognize everyone. But, on her this birthday, everything has changed: she had a fall, following which she was hospitalized, operated upon… since then, her condition has only deteriorated. Presently, she needs help for every little thing… She is unable to recognize any one or understand what is happening around her… She needs to be fed… A spoon of food takes time, and patience… Long time; long patience! Oscar Wilde had said this: “All women become like their mothers. It’s their tragedy. No man does. It’s his.” Often, these words make me wonder, as to why the poet had said this! Perhaps, I can understand why the poet had said it, by going back in time… A spoon of fo...

  “You don’t have to wait until you get to the top of the mountain, to enjoy the view.” Eleanor Brownn   O ne of the guilts, which I have not been able to fully shrug off my heart, is for not making some of my students realize, that teaching is not spoon-feeding… that, a teacher like me is not there to make them dependent, but independent. Fortunately, there is a sizable number of students, who realize the importance of independent thinking and self-study. They refuse to use a teacher like me as their crutch… They use their minds, their hearts and stay self-motivated. In all this, what is the role of the parents? Yes, spoon-feeding is a habit; and, like some other habits, it’s formed early at home through parents. There are so many parents, whose children go to some of the top schools affiliated to the great Boards, send their children to one tutor to another for every subject. Many go to these tutors directly from the school… from early morning till late nights,...