Gerald D'Cunha

  “Excellence endures and sustains; it goes beyond motivation into the realm of inspiration.” Azim Premji   I didn’t watch a single match of the just-concluded T-20 World Cup; but, my son did. Occasionally, I would take some updates from him… and, that’s about it. But, I wanted to watch yesterday’s Final – India Vs South Africa. And, as most Indians did, I watched it fully with my son and wife… The hangover of the high of our victory still makes my head dizzy… “What a victory… What a turnaround… What a thrill…!” Yes, like everyone else, I have been saying this aloud, and, rightfully so. There were so many goosebumps moments in last night’s contest… So many heartbreaking and heartwarming moments alike… In the end, as the famous line from the ABBA song goes – ‘The Winner takes it all.” Doesn’t he? Or, does he? I still remember my state of mind when we had lost the World Cup Final in 2023 in Ahmadabad. If that was a disturbing night, yesterday’s was exceptionally ex...

  “Sing like there’s nobody listening; and live like it’s heaven on earth.” William Watson Purkey   M y elder brother, Franklin, is a ‘retired man’… He is presently 68. Eight years ago, when he retired from his ‘sailing life’, he clearly knew, that he was not retiring from living life. So, today, he is busier than all his younger brothers. Mom is 89... For the last two years, she has been confined to her bed – unable to move, eat, recognize…Franklin and his wife, Merlyn, have taken upon them the responsibility to look after Mom – nurse her, feed her, care for her like a little baby. We brothers, who live faraway from our native home in Mangalore (where Mom lives with Franklin and Merlyn), endlessly feel not only guilty, but also grateful for the selfless care Mom has been receiving from my elder brother and his wife… Franklin’s daily duty gets over only around 10 in the night. A shower, followed by 2 pegs of whiskey and dinner – and some time on catching up/sharing s...

  “Teaching kids to count is fine; but, teaching them what counts is best.” Bob Talbert L ast afternoon, a husband and a wife had come to meet me. They wanted to enroll their son for class 11. As usual, I kept addressing them as ‘Sir’ and ‘Ma’am’. As the discussion was progressing, the woman, with a slight amusement, said, “Sir, my husband was your student some thirty years ago… You shouldn’t call him ‘Sir’.” Well, only after I learnt, that I had taught this gentleman three decades ago, I began to remember him… He was very lean and boyish… Now, he had put on a lot of weight and grown a thick beard, too. Moreover, they both seemed quite affluent the way they carried themselves… Would I change the gear and call him by his first name, now? “Annadata sukhibhava,” I said to the woman, a little playfully, but really meaning what I was saying, “A parent is a parent, Ma’am… My student is a parent now… Addressing him as ‘Sir’ will help both of us.” J ust in the morning, yeste...

  “Someday, we are going to look back and wonder, how we ever got by without AI.” Derek Haoyang Li   I t’s almost 9 p.m., here in India… and, it’s 7.30 p.m. there in Abu Dhabi. I just concluded my online (Zoom) session with a group of CBSE students. Such a routine of online classes for long-distance students has become a new normal for many like me. Yes, all thanks to the Pandemic. Even my local students have an option whenever they are unwell or out of station… They needn’t miss my class; they can join online… And, as Derek Haoyank Li says about AI, I, too, find myself saying the same, looking back: “How I ever got by without these online platforms?” Looking back, you and I have to say the same about every kind of technology… Imagine machines, transport facilities, phones, the internet, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter ( ‘X’), malls, multiplexes, OTT platforms, Amazon, Swiggy, Wefast, GPay Paytm, Zomato, OLA, Uber, Urban Clap – there are scores of t...

  “If you want to turn a vision in to reality, you have to give hundred percent and never stop believing in your dreams.” Arnold Schwarzenegger   E very time I see a beautiful building or a villa, a bridge, tunnel or a flyover… Every time I listen to a mesmerizing song, a piece of music, watch a gripping movie or a stage show… Every time I read a beautiful book   – be it prose or poetry, fiction, nonfiction, self-help whatever… Why all these… Every time I see a beautiful dress, a piece of jewelry, footwear… Every time I relish an amazing dish or enjoy a   beautiful ambience… a lawn, a resort, a hospital, a school, a temple or a church …  Yes, when I behold anything and everything, that is created by humans there outside, I stand there spellbound, marveling on the ‘process’ of creating them… Someone, like you and me – made of flesh, bones and blood – yes, someone there must’ve conceived it first in his/her mind, believed in it… toiled hard and long to a...

  “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; God has no poor children.” Dwight L. Moody     T he book that we brought out, this summer, was about Values… It was titled – ‘Some Things in Life Don’t Move’. Our little ones, young ones and even many adults had written beautiful articles on one or two values they cherished the most in their lives. What fascinated me the most was, that many young kids wrote about ‘Kindness’… Who says, young kids are ‘heartless'? You must read their articles to imagine the size of their hearts!   But, when it comes to ‘kindness’, the question comes – “Kindness towards whom/what?”   So, if young kids like Vaidehi or Laksh are moved by the sight of urchins along the streets, Manasi and Vridhi are just moved by the strays – be it dogs or cats, who have no shelter, food or loved ones… Someone like Mrs. Shyla, a widow and a housewife, who is the mother of two working girls, is extremely drawn towards physically and mentally challenged ch...

  “The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next.” Mignon McLaughlin   T his morning, two of my well-wishers had come to see me. They love my writings, and they keep encouraging me to keep on writing. Both these women had lost their husbands to cancer, some years ago. Now, that’s behind them… Their children are working and busy with their lives. “Grief is behind me… I have dealt with it completely,” said one of them during the course of our discussion, “I am only worried about the future.” “Whose future? Your children’s?” I gently prodded. “Her own,” clarified the other woman, who knew her friend well. A good advice (to offer) comes to us instinctively in situations like this… “Don’t worry about your future; everything will be alright”… It’s a readymade advice, I am sure. “All of us have anxieties about our future; but, worrying over them is a sheer waste of time”… Again, it sounds familiar. The three of us there had anxie...