Gerald D'Cunha

  “Someone sitting in the shade today, because someone planted a tree long time ago.” Warren Buffet     W hat Warren Buffet said (through the above lines) about being prudent in life, by managing our money wisely and with a long-term vision, applies to everything else, too… especially, to raising our children. Every generation of parents has tried its best to offer something better to the next one. I have talked about it so many times… My great grandparents must’ve almost lived like tribals… But, they tried to give a better life to my grandparents… I had the opportunity to see how my grandparents lived… Yes, it’s not as good as my parents did… and, the life of we five brothers was much better compared to our parents’… and, we tried to give even a better one to our own children… Doubtlessly, the same will continue… Our children are geared up to offer a better life to their own. But, then, the question comes up: “What does a ‘better life’ mean?” Does it mean o...

“Grace means undeserved kindness. It is the gift of God to man the moment he sees he is unworthy of God’s favour.”\ Twight L. Moody   O ne question, which many of my dear ones ask me while wishing me on my birthday, is this: “So, what is the plan for the day?”… Or, “How did you spend the day?” This means - “What’s special?” Let me tell you this: Just as my dear ones ask me this question, I, too, ask the same question to them… Yes, "What’s special?” It’s my 66 th birthday on 24 th of this month. Was it ‘special’ in any sense? Was there a ‘plan’? If by ‘special’ or ‘plan’ means something cozy in a fine-dine restaurant, or a vacation at an exotic location – No, I did not have anything ‘special or ‘planned’… It was just like another day, which had begun and ended just like any other day… But, yes, it had, most certainly, made me conscious of a couple of things about my life… I was still able to walk, talk, see, hear, feel, laugh, cry – and, above all, work and fe...

  “The world doesn’t remember how fast your learn; it celebrates the impact you make with your   knowledge.” Unknown   A couple of days ago, in a session I was conducting for the underprivileged kids (helping them to speak and write in English and motivate them to become better human beings… Call it with its exotic name - ‘Personality Development’, if you like!), there was this mother alongside her 11-yeal-old daughter. Mother worked as a ward-maid in one of the local nursing homes and had realized her handicap while interacting at her workplace in English. So, she was the most enthusiastic and determined learner in that otherwise group of 20-plus kids. The 11-year-old daughter studied in a local English-medium school. Thus, she wasn’t facing the problem which her mother did. But, the level of motivation of the mother was manyfold higher… She was absolutely determined to overcome her handicap despite her hectic schedule at home and workplace… For daughter, there ...

  “Do not save what is left after spending; but, spend what is left after saving.” Warren Buffet   S everal years ago, my wife and I had been to the old international-airport to receive my brother-in-law who was to arrive around 2 a.m. from America. Those days, there was an airconditioned waiting-lounge with comfortable seats to rest. It cost Rs. 50 per head. As my brother-in-law was arriving with his wife and their two-year-old boys (twins), even the in-laws of my brother-in-law had come to the airport to receive them, especially their little grandchildren. They had brought along another elderly couple, their close relatives. All four of them had reached the airport after my wife and I had. The moment I saw them, instinctively, I headed to the ticket counter and bought another four tickets paying Rs. 200… I proudly approached the elders and said, “Let’s wait inside the lounge; it’s very comfortable there.” I was proud and super-excited about my ‘thoughtful gesture’....

  “To attain knowledge, add things every day; to attain wisdom, remove things every day.” Lao Tzu   O ne of my friends, who has been a fine financial-consultant and quite a resourceful person, is now on a sabbatical. “What are you occupied with, these days?” I asked when I met him, yesterday… “Cutting vegetables and washing clothes,” he said without even blinking. “Seriously?” I asked him. “Yes, very seriously,” he asserted, “I am 63 now; and all my life, I hadn’t learnt how to cut vegetables or wash my own clothes… I feel very happy and relaxed as I do them now.” T here are so many things, as this friend of mine has found, you and I haven’t learnt/done, yes, ‘all our lives’. As another friend of mine, who is a bigshot in a corporate proudly claims, “I haven’t boiled even a glass or water”… and as another bigshot goes further and claims, “I haven’t learnt to turn on the gas stove.” So, what does this tell us? In life, we may be experts in some things and du...

  “When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” Dharmapada W hen I leave my work place, that’s around 6 in the evening, on most days, I meet these two-year-old. They are twins, a boy and a girl. The maid brings them to play… Their three-wheeler cycles, too, are identical… “Can I take a ride?” “No.” “Can I take home one of these?” “No.” ‘One of these’ – sometimes, it means, one of the twin babies; and, sometimes, it means, one of the twin cycles… I can take neither, you see! Apparently, these little babies love my teasing. So, last evening, even before I could open my mouth, they were shouting in a chorus -   “No”… “No”… “No”!! This little one-minute act fills my heart with joy. It serves as a nice stressbuster… “Come on, you are a 66-year-old man,” somewhere inside me I hear this voice, “they are babies… You’re a grown up.” F or last two years, I have been teaching Prini the Accountancy subject. She is a 12 th -standard student...

  “Every child thinks archelogy is about digging up land to find dinosaur remains and gold…   I had the same intentions.” Bhuvan Bam   T his young boy (of class 12) stayed back after everyone had left the class. “Want to say something, beta? ” I asked him.   “Yes Sir,” he said quite hesitatingly. “Tell me, what is it,” I encouraged him to speak… “Sir, I want to pursue Archeology. But, my parents and elder brother are against it,” he said. “Have you found out why they are against it?” I asked. “Sir, they think, that it’s not the field with job opportunities. They want me to pursue the regular fields where there won’t be scarcity of jobs.” “Since when have you been thinking about Archelogy?” I asked the boy. “For quite many years, Sir… Since I was a little boy,” he explained, “I am really fascinated by the idea.” Now, it’s not every day, that I get a young one expressing his desire to pursue Archeology. Almost everyone wants to follow a road...

  “You cannot control the world; but, you can control your contribution to it.” Unknown   M y aunt, Cecelia (Dad’s sister) was a Carmelite nun. She was known as Sr. Leo. She was a gentle soul… very soft-spoken and affectionate. Till she passed away, aunt lived at several convents far away from our native home. However, she occasionally visited all her relatives… She would spend a day or two at each of relative’s place. I remember her visit to our place when our son was very small. As a nun, her staple gift for us used to be some religious relics – like a scapular, a rosary, or a picture of Mother Mary, Jesus or a Saint. When she bid us goodbye, we would place an envelope in her hand with a small amount inside it… knowing well, that it would reach some poor souls in the remotest places where she served. The life of a nun is a life of great discipline. Even though aunt, Sr. Leo, stayed for a day or two in our households, she followed her spiritual routine very strictly...

  “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.” Mark Twain   A fter concluding my regular Accountancy class (Class 12) at 5.30, last evening, I was to hurry up to take a session on ‘Personality Development’ for the underprivileged students in a nearby slum area (Organized by an NGO). Some 20-30 kids were expected to be there. The 17-year-old Arfaat had attended my regular Accountancy class, and he was to accompany me for the PD session, too. As it was pouring heavily, I requested Arfaat to get an autorickshaw to my classes. In a few minutes, Arfaat returned, drenched fully despite a wind sheeter he wore… “Where is the auto?” I asked him. “Sir, it is there,” he pointed to the auto waiting a few meters away from my classes. “Ask him to come in,” I said to Arfaat… Arfaat, my gentle-natured student, went back to the auto and conveyed my request… Through the heavy down pour, I could see the a...