Gerald D'Cunha

  “I do not ask the wounded person how he feels; I myself become the wounded person.” Walt Whitman   T his woman is a parent of my two students. They are twins and are in class 12. Her husband is a drunkard. He is chronically insecure and doesn’t go out to work, nor does he let his wife to go out and work. They live in a rented place in a chawl , from where she earns a small amount by taking tuitions for a few students. There have been constant fights at home, including physical abuse. Every day, the struggle is a new one... The need of money being the heaviest burden to carry... L ast morning, I received this message from the woman: “Good morning Sir. As my husband is at home, I am unable to call you. So, I am texting you. I have to pay you Rs. 2,500 towards kids’ PD classes. As you know, Sir, my financial situation is not good. I haven’t paid my rent and the landlord is putting pressure on me to vacate. I told my father, that I have to pay Rs.10,000 for kids’ f...

  “I am more worried about being a good person than being the best football player in the world.” Lionel Messi   Y ou see, in my life, I haven’t played any sport, either outdoor or indoor. Basically, it was due to my excessive shy nature and low self-esteem in my growing-up years. I began to get hold my myself much later in life... Yes, I bloomed late in my life. By ‘blooming’, I mean becoming fairly successful in your chosen field. If teaching, writing, training, mentoring are what my ‘fields’ are, yes, I had begun to bloom in these fields – in these gardens – only after I crossed my teenage years. Thus, I was simply bad at sports, elocution, acting, singing and many such conventional fields. Later in my life, I developed interest in sports, music etc. But, my interest was confined to watching some select sports, listening to some select music – I never attempted to play, sing, act etc. Like most around me, I, too, began to idolize some heroes from the fields o...

“Do you understand the violence it took to become this gentle?” Nitya Prakash   M ore than two decades ago, I had published a book by the title – ‘Why The Sun Burns’. It carried some of my notes, which I had scribbled in my diaries over the years. One such note – passage – was this: “The light doesn’t emerge unless the candle burns; It’s not my wish that I should suffer, to spread a little goodness around.” Anger, hurt, pain – these are very much present in our lives. No matter how sagely you may find me from outside, that’s not what I am inside. Inside, yes, inside this mountain, there is burning lava... waiting to be exploded... and, now and then, it does... But, anger is like the poison a cobra is blessed with. Did I say, ‘blessed with’? Yes Sir, I did say that... The presence of poison and the presence of anger inside us – both make us who we are. The cobra doesn’t go on a rampage, just because, there is poison inside its head... Likewise, you and I do...

  “It’s not the man who has little, but he who desires more, that is poor.” Seneca the Younger   I have blogged about this elderly woman many times before. I call her Maaji. She lives in her small room in a chawl, which is situated between my residence and workplace. She lives all   alone, gets up very early every morning, does her morning puja and does every household chore by herself. What’s endearing to see is, that this elderly woman has always some women to talk to her. I rarely see her ‘lonely’, and I have never seen her complaining about anything... Every morning and evening, I walk past Maaji’s humble room. And, every now and then, she asks me to wait. And, I know she has packed some fresh Maharashtrian delicacy for me. Invariably, it’s something simple, but prepared with exceptional love... and, more than anything else, keeping someone like me – who walks by her room every day – in her heart. “Wait, wait,” Maaji   literally called me back, whe...

  “Be watchful... The grace of God appears suddenly. It comes without warning to an open heart.” Rumi   W hy certain things happen in our lives, in a certain way – yes, this is a real mystery to me. What looks, on the surface, as a good fortune, may end up being a bad one; similarly, what looks, on the surface, as a bad fortune, may end up being a good one... “A blessing in disguise”... It’s what a seemingly bad fortune delivered to our doorstep  with an amazing blessing concealed inside! Y esterday, my wife and I had visited the residence of an elderly uncle of mine, Frank, (my mom’s first cousin). He is 80 and lives with his affectionate wife, Cissy (75). Their children are well-qualified and wonderfully settled abroad with their respective families. Uncle and aunty had always been self-reliant, judicious in their conduct, very pious and great believers in serving the society in their own little way. Last afternoon, uncle and aunty were reflecting on several...

  “I have always imagined, that Paradise will be a kind of library.” Jorge Luis Borges     O n last Sunday, my friend (once, my dear student) Shankar and his wife Swetha had invited some of us to their house located in a plush society. They have two beautiful, talented daughters – Anvesha, 13 and Avyakta, 9. I had carried two books – a novel for Anvesha, another book of   Japanese Folktales for little Avyakta. While the novel was a new one, the book of Japanese Folktales was an old one which I had at home for quite some time. Did I hesitate before gifting this book to the little girl? Not at all... It’s what the book contained inside, and not how new or how nicely it’s packaged – yes, I firmly believed in this. The little girl, I am sure, will appreciate the amazing folktales from the land of Japan... and, once she is done with it, I am sure, she will pass on the book to another deserving kid... Books are meant to be circulated... While we were at...