Gerald D'Cunha

  “Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it, is your gift to God.” Leo Buscaglia   R ecently, when I had been to my hometown (to attend my younger brother Harry’s funeral), I was happy to meet Alwyn, one of my schoolmates, after almost five decades! It was just after I had spoken a few words in my eulogy for Harry. This friend of mine introduced me to his young daughter, who seemed extremely shy and overwhelmed by things around her. I could easily empathize with her, because I was exactly like her when I was of her age… feeling caged and tongue-tied! So, without being asked to do it, I was making her feel comfortable and reassure herself: ‘It’s okay’… ‘It’s okay’! Three days earlier, on the night of the funeral, when a few close family members and friends had gathered at Harry’s place, Kenneth, Harry’s son, brought his close friend, Roel, to introduce me to him. We quickly got connected, as our interests matched. Roel loved writing short stories, which h...

B abies, pets and plants… What can be common among these? I think, they all can be our best stress-busters ! Well, I do not have little babies at home nor I have pets and plants. Still, I know they can be our great stress-busters…. When I was a little boy, back in our village, a couple of dogs, cats, chickens, cows, buffaloes, even pigs (in Christian homes) was not only a common sight, but also was mandatory… Plants and trees, by default, grew in every garden or backyard… and, Babies? All that was we did not have around was: the fantastic technology, like our mobile cameras to capture the amazing stories and the internet and social media to showcase those images and memories… But, babies, pets and plants… yes, they always warmed our hearts and melted down our stress. Yesterday, during our PD session, I had shown a scene from the movie, ‘Taare Zameen Par’. Ishaan’s teacher, Nikumbh Sir (Aamir Khan) has a visitor in his hostel room – Ishaan’s...

T oday isn’t a Friday… But, this Bollywood movie – ‘Secret Superstar’ was released today, on a Thursday. Because it is Diwali, an auspicious day! Like so many around me, I, too, wait for an Aamir Khan movie to come…. We all know that his movies come like Comets…. Very few, but very special…. When they come, we all rise up and give them a standing ovation… This side of Aamir Khan is unlike the quintessential Bollywood… This man does things on his own terms… does things which he completely believes in… invests all his time, energy, money and, above all, his heart and soul… I hadn’t been a great admirer of him before ‘Lagaan’ came. With ‘Lagaan’, I started following his professional career very, very closely… With ‘Tare Zameen Par’, Aamir carved for himself a place too among the rarest of the stars… with ‘3-idiots’, he became a permanent resident in everyone’s hearts… ‘PK’ transported us to another world with laughter and innocence… With ‘Dangal’, he restored our self-bel...