Gerald D'Cunha

“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” Pema Chodrun S pirituality has nothing to do with our religions and rituals. What happens inside our hearts, at present, is enough to make us all spiritual… There is no ‘Your God’, “My God’ and ‘Their God’. And, God doesn’t need those colossal worship places… not even those Holy Books… What goes on inside us, that’s enough! If men don’t want to budge an inch, or even half-an-inch, let it be… They all will be swept away, anyway, when God strikes down his whip! Funny it all seems… This brute arrogance and resistance! Who is the ‘persecuted minority’ on this planet, now? Who is going to give shelter to whom? Who is going to include or exclude whom? We all seem standing alone and crying out: “Is anybody there?” “Is anybody there?” “Is anybody there?” That’s how we all learn to know the difference between our religions and spirituality… To be sp...

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” - John Quincy Adams “S ounds familiar,” he said, “Do not remember where I came across it.” He was my friend. He was reacting to the title of my last blog post – ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ My last post was inspired by the gestures of two Cricket captains. Steve Smith. He had to step down as the Captain of Australian cricket team in March 2018 after the infamous ball-tampering incident. He had addressed the international media and publicly broken down… Though he was not found directly involved with the act, being the Captain of this team, he had taken full responsibility and accepted the punishment – one year ban from playing international cricket. By that one act, Smith had won millions of hearts. I remember getting choked with emotions watching that video… “What a leader! What a man!” I had exclaimed. To err is human. To say genuinely ...

T he phrase ‘Gadha mazdoori’ has a ring around it! I use it several times in a day to tell my students, “ Dekh beta , if you think, that hard work alone brings success, the donkey would have been crowned as an Icon long time ago!” “Stop doing the donkey work,” I hammer them, “Do smart work.” And, whenever I find a young one self-pitying with the thought, “I work very hard,” I shake him hard and yell, “ Bachha , you work hardly!” But, no. The Bachha still loves to believe, that he works very, very hard! A couple of days ago, in one of my sessions, I reminded my bachhas about what Einstein had said:   “Success is one percent perspiration and ninety-nine percent inspiration.” Not a soul tried to correct me! So, I hope, they went home with this ooltah theory of Einstein: that, to be successful, their work needed to be an inspired work, and not just hard work… I had, also, reminded them about what Abraham Lincoln had said referring to...

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” ― Abraham Lincoln I have stopped using the phrases such as ‘a stress-free life’ or a ‘problems-free life’. Such life simply doesn’t exist. And, if any one promises me such a life, I simply say, ‘No… Thank you.” When people ask me why I write, I say, “Because, I feel confused, anxious, worried, joyful, sad, mad, angry, irritated, loved, betrayed, strong, weak, secure, insecure, jubilant, defeated… every feeling a human being goes through – and should go through – when he lives on the face of this planet… I tell them, that I write not because I am positive and happy always. But, let me confess: When I was younger, I used to, often, use the expressions a ‘stress-free life’ and a ‘problems-free life’. And, I did try to chase that life… only to be eluded like a mirage! Now, as the years roll by, I, more often, find myself using the expression...