Gerald D'Cunha

  “Keep a little fire burning, however small, however hidden.” Cormac McCarthy   B eing a Catholic, I grew up celebrating Mother Mary’s birthday on September 8… We called it ‘the Feast of Nativity’. Coming September 8, the legendary singer, Asha Bhosleji, will celebrate her 90 th birthday in her authentic style - with a  Broadway-style  concert in Dubai! After this concert, we will start saying, “She is 90-Plus”! Age is only a number… Yes, it is all in our mind. Mind stays young, body stays young… Mind feels old, body feels old. Ashaji’s zest for life is infectious… It inspires the young generation, the girls in particular… I had taught Dhiraj during 1989-90. Two days ago, almost 34 years later, he called me, out of the blue. He wanted me to teach his daughter, Vriddhi (Podar College, Class X1). “Sir, she has been a 90-plus girl throughout,” Dhiraj sounded modest, “You will be happy to know, that my wife and I did not have to coax her or motivate he...

A week ago, my friend, Vivek, had shared with me a Post. Its source was unknown. In this Post, a man, who had crossed 60, when asked if he was changing, says, “Yes, I am changing…” and, goes about describing the little, subtle changes that have come in. I could relate to all of them, as, I, too, had turned 60 in last July… I found myself quietly checking, if the author’s changes were mine, too… Indeed, they were mine, too. Not only mine, I felt, they were of a vast majority, as well… When we are young, we are a lot impatient, critical and competitive. We tend to complain, fume and rant excessively… We sweat the small stuff. But, with age, most of us see the futility of such excessive restlessness – complaining, fuming and ranting… We learn to slow down… We become less argumentative and more accepting and peaceful… Some of the little, subtle changes, and the author describes in his Post are… Yes, I am changing: I’ve now stopped bargaining with...

  Pic.: Neerja Panchal I was watching, a while ago, a video of one the Music-Awards functions. In this, after collecting her Life-time Achievements Award, the legendary singer, Lata Mangeshkarji spoke a few words. She ended appealing to all the luminaries present in that glittering function, that whoever got a Life-time Achievement award, should not stop achieving… that one should continue to work, perform and achieve till one could… I loved what I had just heard from Lataji. Incidentally, last night, while watching KBC, the journalist and social-cause worker, Mr. Sumit Awasthi (who was assisting on the Hot Seat, 30-year-old Jonson Filem, an unfortunate victim of crossfire in Manipur insurgency, which had left Jonson paralyzed waist-down) had asked Mr. Bachchan this question: “Sir, I have heard that your eating habits are confined to just daal-roti … that you hardly sleep at night… I read your Blogs and Tweets which you post when everyon...

You feel sad to see a Lion when it is old and sick. Because, you always thought, that the Lion was the ‘King’ – the ruler. You were so used to its might, power and roar. You silently adored it… even though its very thoughts, sometimes, sent shivers through your spine!  Yes, you always wanted the Lion to be strong, and dominating. The sight of a sagging Lion – a helpless ruler – is too painful to see... You really feel sad for the King! Balasaheb Thackeray is old and very ill, now. It is painful to see him, this way. Mr. Thackeray had been a roaring Lion – yes, call Tiger, if you wish – and, he had never ceased to dominate, rule… Most of us might not have liked or agreed with his kind of politics, his kind of justice… But, that’s how he had been all through his life: Straight forward… Call a spade a spade. Period.  In a world so full of pretense, to rule the psyche of the masses with such bluntness and dire...