Gerald D'Cunha

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein W hen I was a student in school and college, I was as anxious of my exams as any other kid was. All students have the anxiety about their exams – maybe, some have it more and some have it less; but, all of them have it… because, all of us had. Today, after spending more than four decades in the teaching field – ‘coaching’ to be precise - I feel, I am an odd-man-out in this field. I say this, because, even though we teachers were very worried about our exams – at times dreadful – we, now, fail to understand the stress we all induce on young minds simply because we adopt the same approach which our own teachers had adopted: make them work for marks… and more marks! Marks are definitely necessary for getting admissions into the right courses and institutes. But, to take this to extreme level –...

P ic .: Chetna Shetty T he Final-CA results (2015) were out yesterday. As usual, only 8.26% (of the total 42, 847 students appeared) passed the exam. The top ranker had scored 75.75%! Yes, as usual, the plight of a final-year CA student is quite unpredictable, even dicey. Some, who you thought would pass, don’t… and, some, who you thought won’t, do. So, am I trying to prove, through this, that it all depends on one’s luck… or, God’s moods? I have never believed in luck… and, I don’t want to. In my entire teaching career, I have never ever asked, even a single student, whether he has passed or failed… Leave alone how much he has scored. I have taught them well… with all my commitment, focus and love… I have not compromised on my work… my outlook towards it. And, I have reminded my students about the same: “You need the right aptitude and attitude… You need to remain committed, focused and passionate… You have the control on your work, your efforts… but, not on...

Pic.: Pradeep Nanda A ll through his professional life – for over six decades, that is – R.K. Laxman did only one thing: draw cartoons… He made that - otherwise ignored and uncared - common man speak through his silence, each day… and made him, literally, immortal. He made even that – otherwise most irritating and shooed bird - crow, immortal! Imagine, a simple soul like you and me – a total common man – becoming a legend called R.K.Laxman… just by drawing his cartoons, every day! That, too, without formally learning to draw them from any school or teacher… Instead learning to do them on his own… Yes, imagine, R.K. Laxman without his cartooning prowess! It is just like imagining Amitabh Bachchan without his acting prowess… and Sachin Tendulkar without his batting prowess! Amitabh did not go to any acting school and Sachin, though had learnt a few subtle things from his coach, Achrekar, I believe, had learnt on his own almost all his colossal batting-ski...