Gerald D'Cunha

Pic.: Anima D'Cunha Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone! Every time my mind clings to the past… every time it makes its own interpretations… every time I struggle to ‘drop’ what is not necessary – ‘the excess load’ – yes, that is when this beautiful story come to my aid… and makes me feel light… CARRYING A YOUNG PRETTY WOMAN  PAST: One day,   two monks were crossing a river. The water was knee-deep, and there were many people crossing the river. A pretty young-woman was afraid to cross. When the older monk saw the plight of this frightened woman, he gently said to her, “My child, may I hel...

Pic.: Anima D'Cunha Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone! Presently, I am helping a young businessman by the name Pravin Pahuja. “Just twenty stories, Pravin,” I have told him, “You write down just twenty nice stories in two tenses… and, then, narrate them to someone in the same way… Your English will fall in place and, along with it, you will become an effective communicator, too.” Pravin has already written some… This is one of them… PAST: In a village, the fishermen had just returned after their daily catch. As they were sorting out the fishes, a kite swooped down, picked a fish by its beak and shot up int...

Pic.: Manoj Nair W hen I was small, I used to hear the Father in my church telling us this story about Jesus. A rich man, once, asks Jesus: “I have been obeying all the Commandments. What more should I do to enter the Kingdom of God?” Jesus looks at the man for a while and replies: “Leave behind all your wealth and come with me.” The man becomes sad and walks away. Jesus, then, tells the crowd: “It’s as difficult for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God as it is for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle.” The story was very interesting. But, I never fully understood the message, till very recently. There was this man, who had, long back, borrowed some money from me in his difficult days. Then, many years passed by; he kept breaking his promises. He would promise me, and, when the day came, he would fail, yet again. I would get angry, mad… often, scream and shout in others’ presence. But, it had no effect. It would...