Gerald D'Cunha

S ome days ago, Anand, a dear friend of mine, had come to speak to the students of our on-going P.D. course. During his talk, he told our young ones about Amitabh Bachchan’s most harrowing phase in life. Amithab’s ship – ABCL, his company – had sunk… He had become bankrupt with more than ninety crores in debt, and there seemed no hope… The creditors were hounding him, friends had either deserted or turned foes… The bankers had come to take his two houses…  He was no more an angry young man nor a romantic hero to get roles in new films… Yes, the future looked dark, scary! Anand told the young ones this: “During this dark phase, Amitabh had gone to meet – seek help – from Dhirubhai Ambani. Maybe, deep in his heart, Amitabh must’ve prayed, that ‘the Richest Man of India’, Dhirubhai, would bail him out in one straight go – pay off the ninety-crore debt! But, Dhirubhai didn’t. He did not send back Amitabh with cash to free him from troubles… but, he sent back Amit...

Pic.: Mini Milind “Self-care is never selfish, but it may feel that way when you live a frenzied life.”  ―  Arthur P. Ciaramicoli , S aying ‘No’ is difficult, very uncomfortable. At least, it is so to me. People come to me with requests and it calls for my saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The moment I say ‘yes’, I know I should be ready to give my time, energy or money. Experience has taught me how, by saying ‘yes’ when I wanted to say ‘no’, I had invited stress for myself… making me eventually resist or feel even angry. All the workshops we had conducted over the years – on ‘Self-esteem’ and on ‘Assertiveness’ – yes, all these workshops have taught me one thing: We cannot say ‘yes’ to everyone, and for everything. That, saying ‘no’ in the right manner with the right intent is the greatest service we can do to our own well-being, and, thereby, to that of others’ as well. But, then, it is not as easy as it seems. One of my students,...

Pic.: Manoj Nair I t’s sheer pleasure to help someone succeed... and be a part of his or her success story. I feel very happy, proud and fulfilled whenever I think about it... Though I believe that my success is my responsibility, I, also, know that I can not do it alone... I need help along my success journey... and, therefore, I must be humble enough to seek help, I must be deserving enough to receive it... I must be grateful enough whenever I find it... “Seek, you shall find... Ask, you shall receive... Knock, the door shall open for you...” I convey this Biblical message to the youngsters, at the end of, almost, every training session; I give the link of my Blog as well as my cell-number and tell them: “Never, ever say, there is no help... Never ever say, there are no opportunities to learn and grow in life.” I say that with all my honesty,  and with no strings attached... And, many young-ones call me up later, get connected to me through FB or ...

I have told this story countless times during our PD sessions, particularly during the sessions on ‘Assertiveness’. What is so impressive about it is that, this story is ‘ageless’ in true sense. Not only, that it has been there as a folklore for hundreds of years, it also clicks with all the age-groups… the silver-haired, the young-eagles and, yes, the little angels. Yesterday, I told this tale to the little angels. I could so effortlessly convey the message I wanted to: “Honey, we should learn to be ‘assertive’ in life. Else, what happened to this cobra will surely happen to us.” Long time ago, in a village temple, there lived a Swami. The people from the village visited this temple daily to offer their prayers. On the way to this temple, there was a huge banyan tree, and under this tree, there lived a poisonous cobra. One day, while the children were playing near the tree, a small child stamped on the cobra and was bitten by the c...

“Sir, can I drink water?” seven-year old Harsha asked me. “Okay sweethearts, I will give you two minutes, all of you drink water from your bottles,” I declared. “Sir, I have not brought water,” said little Shristi wearing a sad face. “Sir, I also,” nine-year-old Ritesh’s hand went up. “Well, my darlings, you were supposed to bring… Didn’t you know that? I asked lovingly. “Sorry sir,” both, Shristi and Ritesh murmured tamely. “Don’t worry, Bunty will share with you Ritesh,” I announced, “and, Sheeba will share with you Shristi.” “Sir, see,”  Bunty began to complain, “Ritesh is finishing the entire bottle!” “Ritesh beta , you can not do that… Bunty had helped you by sharing his water… and, how can you hurt him by finishing his entire bottle?” I reminded the little brat. “Sir,” six-year-old Seema’s hand went up. “Yes, dear,” I encouraged bubbly Seema to say what she wanted to. “Sir, that is not good manne...