Gerald D'Cunha

  “A man trusts another man when he sees enough of himself in him.” Gregory David Roberts   T rust is a very fragile thing… It takes a long time to build; but, it can break in no time. And, I am talking about trust in our day-to-day dealings… I have seen how ferocious animals come to trust gentle humans… dogs, cats, deer, dolphins, bears, tigers, lions, elephants – every animal responds to gentle gestures from humans. But, invariably, this trust in humans is won slowly with patience and persistence. On the other hand, we humans adopt a different approach to our fellow humans… We don’t trust easily our fellow humans… We read too much into their behaviour, doubt more, stay skeptical. I know, I cannot generalize this phenomenon, though. But, I can safely say this: Trust breed s trust; mistrust breeds mistrust… In the sessions I take for the underprivileged kids, there are these two boys (about the age 9-10). They attend regularly; but, they are extremely restless ...

“Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.” - Peter Ustinov W hen I was a school boy (St. Aloysius), there was no Television in our country. Our school had a small auditorium, where, every now and then, they used to show us a nice English film, mostly a comedy. My favourites were Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Buster Keaton.  They were all B & W films. All Charlie Chaplin films used to be without dialogues. There was only one theatre in our hometown, Mangalore, which showed English films. I don’t remember watching a single film over there till I landed in college… There was no money to watch. Thus, we kids made the most of every film shown to us in school. Now, almost fifty years later, thanks to the internet boom – particularly the Social Media – we get to watch many of those old English comedies (or their best scenes) on our mobile and computer screens. Every night, before going to bed, I make it a point to watch some funny scenes fro...

Pic.: Sheela Krishnamony Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found it very useful – was telling a nice story in two tenses… Past and Present. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people who were earnest to improve their English with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and tell it to someone. It is one of my favorite stories – rather anecdotes. I quite regularly share it in my class-room to remind my young-students that everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die! EVERYBODY WANTS TO GO TO HEAVEN BUT NOBODY WANTS TO DIE PAST: O nce, a parish priest of a church started getting frequent complaints, that many of his parish members spent lots of time and money in the country liquor-joint. So, one night, the angry priest stormed into the bar and was shocked to see so many of his faithful there, all blown! “You shameless sinn...

Pic.: Prashant Bhat T here is a nice article on today’s Sunday Times about the wonderful benefits of Laughter. It encourages us to see the lighter side of life... yes, even in times of great distress. Difficult? Yes. But, then, imagine the benefits of learning to see the lighter side, the funnier side, of life... and going about it! I am, essentially, an intense person by nature, almost serious. I am aware of this side of my personality. At times, I do get conscious of the ‘image trap’ I am caught-up in... That, I am a teacher, I am a father of a teenager-son, I am a married man, I am a value-education and Personality-Development guide and so on... Yes, I do see my natural inclination to laugh, crack and enjoy jokes, getting buried under the weight of my self-created image... So, this morning, as I was reading the article, I found myself asking this:  Don’t I love the sight of laughing and playing children? Don’t I love the mischief and fooling around by t...

"If life is a bowl full of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?" -- Erma Bombeck Yes, too often, I tend to be too serious about life. And, seriously, so much seriousness isn’t called for to enjoy life in all its hues. So, there are these checks and balances in life… Whenever I tend to go too serious, something comes up and tickles by funny bones… “Hey, there is already enough gloom there out; why do you add more?” Yes, I seriously hear this inside my heart… “Why do you add more?” As a pucca Mumbaikar, last night, I was rooting for Mumbai Indians. But then, I am, also, very fond of Rahul Dravid -   ‘The Wall’ as they call him for his stoic composure and grace under pressure. I have always admired him for his cool. Last night, when he was given out in the very first over (I do think, quite unfairly that was though not intentionally), we all witnessed the human side of Rahul Dravid… He reacted inst...