Gerald D'Cunha

“On the ocean of life, let your mind be the ship, and heart be the compass.” James David Manning O ne of the things I had seriously planned, but had to keep on hold because of the lockdown was: Our new book! It’s been a long tradition at the DAWN CLUB to publish a book or two on the Certification Day of the summer programme on Personality Development. I would involve our li’l ones, young ones and general adults on this project. So, this time around, the book I had planned was on a very important subject: How one decides what he/she has to pursue in life. How? There is no one fits-for-all answer… In fact, there should not be one. I firmly believe, that the answer should be the outcome of a ‘process’… that, there should be a lot of confusion in the mind and churning in the heart. Rarely, a young one is ready with the answer as he/she comes out of his tenth standard. Parents, relatives, teachers, peers do have a role in deciding the one field they must now ge...

“ Is that what they call a vocation - what you do with joy as if you had fire in your heart, the devil in your body?” ” ―  Josephine Baker W hen I look at my own life ( I will be 59 this year) and when I look at the lives of thousands of young-ones who I was privileged to come in contact with (through teaching, training, guiding, mentoring etc), I strongly feel, that one of the greatest blessings in life is - the clarity on one’s vocation… That is, what one wants to do in life… His career choice… His calling in life. To me, what is perplexing and heart-breaking is this: In a city like Mumbai, where kids are born in decently educated and affluent families, where kids are sent to the so-called ‘best schools’… where kids are exposed to dozens of extra-curricular skills and famed academies, and, above all, where personal and career counseling - and also the options to choose from are like an endless galaxy -  yes, in an atmos...

Pic.: Azriel D'Souza I n last two days, I had to offer advice to two different people… one, my bright 12 th standard (ISC) student; two, a parent of a 12 th standard (HSC) student. But, the advice was more or less the same. My 12 th standard student (ISC) had come to see me after giving her last Board exam. As I said, this girl was one of the brightest and well-mannered girls. She had been telling me about her desire to do Chartered Accountancy and, accordingly, she had enrolled for its entrance test (CPT). But, when she had come to meet me two days ago, she wasn’t so sure about her plan. “Whether Chartered Accountancy is ‘the thing’ I am supposed to do? Or, is it something else?” Yes, this was weighing her down now. Finally, she said, that she would continue preparing for the entrance… and, mean while… Yes,  meanwhile, the young lady hoped to find an answer! I knew, I did not have an answer. I haven’t been able to tell anyone else what he or she should ...