Gerald D'Cunha

  “After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” Philip Pullman   M any of us know Admiral McRaven as the gutsy Commander, who oversaw the secret military operation of raiding the hideout of Osama Bin Laden and killing him. Some of us know him for his forthright and fearless criticism of former American President, Donald Trump. But, many, like me, know him for his inspiring speeches… Admiral McRaven is a great storyteller; by his own admission, like his father. In fact, like most men and women from the armed forces are. I have shared Admiral’s famous speech – ‘If you want to change the world, start making your bed’ – many times, before, in my Blogs. If you have missed it, here I share it again…   Today, I came across this one: “Life is all how you remember it.” How true that is! What are stories, after all? Why are they passed on from one generation to another? Today, when I heard Admiral McRaven recall...

"People don’t change; they come closer and closer to who they really are.” Faraaz Kazi I t sounds very spiritual or philosophical when we say, that this lockdown has taught us the value of our family… That, earlier we all had disconnected ourselves from our own near and dear ones… We had no time for each other… We were busy pursuing ‘our own things’… lost in our own gadgets… and all that… Actually, what I see now is a crazy thing: we are locked within our own houses, but we have distanced ourselves literally and figuratively… We find ourselves pursuing ‘our own things’ even more aggressively and selfishly than ever before, lost in our gadgets even more… We are together here, by force and not by choice… There doesn’t seem to be beauty in this togetherness… The complaining and cribbing haven’t stopped… In fact, we frequently seem to be steaming, we are frequently seen on the edge… And why? Because, now there is no escape aw...

“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” Pema Chodrun S pirituality has nothing to do with our religions and rituals. What happens inside our hearts, at present, is enough to make us all spiritual… There is no ‘Your God’, “My God’ and ‘Their God’. And, God doesn’t need those colossal worship places… not even those Holy Books… What goes on inside us, that’s enough! If men don’t want to budge an inch, or even half-an-inch, let it be… They all will be swept away, anyway, when God strikes down his whip! Funny it all seems… This brute arrogance and resistance! Who is the ‘persecuted minority’ on this planet, now? Who is going to give shelter to whom? Who is going to include or exclude whom? We all seem standing alone and crying out: “Is anybody there?” “Is anybody there?” “Is anybody there?” That’s how we all learn to know the difference between our religions and spirituality… To be sp...

“ A new world order can only be created if we establish an order where the powerful wolf cannot eat the weak lamb!” ―  Mehmet Murat ildan S o, is it all over – I mean, that Sunday 5 p.m. thing – the taali, thaali and ghant i? Is the time to say ‘Thank you’ done and gone? Is there anyone left out there to be thanked? King Solomon – the wise king – wore the magic ring, which had this constant reminder: ‘This, too, shall pass’… How nice! What a great reminder! But, the irony of this old-testament story is this: We use these words to remind us of the ‘ achhe din’ only when we are neck-deep in our bure din . But, when our days are rocking, we never remind ourselves: “Hold on dude,... This, too, shall pass… Bur e din aane wale hai!” Now, the bure din are here again; and, suddenly, we are all reminded, “Hang on dude... This, too, shall pass!” Pass it will. For, that’s how it has always been… The tide of Li...

I n last one week, I came across two identical situations… In one of them, an ex-student of mine, who I had not met ever since he passed out T.Y B.Com some fifteen years ago, had come to meet me. The purpose was: he wanted me to teach one of his neighbours’ son. Apparently, the neighbour’s family had been going through a tough time financially. “Sir, I want this boy to be a graduate. I have decided to take care of his fees.” In the second one, the Good Samaritan was a mother of one of my ex-students. This woman had brought along a newly-married woman from her community. Apparently, the young woman had to leave her college, get married to a Mumbai man (with no enough schooling). My student’s mother was very concerned about the young woman… “Sir, I want her to complete her graduation, learn to speak in English, so that she can raise a good family… I have decided to take care of her expenditure on studies.” What option do such gestures leave me with? The least, I, a...

T his is Lanten season for us, the Christians. It is ingrained in our consciousness, that this is a time we should spend in reflection and reconciliation. We pray intensely during this period… We confess, repent for our sins… We fast, and, above all, seek forgiveness from God and seek His grace and strength to make a fresh beginning. Personally, to me, this time is the most enriching and moving time of the year… I feel the closeness to God more during this period than I feel during the rest of the year. I feel, yes, a lot humbled and human during Lent. One of the main church activities, during Lent (apart from the traditional Way of the Cross), is Lenten Missions. Almost all the Catholic churches hold these very inspiring and revival Missions. There are special preachers (like Redemptionists) trained for years in conducting this kind of renewal Missions during Lent. These priests are invited by different churches to hold these Lenten Missions; mostly, late in the ...

S ince last evening till this moment, a movie is being played – and replayed repeatedly – in my mind. I have been talking about it to my closest people. “Have you watched the film, “Hrudyantar’?"... I keep asking… “Which film?” “’Hrudyantar’… It’s a Marathi film.” “No, I haven’t heard about it,” many say… “How is it?” ask some… “What is it about?’ ask some others… “What is the meaning of ‘Hrudyantar?” ask me some more… “I don’t’ know myself,” I confess, “I think the meaning is ‘Change of heart’… Anyway, how does it matter? The film is just beautiful… Please don’t miss it! Y esterday, I was to attend some very important work at Fort area. So, I had adjusted my teaching schedule for the day accordingly. At the last hour, my visit to town got cancelled and I decided to watch any good movie which was being shown in cinemas around. On checking on the Net, I chanced upon this Marathi film which was released on 7 th July. Having got curious, I r...

Pic.: Varsha Chitnis Junnarkar A s a young school and college boy, I dreaded whenever my parents were called to school for my poor performance or behavior in school… I, also, dreaded any kind of punishment at school – being called by the Principal or Vice-Principal, being thrown out of the class, being asked to write fifty or hundred times the answer. I, almost, wet my school shorts when, occasionally, an angry teacher caned me (Teachers got away with caning in those days!)… I, also, dreaded – and resented, as all young kids did – being compared to anyone in my class. How I wanted my teachers to correct me was: by teachers talking to me directly, by appealing to my conscience… my heart… Even as a young boy, I believed, that if my heart did not change… and if it did not change by choice, my behavior would never change… no matter whether I was caned, made to stand on my head or even sent to Andaman islands (Those days, they sent the hardened criminals there!)… Thus...