Gerald D'Cunha

  “Online learning is not the next-big thing; it is the now-big thing.” Donna J. Abernathy   I just checked the meaning of the word – ‘Antics’. Yes, I did it through several online dictionaries… Cambridge, Merriam-Webster and others. According to them, the word means: Amusing, silly or   strange behaviour; Foolish, outrageous or amusing behaviour; Funny, silly or strange behaviour; Attention-drawing, often, wildly playful or funny act or action. T wo days ago, Glen*, who is a ninth-standard student in one of the prestigious Catholic institutions, sent a message to me: “Uncle, I am selected for English   elocution in our school and I am supposed to make a good speech. We have been given seven topics to choose from… I am thinking of speaking on the topic – ‘ONLINE LEARNING ANTICS’… (Bring out the wit and humour in your writing/speech without being offensive). Can you please guide me.” “Perfect choice!” I thought in my mind, “All concerned – the s...

I am an old-fashioned connoisseur when it comes to enjoying comedy acts. Comedy acts have always been there. Much before the TV came in, our only entertainment, back home in our village, used to be some dramas or musical nites. Every drama and every musical nite had sprinkles of comedy. As we went to watch these shows as a family, the comedy always used to be clean and subtle. Very, very, very rarely it was crude. Even in the films, the comedy was an integral part of the family package. We watched it with our heads high. But, now, in these times of the so-called ‘standup comedy’ or ‘roast’, or whatever that is, people like me have become dinosaurs... Extinct. The young crowd, especially girls, simply can’t control their laughter – or, so they portray. Whenever, by default, I try to watch an act or so, I end up getting a complex… “Hey, don’t I really understand this?” or, “Have I lost my libido?” The fact is that, if comedy is crude, crass and vulgar, it just ...

Pic.: Azriel D'Souza I do not really understand what this Global Warming is all about. Yes, I know the more and more we destroy trees to build our cities and townships, the more and more we build factories to produce the ‘stuff’ we need… the more and more our vehicles run on streets… the more and more we encroach upon the rivers, deserts, seas and hills… the more and more goes up our greed, the more and more we abuse Nature… and, more and more we invite her wrath! Well, this Post is not about the Global Warming or Nature’s wrath… A few days ago, I called up my college buddy, Joe, who lives with his family in our hometown, Mangalore. “It must be extremely hot in Mangalore, now?” I casually remarked during our conversation. Joe was amused… “Come on Gerry,” Joe disagreed, “It’s extremely hot for our kids… not for us.” Joe did not have to say anything more to elaborate on his observation… We both grew up almost in identical households… Hand-to-mouth exi...

Pic.: Chetna Shetty “ We are the children of a technological age. We have found streamlined ways of doing much of our routine work. Printing is no longer the only way of reproducing books. Reading them, however, has not changed. " Lawrence Clark Powell R eading hasn't become extinct, yet. People still read… Only question is: Whether they prefer reading online or offline… Whether the traditional book – the hard-copy or the trendy, convinient soft-copy… I have just returned from the THE DAWN CLUB Certification function held in the local gymkhana today. During the course, one of the many things I had kept reminding them to do was: to read, read, and read… Yes, read anything… Read anything that helped them broaden their outlook towards life… “Reading helps you develop your world-view,” I would, often, tell them… Read anything that helped them enhance their subject-knowledge… “Reading helps you in constantly enhancing yo...

Pic.: Ashok Ahuja F or many of us, the morning newspaper is as important as the morning cup of tea. Likewise, the  prime-time  night-news is as badly a need as the supper on our table! But, honestly, it is no more so for me. The morning newspapers lie there for days sometimes, yes, un-touched… And, the nights are noiseless, for days together, while the supper is on… Is my curiosity, the urge, the desperation to know what’s happening around me is just induced by my weak, gullible mind? What if I go about my life without knowing who wins elections and who loses, who is sent to jail and who is sent to Mars? Am I just addicted, just as to my cup of tea or to someone to his puff or peg? I seriously think, life will go on beautifully – in fact, more peacefully, without newspapers and noisy TV news… So addicted we all are, so desperate that we do not realize how we end-up watching more advertisements than news on the newspapers as well as TV...

Pic.: Ashok Ahuja T here was a big smile on my face, a while ago, when I saw what a 14-year-old had shared on FB:   ‘MOST OF THE STUDENTS GET LOW MARKS’, it said in big-bold letters at the top.  At the bottom, it said, in big-bold letters, again, this:  ‘BECAUSE OF THIS MARK’! Yes, in between stood a smiling, curly-haired boy – Mark Zuckerberg! Well, Zuckerberg was smiling, perhaps, knowing well how kids, and even little babies, got on board his bullet-train – Facebook –  ticket-less ! This little lady – who will be giving her SSC Board-Exams coming March – is very busy: I have lost the count of the requests she has sent me to play, of all the games in the world, this: ‘Find Your Secret Crush’! Ma’am, I have taught you ‘Personality Development’…  You know I will be 57 next July… You know my son might get married in a few years from now (Hope, he  doesn't  read this Post!)… And, you want me to find...

The other day, some of us were discussing on the subject of ‘Values’. There were two teenagers and three parents, including myself. I was more of a spectator.  One of the parents, a lady, was quite aggressively trying to tell the young ones how important ‘Values’ in life were. The particular parent sounded too rigid and pushy… and, the teenagers evidently showed their resistance.  The other parent, a male, quickly sensed the danger of being so pushy on the young ones. He stepped in to defuse the tension. Without being discourteous to the parent who tried to dominate, this particular parent handled the subject of ‘Values’ in a very compassionate way. He too agreed that some ‘Values’ would always remain universal and timeless. But, he subtly asserted that it was equally important for all of us to change with times, and be flexible. He gently emphasized on the need for parents to understand the young ones and the world they lived in, th...