Gerald D'Cunha

A couple of days ago, I had blogged on the subject of human greed for money – rather, the temptation to grow rich faster… via whatever short-cuts, including the latest one: Bitcoin mania. A restless young man said to me, the other day, “Sir, today, the so-called the ‘hard-earned’ money is hardly enough for us to buy a decent house in any suburbs of Mumbai… Leave alone meeting other expenses.” I told the young man, that every generation had the same anxiety. “Even I had the same thought when I was your age,” I said, “but, along my way, I realized, that everything becomes expensive including the sale value of the goods and services we sell.” My advice to the young man was, that he had to learn to increase the sale value of his potential and not succumb to the temptation of making some easy money. But, the ‘young blood’ would not buy my theory so easily, you see! Last night, my bother forwarded to me a lovely story. I am sharing this story, here, with a few grammat...

Y es, it is information overload for all of us… It’s 24/7/365. So much of information - be it serious or light, be it inspirational or gloomy, be it educational or spiritual, be it happy or sad… Is so much information from dawn to dusk and from dusk to dawn needed in life? Does it enhance the quality of our life or reduces it? Does it make us smart or dumb? Take the inspirational stuff people like me post daily… Is so much of inspiration really needed? Won’t life be amazing without posts from people like me? I think, world around me can be an amazing place even without me and my posts… You can lead an inspired life even without reading a single inspirational post. I bet, you can! The same holds true for information and posts on other genres. Yet, if you ask me what kind of posts I don’t mind, the answer would be one that make me laugh… see the lighter and brighter side of life. My younger brother Vivek, and my friend from Mangalore, Joe, have a penchant for...

When I am attending a Mass inside a church, I can not behave the way I do while watching an IPL match in a stadium. Likewise, I cannot talk with my son’ college Dean as I do with my next-door neighbor… Nor, can I eat in a fine restaurant the way I do in my house.  There is the social decorum… the convention... the unwritten code of conduct, which demands me to behave at a certain place in a certain manner. So, these are  Manners and Etiquette. Maybe, plain common sense! “May I come in sir?”  “Excuse me.” “Thank you.” “I am sorry.” “My pleasure.” “It is alright.” Well, why do we keep saying these phrases? When did we learn them? Who had taught them to us? Why do we need to compliment others? Why do we need to thank for every compliment that we receive? Why should we be careful when we criticize others? And, how should we deal with when we receive criticism? Why should I keep pace with othe...