Gerald D'Cunha

  “Sometimes, God’s blessings are not in what He gives; but, in what He takes away.”  -– Anonymous   Y esterday, a dear friend of my wife and me, Anisha, had invited us to watch the Marathi play –- ‘Mukkam Post Pandharpur’ . As Anisha’s friend was one of the producers of the play, the front-row tickets were complimentary for us… We loved the play… It’s the touching story of young army recruit, Mawli, who was born and brought up in the holy land of Vitthala (Lord Vishnu) –- ‘Pandharpur’ (near Sholapur). As another friend of mine has been undertaking the padyatra to Pandharpur every year (hundreds of kilometers), I knew how powerful such faith in Vitthala was. But, not for the protagonist of the play, Mawli. He didn’t have any faith in either Vitthala or any of His Vasudevas… He would argue angrily with whoever displayed devotion to Vitthala… To him, it was a blind faith… Vitthala was dead. So, young Mawli, just after getting married, is posted at Siachen ...

“Gods, always, behave like the people who make them.” —  Zora Neale Hurston   I got curious when I came across the above quote. I read it a couple of times trying to comprehend what it wanted to convey… Well, finally, the question kept haunting me: Do Gods make us, or do we make Gods? Interesting, question… Isn’t it? T wo days ago, I had sent a copy of my new blog book (Volume 1) —‘FINDING EXTRAORDINARY IN THE ORDINARY’ to my friend Paromita’s residence (a Bengali). It’s her birthday, and she, being a great lover of books, was super thrilled to get a special present from me. It was 10 am in the morning. “How’s been your special day?” I asked Paromita. “Oh, exciting!” Paromita said transmitting to me her excitement over the phone. She continued, “I visited two Kaali maa temples… One was an easy entry for all. The other was located inside Anushakti Nagar (BARC colony)… The Security officer at the gate was strict and didn’t allow me when I told, that I wanted to...

  “With every breath, I plant the seeds of devotion;   I am a farmer of the heart. Rumi   S ome days ago, a friend of mine called me. He said, “I want to visit Mount Mary church (Bandra), today… What is the protocol?” Well, my friend is a Hindu Punjabi. I knew about some difficult times he has been recently passing through. So, the strong urge within his heart to visit a holy shrine did not come to me as any surprise. I have, always, gone to Mount Mary during the week days and sat there quietly, feeling overwhelmed with the surge of gratitude, humility and, above all, peace… Peace is what I have come back with. Thus, when my Punjabi friend asked me, “What is the protocol?”… probably, what he wanted to know was: “Can non-Catholics go inside the shrine?” … “Are there specific hours for the visit?” … “Should one keep the footwear outside?”… “Is offering of candles or cash mandatory?”… etc., etc. I said what I believed in: “Go there with your humble heart... Mot...

  “Everything in life is speaking in spite of its apparent silence.” Hazrat Inayat Khan   T he Sufi teacher’s quote above reminds us, that God listens through only one language – silence… Yes, everything in life is speaking, in   spite of its apparent silence. Hebrew, Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic – and a thousand other languages - may help us to pray, chant or sing. But, to me, the language God connects the most is our profound silence… L ast weekend, my wife and I had attended a wedding at one of the resorts in Karjat. The couple, who were hosting their son’s wedding, belonged to Bori community. The guests belonged to varied communities… different religions, languages, food habits, customs and culture. What was impressive was the connect we all felt while we participated in this family’s happy occasion… What mattered the most was the quiet human thread that connected all of us. That night, we and our three other dear couples, stayed at another nearby farm house ...

  “When God is at the center of your life, you worship; When He’s not, you worry.” Rick Warren S ome days ago, I was sitting with a young couple. In the course of our discussion, they were describing to me about how the conflict between Israel and Arabs had originated. The couple was in the early thirties, and I was amazed by the ‘knowledge’ they possessed. They sounded very authentic in their knowledge about different religions, particularly Judaism (Religion of Jews), Christianity and Islam… I suddenly felt how unaware I was about my own religion for all these years and still claimed myself as a ‘Christian’.  So, that evening, I just remained quiet and listened to this young couple… After the couple left, I was asking to myself: “Do we need to ‘know’ all such things in order to ‘know’ God?” I was not asking this to defend myself or justify my lack of knowledge on historical facts about my own or my fellow-beings’ religions. I was asking this question to make sure...

  “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” Saint Augustine   ‘S ankat me Venkat’ . That’s what God – the Venkat – means to most of us. When everything is going fine for us, mostly, we remember Him out of a deeply-rooted habit – call it a tradition or ritual. God really makes sense to all of us when we are in trouble – sankat! Well, if what I just said sounds sacrilegious, "Lord have mercy on me – this sinner!” Today is Ganesh Chaturthi… The adorable Bappa is at our doors. I saw this picture doing rounds on social media…     Bappa doesn’t fail to amuse us, fascinate and inspire us… The ‘us’ includes all – young and old, the littles babies even… Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Jains, Christians all love Him. They all believe,   that this Lord with an elephant trunk, listens… That, He is compassionate, approachable and adorable. Hence, they all go to Him in the times of their   tests and tribulat...

  “He who has no Christmas in his heart, will never find it under a Tree.” Roy L. Smith’s L ast night, a dear friend of mine, a Sikh by faith, who lives in London, shared with me the picture of a beautiful Christmas tree decorated by her two teenager girls… “Our Christmas Tree”, my friend captioned it warmly. Well, the Christmas Tree hadn’t come up, yet, at our place. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” I consoled myself. “He who has no Christmas in his heart, will never find it under a Tree,” I reminded myself with Roy L. Smith’s words. I am inspired by Christmas season. More than that, I am incredibly inspired by Jesus Christ’s life. But, then, as I became an adult, my idea of Christmas has undergone a sea-change. The hype and hoopla and the utterly humble crib, to me, look a complete contrast. In my mind, and in my heart, I prefer to remember Jesus Christ quietly… Yes, with least glitter. “Come on,” many times, I hear my friends and relatives saying. A lot of preparation goes ...

“I close my eyes, in order to see.” Paul Gauguin I love stories from The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The Bible and almost every Holy Book. My earliest impression of some of these stories goes back to my primary-school days. Ours was a local village-school. But, the teachers in our school knew to recount these tales with vibrant imagery. About the stories from the Bible – both, The Old and The New Testament – yes, we had our Sunday-school teachers, who, too, relayed those stories with life! Therefore, those stories are still alive, not just in our minds, but, also, in our hearts. Thank God, we kids grew up appreciating stories from the Holy Books of all faiths. I feel, truly, blessed about this fact. Ours was a mixed neighbourhood...   Hindus, Muslims and Christians, all. As a kid, I remember spending a lot of my play time in Hindu households, who used to have on their walls those large-size colourful calendars of Hindu deities. I, particularly, remember getti...

"Humility, that low, sweet root, from which all heavenly virtues shoot.” Thomas Moore W hat makes food delicious is not just the ingredients and recipe, but also the love and reverence with which it’s prepared and served. That’s why, a very ordinary and easy-to-prepare dish, like ‘Langar Wali Daal’, tastes so, so delicious! A couple of days ago, I chanced upon a video in which a village woman in Punjab was showing us how they prepared ‘Langar Wali Daal’. She was preparing it on a Chula using the typical village utensils. I was so tempted to have it, that I tried to describe what I had just seen to my wife and son. That’s enough for my son to go on and on and on… I mean, raving about this traditional daal dish from Punjab. “I have tasted the ultimate one in the Golden Temple, Amritsar,” he proudly let us know, “That experience of sitting on a Pangat and savouring it bending your head amidst some 50,000 people, regardless of their class, colour and creed,   ...