Gerald D'Cunha

M any years ago, I used to display in my classroom a fresh inspirational quote every Monday morning. One of them was this: “WANT TO EAT AN ELEPHANT?” The quote was in big-bold letters. Below this quote ran a small line in very small letters… So small, that my students would curiously come closer to read it: “Eat one spoon at a time!” This quote had helped me convey to my students the importance of taking our ‘baby steps’ in life. The journey of thousand miles always started with one step at a time… The climb to the Mount Everest always began with one step at a time… Yes, if we learnt to eat one spoon at a time, we could finish eating an elephant, too! Whenever I am overwhelmed by the magnitude of the work before me, I remind myself with this quote: “Hey, want to eat an elephant? Eat one spoon at a time!” I learnt to eat the elephant called ‘English Speaking’ in the same way… by eating one spoon at a time… Slowly, steadily, consisten...

A n articulate lady, who I knew for many years, had come to meet me, yesterday. One of her friends wanted to enroll her 16-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son for our P.D. Course. The friend was a shy person and wanted the articulate lady to do the talking for her. I made the shy woman feel comfortable and spoke to her mostly in Hindi…But, it was not helping. The daughter and son were very fluent in English… Their mother seemed a lot apprehensive and diffident. “Sir, please talk to her in Hindi,” pleaded the articulate lady whenever she heard me using English, “She feels stressed.” I comforted the anxious woman by telling my own story… My schooling in the local vernacular-medium school in my village… how I dreaded speaking in English as a teenager and how it added to my inferiority complex… and, importantly, how I overcame my problem, eventually… I looked at the 16-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son of the worried woman and said, “You both should ...