Gerald D'Cunha

  “Lord, we don't need another mountain There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb There are oceans and rivers enough to cross Enough to last until the end of time.” From the song ‘What the world needs now’   by Dionne Warwick S ome days ago, I messaged to a young mother: “Ma’am, Noyonika (daughter) has to attend a workshop tomorrow from 4 to 6 pm. The topic of the work shop will be ‘Effective use of time.” Then, I added, “Ma’am, even you can join the workshop… You know, it’s a useful subject.” It's was 10.30 in the night when I sent this message. “Noyonika will attend the workshop, Sir. I won’t be able to attend as it would be a working day.”   She added, “Sir, I am still on my way home.” And, here at our home, we were set to go off to bed. I told my wife about the conversation I just had. A couple of days later, during the Public Speaking session, Noyomika was on stage. I told everyone about the conversation I had with her mother a few days earlier...

“When the roots are deep, there is no need to fear the wind.” Chinese Proverb   A dear friend of mine holds an important position in a global company. He is currently posted in Vietnam. Yesterday, I received a call from him, saying, that he’s on a holiday in India (Mumbai) and wished to meet me. During the conversation, I learnt a great deal about the Chinese New Year – its long tradition and significance... How it’s celebrated, not only in Main China, but in various South Asian countries, and, even, in many other parts of the world. In every culture, there is this concept called ‘New Year’... and, the idea of ‘coming home’ to celebrate has been rooted deep in the psyche of these cultures. Our own (Catholic) Feast of Nativity (Sept 8, which is celebrated as Mother Mary’s birthday), Onam, Pongal, Yugadi, Vishu, Baisakhi, Chaath Puja – to mention a few – are the occasions to come home to celebrate the roots... My friend described to me how, during the Chinese New Year ce...

"Too many people today know the price of everything and the value of nothing." - Ann Landers G ood values, we are told, are taught at home by parents and elders, and, at school, they are taught by teachers. While it is true to a large extent, I believe, that, often, good values can be learnt by us on our own and cannot be taught to us by others. This noon, a doctor friend of mine spontaneously invited me to his new house. It was lunch time and his wife was not at home. As lunch was ready, my friend insisted that I had my lunch with him. His 11-year-old son was at home. When the little boy wished me and bent down to pay respect, it did not surprise me… Parents do teach such things to their kids and kids follow… even though, often, just mechanically. This kid wasn’t mechanical… He was alive and awake when he touched my feet. Then came a glass of water, “Uncle, please have water.” “Thank-you beta ,” my compliment was, certainly, not mech...

If I tell you, today, 8 th September, is the feast of Nativity, you will surely ask me, “What is that?” Yes, unless you are a dyed-in-the-wool Catholic like me. So, I will take a short-cut here and tell you, today is Mother Mary’s b’day.  And, let me tell you, that it is a big day for all of us… a real family day. As little kids, we would go around our neighborhood in Mangalore and collect the choicest flowers to offer Mother Mary. That was in the evenings after coming from school. The next day, early in the morning, before going to the school, we had to take our beautifully flower-decorated plates and go to our church. We would go in a procession, singing the famous Mother-Mary hymn in Konkani, and shower Her with our flowers. There would be one ‘special’ flower in the plate… and, that had to be kept at Her feet… we would bend down and kiss her feet: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now… And at the hour of our death. Amen” ...