Gerald D'Cunha

Pic.: George A.  D'Souza CONFIDENCE LIES IN  EACH AND EVERY SMALL TASK  WHICH LETS ME OVERCOME MY FEARS - Janhavi Gupta (Age 17) C onfidence is a very complex concept to describe. Confidence cannot be bought or borrowed from somewhere… We need to build it up in ourselves. The source of inspiration to boost confidence is different for different people. But, one can develop it with time and, of course, with hope and attitude of never giving up. Initially, I had fear of travelling. But, in order to overcome my fear, I tried pushing myself for it and, now, I have gained enough confidence to travel across Mumbai alone… That moment, when I realize, that I have overcome my fear, I feel full of confidence… and, I feel very happy, too. Going for college camps, living away from parents and not being dependent on others make me confident… When I get appreciated, motivated and inspired by others… it makes me confident… I am afra...

Pic.: Sheela Krishnamony T he old story of ‘Two Foxes’, once again, came before me, today… One day, a grandfather told his little-grandson, “Honey, inside you there are two foxes and they are constantly fighting with each other.” “Which one will win, grandpa?” the little-fellow was curious to know. “The one who you will feed the most, honey,” the grandpa said caressing the little-one’s head. A s a little child, and later, as a college-going boy, I was terribly shy and frightened. Self-doubts and anxiety had kept me subdued… Desires and dreams, I would, always, think belonged to some privileged kids… and not to me … And, as I have told this many, many times before, it all changed when Prof. B.S. Raman came to teach our class in F.Y. B’Com. Sitting there lost in the crowd of our all-boys class, I desired to become like my idol – a fine teacher. But, an interesting thing happened: As I became conscious of my burning desire to become a fine teac...

Pic.: Chetna Shetty A couple of days ago, a friend of mine pointed to some of The Dawn Club activities and events of the past and wondered if they had yielded the ‘desired results’. “Have they just gone wasted?” he was concerned. I took a long pause before I could reply to my friend.  The question was so familiar to me; for, more than I had heard my well-wishers asking this to me, I have asked this to myself. Inside me, there had been – there still are – two voices… One, soars, dreams, trusts, embraces, laughs, rejoices… The other sulks, dreads, doubts, distances, broods and despairs…. One comes from the sphere of abundance… The other comes from the sphere of lack… One makes me walk into the world with my open arms, the other, with my guarded fists… So, to this concerned friend of mine, I replied, “No, not at all… Every activity we did seem to me as the connecting dots… They have brought us here, today.” Another friend of mine, who was with us, c...

Pic.: Fr. Reginald Pinto I am very fond of both the US President Mr. Barack Obama and our own P.M., Mr. Manmohan Singh. I have, always, held them to be very sincere, extremely committed and exceptionally knowledgeable leaders. So, when they face huge problems, I feel bad for them. Our P.M. never craved to become country’s Prime Minister. Yet, he was destined to… and, for such a long tenure. Things in our country have gone bad. Well, the Congress-baiters would immediately conclude, “All because of the Congress misrule… and, our P.M.’s lackluster leadership.” President Obama’s problems are a hundred-fold bigger - even messier and even scarier - than our P.M.’s. For all these days, when the newspapers and televisions were talking about the US debt-limit, I really did not realize how big it was. I just happened to see that figure, today: US- Dollar 16.7 trillion! Imagine, the most prosperous and the mightiest nation on Earth – th...

Most of my fears are just baseless! They haunt my mind because of my own assumptions, presumption, interpretations… and my unexamined beliefs. Often, it takes a hard look at my fears - a look into the eye of my fears, directly – to do away with them… Often, acceptance of some well-meant advice of a caring soul around… Often, some patience and poise in my heart not to jump to conclusions… not to declare my own self-fulfilling prophesies… Often, some trust in the goodness of Life and kindness of our Lord… Often, some simple humility to lean on someone’s shoulders… All fears are not real… They are just like ghosts… who rule only in the darkness, and, yes, only inside the unattended houses! Humans and ghosts very, very rarely live in the same houses… And, we never hear about ghosts moving around in broad daylight! My mind is my house… When bright thoughts reside there, when light of faith and prayer keep it guarded,...