Gerald D'Cunha

“T here is no free lunch in life,” I told  Varun*, this morning. He had come to attend the Tax class (Direct Tax). Varun’s parents, who are both doctors, are my friends. Some months ago, when Varun had decided to change his stream from Engineering to Commerce, I was approached to do two things: 1. To provide a solid foundation to Varun in important Commerce subjects like Accountancy, Costing and Taxation so that he would be able to take off smoothly. 2. To motivate him to be a self-starter and develop a winning attitude. I have had wonderful experience over last two-three months. Varun has been very receptive and has not disappointed me. However, as a young boy, Varun is no different from his peers… He loves to chill out with his friends, play competitive football and video games, watch movies and attend late-night parties… Move around with friends, both boys and girls… invite them over for lunch and sleep-overs… And, importantly, bully his kid brother,...

Pic.: Dilip V. I f you think, there is a dearth of talent around us, you are wrong. There is talent galore… Loads and loads of it. There is dearth of discipline… Self-discipline. When I was in eleventh standard, we had a wonderful teacher who taught us the Language, Kannada.  His name was Shri. Padakanayya. One day, while discussing a poem, he made a very profound statement. He said, “God gives each one of us a great strength (read it as Gift or Talent); but, He holds back ‘something’ from us so that we remain humble, grateful and deserving.” I was barely a teenager, then. Still, I could grasp the depth of our teacher’s words. What God holds back, becomes our weakness… Our lack of self-discipline. He expects us to work on it before we can encash our talents. Talents and gifts are God-given, no doubt. God is all loving and merciful, no doubt. But, He isn’t a fool to ruin us by placing precious pearls in our hands. If man knows what happens if pearls are ...

    Pic.: Madan Manik   I f we think, anything in life comes free to us, then, we are fools of the first order! Idiots! In life, nothing comes free… Yes, everything comes with a price. If they say, it is ‘free’… Please, don’t believe them. They are fooling you… Or, you are fooling yourself! When we go to a restaurant to eat, we see the menu… and, you know how carefully we study the price against each dish. Importantly, we check how much money we carry in our pockets or banks. But, at someone’s wedding reception, we hog as if we have been on a fast for months! Just imagine, how carelessly and how insensitively we waste food at such places! Most of us eat there more than what is needed for our stomachs! Hello, somebody pays by his nose for what we hog like gluttons and for what we waste like idiots! They say, now a days, WhatsApp is free. That’s the reason why they want all of us to be on it. Then, they make gro...

When I saw my this month’s Internet-usage bill, I was rudely surprised. For years, I have been blogging and I do check my e-mails or send them. I have been managing with some basic schemes… Just need-based.  Just some days ago, someone from the other end had ‘tempted’ me with a scheme that had made sense to me. I said, “Go ahead”.  So, I was expecting a hike of around hundred rupees this month. But, it is more than twice my old out-go! “No way,” I reacted in my mind, “When did I use Internet like this?” I called up the call-center. And, the lady on the other end patiently explained to me that it was just a one-time advance payment… and, that from the next month onward, it would be as promised.  I dropped my resistance, immediately. “Why didn’t you tell me about this ‘one-time-something’ before?" I could have yelled. But, I decided to drop even that. In stead, I decided to ‘drop’ the cheque, immediately… Yes, in the drop-box!...