Gerald D'Cunha

A dear friend called up a few minutes ago to give me Christmas wishes… “How did you spend the Christmas day Gerry?” he asked, “Hope you enjoyed.” How did I spend my Christmas day, today? Greetings and calls apart, my Christmas day was homebound. Actually, my wife, son and I spent our time with my in-laws, who live nearby to our place. When they were in good health, we would invite them to our place. Now, they cannot come. So, we meet at their place and spend the Christmas day with them. My father-in-law is in his eighties and my mother-in-law is in her seventies. We do not allow them to go out alone. They are not able to attend the Sunday Mass any more, the way they did for years, when their health was good. Last evening, my father-in-law expressed his desire to attend the Christmas Mass. Obviously, the night mass was not advisable… So, I assured him, that I would escort him to the church for the morning Mass today, which I did… It was a very satisfying ...

I nvariably, all of us – if not ‘all’, most of us – have disciple in those areas of life, which, we have made as our priority areas. We have a strong value attached to those areas and hence, we give a lot of attention and focus to these areas… Yes, most of us are disciplined in that sense… For example, when it comes to my work – getting up, starting my first batch, being punctual and regular… writing a bog almost every day… keeping my promise and commitments… thanking, appreciating, keeping good communication etc... yes, when it comes to these, I am very disciplined. Working hard, yes… I am extremely disciplined… Keeping good relationship, yes, I am extremely disciplined… Forgiving and letting go… yes, I score excellently there, too… And, yet, there are many arrears in my life, I lack discipline. On top of this list comes my health care! Health is wealth… Don’t I know this? The problem doesn’t lie in ‘knowledge’… Problem lies in ‘implementation’ of that...

Pic.: Madhusudan D. Jeurkar T his morning, as our Tai Chi session was in progress, it was pouring heavily.  “We have good rains this time,” I said to Kannan, “God has been kind.” After many Sundays, I found Kannan back in form, today. “Gerry, there is a powerful Sanskrit shloka  – a prayer – which is recited at the end of most of the Hindu ceremonies...  I was curious…  Kannan recited: “Kale varshatu parjanya, Prithivi sasya shalini Deshoyam kshobha rahitaha Sajjana santu nirbhayaha” “ Let the monsoon be timely and plentiful, Let earth be covered with vegetation, Let the country live without (conflicts) problems, And let good people never have fear.” It struck me like a pleasant lightening… “Wow!” I said, “Kannan sir, let me hear that prayer again.” “Kale varshatu parjanya,” “ Let the monsoon be timely and plentiful, “Prithivi sasya shalini” “Let earth be covered with vegetation,” “Deshoyam kshobha rahitaha” “ Let ...

Pic.: Mavourneen Peters “Gerry sir, our problem is not lack of knowledge… our problem is lack of implementation.” - Manjeet Singh Khalsa L et me clarify it at the outset itself: Manjeet Singh Khalsa is not any old-age baba or any new-age guru.  He is just my friend and lives here, next-door… who loves to eat sensibly and live on his own terms… and, yes, yes… who, at 50-plus, has a belly of a baby! I am intelligent enough to ‘know’ why Manjeet has a baby-belly and I have a pot-belly. I ‘know’ how the baby-belly goes and pot-belly comes… how fat forms and what fat does! So, Manjeet Singh Khalsa, my friend, reminds me, again and again: “Gerry sir, our problem is not ‘lack of knowledge’… Our problem is ‘lack of implementation’!” Full stop!!!! I had got up early – very early – this morning. So, I happened to see an interesting post shared by my Tai-chi-class friend, Hazel. “EXCERCIES TO BURN ABDOMINAL FAT IN 14 DAYS FLAT!” ...

Pic.: Mavourneen Peters “Gerry sir, our problem is not lack of knowledge… our problem is lack of implementation.” - Manjeet Singh Khalsa L et me clarify it at the outset itself: Manjeet Singh Khalsa is not any old-age baba or any new-age guru.  He is just my friend and lives here, next-door… who loves to eat sensibly and live on his own terms… and, yes, yes… who, at 50-plus, has a belly of a baby! I am intelligent enough to ‘know’ why Manjeet has a baby-belly and I have a pot-belly. I ‘know’ how the baby-belly goes and pot-belly comes… how fat forms and what fat does! So, Manjeet Singh Khalsa, my friend, reminds me, again and again: “Gerry sir, our problem is not ‘lack of knowledge’… Our problem is ‘lack of implementation’!” Full stop!!!! I had got up early – very early – this morning. So, I happened to see an interesting post shared by my Tai-chi-class friend, Hazel. “EXCERCIES TO BURN ABDOMINAL FAT IN 14 DAYS FLAT!” ...

Pic.: Sheela Krishnamony T oday is my friend Vikram’s 58 th b’day. A while ago, I had called him to wish. “May God grant you good health and peace in the years to come,” I said. “That’s all I need at this stage of my life,” Vikram said, quite emotionally, “not the blessings from Dhana Lakshm i but from Dhairya Lakshmi .” I loved the two words… Dhana Lakshmi and Dhairya Lakshmi. Goddess Lakshmi has been kind to Vikram, all the way to his 58 th b’day, today. He has been blessed with fine education, a great wife, two brilliant children, both now settled in the US. He has been successful as a businessman, been able to earn good amount of financial status. He has been, also, blessed with a very positive attitude towards life… a great optimism and understanding of the Tide of life… that is, the ability to remain graceful, both, in good times and bad times. So, today, Vikram doesn’t need money - Dhan , success or status. He needs Dhairya – fortitude (cour...