Gerald D'Cunha

  “Everyone loves a conspiracy.” Unknown   “D on’t’ read too much into it,” a dear friend of mine, often, cautions me, “you’ll go crazy!” If someone has not responded to your messages or greetings, according to my friend, it only means this: He has not responded, yet! The human mind is so fickle, that it swiftly goes into a victim mode and weaves stories… It sees red… It goes into the motive and interprets: “He doesn’t care”…”He doesn’t deserve”… “He thinks too much of himself”… “He does it deliberately and does it always”… “I will never again wish him, greet him, say ‘Hello’ to him”… etc., etc. “You will go crazy!” I remember my friend’s caution. People have their own reasons for doing what they do or don’ t do. For example: some of my students just don’t bother to acknowledge my messages or call back. They will message me or call me only when they want. And, I have tried to inculcate in them the value of acknowledging a teacher’s messages or calls. But, then, i...

  “I want to change things for good; But, sometimes, for things to get better, they first have to get worse.” Becky Moynihan   S ome six months ago, when the Covid situation was still at its cradle stage – as far as our county was concerned – most of us had no hint about the kind of disruption it would cause to our lives. Now, after almost six months, when we look around us, yes, none has been spared… Life has been disrupted for each and every one of us. Those who have lost their jobs, and those who haven’t yet, yes, all of us are anxious… Governments and the armies included… The richest and the wisest included… The God-men and the nastiks included… But, then, I wonder: Whatever happened to the ‘New World Order’, that many kept prophesying about? I t’s for me to see if the world within me has started witnessing a new order. It’s futile to ask, if it has happened for others, too. The mass disruptions of any kind seldom leave our lives unchanged… This Pandemic i...

  “Believe half of what you see and nothing you read online.” Pablo Reyes N ow a days, it’s senseless to say, that we don’t watch TV news. The TV news has come inside our mobile screens. So, wittingly or unwittingly, we consume it in, like – yes, drugs.   It’s pointless to blame the media for its greed… We need to blame ourselves for our own greed… What else explains our obsession with the lives of SSR, Rhea or Kangana? By default, if I get into even two minutes of watching news about these people - on any channel, my head feels the spin and my heart behaves abnormally… And, I am 62… I am decently educated, informed, well-read and spiritual… I like to stay away from gossip and toxicity… And, despite these proud credentials of mine, if my head spins and my heart behaves abnormally, after consuming just two-minutes of TV news, via my mobile phone or laptop, imagine the state of those who are glued to it in their drawing rooms or bed rooms 24 x 7! Imagine the impact...

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” Anonymous I t’s 5 in the evening as I type these words… It’s dark outside, and it’s pouring in torrents! Somewhere in Assam, China and other places, rivers and lakes have swollen and fiercely swallowing up the villages and towns. And, somewhere the earthquakes have flattened out what Man had built… And, everywhere, there is this dreaded virus, already. Some live as one big family, all together, in this lockdown… and some live alone, all alone. But, apparently, loneliness has nothing to do with the number of people we live with. I am sure, many, many, many may agree with me when I say this: You can live with a dozen people at home, yet feel lost and lonely. On the other hand, you may live all alone in the house, yet feel loved and protected… “Thank God, you are living with your family,” I said this, today, to someone who was endlessly cribbing about something, “Just be thankful.” Thanklessness is man’s worst v...

“I choose to listen to the river for a while, thinking river thoughts, before joining the night and the stars.” Edward Abbey I f life is like a river, then, it will make its own way to flow. Won’t it? Flow it will, come what may! Till the other day, almost all of us lived in our own bubbles… We wanted everything grand and glittery. I said ‘everything’ – weddings and anniversaries, birthdays and funerals, baby showers, christenings, memorial days… the sports and musical events, movies and reality shows, the businesses, lifestyles… everything had to be bigger and grander… Yes, till the other day. And, now? Now, the size doesn’t matter… Five to twenty people max, even less, for laying to rest your dearest one. Maybe a few more would be enough to celebrate a wedding at home… Forget the parties on birthdays and anniversaries… You can simply cut a cake or raise a toast at home, and finish it! Till the other day, we all lived in our bubbles! Till th...

"People don’t change; they come closer and closer to who they really are.” Faraaz Kazi I t sounds very spiritual or philosophical when we say, that this lockdown has taught us the value of our family… That, earlier we all had disconnected ourselves from our own near and dear ones… We had no time for each other… We were busy pursuing ‘our own things’… lost in our own gadgets… and all that… Actually, what I see now is a crazy thing: we are locked within our own houses, but we have distanced ourselves literally and figuratively… We find ourselves pursuing ‘our own things’ even more aggressively and selfishly than ever before, lost in our gadgets even more… We are together here, by force and not by choice… There doesn’t seem to be beauty in this togetherness… The complaining and cribbing haven’t stopped… In fact, we frequently seem to be steaming, we are frequently seen on the edge… And why? Because, now there is no escape aw...

“Many think that assigning blame settles matters.” Mason Cooley A s a human race, we have been preloaded with this one unique trait: We all want, desperately, someone to place our blame on! I mean, the moment we face a problem, we instantaneously look for someone who is responsible for that problem… and, once we find one - there we go after him/her/them – all hammer and tongs! Whether we accept it or not, we strangely believe, that when we find who is responsible for our problems, our problems go… Like this Corona! Who is responsible for it, by the way? China… Muslims… Meat-eaters… Fake News, Godi Media… Presstitutes… Government… Opposition… Foreign nationals… Migrating labourers…   Nehru… Gandhi Family… Vadras… Dharavi… Yogi… Modi… Trump… Doctors, Nurses, Delivery Boys… Currency Notes ... Who? Just imagine this: how relieved the mind feels the moment we place the blame on one of these… and, vehemently remain convinced about...

“ A new world order can only be created if we establish an order where the powerful wolf cannot eat the weak lamb!” ―  Mehmet Murat ildan S o, is it all over – I mean, that Sunday 5 p.m. thing – the taali, thaali and ghant i? Is the time to say ‘Thank you’ done and gone? Is there anyone left out there to be thanked? King Solomon – the wise king – wore the magic ring, which had this constant reminder: ‘This, too, shall pass’… How nice! What a great reminder! But, the irony of this old-testament story is this: We use these words to remind us of the ‘ achhe din’ only when we are neck-deep in our bure din . But, when our days are rocking, we never remind ourselves: “Hold on dude,... This, too, shall pass… Bur e din aane wale hai!” Now, the bure din are here again; and, suddenly, we are all reminded, “Hang on dude... This, too, shall pass!” Pass it will. For, that’s how it has always been… The tide of Li...

A friend of mine did not speak to his eldest brother for the last five years. They were five siblings. Their father, on his death, had left substantial property. There was dispute and misunderstanding over the property issue ever since their father had passed away. My friend took whatever share, given to him by the eldest brother, and moved out. But, rest of the siblings expected a fair share… The bitterness had broken down all the  communication and the siblings did not visit their ancestral house. Though they did not hold grudges against each other, something always prevented them from resolving the issue. Occasionally, my friend would meet some members of his brother’s family somewhere outside; but, he couldn't bring himself to reconcile with his brother... And, one afternoon, this happened. Some children from the neighborhood, while playing cricket, were creating a ruckus outside. Agitated, my friend’s brother picked a fight with the adult members of the n...