Gerald D'Cunha

Pic.: Sudha Ahuja O ur TV has not been working for more than a month now. My wife and I are not at all motivated to get it fixed…  News, IPL, Travel shows, Reality shows – honestly, we are missing nothing. Even the daily newspaper lies there unread somewhere in the corner of our house.  So, what happens around us, we are unaware without TV, Radio or newspaper… and, yes, without the social media. A thought often comes to me: Am I aware of what happens within me? Do I need a TV, Radio or newspaper to make me aware of it? My wife and I had left for Pune yesterday. Today was our son’s convocation. Though, presently, he is in Seattle attending a film festival, we wanted to attend the convocation ceremony. So, we decided to spend the night at our dear friend Deepak’s house. It was so quiet and beautiful! And, in the morning today, as we were about to leave Deepak’s house, his dad informed us about the tragic news of earthquake in the Himalayan ...

A good friend of mine is a very popular lecturer in her college. Her students adore her as she does walk, always, beyond the call of her duty. When a student is weak, she calls them extra and teaches. When the students are good in studies, she talks to them about what they should do to become focused on their goals. And whenever there is a deserving student, she refers them to me for fine-tuning. Last morning, two young-ones came to me through my friend’s reference. Incidentally, I was free when they came to me with their respective mothers. These two students hailed from economically weak families… They were sincere; but, because they had studied through a vernacular medium, they had difficulty not only in understanding and writing, but also in self-confidence. Yes, they had low self-confidence… My friend wanted me to do my bit in this respect. As I was free - and I am, always, excited when it comes to helping someone struggle with self-confide...