Gerald D'Cunha

  “Judging others does not define who they are. It defines who we are.” Kristen Stewar t Y es, agreed – in the latest KBC episode, this 10-year-old kid, Ishit Bhatt, sounded overconfident... Rude and arrogant – okay, agreed... But, the kid paid a price for it, right? 83-year-old Legend showed a lot of grace and magnanimity to this kid even though he must have been a lot irritated, even angry. But, little boy Ishit was, more than anything else, only what he was – an over excited kid... And, alas! I saw the whole world going after this little kid, and even his parents... The kid sat on the ‘hot seat’... and, the world sat on the ‘judgement seat’... See the relentless posts and read the deluge of comments – yes, from random people - Toms, Dicks and Harrys... Pathetic, damaging, brute... insensitive... To me, the kid wasn’t a loser in this episode... the random roadside commentators are. The kid and his parents will take many years to get over the disappointment, pa...

  “The only unique contribution that we will ever make in this world will be born out of our creativity.” Brene Brown   A famous motivational guru had made this statement: ‘Winners don’t do different things; they do things differently.’ Interestingly, the best-selling author and motivational guru had the sharpest and the quickest business-acumen to copyright this line. So, it’s ‘registered’ under the relevant Intellectual Property Act… Now, you and I can’t claim it as ours… It is his – the great guru’s! Sometimes, I find it so silly when someone claims, that a line like the one mentioned – which is a universal and age-old truth – as his/her property. Yes, I agree and marvel at his/her business acumen… to make a fortune out of common wisdom… Is that creativity? I think, it is. And, if it is, so be it. Many of us have come across this dialogue between a honeybee and a concerned creature: Once, a concerned creature asks a honeybee: “My friend, you take so mu...

  “People pay the doctor for his trouble; for his kindness, they still remain in his debt.” Seneca   T wo things I know about every doctor – even if he/she is world’s most renowned and acclaimed doctor. One: doctor is not God; just a human being, like the rest of us. Two: doctor, too, gets anxious and worried and prays to God in times of his/her distress, like the rest of us. Thus, when we trust a doctor to help us out of a disease, by medicines, surgery or any kind of treatment, we have to trust God, too. Just like anything else in life can go wrong, a doctor’s treatment or surgery, too, can. As a teacher, I may think, that I have taught my students with all my heart and skills. But, sometimes, my students can fail, or get low marks. The best of the best lawyers cannot guarantee to their clients a favourable verdict… No matter how fat a sum he has received   as legal fees. The best lawyer can only do his best… That’s all! And, so is the case when it comes...

  “People are sheep. The TV is the Shepherd.” Jess C. Scott S ome thirty years ago, one afternoon, it’s raining heavily. I had kept my classroom door closed, and my students and I were totally focused on the proceedings inside. There were some forty or forty-five students inside, who had parked their umbrellas and windcheaters in two large buckets which were placed outside. After the class got over, when my students went outside, there was a commotion… All the umbrellas and windcheaters had disappeared from the buckets! We were all shocked! Missing of one or two umbrellas or windcheaters would have gone down our throats, somehow… But, this wouldn’t. Being their teacher, and the owner of the class, I was answerable. “What is the mystery? Is it a theft or some freak accident or whatever that is?” … We had no clue. My students were kind enough not to create any scene, and, they all – young colleges students – merrily dispersed getting drenched! For a week, since then, I tried ...

  “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it’s the illusion of knowledge.” Daniel J. Boorstin   A few things, which I claim, “I know”, often, make me arrogant. And, unless, someone shakes me hard to make me realize the fact, that, there are so many things, which “I don’t know” – yes, till then, I tend to think this world revolves around me… How silly and how small I am! For example, right since my schooldays, I have been not only bad in technology, I have also been suffering from its phobia. Today, my commonsense tells me, that these phobias are my baseless fears… Many of them – all of them, rather – can be overcome. Yet, I haven’t stopped to work on many of them. So, they are still there in my life sending me on a panic mode quite regularly… The little problems I face in my daily life – be it related to plumbing, electrical work, computer, internet, mobile phone etc. - are enough to put me under stress. Need I have the required skills to fix them? Pr...

  “Maturity is when your world opens up, and you realize, that you are not the centre of it.” M.J. Croan T he other day, I was teaching a group of my eleventh-standard students. In the middle of seriousness, I heard, in the background, a little kid screaming at the top of its voice… and, suddenly, my student – Latika* – screaming back, supported by the sound of blows. The video was on a off-mode… So, we couldn’t’ see what the WWF was all about. So, I asked, as others laughed loudly, “What happened Latika – Who’s it in the room?” “Sorry Sir,” Latika said embarrassed, “It was my ‘kid brother’.” “Kid brother’?” I exclaimed, “How old is he?” “3, Sir,” Latika replied. “And you?” “Just completed 15.” “It must be a great fun at home, every day, na?” I teased. “Not fun, Sir, it’s a circus,” Latika reacted as others enjoyed this new twist in our otherwise serious and boring online teaching-learning circus… “Any of you have a kid brother or sister, like Latika, at home?...

“But, wishes are only granted in fairy tales.” Simone Elkeles T he reason why some tales are called ‘Fairy Tales’ is, because, they, always, end with this wonderful ending: ‘And they lived happily ever after’! If Fairies don’t exist, how can you expect to live happily ever after? They both exist only in our childish fantasies… Often, meant to put us to sleep! Some thirty-odd years ago – yes, I was a young man then – a very experienced and elderly teacher pointed to a casual phrase I had written and asked me, ‘What do you mean by this?” The phrase was ‘Lasting Happiness’! I, instantly, found myself stumped! Before it was too late, I pulled out that weed from my vocabulary. Since then, to me, ‘Happiness’ – yes, it does exist. ‘Lasting Happiness’ – No, it doesn’t! Just as Fairies… Just as that mirage of living happily ever after! I think, the Pursuit of Happiness should be a pursuit in this real world… Not in the ‘other world’… the world of Fairies! ...

“The two most common elements in the Universe are hydrogen and stupidity.” Harian Ellison T he essence of every religion is the essence of Life; and, that’s love and brotherhood. It’s the common belief, that we all are the children of the same God – the same Creator… That, we are not even a speck in the vast Universe He has created… too, too, too small and insignificant! Hence, the fact that I am a Christian – and a Roman Catholic in that – is too insignificant. If that thought – that, I am a Christian - makes me feel different – superior to others – then, my religion is a dead religion… It’s dark and dangerous! Self-importance is the opposite of the religious essence of Love and brotherhood. If my religion makes me feel ‘different’ – superior to others – then, the God I worship must be a False God! Look at the stupidity to which some of us have lowered ourselves to, now… Yes, even at this time, when the whole wo...