Gerald D'Cunha

  “One of the keys to our happiness is bad memory.” Rita Mae Brown   A lmost all the viral videos become so viral, because, someone simply shoots them without stressing out, and uploads them without expecting anything in return. Ask anyone, whose videos have gone insanely viral, and you will see a simple, joyful heart behind it! On the other hand, if I write something or create a piece of art and attempt to make it viral, it mostly doesn’t even take off! The best things in life are simply spontaneous… Unplanned and done with no expectations. I am sure, many of us have come across this video, lately:     Then, someone added these rustic beats and made it even more heart-warming!   “With mirth and laughter, let old wrinkles come.” This is what William Shakespeare tells us through ‘The Merchant of Venice’. Well, I think, our old wrinkles come not through mirth and laughter alone; the sorrows and anxieties, too, pave way for them!   W hen 20...

Gandhi would, often, advice his over-zealous Western followers: “You do not have to convert yourself into a Hindu to lead a virtuous life; all that you have to do is: be a good Christian.” I remembered this advice when Ramesh, an ex-student of mine, had come to seek my advice, this morning. “ Sankat mein Venkat !” That’s how Ramesh thinks I am for him. Once in six months, at least, he has to see this ‘Venkat’ ! Well, though this may sound a   little embarrassing and self-glorifying – I wish to admit that even I , too, go to many such ‘Venkats’ whenever I am in my own ‘sankats’! What was Ramesh’s sankat , today?   Ramesh did his graduation some fifteen years ago, and, simultaneously did a Software course from NIIT. He comes from a very simple, hand-to-mouth, Maharashtrian joint-family. He has a complex that he can not speak in English… and, he, often, gets intimidated by his colleagues and bosses. He goofs up and gets criticized and th...

In my last post, I had used a very old statement: “Wherever you go, you carry yourself.” “What did you mean by that?” A friend of mine asked me, last night.  For the last two weeks, this friend of mine, along with his wife, has been busy planning for the summer holidays. Just another week, the family will be off on a ten-day trip to Kashmir. A lot of preparation has been going on… right from surfing on the Net, calling tour agents, cross checking with friends and strangers who have already been to Kashmir... to arranging for funds, haggling on the package, the hotels and the food. Along the process, a lot of heat is generated at home – there are disagreements between husband and wife, the young daughter has different perspective altogether… there are loud arguments and sulking.  The holiday is just about to take off. My friend is going to Kashmir… with his family…  Last night, I asked him, “Why?” He had ...