Gerald D'Cunha

  “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius   T he only football match (the ongoing FIFA World Cup) I watched staying up late, here in Mumbai, was the Semi Finals between Argentina and England. Though, like most Indians, I, too, had been a diehard fan of Brazil and Argentina, during this match, I was rooting for England. I was upset, that Argentina had defeated two the widely-admired underdogs -– Cape Varde and Egypt. The two underdogs had played extremely well… and, therefore, my admiration for them outshone my traditional loyalty to the South Americans… that included the Champ –- Messi. Yes, the GOAT, according to the world around me… As usual, I went off to sleep at 10, instructing my son to wake me up at 12.30 to watch the match. He did… When England scored the first goal, I was thrilled… I saw David Beckham celebrating by hugging his wife, the Spice girl, Victoria… My Victoria, here, was fast asleep… Hence, I celebrated b...

  “The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.” – Rumi   H ave the stories dried up? Come on… They can never be. There are a hundred stories unfolding before my eyes throughout my day… I want to tell them all in my daily posts. In fact, since I posted my last blog on June 15, so many wonderful things have happened in my life… So many things –- both wonderful and awful –- have happened in the outside world… The football world-cup had some underdog heroes… I started writing stories about them; but, gave up… The deadly earthquake in Venezuela deeply moved me… Tried writing something around it; then, gave up… My first blog book (of the ten-book series) was released at a grand function on June 21… My well-wishers shared images, videos and heaped praises; but, I didn’t post a single image or a word… It’s a mystery, quite frankly, as to what makes me write… A dear old student of mine (62), called some days ago… She was shattered… words wer...

“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.” Ferdinand Foch W e keep talking about being passionate about the things we do in life. Like, when we meet someone after decades, and if he/she keeps still talking to us equally, or even more animated – possessed and consumed – manner, well, we can convincingly say, that the person is passionate about the thing he/she is talking about. Passion is blood-red... Once it sets in, it goes very deep into our soul. It’s, as Ferdinand Foch said, ‘the soul on fire’... Some say, it’s a kind of obsession, and many others say, it’s a kind of insanity, madness... Well, it’s a good madness... A thousand times better than walking on this planet with no fire in our souls... May, therefore, the souls continue to be on fire, like the burning bush of the Mount Horeb... (Justin & Uday with Shankar Mahadevan) J ustin and Uday were my students when they were doing their T.Y. B. Com. They were least interested in studies... Their...

  “Most brilliance arises from ordinary people working together in extraordinary ways.” Roger von Oech   E arly this morning, I saw a message from the mother of this 15-year-old boy. He studies in one of the top schools in Mumbai (IGCSE). These kids have my subject (Accountancy) right from class 9. I have been teaching this boy along side another couple of kids from   different international schools – all online. And, let me tell you this: compared to my B.Com students, these school kids, who are now in class 10, are brilliant! Did I say ‘brilliant’? Yes, I did. But, brilliance, in my view, has nothing to do with one’s syllabus or school. It has a lot to do with one’s own outlook towards the task in hand. You see, every task in hand can be done in the best possible way... with all the brilliance one’s heart possesses... The mother who sent the message, early this morning, was asking me to take ‘solo’ classes for her boy just to focus on his MCQs. I smile...

“Either you vegetate and look out of a window; or you activate and try to effect change.” Christopher Reeve   M y wife and I have watched on last two Sundays, back-to-back, two out-of-this-world movies – ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ and ‘Superman’. You see, it’s best to get lost in these fantasy worlds, now and then, knowing very well, that neither the dinosaurs nor the Superman live in this ‘real world’. But, when you wear those dark 3-D glasses and transport yourself into the fantasy worlds – yes, yes, yes, it can be the best medicine for  your worried and wounded souls… The Jurassic Park and the Superman movies we had watched years ago – for the first time – and, now, these latest ones – yes, they did succeed in captivating our hearts. May they continue to do so for centuries to come… The child in me doesn’t want to grow up… That’s something nice, na? L ast evening, on our way to the multiplex to watch ‘Superman’, I fondly remembered Late Christopher Reeve. He was the first Sup...

  “The only real prison is fear; and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.” Aung San Suu Kyi                                               Y esterday was the last day for my twelfth-standard batch (HSC). Even though my students get my daily dose of pepping – call it inspiration or pravachan – during every session, every day, all through their academic year, on the last day, when they go away from me, I have something spontaneous and special to tell them, always… Yes, that is when I truly feel the power and the privilege of being a good teacher: How much, willingly or unwillingly, my students realize they have received from me… And, how much I have received from my students! For some students, it may have been months and months of daily dosage… and, for others, it may be a single dosage… It’s just a little spark that sets a massive forest on fire, we kn...

  “Anxiety doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength.” Charles Spurgeon   W e all need reminders every night when we go to bed… that, despite all our problems, there is something we need to thank God for… that, our problems are very small compared to so many in this world who go to bed with every night… Yes, we all forget to look at the blessings of God and only end up getting overwhelmed by our problems. ‘Thank you God’ doesn’t come to us easily… ‘Why me?’ … ‘Poor me’… yes, these complaints always come easily. L ast night, when I was about to retire, I happened to see two things… One was the report of my routine blood and other tests. Well, just as my students and their parents get anxious on receiving those unpleasant remarks in the progress report, some of the remarks in my lab-report weren’t pleasant… The anxiety was slowly coming over me… Many unnecessary thoughts, to be precise… “What if that happens, this happens?”… and s...

  “Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, courage is the quiet voice, at the end the day, saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow’.” Mary Anne Radmacher   T here are two kinds of reunions… The first kind is the one we get to do after months of meticulous planning. The other kind is the one that just happens, without any planning, just spontaneously. The second kind is what I cherish the most… It springs from a clean heart… simply childlike. On this Sunday, my wife and I had to attend the Month’s mind mass of one of our relatives in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. After the   mass, we had to join for a simple lunch at the residence of the deceased family. I had informed friends of mine, Dr. Kumar and his wife Yashoda (a student of my first batch in Atomic Energy Jr. College, sometime in 1981), that we would be paying a visit to them. They lived just a minute away from my relatives’ place. As we were relishing the aromatic filter-coffee, I remembered another friend of min...