Gerald D'Cunha

  “It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” Roy Disney   S ometime before the pandemic broke out, my wife and I had been for our annual Tai Chi camp at Lonavala. As it happens at every such camp, this time, too, we got to meet and become friends with many wonderful fellow-learners. One such person was a senior faculty in an engineering college in Mumbai. During the course of our discussion, she narrated to some of us an incident in her teaching career. Apparently, one of the students of our new friend was caught indulging in unfair practice during his exams. Consequently, he was failed. Being the faculty directly in charge, one night, she found at her door the student accompanied by his father. It seemed, that the family was well-placed financially and fairly educated, too. The house visit was to persuade the faculty-in-charge to ‘do something’ and promote the young man. But, our professor-friend, tried her best to explain to the son and t...

“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.” -  Brad Henry   ‘A TEACHER BY DESIGN OR A TEACHER BY DEFAULT?’ This is how I have captioned my session tomorrow. A reputed college in the city has invited me to conduct a session for its senior college-teachers… some eighty of them, of which about sixty are Ph.Ds. And, yes, about 60 to 70 percent of the teachers are ladies! A lady, always, makes a better teacher… Any dispute on this? Most of us have tender memories of our earliest teachers… Invariably most of them were lady teachers. Mine was a teacher by the name Satvavati. She made our lessons so dramatic with her stories and songs. This one has stayed with me till date... O ne late evening, a cow was returning to her home through a jungle. A hungry tiger came to attack her. She was the ideal dinner for the hungry tiger.  “Master,” the cow cried before the hungry a...

Pic.:Internet L ast afternoon, my wife and I watched the English movie (Produced and directed by legendary Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks in lead role as Captain ‘Sully’). As we came out of the theatre, we saw a very elderly couple who seemed to have walking problem. My wife and I offered our help to lead them till the lift. “Did you like the film?” I asked them. “Oh, yes, yes… Very much,” said the elderly man. “Our daughter from America called up and said we should watch it,” beamed the elderly woman. I instinctively looked at my wife and she had a broad smile on her face. “The same thing happened with us,” I told the elderly couple, “Our son called up and said we should watch the film.” A few movies have left me moved and inspired as ‘Sully’ has done. Most of us had read the news or watched it on TV when it had happened on Jan 15, 2009. But, none of us have a clue about the trauma and nightmare Captain   Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger ...

Pic.: Mini Milind Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found it very useful – was telling a nice story in two tenses… Past and Present. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people who were earnest to improve their English with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and tell it to someone. I like this little story immensely. It helps me remain aligned to some of the values I believe in. When everyone around keeps telling me, certain people cannot be trusted, when everyone around me keeps telling me to make a ‘fast kill’… I remember this story… My sweet first-standard teacher had dramatized it as a musical… Incidentally, my teacher’s name was Mrs. Satyawati… The truthful one. THE TIGER AND THE COW PAST: O ne late evening, a cow was returning to her home through a jungle. A hungry tiger came to attack her. She was the ideal dinner for the hu...

Pic.: Anima D'Cunha “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” - C. S. Lewis W hat actually happens inside me when I make a promise to someone and keep it?  A lot happens… or, nothing at all. If making a promise to someone and keeping it is a value I cherish in my life, then, when I keep my promises given to others, I, invariably, feel good about myself… On the other hand, if it isn’t something important to me – not a value to me – then, even if I make a thousand promises to others and break them, nothing will happen at all inside my heart! Making a promise to someone in my awareness, guided by my strong sense of values in life, yes, it helps me keep them. I know it is important for developing my healthy self-esteem. The more I break my promises, the worse I feel about myself… My self-esteem goes down! Then, there is a promise which I make to myself and either keep it or break it. This is even subtler… ...

Pic.: Mini Milind “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.” - Alexander the Great T here is a mighty truth packed in Alexander’s statement… the most fundamental truth about how we, as individuals, behave when led by a leader. Led by a strong leader - a lion, we, too, become strong - lions like him. His vision becomes our vision… His courage and strength become ours. On the other hand, led by a meek leader - a sheep, we, too, become meek - sheep. His lack of vision becomes our conditions, too… His meekness becomes our meekness. His fear and suspicion become ours. We, as a society, community and nation, cannot survive amazingly without the charisma of our leaders. We need them, and need them very, very badly. My belief has, always, been this: If as an individual, I lead my life well – inspired and vision-driven… take bold personal decisions, remain ready to accept consequences of my decisions… r...

Pic. : Alwyn Mathias “Be the type of person you want to meet.” -Anonymous T he first impression is the last impression. While a major part of it may be true, I don’t think, any first impression – no matter how good or bad it is – can be ‘the last’ impression. And, because, somewhere it is ingrained into our psyche, that our first impression is very, very important – that, it is the ultimate, the decisive, the final impression, we go overboard to present our best profile before the world… Yes, I, too, do it… Take me anywhere… Put me before anyone – right from my new students to their parents… to a bank manager, government official, or even a new neighbor or friend… Yes, somewhere at the back of my mind, it is deeply seated: that, I must leave my best impression before them! So, I do… And, I am sure, like me, everyone else does, too. But, then, I am in touch with another thought in my mind, which, invariably, pops up every time I try ...

Pic.: Nirmala Sundar L ast evening, I spent, almost, two hours in Gunit’s* bungalow. I was visiting their place after twenty-nine years! I knew Gunit* since he was in class 9. That was the time, I used to teach his elder brother, Karan* and four others, in their bungalow, who were studying for their twelfth-standard board-exams. I was very close to their family... Though Gunit  wasn't  my student, he would be very close to me, very affectionate and respectful. Parents, despite their wealth, had great respect for teachers, about which, they would be very vocal. “It is teachers like you who mould our children,” they would say, “You are their second parents.” Both the sons were groomed, during their college days, to get into the family business. Karan completed his B’Com and Gunit his B’Sc.  Eventually  both both joined the business full-time and ensured that it grew well. What I still remember is, that the family was very...