Gerald D'Cunha

Thapa was the trusted and loyal servant of Balasaheb Thackeray. People, like you and me, would have never known this fact. We came to know about it only during the final journey of the charismatic Sena-chief. Thapa, who served his master for years on, was now there as one of the Thackeray family-members… He was there on the funeral-carriage through out the final journey… He was there to light the final pyre. I consider it to an incredible honor for a simple soul like Thapa… His life is blessed! When Bruce Wayne (The Batman) was a child, his super-rich parents were killed by a mugger and the child was left alone on the dark streets… He was rescued and raised by the family Butler, Alfred. Every time I watch a Batman movie, I really wonder what would have been Bruce’s life without this physical and moral anchor – this trusted and loyal Butler - Alfred… the ‘Rock’! “A chain is as strong as its weakest link,” it is an age-old saying. The weakness o...

Today, Shammi, my dear old-student, happened to pass by and she thought of paying a casual visit to me. Her junior-KG son was as excited as her mother was. “Mohit beta , I told you about my sir, do you remember?” Shammi held her little one’s chin. “Gerry sir!” the little angel announced. “Correct!” the mother patted little Mohit’s head. “Smart boy!” I too patted his back. “Sir, you also tell stories? My teacher tells us many stories,” Mohit said. I looked at his mother and smiled.   “Sir, Mohit loves stories,” Shammi declared. Then, looking at the little son, she said, “ Beta , can you tell sir one of your favorite stories?" “YESS! The Lion and the Mouse… I will tell?” the little one’s face lit up! “Oh, darling! It is my favorite, too… Please tell,” I pampered the little fellow, “I am waiting.” Shammi and I settled down on our chairs, and the little master stood at the centre, like a ...

If I am in a boat, and the boat is in the middle of the river, and if I do not know swimming - then, I better not ask that poor boatman, “Do you know the Vedas?” Because, when the storm comes, and when the boat goes down, he is surely going to ask me, “Sir, do you know swimming?” It is pointless to argue with some… particularly the ‘I-know-alls’. The best way to win arguments with these kind is to leave them alone… Never to get entangled with them. For, it is not in their blood to give up… to concede. So, let them die in their own trap. You don’t have to lay one for them. Yes, when the boat journey had started, that noon, the arrogant scholar had asked the poor boatman, “So, do you know the Vedas?” “Sir, I am a poor village soul,” the boatman had confessed, sincerely,  “I have never seen the doors of a school." “Ayyo Rama, what a waste of life,” the Brahmin had declared, “That means you do not know even Sanskrit?” ...

“If you are not comfortable with yourself, You are not comfortable with the world.” L ast night, my wife left for a week’s tour to Russia. Just about two months ago, our son had left home to live in his hostel at Pune. So, suddenly, I found myself alone, last night, in the whole house… It was a scary experience to deal with that loneliness. Jiddu Krishnamurti says, “Our fears are always associated with our relationships.” This means, whenever I experience a certain fear, I must trace the source: the relationship. So, if I am scared of living all alone, right now, my source of fear is my relationship with my spouse and my son. I need them, their love, and their validation… to feel comfortable, strong. This is the ‘web’ I have created… and I am ‘caught’ in it. Every time I try to ‘possess’ something – be it my house, TV, car… or, be it my job, position, reputation… or be it my spouse, children and friends… even my faith, my beliefs – I am silently creating the web of relationships. And w...