Gerald D'Cunha

  “Always pick your battles carefully; and let Karma take care of the rest.” Anthon St, Maarten L ast night, a dear family friend of ours was talking to my wife and me. For years, he and his family were fighting a legal battle to reclaim their hard-earned property from a dishonest tenant. The matter had travelled all the way from the local Magistrate’s court to the Supreme court… leaving our friend and his family financially, mentally, physically drained. There were countless moments of doubt, frustration and hopelessness… There were, also, endless moments of blame, anger, and even fear… Yet, our friend’s family – who were absolutely placed on the right side of the truth – held the fort and kept faith, both, in the worldly and divine justice… And, finally, two days ago, the Highest Court of this land, handed justice to our friend and his family… They not only reclaimed their property and arrears of rent of years, they also reclaimed their honour and hope… It was a battle wort...

“T here’s no point in trying to convince someone who’s already made up his mind. ” This is a wise and old piece of advice.   Now, we all make up our minds. In fact, we are encouraged to do so... Aren’t we? But, what if someone is too adamant, too inflexible, too egoistic? And, what if this person keeps citing the ‘Laws’… Keeps accusing everyone’s actions as ‘illegal’? Yes, this is the person, who, the Wise say, we should not try to convince. They have made up their minds… and, even if the whole world falls apart around them, they won’t move an inch! But, invariably, they bring upon them the inevitable self-destruction… History has enough evidence to show us this truth! T he men who put Jesus Christ to death were such hardcore pharisees … They cited laws, and they always tried to trap Jesus through this medium… When Jesus went around teaching and healing people on the Sabbath Day (The Jews, as per the Moses’ Law, rested and p...

“ My pain may be the reason for somebody's laugh. But my laugh must never be the reason for somebody's pain.” -        Charlie Chaplin D uring the campaign for Presidential elections in America in 2016 (Donald Trump Vs Hillary Clinton), Michelle Obama’s one statement had inspired me the most. She said: “When they go low, we go high.” Now, reflect on this statement… How profound it is! I had nothing to do with Trump or Hillary, nothing about who wins or who loses there… Still, when Michelle said that, I felt she was talking about a universal truth – an everyday truth – of Life… I come across this challenge every day… There are those bullies around me, who are chronically insecure and operate from fear, hatred and complete lack of trust. They can stoop to any low level to defame you and destroy you… And, often, they seem to succeed in what they do… And, this is where the true test of my charact...

T he other day, when we saw tons of trash thrown back by the Sea along the Queen’s Necklace – Mumbai’s pride, Marine Drive – we all knew what the Sea had conveyed to us through that mono act: “What you sow, you reap”… “If you send me good stuff, I will send you back good stuff in more measure. But, if you send me trash, you will get it back in tons and tons, like this.” Well, the message runs much deeper, Sir. This Sea called ‘Life’ has been too kind and tolerant to us. We are lucky, actually, to get away with our ‘sins’! Look at what we do, each day… Some of us, relentlessly and shamelessly, from the moment we get up from our beds to the moment we go to our beds… We dump ‘trash’ into this Sea called ‘Life’… What trash? The trash of divisive thoughts… The trash of religious discord… The trash of political discord… The trash of gender discord… The trash of caste and class discord… The trash of hatred and revenge… The trash of i...

“There are two types of seeds in the mind: those that create anger, fear, frustration, jealousy, hatred and those that create love, compassion, equanimity and joy. Spirituality is germination and sprouting of the second group and transforming the first group.” ―  Amit Ray A ll angry people do not hate or seek revenge. Hatred and revenge come from extreme insecurity and fear. On this planet, I think, almost all of us experience and express anger in some degree or the other. But, hatred and revenge – yes, only a small segment of mankind has them. That is a good news! I look to my immediately surroundings… Look at the messages we receive on social media or the news reports… The stories of hate and revenge are there, but not many compared to stories of love, compassion and goodness. Why look outside… a look inside me reveals that I have ample of anger… But, traces of hatred and revenge are almost not there. My anger ha...

O ur little good thoughts and deeds of years and years don’t simply go wasted. They come back to help us when we need help the most. There is cumulative power concealed in our good thoughts and deeds… The Law of Karma doesn’t spare any one of us… What goes around comes around… We reap what we sow! But, the important thing is this: when we sow the seeds – our little good thoughts and deeds – we do not do it with any clauses and conditions… we just do it out of our love and concern. So, most of the times, when the rewards comes to us, we aren’t even able to trace their roots… for, we hadn’t kept any record of our ‘sowing of good seeds’! To me, it becomes clearer by the day, that our God is merciful. He knows what we need and He knows our anxieties and fears. Thus, He sends us the help when we expect it the least… To me, that’s Providence… Often, I have tried with all my herculean strength but failed… while, suddenly, from nowhere comes the help… the solution… the reward! ...

Pic.: Fr. Reginald Pinto “What you give, will be for you; what  you hoard, will be for others’; Do not remember or regret what you give… For, that will be the packed lunch-box for your tomorrows.” S arvajna was a great Kannada poet and philosopher. He was famous for his Tripadis – simple three-lined poems. They were easy to remember and recite… and, they were loaded with meaning. And, the best thing about all his Tripadis was: they ended with ‘Sarvajna’! So, though we kids in school were bad in memorizing Sarvajna’s Tripadis , we were brilliant in creating our own Tripadis – with colloquial fun. Oh, we would come out with a fresh one every second morning… yes, just like our young-kids do, today, in their FB factories! Frankly, I had completely forgotten, both, Sarvajna and his famous Tripadis . And, this morning, when I was talking to Mr. Rao, a senior citizen – who, like me, had done his schooling in Mangalore (and much ...

Los ing faith in the goodness of Life… comes easily to us. When the chips are up – when weather is fair – yes, it is easy to believe, that Life is good… God is kind… People are trustworthy. But, when the chips are down – when weather is stormy, uncertain – no, sir… Life doesn’t seem all that good… God doesn’t seem all that merciful… and, people don’t seem trustworthy… Well, this is how the seesaw called ‘Living’ has been, and will be… always. Hope holds… Imagine Life without Hope! For some days now, I have been telling myself this: “Good deeds are good seeds!” The Law of Karma … “In Life, you reap what you sow!” Yes, for many days now, my eyes are able to see the harvest of the seeds I had sown years and years ago… My mind is able to see the connection… My heart is able to rejoice… And, when this is going on inside me, I find myself crying with all my conviction: “Hark, Life is good… God is kind… and people are...

  “We get back what we give to others.” Today, this thought has been playing on my head. And, each time the thought returns to play, it leaves me a lot relieved – lighter, happier and peaceful. What I give to others… I, certainly, know. If I consciously try to be kind, just and loving to them, will it help me? What if, the other person doesn’t reciprocate? What if, he behaves towards me in an unkind, unfair and cruel way? And, let me see it in its opposite way too: What if I consciously try to be unkind, unfair and cruel to the other person? What will I get in return? Which is better: to be consciously kind, just and loving to my fellow-being, or, to be unkind, unfair and vindictive? There is a popular Jataka Tale. Each time, I recall it, it makes me smile…  To be kind, just and loving to my fellow-being is my ‘duty’…, my dharma, my religion… When he doesn’t reciprocate – tries to ...