Gerald D'Cunha

  “Our fingerprints don’t fade  from the lives we touch.”   Judy Blume   A close relative of mine worked as a school teacher for all her working life and retired a few years ago. As the financial situation at home demanded, she tutored several students at home after her school hours including on Sundays. Her husband, who worked at the Docks, had to work through all the three shifts till he, too, retired some years ago. Their two children got highly educated and well-placed in life. It was only after their children got well-settled in life, the retired relatives of mine began to travel both inside and outside the country... My relative, the retired teacher, loved my Blogs. She would, always, ask me in amazement: “How do you write so beautifully, and how do you find new stories for your every new Blog?” She would add, “I have taught hundreds of students through my teaching career; but, I haven’t been able to do what you have been doing through your writings (b...

“Service to others is the rent you pay  for your room here on earth.” Muhammad Ali H ow do we define the word ‘Legacy’? I think, a simple definition can be: “Everything good that we leave behind when we die.”  Lots of wealth and property that we leave behind for charity is definitely our Legacy. But, then, not many of us are in a position to do that. The noble deeds  we do when we are alive -  our selfless service to society – is surely counted as our Legacy. I, often, think about my relentless blogging, publications and other work towards young kids and quietly tell myself, “Hey, that will be your Legacy.” Feels good? Oh, yes… It does. I am a human after all, you see… Even in our so-called ‘noble, selfless deeds’, we do conceal some amount of our selfishness… Well, at least, I do, Sir. And, be that as it may… I would like to mention here a very thoughtful, noble and progressive deed my friend Hitesh Rupani and his family chose to do, two days ago, when ...

  “Someone sitting in the shade today, because someone planted a tree long time ago.” Warren Buffet     W hat Warren Buffet said (through the above lines) about being prudent in life, by managing our money wisely and with a long-term vision, applies to everything else, too… especially, to raising our children. Every generation of parents has tried its best to offer something better to the next one. I have talked about it so many times… My great grandparents must’ve almost lived like tribals… But, they tried to give a better life to my grandparents… I had the opportunity to see how my grandparents lived… Yes, it’s not as good as my parents did… and, the life of we five brothers was much better compared to our parents’… and, we tried to give even a better one to our own children… Doubtlessly, the same will continue… Our children are geared up to offer a better life to their own. But, then, the question comes up: “What does a ‘better life’ mean?” Does it mean o...

  “Don’t let the Joneses dictate your life. Their happiness might not be what you need.” Unknown   R ecently, during one of our PD (Personality Development) sessions, I was explaining to the young participants the meaning of the phrase ‘Some Things In Life Don’t Move’. I had decided to keep this as the title for the forthcoming book. The book was about Values in life… How some of our Values guided us just as lighthouses did for ships sailing in the seas… There was a young boy by the name Vihaan. I had taught his mother, uncles and aunts 35 years ago, when I had just started my classes at this place. Their family dealt in furniture, and I   had bought five moulded chairs from them. Suddenly, I looked at 16-year-old Vihaan and said to him, pointing at the chair I was sitting on, “ Beta, do you know how old this chair is?” Vihaan was clueless. I looked at the class and said, “I had bought it from Vihaan’s family store 35 years ago. I had bought five chairs. I st...

  “Past three weeks have put a spring back in my step.” Captain Tom Moore   I was invited to conduct an online session on ‘Self-confidence and Communication Skills’ for students of first-year Architecture at a premier institute. The session was held this morning. I, always, tell the young ones my own story: how I went about developing my own self-confidence and communication skills. It is easy to tell my own story – because, it’s true to me. The events were real… My killing inferiority-complex – what we today call as ‘social anxiety’ – was a real thing to me when I was these students’ age… I suffered from a crushing feeling of worthlessness, which showed up on my body and mind both… Despite my ‘good-boy’ image, I endlessly felt undeserving and worthless… It had affected my academic performance… I wasn’t clear about what I had to pursue in life… My dream box was empty… Enthusiasm and motivation, which are, always, linked to our dreams, obviously, had forsaken me. And, ...

  “I don’t need fortune and I don’t need fame; Send down the thunder, Lord, send down the rain; But when you’re plannin’ just how it will be, Plan a good day for me.” From the song ‘Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good’ by Don Williams.   I was first introduced to Don William’s Country songs by my elder brother Franklin. I was in my Final year of B. Com, and my brother had brought home a tiny cassette-player. Along with it, he had, also, brought a couple of popular cassettes: Neil Diamond, Don Williams, ABBA, BoneyM and our own Mukesh (Hindi) and Jerome (Konkani). Those were his favourites, which, later, became my favouites, too. It was 1978-79. In these forty years, so much has changed and so fast. Nobody uses cassettes, LP’s, CDs anymore… Nobody uses those two-in-ones, three-in-ones or four-in-ones any more. Everyone uses his or her fingers just to click. For that matter, even the fingers are slowly vanishing… One just has to say: ‘Alexa play "‘Sing Me Back Home' by Don...

“Your story is the greatest legacy that you will leave to your friends. It’s the longest-lasting legacy you will leave to your heirs.” — Steve Saint T his is my second Post on Prema. She is sixty. Presently, she comes to me to learn ‘how to write and speak English fluently’! Right from the day she first called me to seek my help – only by listening to her conversation on phone – I had told her, “Ma’am, you speak English quite fluently; you do not need help there.” Then, I had added, “You need help to overcome your self-doubts.” Learning to trust our thoughts, own them up and express them… Yes, this is the most significant step towards the journey of our self-confidence. The more we do it, the higher we grow in confidence… The self-doubts dissolve and we feel authentic about ourselves. So, I encourage everyone, who is keen to embark upon this journey, to get in touch with his/her innate thoughts… trust them, own them up… and sincerely express th...

Pic.: Nishant Joshi I have written many times before on Sir Richard Attenborough. But, invariably, those writings have revolved around two great movies he was associated with: ‘Gandhi’ and “ Jurassic Park ’ ‘G ANDHI’. Well, Sir Attenborough conceived, produced and directed this remarkable movie. I was 24 when I first watched this classic. What inspired me the most about Sir Attenborough was the fact that he had been longing to make this movie for two long-decades, which meant ever since I was a little boy of four! So obsessed he was to create this epic – rather narrate to the world, on the silver screen, the story of his hero – that, he ran from pillar to post, knocked every possible door, got rejected and dejected as any mortal would, and still refused to give up on his dream... He kept creating and recreating the movie in his mind for twenty long-years, till, finally, he saw it manifest in 1982! I still admire Sir Attenborough for this reason the most. ...