Gerald D'Cunha

  “Everyone loves a conspiracy.” Unknown   “D on’t’ read too much into it,” a dear friend of mine, often, cautions me, “you’ll go crazy!” If someone has not responded to your messages or greetings, according to my friend, it only means this: He has not responded, yet! The human mind is so fickle, that it swiftly goes into a victim mode and weaves stories… It sees red… It goes into the motive and interprets: “He doesn’t care”…”He doesn’t deserve”… “He thinks too much of himself”… “He does it deliberately and does it always”… “I will never again wish him, greet him, say ‘Hello’ to him”… etc., etc. “You will go crazy!” I remember my friend’s caution. People have their own reasons for doing what they do or don’ t do. For example: some of my students just don’t bother to acknowledge my messages or call back. They will message me or call me only when they want. And, I have tried to inculcate in them the value of acknowledging a teacher’s messages or calls. But, then, i...

“The suddenness made me realize how you are just a cork floating in the ocean with unpredictable currents! And you are desperately trying to control it.” Irrfan Khan I t’s almost a week now, and I haven’t scribbled a single word… And what a big deal? And who really cares? The Sun, the Moon and the Stars went about their daily routine, so did all the birds in the sky and the fishes in the seas… Animals in the jungle followed their routine, and so did the clouds in the sky, leaves on the trees and the flowers in the garden… It’s only the human race – to which I belong – seems to be obsessed with voicing its opinion – commenting, tweeting, reacting, trolling whatever you call it … Yes, it’s only animals like me that have this strange need to be visible, audible and circulated… lest we fade into oblivion, insignificance! How strange it is, even in times like these – when we are forced into our home confines, willy-nilly! Yes, th...

“We have two lives and the second begins when you realize you only have one.” -           Mario de Andrade, Brazilian poet T here are only two kinds of people in this world: Those who want to be right, and those who want to be peaceful. T o the first kind, Life is never too short… They think, that Life is long enough for them to prove they are right. Proving to be right is central to their existence… Minus that obsession, that sole battle, there is no purpose for their lives. You see many of them waging their battles even from their death-beds… even when they know there is nothing to prove to anyone from a death-bed… even when the entire Life is wasted on a blind pursuit… Yes, they don’t mind taking their I-want-to-prove-‘am-right battle to the graveyard! T o the second kind, Life is too short to be wasted with mindless battles. The desire to live in peace is central...

M eanwhile, the Sun came up from the East, as usual, this morning… The birds woke up, sang for some time and left in search of their breakfast, as usual… The sky wore a fresh attire for the day… bright, warm and thriving… Clouds passed by as if they had the best Sun to guide… Far away, the Moon went about doing its usual business of glowing, and the Stars just did what they were best at… being still and shining… Meanwhile, here on Earth, someone is busy asking for my ‘explanation’… I have an option: to go in rounds, and rounds and rounds, explaining… or just ‘be’… Meanwhile, someone here is busy conspiring to defame me, destroy me… I have an option: to fortify myself against his attacks… or just ‘be’… Meanwhile, someone, here, wants to be ‘counted’, given credit to… wants me to think he is ‘important’… I have an option: to heed to his demands to be in his good books… or just to show him the forests raised by little squirrels through their legendary absentmindedness...

“Life is too short to stuff a mushroom.”  ―  Shirley Conran S ome days ago, a dear friend of ours, who lived here in Mumbai, had been with his wife to our hometown, Mangalore, on a brief vacation. He was 62 and healthy all along. Besides, he was always adored by loads of friends. Though was not blessed with an offspring, the couple was content and done well for itself in life. Importantly, as they did not have their own children, the husband and wife, both, had helped out many of their relatives in education and  to become doctors and engineers in life…  I was, always, glad to note this side of their life story… that is: if God hasn’t given you your own children, treat someone else’s as your own… Yes, they did so… and so beautifully! Two days ago, I learnt from my sister-in-law, who lives in Mangalore, that our dear friend had succumbed to a massive heart failure. “Last night, we all met in a birthday party here… He was so ch...