Gerald D'Cunha

    “The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.” Charles De Gaulle T hapa is a young security guard in our Colony (where my classes are situated). A Nepali, he lives in a small shelter provided to him by the Society. As he is an in-house guard, almost every person in the Colony knows him… That includes every dog living here, too. Our Colony has several members from the dog family. My heart doesn’t allow me to call them ‘street dogs’, or ‘homeless dogs’. For, our Colony is their home… They live under the parked cars, rest over the benches, play with each other in our open spaces… And, above all, they serve us as additional security-guards alongside Thapa and his associates. Thapa carries in his hand a sturdy stick; dogs rally behind him. There is a fine bonding between him and the canines. He has given a name for each one of them… This morning, I was walking behind Thapa. As usual, a couple of dogs walked by his sides, regularly playing with h...

“Within the human hearts, loyalty and consideration are esteemed greater than success.” – Bryant H. McGill M y last visit to Goa was some twenty-three years ago. I went there on a three-day trip with my wife and three-year-old son. We had booked a moderate room somewhere in North Goa. It was summer time… the beaches, streets, eating places were too crowded. The bus, by which we had returned, had an eccentric driver… and, to say the least, it was the worst ending to our already disappointing Goan-experience. Ever since then, I have said this a million times: “Goa is overrated… Too much hyped up.” Obviously, I never visited Goa, even though people around me literally swore by the Goan experience.   L ast July I turned 60. It’s considered to be a great milestone in many of the Southern states and called ‘Shashti Poorti’ in Sanskrit.   My dear friend, Pratap, who is a Malayalee, one day, said to me, “Sir, you should celebrate it in Goa… There...

“As he was valiant, I honor him…  But as he was ambitious, I slew him.” ―  William Shakespeare ,  Julius Caesar T wo similar events unfolded over past few days… Cyrus Mistry, the Chairman of Tata Group, was sacked. Arnab Goswami, the Editor-in-Chief of Times Now, resigned.  Or, was forced to go? For decades, I have been a loyal admirer of both these organization – Tatas and Times of India. Maybe, it is more a kind of sentimental attachment to these names, maybe, I am governed by the fan-psychology, which is more emotion-based rather than reason-based. Yes, with Tatas, I admired the conservative, trust and value based approach to business… Like so many around me felt, I, too, felt that Tatas believed in fair-play and integrity. I abhorred, always, the short-cuts to glory… I abhored making it too big too fast… People like Jamshetji, JRD and Ratan Tata have fascinated me… I have found them to be gentlemen in business. So, when Cyrus Mistr...

Pic.: Neerja Panchal “Unless you have a bone-deep professionalism, you will always remain mediocre… The sense of commitment, loyalty, integrity, punctuality and truthfulness… these qualities should get into your blood.” A commitment is a commitment… You need to take it seriously. If you are casual in your commitments, Life will treat you casually, too. When you have a very committed, very professional approach, you earn the respect you deserve… Some things in life are, always, self-inculcated… They can not be taught in schools and colleges. School and colleges teach you the skills and tools required for your profession… But, you do not become a fine professional unless the subtle professional ‘qualities’ run bone-deep in you… A high sense of commitment, an unshakeable loyalty to people and organization, a robust integrity with your personal principles and values, an absolute respect for time and word you give an...

  Pic.: Neetu Sharma Sachdeva A few days ago, I was watching on TV a documentary film on late Michael Jackson. It was titled – ‘MICHAEL JACKSON – The Life of an Icon’. It was produced by one of Jackson’s most loyal friends, David Gest (2011). Last years of this legend were traumatic and mercilessly humiliating for him. In spite of his mind-swirling fame, barely a few stood by the icon till his end. The rest of them deserted him. One of the few souls who stood around Michael Jackson during his harrowing years was his mother. She knew he was innocent and was unfairly hounded… With her unflinching faith in her son, she would attend the volatile court sessions every day... She prayed and hoped that he would be vindicated. And, when that finally happened, she was the happiest soul on earth. David Gest was one more friend of Michael Jackson, who remained loyal to the legend through all his good times and bad times… David’s view about his friend di...

When ‘Titanic’ began to sink, the ancient prophecy came true: the rats deserted the giant vessel before anyone else did! In this ship called Life, all of us are rats… When the ship goes down, we don’t want to go down with it… We desert the ship that sheltered us all this long… Now, we want to save our lives; and, so, we jump off… But, jump into what? Well, that’s another story! When things are rocking in our lives, literally, the life around us is a great rock show… We are surrounded by scores and scores of friends and well-wishers… They swear by us… They claim, that they are ready to give life for us! Yes, all this goes on as long as the ‘Titanic’ sails gloriously along… When the weather is fair, the sea is gentle and kind… But, the moment the chips are down, the moment the weather turns rough and the sea stormy, unsafe, there go the deserters… the rats… all our fair-weather friends! ...

For some days now, I have been watching these little birds building their nest, just outside here. They have set their goal: to build a home for themselves… and, they are so faithful and committed to the task of realizing it. I am fascinated by their team work, their strong faith in the consistent work done in almost molecule size – go far and wide in search of one tiny straw, at a time… drop it here… and go back to fetch the next one…   and, then, another… then, another… In every season, I have seen them doing it here, unfailingly. When the nest is ready, it leaves me speechless: “What a craftsmanship… What a masterpiece!” I marvel. And then, some one like me, a human, comes and ‘clears off the mess’, in one single sweep… Gone! Just like another Emperor invades the city of Agra and pulls down Shah Jahan’s Taj Mahal… Yes, as soon as he has finished building it! In what way is the work of these little sparrows less superior to Shah Jahan’s? And, in wha...

“The tree is on fire; its leaves are burning… Why are you getting burnt when you have wings?” “We have been eating fruits of this tree, shitting on its leaves… This is our moral duty to get burnt with it!” Frankly, I did not know that, this morning, I would stumble upon this poem. And yes, I had no hint that it would inspire my Post today. I am thankful to Mr. Sunil Kumar, a very senior and respected member of our housing complex. As I am the Hon. Chairman of our Society, I was privileged to stand next to Mr.  Kumar as he did the honors, this morning: hoisting of the National flag on our 65 th Independence Day. After doing the honors, Mr. Kumar spoke a few words urging all of us to be loyal, grateful and committed to the place we live in… Which was the ‘place’ Mr. Kumar was referring to? Our Country? Our State? Our City? Our Society? Our home?... Or, our own heart? There were more than two d...

      Some months ago, I had written about Buzzo. He lives just outside my class with his wife, Sony.      In that particular Post, I had written about their just-born babies… about eight of them. “Soooo cute!!!” This was how my students - particularly, the young girls - would fall on these babies! That’s some months ago. Today, no baby is seen around… No one knows what has happened to them… and, no one cares, either! A street dog is a street dog. Buzzo is a street dog. He was born here, outside my class, and, as his fate would have it, he chose to pitch his tent, here, right outside my class… and, for years now.  Buzzo is huge, and blessed with his golden body. His loyal companion, Sony, is coal  black… She is fragile and slow, unlike her big, agile hubby. It is so hot outside, these days. They both come, every second hour, t...