Gerald D'Cunha

Pic.: Rohit Makhija I had watched the movie, ‘The Mission Impossible 4 – Ghost Protocol’ when it was first released, some years ago. Last night, they were showing it on T.V. and my eyes happened to fall on the action scenes in Dubai. When I had first watched it, I don’t remember the Dubai scenes evoking the same thoughts they were evoking in me, last night… Now, I was thinking… Many, many years ago, Dubai was not as prosperous and as vibrant as it seemed now… It was a God-forsaken desert  inhabited  by the poor and illiterate locals… As time passed by, someone spotted oil and began to dig wells… The oil brought big, big money… and, money made not only their king wealthy, it made, almost, everyone who set foot on this land wealthy, too… We know, the oil-wells have come with an ‘expiry date’. They will, soon, dry-up… and, the land will be barren, again… But, that’s how it is for every land on this earth… The tre...

Pic.: Vincent D'Souza I t is not always that I become aware of my breath. But, whenever I do, it can be truly a moving experience… Like at this very moment… I have become strikingly aware of each breath I take… It is as though I am learning something about me for the first time in my life…! W ho has put breath into me? How is it going on, with such a perfect rhythm, and unfailingly, without me having to do anything about it? Why is that I hardly think about it? Why am I taking it for granted? What does each inhale and exhale remind me? Why can’t I choose only inhale and refuse to exhale? Can I claim a single breath more than what God has allotted to me? What if He takes me off His ventilator? A s I told you, a solitary profound-moment is enough to make me realize what a priceless blessing Life is… and, how casually I take it… how thanklessly I, often, behave! Every time I set out to achieve som...