Gerald D'Cunha

"Through my whole life, I did not know if I really existed.  But, I do... and people are starting to notice." - Joker I am an old-timer, you see. So, I went to the multiplex one day before and booked two tickets (for my wife and me ) for the 'Joker' movie. The person at the counter confirmed and reconfirmed from me, at least three times, that none of the two was a minor. I smiled and  assured him, that my wife and I had long entered into our adulthood... "My mother, always, tells me to smile and put on a happy face," Arthur Flek,  Joker, says in this movie! Chalo, I did not tell my wife what happened at the ticket counter. But,  yesterday, just while walking into the theatre, I brought myself to tell her, that the movie might leave us a lot 'disturbed' - rather 'shaken'... "Why are you telling me this now?" she shouted, "now that we are inside." Good, I had booked the ti...

“What happens when people open their hearts?" "They get better.” ―  Haruki Murakami A funny thing about living in this world is this: When others fail, I have loads of encouraging words. “Don’t lose heart… Failure is the stepping stone to success,” I console them magnanimously, and almost like a sage! But, when I fail, I am harsh on myself: “Stupid idiot… Useless fellow… A loser,” and all that. Instead of a gentle pat on my back, I get from myself a nasty kick! So, that’s the familiar funny story: I am gentle for others, but harsh for myself! I, always, have a helpline for others’ problems… When they are sad and lost, I seem to have solutions… Plenty of them. But, when I am sad and lost, my world seems to be dark and hopeless. Yes, it’s true: each one of us needs a helpline. Just as how, when others approach us, we are ever willing to offer help and advice – emotional help – yes, just as that, if we approach o...

“We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin.”  ―  André Berthiaume A year ago, Ravish* had joined our P.D. programme and found it extremely useful to him. Ravish had enrolled for a MBA programme and suddenly realized that he needed to deal with his stage fear and lack of self-confidence. I have always noticed this: when you ‘realize the need’ to do overcome your deficiencies, you, invariably, do. So, Ravish did exceptionally well during our programme; and, once it was over, he moved to another city to pursue his MBA programme. Last evening, Ravish’s mother called up. “Sir, this is not regarding my son,” she said at the outset, “this is about me… I wanted to discuss with you a problem that I have been struggling with.” I made Ravish’s mother feel comfortable to talk. We spoke nearly for twenty minutes over the phone. She said, “Right from my early school days, I ha...