Gerald D'Cunha

] “Do not free a camel of the burden of his hump; you may be freeing him from being a camel.” ―  G.K. Chesterton S o much is said about our uniqueness. Yes, by now, all of us agree on our ‘unique’ features – our gifts, talents and endowments. Often, someone keeps drilling this fact – about our uniqueness - into our minds; and, often, we keep drilling it into others’. A teacher like me does it to his students… almost till they drop dead on being drilled so deep, every day! Today, for example, I was trying to do the drilling work on this 16-year-old… That, he was a Commerce student and he had to be good at the basic calculations. Well, from what I knew of this boy, he was certainly not a ‘special child’… He was a normal child with his own special endowments… “ Beta , you are a Commerce student,” I kept drilling, “So, enjoy the calculations… Love the work you do… Show me some enthusiasm… You charge me… I charge you… I charge you… You charge me…”...

H ow different we all are! Many of us are as different as cheese and chalk! I had an opportunity to grasp this truth, yesterday morning, during our Personality-development session. I had asked the young participants to write, at least one page, about themselves. “Feel free… Feel happy… Feel authentic as you write,” I had advised them, “Do not worry about any pattern, format or tradition. It has nothing to do with what you had learnt in schools… Just get in touch with your deepest thoughts, trust your thoughts and express your thoughts. No one is going to judge you… and no one is going to disapprove you. Be creative, be free and be happy and authentic as you write about yourself.” Most of them were new to the session, with no past experience in writing and speaking. I had encouraged them to wipe out whatever experience they had in school while writing for the English subject. So, here they were, totally guided by their inner light… fearless and free. ...

“Best of the conversations are sometimes made in silence.”  ―  Danya Krish N ormally, our Tai Chi classes on Sundays are held in the open. The bright, blue sky and gentle breeze make the experience quite special. Today, as it was raining heavily, we were having our class in an open area which was covered with metal sheets… We could feel the wind and the rain… Outside, trees danced to the rain beats on the metal roof… In the break, I stood alone and found myself lost in the amazing rain-show while others spent time in each other’s company. “Gerry sir, where are you?” Anitha, a dear co-learner, brought me back, “Lost completely!” Two days ago, seven of us had been to Igatpuri. It was pouring outside and the landscape was lush green, throbbing with life… I found myself lost, distant… almost cut-off from everything and everyone around me. It was a leisure trip… and everyone around me was joking, teasing and laughi...

Pic.: Chetna Shetty Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found it very useful – was telling a nice story in two tenses… Past and Present. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people who were earnest to improve their English with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and tell it to someone. This endearing Oriental story brings a lot of comfort in my heart… We never know how good we are, despite our cracks… until some wise-soul, comes our way to show us the amazing beauty we have been able to leave behind… Yes, despite our ‘cracks’, I say! THE CRACKED POT PAST: L ong   time ago, there lived an old woman in a Chinese village. Every day, she carried water from the village stream to her house. Two pots, hung on each side of a pole, she carried them on her shoulders. Now, one of the pots had a crack on it; so, by the time the w...