Gerald D'Cunha

“When the roots are deep, there is no need to fear the wind.” Chinese Proverb   A dear friend of mine holds an important position in a global company. He is currently posted in Vietnam. Yesterday, I received a call from him, saying, that he’s on a holiday in India (Mumbai) and wished to meet me. During the conversation, I learnt a great deal about the Chinese New Year – its long tradition and significance... How it’s celebrated, not only in Main China, but in various South Asian countries, and, even, in many other parts of the world. In every culture, there is this concept called ‘New Year’... and, the idea of ‘coming home’ to celebrate has been rooted deep in the psyche of these cultures. Our own (Catholic) Feast of Nativity (Sept 8, which is celebrated as Mother Mary’s birthday), Onam, Pongal, Yugadi, Vishu, Baisakhi, Chaath Puja – to mention a few – are the occasions to come home to celebrate the roots... My friend described to me how, during the Chinese New Year ce...

  “Every child thinks archelogy is about digging up land to find dinosaur remains and gold…   I had the same intentions.” Bhuvan Bam   T his young boy (of class 12) stayed back after everyone had left the class. “Want to say something, beta? ” I asked him.   “Yes Sir,” he said quite hesitatingly. “Tell me, what is it,” I encouraged him to speak… “Sir, I want to pursue Archeology. But, my parents and elder brother are against it,” he said. “Have you found out why they are against it?” I asked. “Sir, they think, that it’s not the field with job opportunities. They want me to pursue the regular fields where there won’t be scarcity of jobs.” “Since when have you been thinking about Archelogy?” I asked the boy. “For quite many years, Sir… Since I was a little boy,” he explained, “I am really fascinated by the idea.” Now, it’s not every day, that I get a young one expressing his desire to pursue Archeology. Almost everyone wants to follow a road...

“When you make peace with yourself, You make peace with the world.” Maha Ghosananda A dear old-student of mine, who is a Chartered Accountant and employed in a fairly large auditing firm, had sent her belated birthday wishes to me, today. During the course of our chatting, she wrote, quite seriously, “My work-from- home is going on, Sir… Blessed being salaried!” The anxiety behind those words was palpable! In these uncertain times, when you see how employed people are being laid off or their salaries being chopped off, the thought that you still have a job, and still get a salary, is a thought of gratitude. The Pandemic hasn’t spared any of us – whether we are employed or self-employed. So, the Lord’s Prayer – ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ – sounds so meaningful now. Asking for even the butter or jam on the bread sounds sacrilegious! But, the same Lord had once blasted at the temping Devil saying, “Go away… Man shall not live on bread alone, but on eve...

"It’s a sad moment, really, when parents first become a bit frightened of their children.” Ama Ata Aidoo I n Life, the right time to learn ‘acceptance’ is when we are born itself. The reason is simple: We have no choice about our birth and parents! Choices come about later, much later. Being born to ‘wonderful parents’ is purely a privilege.   But, what do I mean by ‘wonderful parents’? Am I referring to their education, economic and social status? Or, am I referring to their behaviour, values, culture, quality of their marriage, outlook towards family and society etc.? Yes, we inherit a lot of things from our parents… including our shyness and confidence. As I said, having wonderful parents is purely a privilege in Life. However, unless we show, that we are worthy of this privilege, it won’t take us far. In fact, it can prove counterproductive. On the other hand, those of us, who are deprived of this privilege, are not condemned to hell-fire… Far from ...

“No man, without trials and temptations, can attain a true understanding of  the Holy Scriptures.”  John Bunyan M y mom, 85, lives with my eldest brother’s family. We are five brothers. One is in Kuwait, two (including me) are in Mumbai and two are in our hometown, Mangalore (Mangaluru). In these difficult times, we four brothers feel so relieved and reassured – if those are the words, I can use to describe our feelings – that mom is in safe hands! Here in Mumbai, the very night when our PM announced the 21-day lockdown, both my wife and I packed our bags and moved to my in-laws’ place, with whom our 27-year-old son had been already living. My father-in-law is 85 and mother-in-law is nearing 80. The health has not been good and, now, the maids had stopped coming. Thus, we had to take a prompt decision, that very night… which proved to be the right one. On the surface, these things seem very ordinary. But, when...

A n aunt of my mom – mom’s mom’s sister – was brought to Bombay, by one of her uncles, when she was barely 11. So, as years rolled by, she lost contact with her family in Mangalore. Her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren all got disconnected with their relatives in hometown. Recently, one of mom’s cousins, from this particular family branch, got in touch with me. He was very keen to reconnect with all his relatives from my mom’s side. Thus, we decided to meet here at my place, last week. Mr. Frank Furtado is my mom’s cousin’s name. He is in his seventies… but is good-looking and healthy. We both felt very happy meeting each other. He had many interesting stories to share with me; all of them he had heard from his mother when she was alive… “Call me Frank,” my mom’s cousin told me during the course of our conversation… I was addressing him as ‘Sir’. “Well, that won’t be possible for me, Sir,” I sincerely confessed, “It’s not in my nature to c...

A dear friend called up a few minutes ago to give me Christmas wishes… “How did you spend the Christmas day Gerry?” he asked, “Hope you enjoyed.” How did I spend my Christmas day, today? Greetings and calls apart, my Christmas day was homebound. Actually, my wife, son and I spent our time with my in-laws, who live nearby to our place. When they were in good health, we would invite them to our place. Now, they cannot come. So, we meet at their place and spend the Christmas day with them. My father-in-law is in his eighties and my mother-in-law is in her seventies. We do not allow them to go out alone. They are not able to attend the Sunday Mass any more, the way they did for years, when their health was good. Last evening, my father-in-law expressed his desire to attend the Christmas Mass. Obviously, the night mass was not advisable… So, I assured him, that I would escort him to the church for the morning Mass today, which I did… It was a very satisfying ...