Gerald D'Cunha

  “We must adjust to changing times, and still hold steadfast to unchanging principles.” Jimmy Carter   P urpose in life keeps us productive, useful… Should I say ‘Youthful’, too? We just have to look at former American President Jimmy Carter’s life and legacy… He passed away, at 100, just two weeks ago. Barring a couple of years before that century-long life, he lived with a clear purpose through ‘Habitat for Humanity’, in which, he and his wife Rosalynn had involved immediately after his four-year-term was over as 39 th   President of America. Leading from the front, for close to forty-five years, since then, the Carters inspired countless volunteers to build thousands of affordable houses, both, inside and outside America… President Carter, through these years, survived brain cancer, a hip surgery, multiple stiches around his wounded eye and many other challenges. What has been endearing was the childlike enthusiasm and steadfast faith he and his wife exud...

  “Once all struggle is grasped, miracles are possible.” Mao Zedong   E very time we say, “Struggles make us strong”, we, also, ask God earnestly, to make our lives less struggle-some, if not completely struggle-free. So, it’s given, that Life comes with struggle and it stays there as long as Life stays. Only thing we get to see about struggle is, that some have more of it, and some have less of it… but, none has none of it! People like J.K. Rowling and Sindhutai Sapkal had not just more of it – they had mountains of it. But, these Legends turned their mountains of struggle to generate something sublime and make the society a better place to live in… give hope to those whose lives were struggle-some… When Life gave them lemons, they chose to make a lemonade… This was the old wisdom of the sages. In fact, J.K. Rowling said, “Rock-bottom became the solid foundation in which I built my life.”     T he life of Sindhutai Sapkal was a life of true Legend. Born ...

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” - Eleanor Roosevelt  B havin has just become a Commerce graduate and is busy preparing for his CAT exam. (The entrance test for IIMs). A while ago, he called up. “Sir, I am a fresh Commerce graduate and I am preparing for CAT,” he said, “But, I have a terrible stage-fear. The thought of standing before an audience cripples me with anxiety and whenever I attempt to speak, I go blank!” As this was my own problem when I was Bhavin’s age, and, as I knew what it did to my own self-confidence, and, above all, as I knew how I went about overcoming my problem, I spent the next ten minutes trying to calm down a bit of Bhavin’s anxiety about stage fear. I encouraged him to join our upcoming 10-sessions programme, which he was very keen to do. I also asked him to pick some of our motivational books. “Bhavin, You do not have to wait for the course to start,” I explained to him, “You start righ...

My young son was insistent that I should watch the first two editions of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy on ‘The Batman’. So, at home, he arranged to screen for me, along with his own authentic commentary, the first two Batman classics – ‘The Batman Begins’ and ‘The Dark Knight’. Yes, I had missed both of them when they were first released. This time, I truly enjoyed the ‘Super-hero’ drama… I was, particularly, overwhelmed by the genius of the filmmaker – Christopher Nolan… his convictions, his vision, his grit and his stupendous hold on the medium. And, of course, his infectious passion. It left me speechless… Inspired! So, this morning, I watched, along with my son, the last edition of the trilogy – ‘The Dark Knight Rises’… Where else?  You need to watch it only on a giant screen at IMAX, parked yourself on one of the top-most seats! I could realize the reason why my young son had gone all way out to watch the very first sh...