Gerald D'Cunha

  “The strength of a nation lies in the character of its leaders.” First among equals   L ast year, a young girl was enrolled in our classes when she was in class XI… She was a good student. This year, she was enrolled for class XII, on payment of her part fees, in December itself. Then, in the last week of this April, when we started the class XII, this girl showed up. Almost two weeks into the classes, one morning, the mother of this girl called up, saying, that the girl would discontinue as she had been enrolled at another institute which prepared for Chartered Accountancy entrance alongside class XII. Well, as it’s said, ‘I am only informing you, not consulting you’, this mother had picked up the phone only to ‘inform’ me… I felt bad for the young girl… Having observed her aptitude and attitude for more than a year, in my mind, she wasn’t the material for Chartered Accountancy. “Sir, it’s her dad’s decision… He was quite adamant,” the mother tried to clarify… I...

  “From the pine tree, learn of the pine tree; from the bamboo, learn of the bamboo.” A Zen proverb     I see the entire Cricket-loving world around me going hysterical over Team India’s performance in the ongoing World Cup – and, particularly on watching the terrific display of bat by Virat Kohli   and mesmerizing spell of bowling by Mohammed Shami   in the Semi Finals… “Why not?” Yes, why not the world around me and I celebrate what is worth celebrating? Why not heap praise on those who deserve it? So, I, too, am still not done with this hysteria… The Kohli’s bat and Shami’s bowl still keep me awake… Yes, Sir, they do. But, in the midst of all this hysteria, my thoughts go to one quiet and composed man, who is the head coach of these Gladiators of a team – Rahul Dravid… The deep seas are always quiet, you see. Rahul Dravid – ‘The Wall’ – has been always so… And, I have always loved and admired him for that… A s a teacher of young college-ki...

M any years ago, a 17-year-old girl was speaking in one of our Public-speaking sessions. She hailed from a family that ran one of the well-known hospitals in Mumbai. So, while introducing her, I, unwittingly, made a remark without a hint about what I would have to hear after that. I said to the audience, “They own one of the top hospitals.” The girl felt a lot embarrassed on hearing my words, “No sir… That’s my dad’s hospital. I have to earn my own place.” Mr. Ramakrishnan, our senior trainer, was so impressed by what he had just heard, he asked the audience to give her a standing ovation… The girl was even more embarrassed… When the ovation ended and all sat down, she said with equal grace and confidence, “I would rather earn a standing ovation for my speech than for that one remark I just made.” I do not know where this girl – now, a full-grown lady – today is… But, I do know this: wherever she is, she must have earned her own place und...

Pic.: Amrta Jeurkar I have been getting this Forward – a very relevant confession of Rahul Dravid – repeatedly for some time: “I was poor at Maths; so, I chose Commerce. In my second year of B’Com, I decided to do C.A. in case cricked did not work out. After opening the first text, I doubled my efforts in cricket!” The interesting thing about this message is, that it is mostly forwarded by students! This morning, when I received it, I saw the names of a couple of my students… and, immediately, my face lit up with a smile. These were the kids, who had been hearing the same message from me for close to two years. “There are only two ways to feel happy and successful in life,” I would, repeatedly remind them, “Do what you love. If you can’t, then, love what you do.” Well, you know, that I did not author those words. For thousands of years, wise-men have been reminding all of us about it… That, it is important to find what we love to do in life, an...