Gerald D'Cunha

  “Patriotism is a thing of the heart. A man is a Patriot if his heart beats true to his country.” Charles E. Jefferson A s we saw the ‘two parades’ in our national capital on this Republic Day… I wondered: In which parade did I find myself – the one which I grew up watching at the grand Rajpath, or the one I was watching, for the first time, now, on the streets of our capital with a sea of farmers and their tractors? I wondered: Who was more patriotic – the one who stood along the Rajpath, or the one who stood along the rugged streets of our capital? The consequent chaos at the Red Fort – and then, the all-familiar ‘blame-game’ – made me further wonder: Am I a pretentious patriot, or a true one? I checked if I still remembered what I was taught, when I was a little boy, to be the meaning and significance of our tricolour… The deep saffron signified strength and courage… It doesn’t matter to which religious faith I belong. This occupies the topmost space of the tr...

I n today’s Bombay Times, there are these quotes from two of our Bollywood ladies. I am sharing them here: “When you are patriotic, it comes out in the most subtle ways. So, you don’t have to wait for that one particular day to celebrate it. You can do it all year long. Wearing your patriotism on your sleeve isn’t as important as truly feeling the emotion in your heart.” -          Alia Bhatt -            “One should not be forced to exhibit any sort of patriotism, it has to be organic. We can do a lot of things to show our love for our country, but let’s start from keeping it clean. Treat it like your homes, even when we step out of our houses, we must do that.” -          Vidya Balan -            Today, as we celebrate the 69 th Republic Day of our beloved nation, we have to ...

Pic.: Azriel D'Souza “Inside my empty bottle, I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making ships.” -        Charles Simic T oday is our 67 th Republic Day. Our housing society’s 20 th . “Ours is a society of simple people… with simple aspirations,” I said, this morning, during the Fag-hoisting ceremony… “We are one big-family.” I said this as the head of this family… The Hon. Chairman. What about our nation? If I were the head of this nation, I think, I would have said the same thing, too, about all of us in this vast, beautiful nation… Are we not one big-family of simple people with simple aspirations? After the Flag-hoisting ceremony, the Youth Association of our society had organized the Finals of cricket matches… first little children, then ladies and, finally, the rough and tough youth. Mrs. Gujar, a cheerful Rajasthani lady from the losing team, took all the ladies, including my ...