Gerald D'Cunha

  “When you keep people waiting, they begin to think of all your flaws.” Kevin Kelly   M any years ago, just on the eve of one of my birthdays, a few of my die-hard well-wishers (all of them my ex-students) formed a WhatsApp group to send me birthday wishes. Expectedly, they baptized the group with the name – ‘HBD Gerry Sir’. The group has lived close to a dozen birthdays of mine, since then... One of the recent developments, as an offshoot of these group discussions, was a (turn-by-turn) get-to-gather at each group member’s place,   It started, some time back, with Shankar inviting us for a South Indian lunch at his beautiful complex. The next one was scheduled at Sudha’s Karjat holiday home. The dates somehow clashed and it got postponed. Meanwhile, Kiran and Ravi   invited all of us, along with our spouses and offsprings, to the North Indian (predominantly Delhi) delicacies at the popular restaurant at Andheri West – ‘Delhi Se’. ‘Delhi Se’ was born in ...

  “There are, obviously, two educations: One should teach us how to make a living, and the other, how to live.” James T. Adama   I   see, both, respect for time and respect for food, are correlated. To go even further – many other things are correlated, too… There are these two young boys in my class. Their academic year is almost over. But, I have never been able to make them come ‘on time’, leave alone ‘before time’. I have used all possible motivational tricks in my arsenal… gentle words, harsh words, love and anger… No. Nothing has worked. Their favorite excuse for reaching late is - ‘stuck in the traffic’. First time, one can understand… But, every time ‘stuck in the traffic’? “Will they accept this reason at the airport? Will the airplane wait for Your Majesty?” “Will they accept this reason on the day of your Board exam? Will they wait for you, or give extra time to complete your paper?” “Will the surgeon and his team wait for you on the operati...

  “Rivers know this: there is no hurry; we will get there someday.” A.A.Milne   I admire people who show grace in waiting… There is tremendous amount of strength in waiting… and delaying the sensual gratification… This the Navratri time. People, who seriously observe the essence of Navratri, I think, know what I am saying… Fasting is waiting… Delaying the sensual gratification… It’s a fine spiritual exercise... Walking barefoot for nine days is, certainly, tough for people like me. So, when I see someone sincerely doing it, I feel in my heart true admiration for that person… Patience is waiting… Patience when provoked, ridiculed, belittled etc… It is not easy at all to delay the reaction that is stirred inside… Patience is strength. It is prayer… L ast afternoon, I was scheduled to meet an important government officer between 3 and 4. Another government officer, who was known to me, had arranged for the meeting. It was an important work. So, I had cancelle...

Pic.: Indu Varier I t is 10 dot in the morning, now. Reshma, a dear friend of mine, has just sent a message on my phone: “Sir, running late… Should be there in 15 minutes max.” “No problem Reshma,” I replied instantly. Reshma has been living in London with her husband and two little-girls. Back home, here in Mumbai, her elderly parents live. They are very sick. Moreover, there is her brother, who has been mentally retarded right from his birth. Some days ago, Reshma called me up…. “Sir, I am in India,” she said, “I will come and see you in a few days.” Yesterday, she called me up, again, to check with me if she could meet me today. Thus, we fixed it for today morning, at 10… Ironically, last night, someone had asked some of us to attend a meeting at 10 concerning some issue. All of us were there before time. The gentleman, who had called the meeting, did not turn up till 10.30… Nor did he consider it important to inform us, leave alone feeling bad, apologe...

I am a teacher… So, I insist on these things with my students:  I insist on attendance. I insist on being on time. I also insist on a good communication.  It takes some time for them to grasp fully the importance of these three values: Be there for every lecture. This means, once you keep your foot in, you have no option but to remain totally committed. Be there on time... before time. This means, you have no business to keep other people waiting. And, if you really cannot attend, or be on time, please inform. This means, you need to have the basic courtesy of picking up your phone to communicate your problem… I am just human; I cannot know your problem unless you communicate about it to me… If you don’t, I start waiting, guessing, assuming and fuming.  The young ones do understand the value of being regular, punctual… responsible and communicative. Yes, most of them realize the importance of these values, and, u...