Gerald D'Cunha

Pic.: Anima D'Cunha E arly this morning, I was talking on phone to my friend Mr. Manjeet. My wife was still fast asleep. When I hung up, I heard my wife asking from her sleep, “Who was that?” “Cha Fra D’Costa,” I replied, without even waiting for my next breath. “Who?” my wife opened her eyes, almost thunder-struck. “Our Toast Master, darling,” I explained, “Remember what he had received his ‘Sahitya Academy Award’ for?” Well, what made my dear wife ask, “Who was it?”, in her sleep and what made me remember the Late-charismatic-Konkani-Poet Charles Francis D’Costa (fondly hailed as Cha Fra), yes, will, always, remain shrouded in mystery... Let the mystery be. Mystery, magic and madness make life what it is – a thrilling roller- coaster-ride! T he Late Mr. C. F. D’Costa was a towering figure in Konkani literature... His plays, poems and writings evoked fire and passion alike in his readers’ souls. Besides, he was a terrific orator... and a ...

In a broad sense, to live well in this world – effectively, successfully and peacefully – we need to ‘sell well’ – sell ourselves, sell our ideas, plans, proposals, dreams… our products and services… Yes, to ‘others’. Just imagine how true it is: Are we all not trying to do exactly that all our lives? The ‘others’ – our ‘prospective customers’ - can be any of these: our parents, children, spouses, siblings or any relatives… They can be our neighbors, strangers, government officials, co-passengers, our teachers or students; they can be our colleagues or bosses, our competitors or clients, our well-wishers or critics… Yes, anybody. If life is about living with all of these… then, we had better be good in human relationship... ‘Others’ don’t buy easily… just as we, too, don’t buy from them easily. They raise ‘objections’ – say ‘No’ – for whatever we try to sell, promote, propose to them… Just as we do every time they try to sell, pr...