Gerald D'Cunha

Last week, one of my T.Y. B’Com students, Pritvi, was hospitalized for Dengue. When I went to see him, I carried two books – ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho and ‘Anyway – The Paradoxical Commandments’ by Dr. Kent M. Keith.                  . Pritivi lives, here in Mumbai, all alone as his parents are away in the Middle East . His elderly Maharashtrian maid and her family take extremely-good care of Pritvi. I was touched when I saw this. Dengue makes you very depressive. Pritvi was feeling very low when I had been to see him. I had been to the hospital with one of his batch-mates, Pooja, and we spent close to an hour cheering him up. I knew Pritvi loved reading; but, looking at his condition, I gently told him, “Pritvi, just go through a few lines… whenever you can… You will feel nice.” Two days later, when I called to enquire about Pritvi’s health, he sounded much better and reliev...

For some days now, I have been watching these little birds building their nest, just outside here. They have set their goal: to build a home for themselves… and, they are so faithful and committed to the task of realizing it. I am fascinated by their team work, their strong faith in the consistent work done in almost molecule size – go far and wide in search of one tiny straw, at a time… drop it here… and go back to fetch the next one…   and, then, another… then, another… In every season, I have seen them doing it here, unfailingly. When the nest is ready, it leaves me speechless: “What a craftsmanship… What a masterpiece!” I marvel. And then, some one like me, a human, comes and ‘clears off the mess’, in one single sweep… Gone! Just like another Emperor invades the city of Agra and pulls down Shah Jahan’s Taj Mahal… Yes, as soon as he has finished building it! In what way is the work of these little sparrows less superior to Shah Jahan’s? And, in wha...