Gerald D'Cunha

“You never appreciate your anonymity until you don’t have it anymore.” Jason Priestley   I am conscious of the two movements within me… One is a strong desire to be in the limelight – to be more and more famous, recognized, hailed. The other is an equally strong desire to be away from the limelight – to be anonymous, private and quiet… I think, it’s a strange irony in our lives: When we are away from these big cities, we desire to be here. When we are here, we desire to be away from these cities… Poor want to be rich – famous and powerful. When they reach there - and if they are in touch with the two internal movements I just spoke about – I am sure, they, most certainly, desire to go back to their quiet life… Of course, not to go back to the financial poverty, but to go back to the richness of their spirit… O ne of the things, my wife and I regularly do is walk along the beautiful Marine Drive promenade, mostly in the evenings… It’s packed with tens and thousands of pe...

  “Someone sitting in the shade today, because someone planted a tree long time ago.” Warren Buffet     W hat Warren Buffet said (through the above lines) about being prudent in life, by managing our money wisely and with a long-term vision, applies to everything else, too… especially, to raising our children. Every generation of parents has tried its best to offer something better to the next one. I have talked about it so many times… My great grandparents must’ve almost lived like tribals… But, they tried to give a better life to my grandparents… I had the opportunity to see how my grandparents lived… Yes, it’s not as good as my parents did… and, the life of we five brothers was much better compared to our parents’… and, we tried to give even a better one to our own children… Doubtlessly, the same will continue… Our children are geared up to offer a better life to their own. But, then, the question comes up: “What does a ‘better life’ mean?” Does it mean o...

  “When you choose one way out of many, all the ways you don’t take are snuffed out like candles as if they’d never existed.” Philip Pullman   I was talking to a friend of mine, last afternoon. He is slightly younger than I am. He hailed from a very humble South Indian family and had to go through a lot of hardships to complete his education. Being very focused and determined, he completed his Chartered Accountancy in his first attempt. It was time to make the crucial choice: to accept the best offer for a well-paying job, or to set up his own Chartered Accountancy firm from the scratch… My friend chose the latter. With that choice came the endless struggle to make his way up! My friend and I, both, started our respective careers almost simultaneously; and our journeys, of being self-employed professionals, very much resembled. Idealism, dynamism, simplicity, loyalty, commitment, hard-work, passion – everything seemed similar. The kind of households we both came f...

"Security is not the absence of danger,  but the presence of God,no matter what the danger." Anonymous A friend of mine, who lives in our housing colony, will be retiring from his government service on 30th of this month. He has organized a lunch party in his office, on this Friday (27th Sept), for his colleagues, close friends and well-wishers. Yesterday, I received an invite for it... "Please grace the occasion." I was delighted and quickly sent to my friend a thank-you message. "Can't believe! Too early to retire! I will be there, definitely!" This morning, my friend sent to me another message. "I have invited only five persons from our colony..." He had named all five invitees, including me.  I replied with a laughing emoji..."Thank you friend for counting me in the 'Magnificent Five'... Looking forward to it!" "Yes my friend, these '...

T he building, where my office and classes are located, is almost forty-year old. So, efforts are on for its redevelopment. Series of meetings, heated discussions, trust and distrust, allegations and counter allegations… and, above all, the endless human greed – yes, all these make the redevelopment proposal a frustrating experience… Even though the present market conditions are volatile, and even though the condition of our old buildings is pathetic – and yes, even though many of our residents are senior citizens and are no more in a position to wait for years and years for their new-house ‘dream’ to come true – when it comes to trust and greed, it is the greed that seems to overrule trust. Why not more? Yesterday, one of the prominent property developers had invited us for a site-visit. The sites were around Thane’s Ghodbunder road. One of the sites bore an exotic name. The sales executive literally ‘air-lifted’ us to the 26 th floor to show the sample flats… From ...

Pic.: Sheela Krishnamony T his is my childhood story. Every time I read it, it makes me peaceful… I have told this story many times before in my blog and in our PD sessions…  I wish to tell it, once again, today. I n a village, there lived this milkman. Every day, he walked near and far to sell milk in the village. With whatever money he earned, he was content and lived a simple yet happy life with his family. And, as years passed by, a thought began to trouble him: “I am getting older and tired… I won’t be able to go around the village like this for long… The family needs are increasing… my daughters have to be married… and, at this rate, it would be hard for me to face my future.” Thus, with the hope that he could make some quick money and secure his future, the milkman started to add some quantity of water in the milk, which went unnoticed in the beginning. As  time went by, the water quantity in the milk began to increase, and, his customers began ...