Gerald D'Cunha

  “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that, within me, there lay an invincible summer.” Albert Camus   I think, if young ones become aware of their strengths early in life, it will help them become confident individuals. It will help them to dream, and believe in those dreams. Just imagine those young ones, who are unaware of their strengths… How would they ever dare to dream, and pursue them? Whenever young ones ask me what I mean by ‘strengths’, I tell them this: “Your strong character-traits.” Yes, what else can it be? Mercifully, all young ones are blessed with their own strong character-traits. It’s possible, that many of them are unaware of this blessing. That’s why I said, that when they become aware of their strengths early in their lives, it will hep them to become confident individuals. Only confident individuals can dare to pursue their dreams… It's to be taken by young ones as a good news… It should give them hope. I wasn’t aware of my ...

  “The goal is for your midlife crisis to turn into a midlife discovery.” Joan Anderson   “T ime and tide wait for no man.” Woman also knows, that this old message applies to her, as well. A couple of days ago, Ratna* had excitedly shared how happy she was to tell me, that her second son (Class 10) had been selected for an important stage event in his school… I had taught Ratna, some thirty-two years ago, while she was in her TY B.Com. She is a dear friend, now. Besides being a bright student, she was also a talented trained-singer. After completing ICWA, she worked for a big company for some years as a Costing professional. She had married to her college sweetheart, who was busy establishing himself as a Chartered Accountant. Eventually, they moved abroad, gave birth to two sons… Ratna’s life began to revolve around her husband and two little sons… Meanwhile, Costing and Singing sat quietly on the backburner… “O nly mud settles in life,” my dear friend Dr. De...

  “In adults, maturity is the fruit of dependability; in a child, it is the seed.” Richard E. Eyre   I n one of Dawn Club’s popular Workshops, the facilitator, Swami Brahmavidanada Saraswati, (Shri. Ram Mohanji) used to hold a roleplay. He would ask some five young boys and girls to volunteer for this roleplay. The volunteers were supposed to discuss an overnight excursion among themselves and come to a conclusion… Where to go, how to go, what to take, how much contribution to collect etc. Here, in the roleplay, all five volunteers were strangers. But, they were expected to discuss as though they would do in real life, with their real friends and associates. Then would come the twist to this tale… The facilitator would pull out from his bag white bands, one after one, and tie it on the forehead of each volunteer… On that band would be written the ‘label’, the ‘script’: “I am a Leader’… ‘I am a Fool’… ‘I am a Joker’… ‘I am Dependable’… ‘I am Cautious. If there were ...

  “Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse.” Sophocles   M ahima*, my eleventh-standard student, has been very particular about her commitment to my Zoom sessions. Also, she has been very particular about doing her homework. Ditto, I learnt, has been her commitment to her college and other tutors. So, last afternoon, when she did not connect on Zoom, I and some of her fellow students kept calling and messaging her – ‘What happened’? … ‘The session has started’… ‘We are waiting’… ‘Please join’…!” But, the messages were left unread and the calls were left unattended. Knowing her well, I concluded, that she must be really unwell. Thus, we continued with the session without Mahima. This morning, there was a short e-mail from Mahima: “Good Morning Sir, I hope, you are doing well. I couldn’t attend any class yesterday; or, even for that matter, I couldn’t use any device, as it has a screen. I was having a severe headache and doctor told me to take res...

Pic.: Anima D'Cunha “Above all, I think, it is good to be confident in one’s own skin. Accepting yourself, just the way you are, with all your gifts and flaws is not an easy task.” - Meryl Jacob (Age16) L ike I did during our last year’s PD course, this time too, I promised our young-ones and little-ones, both, that I would be releasing a book on the day of their certification, i.e., on 12 th June, 2016. And, this time, it would be titled: ‘WHAT MAKES ME CONFIDENT’. So, as I did last year, this time too I encouraged them to come up on stage and tell straight from their hearts what made them confident... Majority did... straight from the heart. Some wanted to write their thoughts down first and then come up and present… But, all did. They have handed me a copy of their speech and, I am putting them together in the book ‘WHAT MAKES ME CONFIDENT’… It will be out on their big day! However, before the book gets released, I shall be...

One of the expressions, I, often, use, as I go about my life, is: “I am proud.” “I am proud of you.” I say this to compliment a near and dear one… may be my friend, relative, student and so on. I say that to participate in his joy, to motivate him further. “I am very proud of myself.” I say this, sometimes, to express my profound satisfaction on something worthwhile I have achieved, including my own behavior or action. When I have helped someone - if he feels happy because of my helping hand or kind words or my humane gesture, I feel immensely satisfied… and, that is the time, I find myself saying, “I feel proud of myself.” And, every time the expression – “I am proud” – comes from out of my heart, I also find myself checking with my heart: “Have I said it out of arrogance? Is it my false pride?”  This self-examination, keeps me firmly grounded.  Yes, there is a very thin line between a healthy pride and an unhealthy pr...

“It's amazing how day in and day out you are able to connect to such small things in life…” Poonam had written it in her comment after reading my last post. It is close to twenty-five years since she did her TY B’Com under me. Now, she has a daughter of that age! And, she has written in her comment yesterday: “How are you able to connect to such small things in life, day in and day out…? It is amazing!” I had replied to her:  “Thank u so much Poonam... Felt good. Yes, even I do not know. I am writing on it today... Pl read. Hope, that may be the answer. Love.” What is there around is there for all of us. Is it not? The milkman, the newspaper boy, the Dhobhi, the maid servant, the autowala, the garbage picker, the postman, the watchman, the nasty neighbor, the thankless boss, or the rebel child or nagging parents… Is this not our world around? It is not our daily story? Is it not available to all of us? ...