Gerald D'Cunha

  “Try not to become a man of success; rather become a man of value.” Albert Einstein   W hen I was a teenager, Rajesh Khanna was the Super Star. If fame, insane fanfare and box-office collection were the yardsticks to measure a film-star’s success, then, one had to stop at Rajesh Khanna… He had achieved all of these and was riding on the crest of success-wave… But, then, a wave is just a wave. More than anyone else, Rajesh Khanna knew, that the wave he was riding on would, soon, crash… Fame and fanfare would, soon, fade away… Just like the stars in the sky did. Apparently, this realization – that success was transient – prompted him to keep repeating, with the desired effect, his own dialogue from the film ‘Daag’ (Brilliantly penned by Sahir Ludianvi)… “Izzaten, shohraten, chahaten, ulfaten… koi bhi cheez duniya mein rahti nahin; aaj main hoon jahan kal koi aur tha aaj main hoon jahan kal koi aur tha… Ye bhi ek daur hai woh bhi ek daur tha.” T he beauty ...

  “Who looks outside, dreams; Who looks inside, awakes.” Karl Jung O ne of the often-told stories, relating to our happiness and self-worth, comes from the ancient texts – Upanishads. How timeless and how apt it is to our lives, even today! It’s the story of ‘Kasturi Mriga’ - the Musk Deer. One day, when this musk deer was roaming in a forest, it got drawn to an alluring fragrance of musk. The musk deer was so captivated by the fragrance, that it went on a long, hard and desperate search of it… It hopped from one terrain to another, one forest to another, one mountain to another… only to be alluded by it. Finally, one day, in desperation to find the source of musk fragrance, it fell off a mountain cliff… There, in that battered state, it was astonished to find, at last, where the fragrance emanated from: its own navel! Alas! By then, it was too late… What a sad ending that’s! The story of Kasturi Mriga – the musk deer – is regularly told to us to make us aware of ou...

O ne of the most difficult tasks in life is to stop someone from talking ill about you. In fact, it is impossible to shut someone’s mad-mouth. No matter how good and selfless you are, there will, always, be some around you who think you are the worst creature on this planet… the most dangerous and you deserve to be banished from this land! Now, if I mention here Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Dalai Lama, I would be surely able to drive home the point: “Look, if they did not even spare these Godly souls, who are you and me to be spared?” But, why look at the Godly souls… Life around us is, always, such: If nine out of ten around you trust you, believe in you… the one out there will think you are not trustworthy and try to brainwash others saying you are so… They will be hell-bent in maligning and defaming you… They will, always, cry for your blood! Who are these guys? Where do they come from? Bullies and criminals… the most selfish and the l...

G od has placed talents in each one of us here…. One talent or the other. If we do not agree with this, we have no business to strive for success… We have no business to dream. To dream, to succeed, we must first of all become strikingly aware of our talents. Well, if I have to speak for myself, I must become aware of my God-given talent – teaching, writing and mentoring. Yes, once I have become aware of my talent, I should believe in my capacity to encash these talents… I must constantly strive to hone my talents into fine skills… Success is always field-specific. In the field of our expertise, we can always shine… provided we give our all… and pursue it sincerely and passionately.  I am never tired of telling young-ones, to get in touch with their talents… believe in their self-worth… and follow their dreams. Many weeks ago, my friend, Jaypee, had shared with me this story of Michael Jordan… M ichael Jordan was born in 1963, in the slums of Brooklyn, Ne...

Pic.: Anima D'Cunha Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone! I find a lot of assurance in the following endearing story…  I can see myself in this innocent boy…  And I can, also, see myself in this balloon-seller… WHAT LIES INSIDE THE BALLOON PAST: I n a town, there was a man who sold balloons of different colors. Whenever his business was down, he sent helium-filled balloons in the air. This attracted children from the surrounding places, and his business soared, once again… One afternoon, a little Black boy asked the balloon-seller a very innocent question. Pointing at a black balloon, the b...

A part from the Balloon story, my friend, Mr. Manjeet, had also used, during the PD session, yesterday, another inspiring quote:  “Anyone can count the seeds in an apple; But, only God can count the apples in a seed!” I had first come across this quote in one of Dr. Robert Schuller’s’ inspirational books. Our real potential shall, always, remain a mystery for all of us! We really have no clue as to what potential we possess in our storehouse! So, Dr. Schuller brilliantly unfolds this mystery, saying, that we humans can only count how many seeds are there in an apple… but, how many apples are there in a seed – this, only God can tell.   How true it is! I really have no idea as to what I am really capable of… I have no idea about the value of the ‘acres of diamonds’ over which I stand! Like me, everyone else is clueless about it… If any one of us claims that he does have a clue, he is only pretending! “Sky is the...