Gerald D'Cunha

  “Practice doesn’t make perfect; it reduces imperfection.” Toba Beta   I doubt, only practice makes any of us perfect. Yes, practice makes us perfect in any work, only if we do it with all our hearts… If we love the work we do…   If we are passionate about it. Perhaps, that’s what differentiates between the ‘hard work’ and the ‘smart work’… Smart work, invariably, has the heart factor in our work. If we do anything with all our hearts, we shall, certainly,   find enough energy and motivation to work harder, longer, faster and more productively.   Importantly, we shall do it with our own initiative… without being pushed or coaxed to do it… Without worrying about the time we spend on it and the incentives we get from it. Yes, we shall willingly go the extra-mile… And, that’s what smart work is all about.   M any of us, regularly, like and share videos of achievers. Obviously, we wouldn’t do it unless we are inspired by them. One thing is cer...

One of my favorite reminders to my students is, “Don’t do donkey work – the gadha mazdoori.” Well, they are so used to hearing it from me, that they know exactly when I would be coming out with it in the midst of my teaching – or preaching. “Do smart work; not donkey work, okay?” That’s what I want to remind them, “I want efficiency, you understand?” The interesting thing is that, I am so used to reminding my students about the need for efficient work, the smart work… so much so that they have almost become immune to my reminders… Lo! There they come, once again, with their donkey-work… And, there I go, once again, with my broken gramophone! Then, I smile, nod my head thinking about my own donkey-work sermons, thinking how inefficient they are in making the desired impact on my students… and, I realize it is time, I did some ‘smart work’ in this respect… Yes, invariably, when the donkey-work drops from my sermons, the donkey-work d...

"It is looting," Nikhil screamed, showing to me the 'vadapav' he had just bought from a vendor outside my office. "Sir, look at the 'vada' -- it's smaller than a 'rosgula', and see inside this ... there is hardly any 'batata' there; eight rupees they charged for this ... It's looting." "Why did you buy from them? There are so many vendors around," I consoled Nikhil. "Sir, I was so hungry; and, I did not know all this," he said, "Any way, this is my first and last visit to that goddamn joint." No doubt about it. Why Nikhil, nobody would pay a second visit there. Who are they? Jitesh, 30, is a graduate but unemployed for quite some time. Lata, his elder sister,35, is a divorcee having a 12-year-old son. Some time back, both approached me and said, "Sir, we have this shop here; we have not been using it. For so many years, we have been paying the Society maintenance and minimum electricity charg...