Gerald D'Cunha

W hy do I wear a smile on my face? Why do I wear ‘special’ clothes on some days? Why do I don’t like to leave home unshaven? When our door bell rang at 7 this morning, I thought it was doodhwala who had arrived at his usual time. But, when I opened the door, a brightly dressed woman was standing outside. “Namaste saab,” she beamed. I took a while to recognize this woman. As a house-keeping staff, she would normally ring our doorbell between 7.40 and 8.00 every morning. And, she would appear in her uniform, a light-blue saree . But, today she had arrived almost an hour before and in her bright, shining clothes! “Namaste mausi (That is how I call all of them – young or old!). Aaj kuch special?” Her infectious smile only made mausi shine even brighter! I closed the door, without knowing what made our house-keeping lady arrive so early and in her special clothes… Any festival? Not that I know of… Her birthday or anniversary? She did not tell me about them… But, ...

“ Stop smiling. Every time you smile, an angel dies.”   ―   Kristan Higgins ,   My One and Only I do not know who Kristan Higgins is and what made her say this. Read it again and you may surely wonder, as I do now: Why should an angel die every time I smile? After all, smile is a very potent weapon… and, if at all it should kill, it should kill a devil… Why an angel? A certain problem was causing a great deal of stress in me. Just this morning, I found myself caught up in a negative thought-web and reacting with pain and anger. Some friends, who are my genuine well-wishers, were around me. An elderly gentleman, who always spreads cheer around him, caught my hand and said, “Are we going to have a Christmas party this time?” The load dropped around my heart, instantly, and I simply smiled… There was peace in my heart! “P eace begins with a smile,” Mother Teresa would say. The only way to dispel gloom is to gree...

T here are many people in my life – some of them live thousands of miles away – I genuinely wish them to be happy and joyful. Right now, that’s happening… some of these people come before my mind… and my heart simply wants them to be happy and joyful… I may not convey this feeling to these people… I may not meet them for years and years… But, I genuinely wish them to be happy and joyful… For, I know I do. If that’s true, it is also true that there are so many people out there who must be genuinely wishing me to be happy and joyful, always. Aren’t there such people? My college-days friend, Joe, who lives in Mangalore, sends me amazing Good-morning messages. Some of them, as the phrase goes, make my day… Some of them tickle me, some of them make me smile or laugh, some of them make me soar high and touch the stars… and some make me cry in joy. Whatever the effect, I see it this way: If my friend sends me a message every day, he must be thinking about me every morning...