Gerald D'Cunha

  “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” -      Dolly Parton   A couple of days ago, a lady called me seeking some help for her young son, her only child. She held a good position in a large organization. “Sir, my son is doing his grade 10 in so and so school (one of the sought-after ones). He is excellent in his studies, and communication… He is a voracious reader and writes, too, well. But, I want him to learn how to structure his presentations better, face interviews efficiently (for studies abroad, perhaps) and manage some of his anxiety…” From my experience, parents of grade 10 students, normally, are so stuck with academics, that they don’t think about things like soft skills. But, here was a mother, who, apparently, wanted her young son to be ‘perfect’, the ‘best’. I tried to calm her down saying, “Ma’am, from what you said, I understand, that your son is a bright young boy. Trust me, he doesn’t need an...

E at fresh food... I agree. Eat simple food... I agree. Eat in moderation... I agree. Eat with a happy and grateful heart... I agree totally. But then, can you and I eat ‘fresh food’ always, considering the hectic pace of our lives? Frankly, we cannot. Many of us have to accept this reality... That, eating happily with a grateful heart is more important than eating freshly-cooked food... Frankly, we are all on a space mission... We have to choose between the Moon and the Sausages... E very migrant, who comes to big cities like Mumbai - with no money, friends or connections, but only a dream – has lots of struggle stories to share later when they succeed in in life. But, these struggle stories, invariably, inspire other strugglers, and not the children of those telling the ‘stay-hungry, stay-foolish’ stories... One such young kid I came across yesterday. He wasn’t ready to eat the tiffin packed and sent by his mother... “I eat only fresh”... The tiffin went back home, go...

  “If you want to turn a vision in to reality, you have to give hundred percent and never stop believing in your dreams.” Arnold Schwarzenegger   E very time I see a beautiful building or a villa, a bridge, tunnel or a flyover… Every time I listen to a mesmerizing song, a piece of music, watch a gripping movie or a stage show… Every time I read a beautiful book   – be it prose or poetry, fiction, nonfiction, self-help whatever… Why all these… Every time I see a beautiful dress, a piece of jewelry, footwear… Every time I relish an amazing dish or enjoy a   beautiful ambience… a lawn, a resort, a hospital, a school, a temple or a church …  Yes, when I behold anything and everything, that is created by humans there outside, I stand there spellbound, marveling on the ‘process’ of creating them… Someone, like you and me – made of flesh, bones and blood – yes, someone there must’ve conceived it first in his/her mind, believed in it… toiled hard and long to a...

  “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Mark Twain   O ne of the things parents will never be able to give their children is the fire in the belly… That one thing, the kid has to ignite on its own. But, if you ask me, ‘How’… I can only say, “I don’t know’. Yes, all that I know is, that the kid has to ignite it on its own… What is common – and quite natural – for parents to do is to give their kids a better education, together with better privileges… a better living condition, better facilities, better everything. The thought process of the parents, by and large, is this: “I had to go through a lot of struggles in my life… I was deprived of all the privileges… but, I do not want my children to go through similar struggles… I want them to provide with the best possible privileges.” And, that’s what my grandparents did to my parents, my parents did to me and my brothers, and we have done to our own children, and our children will do to theirs…...

  “So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings.” J.R.R. Tolkien   S taying relevant till the ripe age of 80 – and be able to continue doing what you are passionate about, that too, remarkably well, and, that too, in a cut-throat glamorous industry -   is not possible for any one, unless he or she is an Amitabh Bachchan! When Amitabh turned 80, on this October 11, I wanted to write something about him. But, then, what is left ‘new’ to write about this ‘One-and-only’? Whatever I wanted to write had been already written by countless number of his admirers. I, myself, have written about him so many times in my past Blogs… So, what is new, now? Nothing! E very time I feel tired – both physically and mentally – I look up to Amitabh Bachchan. Every time, I feel scarcity in my mind – that, I may not be able to find ‘work’, earn my daily bread, manage my home etc. – I look up to him. Every time, my boat gets caught up in a storm, every time I hear...

  “Through the dark, through the door, Through where no one’s been before, But it feels like home.” From the song ‘A Million Dreams’ (Movie ‘The Greatest Showman’) I f I told you this: “Stop searching… Stop setting goals… Be like a river… Everything changes… Everything returns…” how would you react? “Good for you”? And, how would I react, when 17-year-old Aaditya, my twelfth-standard student, called me in the middle of last night, on getting a jhatka, that he should become a commercial pilot, and asked: “Sir, what do you think?” “Beta , go to sleep”? Yes, I precisely told my boy that: “Beta , go to sleep now; will talk about it,  tomorrow morning.” Aaditya had asked me, if I knew anyone who had done this course. Of course, I knew a couple of them, including, both, commercial and   Airforce pilots. So, I could have pleased my boy saying, “Ye s beta , I know some of them; I can connect you to them.” Yes, I could have put my young student to sleep with...

  “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Popular English proverb   N obody, in his senses, will ask God for tough times in life. The prayer to God will, always, be: ‘God, keep us away from tough times.” Even the Son of God went down on His knees and prayed, “My Father, if it’s possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me.” But, then, He, being an evolved human, concluded His heart-wrenching prayer at Gethsemane: “But, thy will be done, not mine.” In Life, tough times come to test us - to make us stronger, wiser and kinder human beings… That’s my steadfast belief. While everyone’s life has tough times, some of us have tougher times than the rest. I, mercifully, have belonged to the ‘rest’, so far! Thank you, God; thank you for the mercy! T he family of Shilpa*, my eleventh standard student, has been going through very tough times, of late. She, along with her parents and younger sister (7 th std.) had tested Covid-positive. Only her 3-year-o...

“Listen. People start to heal the moment they feel heard.” – Cheryl Richardson “G ood Moring Sir. Thank you so much for all the emotional support you have given me each time… You have always given me the strength whenever I have felt low.” “Good Morning Disha*.   We all need support when we feel low… Nobody is an exception… I was just there, incidentally, as destiny would have it. Don’t become disheartened or bitter about any experiences along your way. Best wishes and love.” Late, the night before yesterday, Disha had called me seeking some help, and she had turned up, yesterday, early in the next morning, in my office to discuss her ‘problem’… What kind of emotional support Disha claims I have given her? What are the ‘Low feelings’ she was going through? The gravity of the problem is not the issue here. The issue is: we all go through problems in our daily life… the big problems and small problems; and, all of us are humans… we ...