Gerald D'Cunha

  “Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, courage is the quiet voice, at the end the day, saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow’.” Mary Anne Radmacher   T here are two kinds of reunions… The first kind is the one we get to do after months of meticulous planning. The other kind is the one that just happens, without any planning, just spontaneously. The second kind is what I cherish the most… It springs from a clean heart… simply childlike. On this Sunday, my wife and I had to attend the Month’s mind mass of one of our relatives in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. After the   mass, we had to join for a simple lunch at the residence of the deceased family. I had informed friends of mine, Dr. Kumar and his wife Yashoda (a student of my first batch in Atomic Energy Jr. College, sometime in 1981), that we would be paying a visit to them. They lived just a minute away from my relatives’ place. As we were relishing the aromatic filter-coffee, I remembered another friend of min...

  “The secret is discovered in what moves and touches us, in  what makes us tremble.” Sam Keen S ome days ago, I was invited to hold a session for the students of an Architecture college in Mumbai. The students belonged to 2 nd year to 5 th year. It was their fest week, and different kinds of Workshops – yes, anything other than Architecture – were being held by people from different fields. As I had held sessions many times before in this college, the Principal gave me a free hand: “Anything that can help bring the best out them.”… This was the brief. D oes anyone know what is ‘the best’ in him? I don’t know my own ‘best’… unless I am unusually driven… I don’t know my best potential… I don’t know how good I am… I don’t know how creative, how brilliant… how loving, caring, giving, brave etc. I can be… “The best”, as they say,   is, always, “yet to come.” We are busy just scratching the surface… while ‘the best’ is hidden deep inside. And, often, it...

  “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask ‘What seat?’… Just get on.” Sheryl Sandberg   T his morning, I bumped into a middle-aged man inside our building lift. He was a stranger. So, after the spontaneous exchange of the courtesy ‘Hello’,   the he asked me, “What do you do?” “I am a teacher… I teach,” I said instinctively. “What do you teach?” the gentleman asked. “I teach Accounting subjects?” I replied. “Where do you teach?” was the next question. “I teach in my own coaching centre,” I responded. “Is it?... Where is your centre?” By then, the lift had landed on the ground floor, and the gentleman had to rush up, his way… and I had to do the same, my way… I forgot about this conversation completely, as such questions from strangers have been routine… You see, I would ask the same way to someone. So, nothing strange about this stranger’s questions – or, call it his   curiosity. H ere in my class, at the end of the lecture, I f...

  “Sing like there’s nobody listening; and live like it’s heaven on earth.” William Watson Purkey   M y elder brother, Franklin, is a ‘retired man’… He is presently 68. Eight years ago, when he retired from his ‘sailing life’, he clearly knew, that he was not retiring from living life. So, today, he is busier than all his younger brothers. Mom is 89... For the last two years, she has been confined to her bed – unable to move, eat, recognize…Franklin and his wife, Merlyn, have taken upon them the responsibility to look after Mom – nurse her, feed her, care for her like a little baby. We brothers, who live faraway from our native home in Mangalore (where Mom lives with Franklin and Merlyn), endlessly feel not only guilty, but also grateful for the selfless care Mom has been receiving from my elder brother and his wife… Franklin’s daily duty gets over only around 10 in the night. A shower, followed by 2 pegs of whiskey and dinner – and some time on catching up/sharing s...

“When admiring other people’s gardens, don’t forget to tend to your own flowers.” Sanober Khan   M y wife had just returned home, late last evening, after making a presentation. One of her seniors, who she always admired, had done the major part of the presentation. “She is too good,” my wife said as she walked into the house, “I wish I could do presentations like her.” I had just finished watching the following video from AGT (America’s Got Talent) … and I had watched it, back-to-back, thrice…  T he goose bumps were still there on my body… The spell hadn’t left me, yet… Inspired, I had, instantaneously, decided to create a blog around it…The quote had been already typed: “When admiring other people’s gardens, don’t forget to tend to your own flowers.” Sanober Khan   “Come here,” I called my wife, “read this.” You see, even in my wildest dreams, I will not be able to sing in my own house, leave alone like Putri Ariani, and leave alone on a gigantic s...

  “Keep a little fire burning, however small, however hidden.” Cormac McCarthy   B eing a Catholic, I grew up celebrating Mother Mary’s birthday on September 8… We called it ‘the Feast of Nativity’. Coming September 8, the legendary singer, Asha Bhosleji, will celebrate her 90 th birthday in her authentic style - with a  Broadway-style  concert in Dubai! After this concert, we will start saying, “She is 90-Plus”! Age is only a number… Yes, it is all in our mind. Mind stays young, body stays young… Mind feels old, body feels old. Ashaji’s zest for life is infectious… It inspires the young generation, the girls in particular… I had taught Dhiraj during 1989-90. Two days ago, almost 34 years later, he called me, out of the blue. He wanted me to teach his daughter, Vriddhi (Podar College, Class X1). “Sir, she has been a 90-plus girl throughout,” Dhiraj sounded modest, “You will be happy to know, that my wife and I did not have to coax her or motivate he...

  “A flower does not use words to announce its arrival to the world; it just blooms.” Matshona Dhilwayo   S omeone said to me, today: “You are a very humble person.” I felt very good… very proud! Then, a thought crossed through my mind: “Why am I feeling so proud on being called ‘a humble person’? Is my humility a concealed pride?” Honestly, I do not know what ‘a humble person’ means. Yes, I try to present myself, often, as an unassuming person -   one who has less airs about himself… I try to downplay my achievements… Do not like to do a lot of self-promotion… But, despite all these ‘noble’ things, I seriously think, that true humility is a distant goalpost for me. I love the ideal of humility; but, when I try to get there, something comes on my way… and pride takes over! Think about it: Every human being on this planet is able to only ‘duplicate’ – copy – what Nature has already created. Man cannot ‘create’ anything original… Be it art, literature, mus...

  "Your passion is waiting for your courage to catch up.” Isabelle Lafleche   T alent and passion are a deadly combination. While God has placed in us one talent or the other, I believe, that He has left it for us to, both, discover our talents and pursue them with sufficient passion… Passion is personal… God wants us to find our own. Exactly a year ago, in last February, Aadi and Tanmay, who were in eighth standard in the same school, were brought to me by their very involved mothers. They wanted to enroll their kids for our Summer programme on Personality Development. As the programme was to take off post Mid-April, the mothers insisted, that I should keep them engaged in some helpful activity. Apart from his studies, Aadi was already busy with cricket coaching.   Tanmay, though didn’t have a major interest, was a very enthusiastic and well-cultured kid. I instantly fell in love with both of them, and went about helping them in my own way… Lessons of the hea...

  “To win the people, always cook   them some savoury that pleases them.” Aristophanes, The  Knights   S ome months ago, when I first came across a YouTube video by the name ‘Village Cooking Channel’, I instantly fell in love with it. Village-cooking videos on YouTube are not a novelty… There are thousands of them. But, this one was distinct and special in many ways. It was brisk, it was authentic… and, it filled the viewers with energy and joy. So much so, one felt like not only visiting such villages, but settling down there, permanently.       I remember watching a couple of videos from this YouTube channel some days ago… It was late night, and I was feeling extremely low. These guys brought a smile back on my face, and fired energy back into my heart! The very night, I wanted to blog about them. Somehow, the night passed and days, too, without a blog on them. And, just a while ago, I watched this one, their latest… S o many of us ...