Gerald D'Cunha

T he Holy Week just got over.  Had I observed Lent? Did I fast? Did I reflect? Did I repent? Did I pray? Did I attend the powerful Lenten missions?  Did I attend the Way of the Cross?  What about the solemn services on Maundy Thursday, God Friday and Easter? Did I experience the ‘touch’ of Jesus? Have I been ‘cleansed’ into a better human, after this Lent? I was born into a Catholic family… and, it was my 60 th Lent! What if I was born into a Hindu or Muslim or Sikh or Buddhist or Jewish family? What if I was born into a family of atheists? What if my parents were hardcores – extremists or terrorists? E very time I see the poison in the name of our faiths, I feel so sorry for the plight we are in… Us and them! Yes, woh log and hum log! To me, it is lowest form of human evolution! Do we need to be Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jews and Zoroastrians or whatever it is… in order to...

“M arked Safe”!!!! I saw this status of a young boy on FB. This young boy is the only son of one of our dear friends. He had migrated to this beautiful land of New Zealand barely a couple of months ago… He is a Muslim! A large family of three brothers, which lived in the same building as I have my institute, has completely migrated to New Zealand – three brothers, their wives and children… All men and their wives are working and all children have completed their studies over there, and are now working there… They are Sindhis! Yes, I saw their status, too, yesterday… ‘Marked Safe’! W hen the Bombay bomb blasts happened in 1993, our son (who is going to be 27 this September) was just a baby. My wife and I had been on a holiday to the lovely Kim beach… We had booked the MTDC tent-facility. It was a weekend and there were many guests, including some from abroad. We loved the quiet ambiance  so much that we decided to stay one n...

Pic.: Internet T o me, one of the greatest joys – rather, blessings - in life is the privilege of being able to live in this great city surrounded by people from different faiths, regions, languages, customs and cultures… Frankly, only a city like Mumbai can provide one with such a privilege. Those who live abroad, in great cities like New York, London, Sydney or Dubai, the experience is even more intense… the cross-culture and ethnic mix are of a different kind and proportion! Here, we learn to mix… Here, we learn to accommodate… Here, we learn to pick the best from each other, and overlook the rest… Here, we recognize, accept, value, respect, honor and celebrate our differences… Here, we learn tolerance… Here, we learn to grow through our completely-opposite preferences and beliefs… Here, we learn to recognize our innate prejudices and conditionings… Here, we even learn to love each other’s Gods… and, yes, Holy Books… To me...

Pic.: Madhusudan D. Jeurkar L ike it did to the rest of the world, the terror attack on the innocent school-children in Peshawar, yesterday, left me numb! Every possible reactive thought passed through my mind – fear, sadness, dismay, anger, compassion… yes, I passed through the whole gambit of feelings… The irony is all this happens in the name of God and religion... They don’t even spare the innocent children! The movie Titanic came to my mind... When it was sinking, the highest of luxury, power and position… all these meant nothing. Only thing that mattered was: ‘how to survive! What would not go off from my imagination is that the band playing the famous hymn – ‘Nearer, my God, to Thee’… The band played it till the very end… Yes, till the very end, a reminder to us: “Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee! E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me; Still all my song would be nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!” ...