Gerald D'Cunha

“Love the trees until their leaves fall off; then, encourage them to try again next year.” Chad Sugg   I met this old friend, last evening, after over forty years. Those were my initial years in this city (then, Bombay) … I had African bushy-hair on my head, a flat tummy, loads of youthful energy… and, above all, a carefree outlook towards life. Obviously, I was single, and the serious thoughts about my ‘tomorrow’ had not yet sprung inside my mind… From such a state of my mind, I could only hear the mountains calling… I really thought, that ‘Success’ – the proverbial Pot of Gold – could be found only ‘there’; that I had to climb frantically to lay my hands on it… And, once that done, I could shout from the top to the world below – “Hark, I have arrived!” The idea of success has undergone a sea change in me over these forty-plus years… I no more look for the Pot of Gold ‘over there’, at the top of the highest mountain… No more do I feel the need to shout to the world – “...

  “Try to keep your soul young and quivering right up to old age.” George Sand   O n 3 rd of this July, my Mom completed 88 years. She had five sons. Harry, her third son, passed away a couple of years ago. She remembered the birthdays of all her sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, and most of our relatives. She even remembered the wedding and death anniversaries of most of her near and dear ones… But, after her fall, two years ago, Mom has been confined to her bed and wheelchair. Her memory is gone, and she cannot recognize anyone… We four, her surviving sons, decided to meet and celebrate her 88 th birthday this time. Her life had been, always, church-centric: Jesus Christ, Mother Mary, Patron saints… Holy Mass, Holy Sacrament, hymns, confessions, priests, Bishops, and the Pope… at home, the daily rosary and angelus… She lived by the Lord’s Prayer – ‘Our Father… Give us our daily bread…” So, it was befitting to organize a beautiful Mass at home on Mom’s 88...

“Every sunset is an opportunity to reset. Every sunrise begins with new eyes.” ―  Richie Norton T wenty-twenty! Will it be fast and furious, young and colourful, good, bad and ugly like the T20 of the cricket world? Just a couple of days ago, Amitabh Bachchan had tweeted, in a lighter vein, that we needed not to worry as there was only an ‘ unnees-bees ka farak’   between 2019 and 2020! Now, the ‘ unnees’ is behind us, and the ‘ bees’ is ahead… Will it be any different? Jab jaago, tab savera ! It’s morning when you wake up… When our eyes are new, the sunrise, too, appears new and glorious! Life is never static to any one of us… It can’t be. Life is constantly moving… Yes, it’s in a constant flux. What come on our way, as our good times and bad times, are only life-situations… They come and they go… just as the day and the night do. So, whether it is the unnees or the bees , the difference betwe...

“And if you’re ever feeling lonely, just look at the moon… Someone, somewhere is looking at it, too.” - Anonymous     T he Moon shall, always, remain a mystery to me! It’s just a lifeless rock. But, thanks the kindness of the Sun, it is able to glow so beautifully. And, thanks to the Moon, we, here on Earth, are able to live through our nights… We are able to dream, romance and hope… We are able to find a friend to talk to when we feel lonely… The Moon is never the same to us all the days… Sometimes full, sometimes crescent and sometimes it is not there at all… But, deep in our hearts, we know, that the Moon is there somewhere up there, hiding behind the darkness… and, it is going to show up, little by little, until it is gloriously full. Just as the Moon, who gets life from the Sun, we all get Life from our own ‘Source’ – God. What are we without the mercy of God? Can we shine on our own? Can we remain happy all the days, or, like the ...

Pic. : Anand Ashokan “Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of.” – Charles Richards O ne of my favorite expressions is this: “God has given all of us the same twenty-four hours in a day. To President Obama, Bill Gates you and me… yes, God has given to all of us the same twenty-four hours in a day.” ‘I have no time,’ is one of lamest excuses in life. “I have no interest,” or “I have no motivation,” or ‘I have no discipline’… probably, we might find some takers for these reasons. But, ‘I have no time”, sorry… No way! An interesting observation is: In life, we, always, find time to do the things we love and feel excited about. If so, the trick is to discover what we love to do… or learn to love what we do… feel excited about it… Yes, that’s the only way, perhaps, we can make the most of those twenty-four hours we are endowed with. S ome days ago, I heard a speaker asking his ...