Gerald D'Cunha

“On the ocean of life, let your mind be the ship, and heart be the compass.” James David Manning O ne of the things I had seriously planned, but had to keep on hold because of the lockdown was: Our new book! It’s been a long tradition at the DAWN CLUB to publish a book or two on the Certification Day of the summer programme on Personality Development. I would involve our li’l ones, young ones and general adults on this project. So, this time around, the book I had planned was on a very important subject: How one decides what he/she has to pursue in life. How? There is no one fits-for-all answer… In fact, there should not be one. I firmly believe, that the answer should be the outcome of a ‘process’… that, there should be a lot of confusion in the mind and churning in the heart. Rarely, a young one is ready with the answer as he/she comes out of his tenth standard. Parents, relatives, teachers, peers do have a role in deciding the one field they must now ge...

A s a teacher, I have a greater responsibility: to sensitize my students towards their vocations in life. Teaching my subjects and helping them to score well in exams, I seriously think, are incidental to my basic responsibility… But then, it’s not easy to fulfill this responsibility. The teachers are just like parents… They love and care for their students’ and children's future… But, when it comes to helping them to choose their vocation, there is only so much they can do… Every day in my class, I try to do my bit to sensitize my students, drilling in their minds the need to listen to their hearts… Be alone and look within… Look at their icons in life… Identify the thoughts that make them the happiest… The work they would do without being told, without minding the work-hours or the money they would earn… The field where they would add value to the society, empower others as much as they do to themselves… I tell them to look within and find what wou...

A year ago, a lady came to me with her young daughter. The daughter was in tenth standard (ICSE) and the year had just begun. “Sir, everyone in our family is from the Science field; but, my daughter is very clear about her choice… She wants to take up Commerce.” “That’s really nice, ma’am,” I complimented, “It helps immensely if one is very clear.” The mother continued, “Sir, she aims high… She is a bright, hardworking and intelligent student… She goes all the way to achieve what she wants. So, in tenth, she expects to get over 95%; but, she wants to take up Commerce.” I was even more impressed.  They wanted to get a few sessions on the fundamentals of Commerce and Accountancy… even though there was one year still left. Last evening, I received a call from the mother. “Sir, my daughter got 96% in tenth and, as I told you a year ago, she wants to go into Commerce stream.” This morning, I took off with the girl’s eleventh-standard studies. During our d...

“ Is that what they call a vocation - what you do with joy as if you had fire in your heart, the devil in your body?” ” ―  Josephine Baker W hen I look at my own life ( I will be 59 this year) and when I look at the lives of thousands of young-ones who I was privileged to come in contact with (through teaching, training, guiding, mentoring etc), I strongly feel, that one of the greatest blessings in life is - the clarity on one’s vocation… That is, what one wants to do in life… His career choice… His calling in life. To me, what is perplexing and heart-breaking is this: In a city like Mumbai, where kids are born in decently educated and affluent families, where kids are sent to the so-called ‘best schools’… where kids are exposed to dozens of extra-curricular skills and famed academies, and, above all, where personal and career counseling - and also the options to choose from are like an endless galaxy -  yes, in an atmos...

I told this to young Suman, all over again, today: If you have a story and you are dying to tell it…  If you have a cause and you are willing to fight for it, nobody needs to teach you how to speak in public… You will sit down for hours and prepare it well, You will stand up for hours and practice it well And you will go up there and deliver it well… That’s all there to it – to the art and science of Public Speaking… Prepare it… Practice it… and Deliver it. S uman was my student some years ago. Her initial dream was to get into Chartered Accountancy. But, it did not take her long to realize that she wasn’t cut for the CA profession. So, after her graduation, she deiced to pursue a course in Fashion Designing, which, Suman tells me is her present calling in life… “Is it?” I prodded Suman, “Is Fashion Designing a real calling in your life?” Sunman said “Yes”. But, it wasn’t a resounding “YESSSS”. A couple of days ago, Suman h...