Gerald D'Cunha

  “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...

  “Maturity comes not with age, but with acceptance  of responsibility. You are only young once;  but immaturity can last a life time.” Edwin Louis Cole   N irav* is a bright kid. Why did I call this 17-year-old, who has joined one of the ‘best’ Commerce colleges in South Mumbai, a ‘kid’? Well, the ‘kidhood’ – I mean the ‘childhood’ – as Edwin Louis Cole says has nothing to do with our age… Some of us stay ‘kids’ for our entire lifetime, you see! Poets and spiritual teachers sing praises about ‘being childlike’. Hope, we never hear it - ‘Being childish’! So, our smart kid from one of the ‘best colleges’ in South Mumbai, is not the one the poets and spiritual teachers sing praises about… He is ‘Childish’, plain lazy. Laidback! Am I making a big deal about it? Weren’t we all been there, done that? We are lying, if we say ‘No’! We all loved to sleep like logs when Sun was almost halfway to mid-noon. I am talking about the days when there weren’t any ga...

“The strongest love is the love that can demonstrate its fragility.” ―  Paulo Coelho M any things make me special… One of them is my vulnerability. If I have to put it in simplest of words, being vulnerable means to open my heart before someone by trusting him or her. When I do that, I make myself defenseless… I know it can break my heart… I can get wounded in the process. If so, why don’t I, always, guard myself… stonewall? I have tried to but failed. Opening my heart, by trusting a person I love, respect, care… yes, it comes easily to me. The main outcome of my openness – vulnerability – is that, it makes me feel better… Light… Loved and lovable… Strong. On the other hand, when I stonewall my feelings, guard too much… don’t reveal my human side, it, invariably makes me stone-like…   The world calls some heartless and some heartfelt… And, you know why the world does it so! Despite getting wounded, le...

  Pic.: Vimal Tulsiani “Someone helping you is not, always, your friend And, someone opposing you is not, always, your enemy.” - Anonymous I had promised my friend, Priyanko, that I would be writing on this passage, today. He  had shared it on FB, yesterday. True, we tend to call an opposing person our enemy in the same breath as we call a helping person our friend... The passage challenges this tendency in us... It tells: It is not not true... And, I agree. However, the first part of the passage – “Someone helping you is not, always, your friend” - doesn't excite me at all. Even though I know that everyone who helps me is, not necessarily, my friend - not a well-wisher of mine - I resist from calling him my enemy, either. For, I do not like to study the motive behind his help to me... Yes, I do not like to judge him... Let him, therefore, be... be a friend! What excites me is the second part ...

Pic.: Pushpa Mistry Kamath “But what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people,  and do our best to help them find their own grace. That's what I strive to do, that's what I pray to do every day.” Barack Obama T oday, a gentleman had brought his ten-year-old daughter to be enrolled for our on-going PD course (Pre-teens). Once the girl was sent inside the class, he said, “Sir, she frequently back-answers us, which worries us a lot. See if she can overcome that habit.” “We will help her to overcome; but don’t stress out... Children do back-answer while growing up... as we all had,” I tried to calm the father. “But sir, we weren’t as vocal as today’s kids are... We were not exposed to so much of TV, Internet and cell-phone stuff...” Like this, the concerned father went on... “Our parents said the same when we were growing up back-answering to them,” I said smilingly, “Every age has its own gadgets and...

H onestly, I did not know that… this English phrase – ‘Zero Tolerance’ - ever existed! Thanks to the current Delhi protests against gang-rape, the phrase has become a viral… and, suddenly, I find myself infected by it! But, frankly, I am not able to understand what it means! L ast night, my wife and I were travelling by our BEST A.C. bus. There was a crazy traffic. At one spot, the bus couldn't move an inch for nearly twenty minutes! There were hundreds of vehicles… including so many luxury cars… and, everyone seemed to have lost his patience… Even though they knew it did not help, they were honking, shouting, abusing… and blaming all and sundry. Yes, notably, the Government and the Police! But, inside our Mumbai A.C. buses – if you are not in a hurry – it is sheer bliss! Both, my wife and I… we were just chilled! I was watching from the window a very interesting sight… just outside, at one corner… Believe me, it was all in the open! About seven...