Gerald D'Cunha

Pic.: Kushboo Gulrajani Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found it very useful – was telling a nice story in two tenses… Past and Present. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people who were earnest to improve their English with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and tell it to someone. Here is one more Mulla Nasruddin story… I can never have enough of them. CENTRE OF THE EARTH PAST.: O ne day, when Mulla Nasruddin was in a foul mood, a scholar approached him and asked, “Hey Mulla, do you know where  centre of the Earth is?” “Oh yes,” Mulla replied without even blinking. “Where? Can you show me?” the know-all scholar challenged. “Right here,” Mulla pointed, caressing sweetly his beloved donkey, “right under this right foot of my sweet donkey.” There is no record, whether the Scholar had ventur...

Pic.: Azriel D'Souza Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone… We need Birbal’s intellect – call it wit or shrewdness – to deal with all these fools and fanatics around us… HOW MANY CROWS LIVE IN AGRA?   PAST:  O nce ,   a scholar wanted to prove before everyone, that Birbal, Emperor Akbar’s favorite minister, was a hoax. So, he threw a challenge before Birbal.  “Birbal, you claim yourself to be a wise-man,” taunted the scholar, “can you tell me how many crows live in   Agra?” A grim silence fell over the packed courtroom. Even Emperor’s face suddenly wore a worried look. “...