Gerald D'Cunha

H ow different we all are! Many of us are as different as cheese and chalk! I had an opportunity to grasp this truth, yesterday morning, during our Personality-development session. I had asked the young participants to write, at least one page, about themselves. “Feel free… Feel happy… Feel authentic as you write,” I had advised them, “Do not worry about any pattern, format or tradition. It has nothing to do with what you had learnt in schools… Just get in touch with your deepest thoughts, trust your thoughts and express your thoughts. No one is going to judge you… and no one is going to disapprove you. Be creative, be free and be happy and authentic as you write about yourself.” Most of them were new to the session, with no past experience in writing and speaking. I had encouraged them to wipe out whatever experience they had in school while writing for the English subject. So, here they were, totally guided by their inner light… fearless and free. ...

M y wife and I wanted to watch ‘Sanju’ and we did it on the very first day! We are happy we did it! It’s perfectly fine, if someone, who loves our county more than we both do, call my wife and me as ‘Desh Drohis’… Because, to them Sanjay Dutt was a ‘Desh Drohi’, a ‘Terrorist’, a ‘hard core criminal’, a 'shameless womanizer', a 'dirty drug addict'… Add more, if I have left out anything, please… The day we watched ‘Sanju’, it was a full house. And, who had filled the house? Such lovely people – grandparents and young boys and girls, couple from decent families… and, I did not see a single soul going home ‘cursing’ Sanjay Dutt, Ranbir Kapoor, Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra,  Paresh Rawal or anyone… And, I don’t believe, that any one of them will love our country less now just because they made or watched ‘Sanju’… I haven’t met Sanjay Dutt or his father, Sunil Dutt. I have never been a great fan of both except for Munna bhai ...

Pic.: Errol D'Souza A ll of us have our ‘pets’ and ‘pests’. But, if two of my pests are fighting, I have this tendency in me to root for that pest, who I detest less. Like last night, when I was watching the ‘News Hour’. Well, my wife has asked me hundred times, “What do you gain watching such mindless arguments before you go to sleep?” Both of us detest Arnab’s screaming, shouting, intimidating, preaching, and dishing out judgments. Initially, like the rest of the world, we would admire him. But, now, we find him too much. But, then, when I switch on the TV at night, I tend to be a little curious about Arnab... Maybe, just to check, what is tonight’s ‘Never, ever Mrs. Lekhi’ episode... So, last night, there were Pramod Muthalik and one of his henchmen. Now, normally, I can’t stand Arnab for more than five minutes... But, last night, I watched his ‘noise hour’ till the last ball! Why? Because, I detested Muthalik more! And, when it was all over, I fou...

Pic.: Bhushan Thakkar S ome twenty years ago, one morning, this line popped up in my heart, and, I, immediately, scribbled it down in my dairy: “If God were to judge me by my sins, I would have been condemned to hell-fire long, long ago .” Today morning, I found, once again, the same line popping up in my heart… And, I felt very strongly that God didn’t judge His children the way the world did… That, it was nothing short of   plain mercy – His mercy – that has saved me from such a punishment! I know what a sinner I am. Maybe, I have not murdered, looted or raped any one… Maybe, I have not cheated on my marriage, abused my children or caused agony to my parents… Still, if God, today, decides to list down my sins, they are grave enough to mete me out with punishment! Mercifully, the God I believe in is a very, very kind, loving, and large-hearted God. He doesn’t judge me the way the world does… He provides me with many, ma...

Talk ing to someone, whoever it is, with trust and confidence can be easily felt: my heart feels light… my mind feels free of the fog of judgment. Who do I interact with on a daily basis? Who do I talk to, everyday? Yes, my world revolves around my spouse, son, relatives and neighbors… my students and their parents, the auotowalas and   the shopkeepers… my staff and colleagues… the government or other officials… sometimes, advocates, doctors and accountants… the members of church or social circles... and, yes, strangers, here and there. The quality of my conversation with any of these acquaintances can be quickly felt in my chest area, immediately after the conversation is over… If my heart feels light and mind feels free of the fog of judgment, it is the clear indication that I have just concluded a conversation guided by my confident and trustful heart… and, my mind has chosen not to be judgmental, biased. Conversely, if my heart ...

One morning, in the summer of 2007, Apurv Verma, who was one of my students in 1983-84, just appeared before me in my office. I was pleasantly surprised to see him after so many years.   When Apurv came to me, I was putting together an inspirational book titled – ‘The Cheetah’ to be released in June that year. I knew someone would appear, from nowhere, to help me up financially. My heart opened up before my dear student, and Apurv, who was then a Vice President of one of the multinationals, said ‘yes’ without even blinking. So, on June 10, 2007, on the annual Graduation day of THE DAWN CLUB students, we held a book-releasing ceremony. During the function, I put my arm around Apurv and spoke fondly about him to the audience. In response, he spoke kindly about me and, showed every one two books that had left a great impact on his life. He had brought a copy of each book to gift me, and he spoke something about the books and their author. ...

Right now, I am teaching a young man. Sorry, I am ‘spoon-feeding’ him. No, even worse than that: I am ‘baby-sitting’ him! He comes from an affluent family. All these years – over ten years – he has studied in some Boarding school. Now, he is here, clueless about what he is doing… leave alone his future! His father has a flourishing business… So, there ‘is’ future for the young man…  Is there? The Boarding school was supposed to make this young man independent, disciplined and self-motivated… tough. Instead, what I have in my hand is a young man who is miserably dependent, lost, bereft of any motivation. Just laid-back. Now, I am supposed to ‘teach’ this young man his college subject - Accountancy. It is a strain for him to learn… and, equally a strain to me to teach.    As a teacher, we always get a mixed basket of students. All do not have equal motivation… All do not have equal thirst and curiosity to...