Gerald D'Cunha

I was a school boy, when I first heard from our teacher the famous proverb in Kannada, “Aaney   Kaddaru kalla, adike kaddaru kalla . ” Means: A thief is a thief whether he steals an elephant (Aaney) or a betel nut (Adike). There was a huge blackberry (Jamun) tree in our neighborhood. In season time, this tree attracted lots of kids, which included me. Some of us climbed the tree to steal jamuns, and some of us threw stones to get them… till, the land-lady came screaming and abusing, a long stick in her hand. For her, we kids were ‘thieves’… “Aaney kaddaru kalla, adike (in this case, Jamun) kaddaru kalla! Whenever I look back at these episodes, my heart smiles: I am a thief… Not a big thief. I am a cheat… Not a big cheat. I am a liar… Not a big liar. I am a sinner… Not a big sinner. But, the fact remains: whether I steal an elephant or whether I steal a betel nut (Or, our neighbor land-lady’s jamuns), thief I am… Am I not? So many childhood incidents of ...

“Excuses are merely nails used to build a house of failure.” - American Proverb “S o, the train was late, today,” I playfully teased the young-man who was almost fifteen minutes late for the session. “Train was not late, sir,” the tall young-man corrected me, “I was late!” “Wow! That’s something I loved,” I explained to the class, “That’s exactly what I meant by ‘Owning up… taking responsibility for one’s actions… It is the first leg of the stool called ‘Self-confidence.” The boy wasn’t giving me any justifications for his late-entry. He wasn’t feeling anxious, guilty or scared… For, he had owned up his action… He knew, that if he wanted to be in time, he would … Trains were running in time… The weather was absolutely normal - no thunderstorm or hailstorm… There weren’t any bandh or riots… At home, everything was normal… the milkman, delivered milk in time, the paperwala dropped paper in time… the maid came to make rotis in ti...

M any a times, we are obsessed with our own lives - our own work, our own achievements, our own success. We forget that others exist... even though the 'others' may mean our own good friends. Ajay was my student more than twenty years ago. He, later, became a dear friend and we became each other's well-wishers. Presently, Ajay is settled with his family in Pune, where he runs his business. Along with it, he also runs his NGO, which he keeps telling me was inspired our DAWN CLUB. The reason why I remember Ajay, today, is that he had mailed me some of his college-days poems just, I am sure, expecting that I would read them... that I may tell him, "Ajay, they are beautiful." But, then, as I told you at the outset, I was in my own world... I failed to notice Ajay's mail with this attachment! A month had gone by! And, just a while ago, my eyes fell on them... and, I became a little angry with myself. For, being so selfish... by basking under my own glory. So, I ...