Gerald D'Cunha

L ast evening, I left for home quite early. I had a bad giddiness and really wanted to go home and rest. The moment I landed at my complex, I saw one of our senior-citizen members taking his walk alone. I was seeing him after almost two months; so, I instinctively greeted him, “Good evening sir. How are you…? A very long time.” My next line would have been this: “How is your health, sir? How is everybody at home?” But, before I could ask all that, the elderly man started grumbling, “You have spent so much money on making this beautiful garden. But, just go and see… So many plastic bottles and filth are thrown into it!” My heart sank! The instant reaction of my mind was, “I should have left the ‘old man’ alone. Yes, I am the Hon. Chairman of this Society. But, hello, I am not keeping fine... I just want to go home and rest.” Yes, this was the first thought. Self-pity. Then, came the second thought. “Come on sir, you are taking this evening walk because you are old and sick; you are a ...

S ome days ago, we had our area Mass. After the Mass and the dinner were over, some of us sat back and were having a nice discussion about our lives. Lona* told us about an elderly gentleman she had happened to meet once. She told us that this man looked extremely fit, positive and happy. “What is the secret, sir?” Lona had asked him. The man had pointed to a wall-hanging in his office. It said, “Drop your expectations… to drop your sorrows.” Lona was quite impressed not only by the zest of this man… but also by the ring around the statement. “Drop your expectations… to drop your sorrows.” Many ladies in the group immediately agreed with message conveyed by the statement. “True,” they all said, “our miseries are always linked to our expectations. We need to drop them.” “But, madams, how can you drop your expectations?” Neslon * asked. “Come on, we can’t drop them the way we drop a hot potato from our hand!” “Why can’t?” was an angry reaction. “Of course, we can drop our expect...

E xams are approaching. Hardly any time to prepare well and shine in the exams. And, everybody reminds about that… everybody gives sermons. “I am fed up,” Bhushan cried yesterday. “Don’t they know, I am not an idiot?” Bhushan is not an idiot. His parents know, his aunts and well-wishers know. Still, they keep reminding him, “Bhushan, you better become serious… Else, ….” “I know it. If I don’t become serious, I will end up getting what I deserve,” Bhushan screams. “But, don’t you think it is my life and if I do not take charge now, I will ruin it?” They know it. Still. Bhushan is definitely a head-strong, committed young boy. I know, he is on the right track… and, I also believe he will do well not only in his exams but also in his life. Many a times, I have expressed these feelings of mine to his parents. But, Bhushan still pleads me, “Sir, please tell them not to keep irritating me.” Mohit’s case is exactly opposite. He is completely chilled out. He ...

W hen I stand before a valley And if I am able to hear what God wants to say… When I play with a little child And if I am able to feel how hard my heart has grown… When I move in the darkness And if I am able to feel the longing for the light at the end… When I read someone’s poem And if I am able to feel the shadow of my own joy and sorrow in them… When I thank some one And if I am able to feel the strength of a mighty Hercules in my soul… When I embrace someone And if I am able to feel the throbbing of a blessed life… When I say sorry And if I am able to walk like a heavenly angel… When I think about someone And if I am able to feel I do not exist for a while… When I feel angry on someone And if I am still unable to feel any poison in my blood… When I am jealous of someone, And if I am still able to feel my place among God’s good children… When I am happy And if I am able to hold a thousand hearts in my feeble ha...

“Music comes from a broken heart.” I n the latest Hindi movie ‘Rock Star’, Janardan (Ranbir Kapor) plays guitar and sings. He is a college guy and aspires to make it big as a singer and musician. But, he looks and sounds flat, dead. So, one of his well-wishers points to Janardan his flaws. “Every great musician, every singer and every creative person had that one thing common in them, which you do not have,” Janardan’s well-wisher tells him. “They all had a broken heart… They had pain… Music is born out of this pain.” So, our Janardan believes in the theory of his mentor, and he goes about testing this theory. He loves a beautiful girl, and loves her madly. Love breaks his heart… Pain oozes out of his being… and the music too, songs too…the fame and doom, too. Yes, it is the transformation of a ‘nobody’ called Janardan into ‘somebody’ called Jordan. Somebody! About five hundred years ago, a little princess, at the age of 4, saw from her palace window a marriage proc...

Y esterday was 11.11.11. It sounded quite rare, mysterious… a bit romantic and a lot scary as well. There was a big deal – a kind of hoopla already created by the media about it. Many expected something great to happen, and many expected something sinister. The day passed. I do not think any thing great or sinister came to pass just because the date happened to be 11.11.11. Moreover, I wondered, when it was 11.11.11. for me, here, in Mumbai, it was not so for someone in the U.S. or Africa. “Hey, what the heck, all this?”… I found it all silly, stupid. A great time pass! And, today it is Saturday. My wife had left for Pune, this morning, to visit my son’s institute. At about 7.45, she messaged me: “I have boarded the bus.” I quickly replied, " Safe journey, darling.” And that was about it. Just another day… another loving thought, for some one you care for. After a while, I left home for my work. Just as I came out of my building, some one stopped his car and offered...

S everal years ago, when I was introduced to the self-help reading, I was instantly impressed with the term – ‘Initiative’. It was from the famous book of Napoleon Hill – ‘The Law of Success’. I liked this because, I instantly realized that some things in my life were, always, within my reach… I could, always, do them, without waiting for anyone else's permission or support or even validation. Moreover, doing them, involved no costs… only benefits. Napoleon Hill himself had paid tributes to the great Ralf Waldo Emerson for inspiring him on the subject of ‘Initiative’. I loved the term, and began to implement it in my day-to-day dealings. I began to go ‘the extra-mile’… to do work more than paid for. And, it did pay me with ‘compound interest’. I began to do work not for money alone. And, it did bring me along the ‘other rewards’ – respect, goodwill, trust, friends and well-wishers and, above all, an unshakable faith in myself and a hope about tomorrow. I began to...

A ll that I need to do is To watch the beauty of these wayside flowers… And move on. One day, I stopped and watched a wild marsh marigold… And, I envied the bees feasting on its nectar… “So sweet you are, so giving… so loving,” I said to the yellow beauty. The bees did not understand why I said what I said… They kept sucking the sweetness out of the golden girl’s heart… And, I kept telling her, “You are so sweet, so giving… and so loving.” I was a traveler… I should have moved on... Leaving the marigold and the bees behind to the wild wayside. But then, I had stopped to watch someone, Who, by now, was no more belonged to the wayside! The bees saw me, now, And understood what I was saying and why… “Get lost,” they buzzed with anger, “Do not rob us of our happiness.” I realized, I had to move on… “I know, you can be so sweet, so giving and loving, my dear, Only where you truly belong,” I said in my heart with a silent pain. “Come to ...

M any a times I have wondered looking at the quiet and subdued sea on a low tide: Is it the same sea, who, on a high tide - just some hours before - behaved so violently, so relentlessly? There are two phases in the life of a sea: the time it roars and the time it goes to sleep. The Moon, they say, decides when should the sea roar and when should it go to sleep. The Moon too has two phases in its life: the time when it shows itself in its full heavenly glory…and the time it goes into hiding. They say, the Sun decides when should the Moon shine and when should it go into hiding. And, there is a day and there is a night. The time for me to toil, and the time to just rest. The time to hold on… and the time to just let go… The time to leave my home… and the time to return. Yes, there are two phases in my life. Stephen Covey, in his famous book – ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ - says, “Our life is all about ‘coming home’.” What does that mean? It means: all of...

“Judge not others, so that you will not be judged by them.” – Jesus Christ “If I judge others, I will have no time to love them.” – Mother Theresa I find it extremely difficult – almost impossible – to love any one when my mind is busy judging him or her. It could be any body – my spouse, son, friend, neighbor, colleague, student or any one with whom I deal with in life. My mind makes me sit on judgment and I listen to the person, or talk, through this thickly-smoked screen of judgment I am aware of this; and, I am aware of the fact that it is difficult for me to establish fine relationship with others when my mind is indulged in judging. Many tell me that we shouldn’t blindly believe or trust anyone in life. That, we should not act naïve… We should take everything with a pinch of salt… We should probe, if necessary… delay decisions, smell the motive of the other person… and, finally, be ready to part ways. We should do what is good for us, and not others. We...