Gerald D'Cunha

The flight of a mighty eagle is inspiring… The eagle calls me to the skies! But, even the mightiest eagle comes down to the treetops to rest! All great empires in the world-history, have come, lived and perished … So have their Emperors… All great nations have lived their time… So have their heads - the Presidents or the Prime Ministers… All great business-empires have had their time in the Sun… The tycoons had their life-span, too… Every great celebrity – the Superstar of movie and the music world – has lost his shine as Time went by… The rich and the famous, the high and the mighty… all of them came here, on this earth, with their respective ‘expiry date’ marked on them… They came carrying nothing… They went carrying nothing… Dust to dust… Ashes to ashes. Amen! Well, what is new in it? You know it, I know it… everyone knows it: That, we all came empty-handed to this world and ...

There is a Gambian saying: “If a donkey kicks you and you kick him back, you are both donkeys.” Whenever I get provoked by others and get into heated arguments with them, and, consequently, when I emerge bruised and wounded… I really reflect on my behavior and ask: Was it necessary for me to get into such a heated argument? Could I have taken some other route to handle the situation? Should each provocation be met with a tit-for-tat? Why am I left so disturbed after the argument, now? Had I chosen to remain poised, chosen my words and action wisely… wouldn’t I have been peaceful? Yes, I, invariably, go through this sequence of questions after a verbal duel with someone… I wish I hadn’t kicked back the donkey even though he had... I wish I had left him alone! “Why did I become a donkey?”… I cry out, let down by my own unmindful, impulsive behavior. To get even with another... This seems like a deep human thirst! I succumb to it, ...

The night after the latest Budget was presented in the Parliament, I watched on NDTV an interview with our FM, Mr. Chidambaram. The question asked was something like this: “After many years of success as FM, do you harbor any desire to become country’s PM?” “No,” was the answer. What Mr. Chidambaram said was what you and I, always, have deep in our hearts. He said, “I have wanted to do some things for years, which I have not been able to: read, write and speak.” He concluded, “So, more than the desire to be country’s PM, the desire to fulfill what my heart longs for will be my priority. Yes, I will read, write… and, if anyone is willing to listen, I will speak.” “Well, honey, in Life, we can’t have it all, you see!” That night, our extremely efficient and dignified FM was telling us all, this: “We all can pursue only so much in life… If reading, writing and speaking is calling me, I should say ‘No’ to someone else’s priority for me. I can’t blame...

Last night, I was waiting for an auto to come home. There was a bad traffic and I wasn't finding an auto to come home. Just them, a man came running towards me and said in Hindi that his ‘Saab’ was calling me. I obeyed the instruction. Some hundred meters ahead, a car was waiting. Apparently, the ‘Saab’ was someone I had, always, admired and lived in our own complex. He had spotted me, but, due to the traffic, he could halt his car only at such distance. He had sent his servant to fetch me… When I got into the car, my ‘thank you sir’, came straight from the heart… My admiration for this gentleman shot up by another few notches! I have known this man for close to seven years now. He is a respected business man, but brutally simple and unassuming. He has a small car, but, you will always find someone from our colony in his car… both when he leaves the colony and when he returns. He is on a look out for those of us who do not travel by cars… He makes it a point...

Some, who have not seen my emotionally vulnerable side – my intense outbursts of anger, frustration, sadness, insecurity and arrogance – assume that I am a very cool and composed individual - a mature soul…   Like one of our ‘Babas’ around! And, therefore, on an inauspicious day, if these people get to witness my volatile avatar, their reaction could be one of these two: “Hey, what a let down!” Or, “Hey, he is just like us!” I am just like you; and, you are just like me… What a wonderful thought that is! That, the veins in my body carry the same red-blood… and they throb with the same precious life… The fear in my mind and the love in my heart can be as crippling and as comforting as they can be for you… I love tenderness of heart, just as you do… I fold my hands before my elders, just as you do before yours… I kneel before my God, just as you do before yours… A good story gives me goose-pimples, just as it does t...

We are educated people, decent ones… very respected ones, too! A friend of mine lost his mother today… I just returned from the cremation place. The friend of mine, whose mother had been suffering from cancer for sometime now, was shattered… His elderly dad was sitting across the Priest to perform the last rites. We were there maybe for half-an-hour or so… and, within that time-span, we saw five more deceased being brought in… Some young, some old. The people who matter at that spot are Priests, the ambulance guy, the guy who is in charge of wood, the pyre, the one who keeps the record… These guys are too simple ones. But, here, they are the ones who matter… You, very obediently – blindly – do what the Priest asks you to do. You are a fool if you ask questions! When, the ambulance fellow doesn’t come on time, it leaves you tensed… You don’t know how to go about the whole process… whom to contact, what things are required… You realize h...

In Life, some things we, always, do without being told… and, without any concern over time or returns… even, appreciation. We, always, pursue them just for the simple joy they give us… and, we do them with our full heart. They are our hobbies. Call them interests… It makes no difference. Normally, any pursuit ‘outside my regular occupation’ is considered to be our hobby. So, my regular occupation is teaching ‘commerce students’. If I do any activity, other than teaching, through my own self-interest, for sheer joy… like this blogging, counseling, poetry, writing notes in dairies, or photography, painting, sports – or, yes, the FB ‘time-pass’– all these can be branded as hobbies. Some of my friends still collect old coins and stamps… Some have hundreds of mini-car models… Some keep fish and tortoise at home, some dogs and parrots… Some maintain gardens and plants… Some cook exotic dishes, some sing, some sketch… Some collect celebrity autog...

“What will people think?” For many of us, this is the biggest fear… The heaviest burden!   Now, I hear some saying, “No, I care a damn to what people think.” I can only smile when I hear that! The father of a young-girl was there in my office, this morning. The girl, who currently is in FY B’Com, had cleared her CPT (CA entrance-exam) smoothly and had joined a reputed coaching-class for preparing for the IPCC exams (Inter-CA exams). Along the way, the pressures had gotten the better off of this girl, health had deteriorated and she couldn’t attend the coaching. The parents advised the girl to take good rest, focus on her college exams and just enjoy her college life, presently… They were very supportive and told her that there was no hurry at all to complete her CA; that, she could give exams, gradually in installments, as and when she felt she was able and ready. The girl was just in her 3 rd standard when...

Mike Tyson is completely a changed man! Yes, this once mean, mad and unpredictable man… Heartless Cannibal would be more appropriate! A couple of days back, I saw this picture of Tyson tightly hugging Evander Holyfield… When I saw the closed eyes and childlike smile on Tyson’s face, I called my wife and said, “Look at this… Can you believe this? Sixteen years ago, in the boxing ring at Las Vegas, they were locked in a boxing-hug – a blood-soaked, merciless and devastating one – and, this very man, Mike Tyson, had eaten off Holyfield’s ear!” Sixteen years looked like an eternity! Now, this hug evoked in me the softness of a baby cradle, the hope of God’s heaven… Where the Past, as they say, is just a history… the Future is an awe-filled mystery… and   the Present is an amazing gift as this baby-hug is… To come to terms with your bloody, reckless past… To be hopeful and trusting as a wonder-struck little-child about your future… and, ...