Gerald D'Cunha

Pic.: Pradeep Nanda L ate, last night, my wife read out to me a beautiful short-story which she had just received on her mobile… A little boy and his father were flying a kite. Suddenly, the boy started complaining to his father that the string was not allowing him to let the kite soar free and high. The father cut off the string, immediately… The kite, now, began to go the way the powerful wind carried it… and, finally, it nosedived somewhere afar where the boy and this father couldn’t reach! The boy was heart-broken! The father, who wanted to teach his little-one a very valuable lesson, pulled his son very close to him and said, “Son, many a time, we all think that we can go about our lives without anybody’s supervision, direction or control. We want full freedom; we want to fly high and high without any check; we do not like any rules and  regulations… yes, we complain about our ‘stings’… that  keep us under control… We want our strings to go… And, look w...

Pic.: Malabika Ganguly S uddenly, Kevin, my eleventh-standard student, showed up for the class, today. He had bunked the class for one full week, without informing me. So, the moment I saw him, I was all set to yell at him... But, before I could do that, he pulled out a big-fat bar of Cadbury… “Sir, for you.” “Happy b’day dear,” I pulled Kevin close to me, “Very smart boy, haan.” “Tell me, have you watched PK?” I teased the b’day boy. “Yes sir,” said Kevin. There was Meenal, a TY student, sitting on one corner. “What PK has got to do with Kevin’s b’day, sir?” her puzzled look asked me. ”Meenal, have you watched the movie?” I enquired. “I want to,” Meenal said, excitedly, “But, I want to know why PK now?” “Because, our  PK here is very smart like the PK from another planet,” I explained, “See how well he defused the bomb in his sir’s hands!” Meenal was still puzzled, but Kevin knew what I was talking about. “Explain to her, Kevin,” I ...

Pic.: Chetna Shetty W hen the clouds in my mind pass, I can see clearly this sight: In life, the people who love me, care for me, kind to me and wish me well are many times more than the people who hate me, detest me, hurt me and wish ill for me… Similarly, people are loving and kind to me more often than they are unloving and unkind to me… Today, if God came down and asked me to pick one boon which  I would need the most – to live life sanely, zestfully and peacefully -  I would, without thinking twice, ask for this one: “God, when people are unloving, unkind, ungrateful and hurting, give me the wisdom and strength to write it on the soft-and-gentle sand… Yes, so that my feelings of hurt and pain would get washed away, soon, when the winds of love, forgiveness and compassion come by… And, God, when people are loving, kind, grateful and empowering, give me the wisdom and strength to write it on the hard-and-enduring stone… Yes, so that it remain...

Pic.: Gautam Save T here is a short film by the name – ‘Facing the Giants’. Probably, you have not heard about it… At least, I hadn't, till my friend, Harish, told me about it, a week ago. He was so passionate about the story of the movie, that he wanted to show it to his 300-odd young employees… Harish’s passion rubbed on me and I found out more about this film… Yes, I was charged by it, too… Well, ‘Facing the Giants’ has a very simple – call it naïve or old-fashioned if you wish – theme: “If you have an unshakable faith in God, and if you keep doing the best of your best meanwhile, there is no reason why you wouldn't succeed.” Incidentally, as the movie is made in America, the God, here, is the God in the Bible – Jehovah… But then, does that matter? When you visit Harish’s work place, you would find, in every corner, the giant-sized images of Satya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi. Harish and his family are, also, dyed-i...

Pic.: Nirmala Sundar W here does our cynicism come from? I think, it comes from our disappointments and frustrations. I watch myself, closely, every time I tend to become cynical – and, let me tell you this: I do pass through my own share of cynical bouts umpteen times in life – and notice that my heart is not strong enough to withstand the disappointments and frustrations stemming from various setbacks… the temporary defeats, unfair criticism from people around, lack of loyalty and integrity from people around, lack of appreciation and loss of love… yes, I notice, that whenever I experience any of these setbacks, if my heart is not strong enough to withstand the pain and the shock, I, invariably, tend to sulk… go into my shell and conclude, “What is the point?”… “No use.” Mercifully, in my case, the bouts of cynicism are sporadic… Like the dark clouds in the sky, they appear, stay there for a while… and, then, they go… But, go they will! So, wh...

Pic.: Pradeep Nanda Y es, others’ words – no matter how bad, harsh, hurting or offending we keep claiming them to be – have no power to affect us unless we give meaning to those words… Only when we interpret what others say to us… by giving a meaning, making a story around them… yes, it is only then, that the words get their power to affect us… They hurt us… They offend us… They frighten us… They make us angry or offensive… They make us sulk or depressed… But, not until we give life to them! This is one of the very, very valuable lessons we all need to learn in order to keep our mental sanity… I have a long way to go as far as this lesson is concerned… But, I am aware of its value, its need… and, I am very, very earnest to learn it… Just this morning, something said by someone to me sent me out of balance… I believed, that those words were unreasonable, wrong, and carried bad intention to provoke me, belittle me and even frighten m...

Pic.: Vinod Krishnan I HOPE YOU DANCE I hope you never lose your sense of wonder, You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger, May you never take one single breath for granted, GOD forbid love ever leave you empty handed, I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean, Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens, Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance, And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance. I hope you dance....I hope you dance. I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance, Never settle for the path of least resistance Livin' might mean takin' chances but they're worth takin', Lovin' might be a mistake but it's worth makin', Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter, When you come close to sellin' out reconsider, Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance, And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance. I hop...

Pic.: Usha Prasadh S ome days ago, we attended a silver wedding of a lovely couple we knew. While wishing, I gently tried to place the gift envelope (cash) in the gentleman’s hands. “No, no, no… Please, please, please!!!” the gentleman made me feel as if I was an alien around there… It was then, it sank into me that on the invitation, it was ‘clearly’ written: ‘ONLY BLESSINGS’! Well, two days earlier, the gentleman had called my wife to say that they had come to our residence with the invitation and our door was locked. “Please don’t bother about the invitation,” my wife had assured him, “we would be there to wish you.” So, that night, we were, indeed, some aliens out there, as no one else had turned up with gifts and envelopes… and we didn't even notice that till “No, no, no… Please, please, please’ happened! It was Friday night… The next night, there was another wedding… a real wedding, not a ‘Silver’ one. In this case, the card...

Pic. Pradeep Nanda L ast evening, my wife and I were invited by Harish, a new friend of ours, to their residence at Navi Mumbai. I was talking to his elder son, a complete all-rounder. The young-man was exceptionally good in studies, sports, debates and social skills. When I enquired about his post-twelfth plans, he was very clear in his mind. “My first preference would be engineering in Computer Science; second would be engineering in Chemical or Metallurgy… and, the third would be Sports Management." I was intrigued by the third option. I had never heard any young-man talking about a field like that with such clarity and confidence as this young man did. So, I asked him to tell me more about it… how it worked, how one went about a field like that and the prospects it held. Yes, I was asking the young-man to tell me about it because I, really, had no idea about such a field… The boy was impressive. While explaining about the field, he, casually, toss...