Gerald D'Cunha

“Y ou are a difficult person.” I have said this to so many people, so often and so casually. Similarly, so many people have said it to me, so often and so casually. Essentially, what we all have said to convey to each other is: “It is difficult for me to convince you.” In other words, that is what we have said in jest, even to our most beloved ones, “You are a hard nut to crack.” And, that’s a healthy way of living and loving… Is it not? Why should we follow someone’s ideas and plans like sheep? Our differences and disagreements do not, and should not, mean we are hard stones - cold, rigid and frigid… It only means, we need to respect and accommodate each other’s views… That’s all. So, from the healthy standard of the definition of the phrase, ‘Difficult Person’, we all are so, to some measure. But, certainly, we have our hearts in the right place and our conscience is not dead… We do feel for one another, and we cry, laugh and love. We are sociables and not soc...

Y es, today is Teachers’ Day. One of the earliest greetings I had received was from Sunitha, a dear student of mine some 30 years ago. She had forwarded this popular quote to wish me: “TEACHING: THE PROFESSION THAT CREATES ALL OTHER PROFESSIONS.” It was early in the morning… and, imagine: who wouldn’t feel flattered and pumped, when someone, from hundreds of miles afar and scores of full-moons later, puts into your head, “Hello, this world exists because of your profession.”? Well, that’s exactly what went into my head early   this morning… That, we teachers are the ones who give birth to all other professions…   Teaching is, therefore, the mother of all professions… And, I am the father! Let me be serious. Teaching is one of the most empowering professions in this world.   However, teachers are not found in classrooms alone. In fact, we find some of the finest teachers outside our school and tuition premises. Our parents and gran...

“It’s not always the tears that measure the pain. Sometimes, it’s the smile we fake.” - Anonymous “T hink: one of the most important ways to be cured from anxiety and depression is overcoming whatever you're addicted to, and I am not just talking about alcohol and drugs. There are many other things a person can be addicted to.” I came across this comment from a viewer while watching a powerful video on overcoming depression. The video was put together by using powerful messages from many famous people, including some well-known psychologists, authors and motivational speakers.  Though the intention of this video was to help overcome depression, I felt, that the video itself, at places, was dark and depressing. Maybe I am wrong, here. I would prefer to watch some funny videos of little babies, cats and dogs. Such videos lift me up from my depression... They make me feel so relaxed and make my heart smile. To me, they are the best antid...

“Adversity introduces a man to himself.” -       Albert Einstein M ihir* is my student. He is in Class X1 and has been studying in one of the finest CBSE-schools. Some months ago, when he had come with his parents for his admission in our classes, he had expressed his desire to become a Chartered Accountant like his dad. Now, the goalpost has been shifted… A   counselor in one of the well-known Institutes, that prepares young aspirants for Management, Law and other competitive entrance exams, seemed to have convinced Mihir, that he was best-suited for MBA and not CA… “Since then, he has become a lot casual about his goal,” Mihir’s parents said to me, this morning,   “He thinks MBA involves less work, unlike CA.” His dad said, “I don’t think MBA has come from his heart. He wants to do it because, he thinks, he needn’t work hard.” Mihir was, seemingly, annoyed. He protested, “That’s not true… I am ser...

W hat is genuine and good reveals itself, sooner or later… Yes, no matter how much our opponents try to tarnish it with taint or bury it under muck. They cannot stop what is genuine and good from revealing itself, when time comes. Similarly works its counterpart: What is fake and bad reveals itself, sooner or later, too… Yes, no matter how desperately and aggressively we try to ‘sell it’ through our might and propaganda, along the way suppressing and oppressing the genuine and the good. When time comes - and as they say, when the tide changes – the bluff gets exposed… That’s the cycle of Karma: If we do good, the good comes back to us… It’s only a matter of time. The question, therefore, is this: What about those who hurt us and try to destroy us relentlessly?   Yes, many a time, we find ourselves helpless in front of this tyranny. We do tend to think, often, that there is no divine justice… There is… There is! Time doesn’t spare any tyr...

W e all have close people in our lives…. Some of them are very, very close. But, ‘closeness’ does not mean we should hold the same political, religious and other beliefs. It does not mean we should follow the same eating, dressing and living habits. Some of my close friends do not eat non-vegetarian food, while I do. Some blindly follow a certain political party or its leader; I don’t. Some love big cars and houses; I am fine with a small house and no car. Yet, for years, there has never been a dent in our closeness… Yes, despite these differences in our preferences.   In my view, the dent in our closeness comes: when we are unwilling to accommodate our differences in our preferences… Like in our eating or praying habits… Or, when we are willing to root for our political leader more than our close friends… When we are willing to let our years of closeness fall apart, just to win an argument and prove a point. S ome days ago, I found myself discussing, with o...

S elf-importance and Self-respect are different - as different as chalk and cheese. Self-respect is healthy; self-importance is not. I think, all of us have this chalk-and-cheese stuff tucked inside us. If self-respect outweighs self-importance, it’s good for us, as well as for people around us. On the other hand, if our self-importance outweighs our self-respect, it’s bad for all of us. Often, we fail to recognize if a certain behavior of ours stems from our self-respect or self-importance. In that lies a lot of our misery, too… Let me not talk about others. I am nobody – in fact, too mortal a soul – to judge others. I am aware how frequently I throw my weight in my class room… when I use my temper and tantrum, when I am driven by impatience, when I act with intolerance. It, certainly, can’t be coming from my self-respect. It’s coming from my deep sense of insecurity, the area I haven’t still worked on fully; rather, I haven’t completely gotten o...

S ome of the most beautiful houses on this planet are built by not humans… but by birds, spiders and ants. Yes, we may not call them ‘houses’, but ‘nests’, ‘webs’ and ‘anthills’. But, are they not their houses, which they raise with the same love, passion, dedication, patience, sacrifice and hope – yes, for their loved ones? And, despite the harsh reality of imminent destruction, these creatures make no compromise when they go about raising their houses… They raise them with no fear, bitterness or sorrow… They build their beautiful houses, all over again, even after you and I demolish them in a blink! Well, you and I have a different story to tell… We raise our beautiful ‘homes’, giving our all to our little children, raise them up to adulthood, and then, one day, we see them go away to raise their own… And, knowing it very well, we still do it with all our love, dedication, patience, sacrifice and hope… Yes, only to send them off, so that they can raise their o...