Gerald D'Cunha

  “Lord, we don't need another mountain There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb There are oceans and rivers enough to cross Enough to last until the end of time” From the song ‘What the World Needs Now’ by Dionne Warwick   J imi Hendrix died on September 18, 1970. He had just crossed the age 27. But, in this short lifespan of his, he earned himself the title ‘The greatest instrumentalist (guitar) of all time.” Well, the world may think whatever and confer whatever title upon you, but, you alone know how exhausted you are due to overwork and personal insecurities… yes, how hard you find to catch a normal sleep… Therefore, the cause of this legend’s death points to excessive consumption of sleeping pills –- in fact, 18 times more than what was prescribed for him! Why am I remembering Jimi Hendrix when I have never been one of his big fans. I don’t enjoy hard rock. But, I enjoy the stories of every human who achieves any stardom… I like the way they climb, ...

  “ The dignity of labour is the dignity of man .” Unknown   I have already blogged twice on Rajubhai. He is the istriwala who comes to our housing society. As we have agreed upon, he comes to collect the clothes from our house (for ironing) every Thursday at 9 a.m. Let me type that again… at 9 a.m., every Thursday… So, in my earlier two posts, I have described how punctual   he has been… 9 a.m. sharp; so much so, we can set our wall clock based on Rajubhai’s punctuality. Another thing, that I have wondered in my last two posts is: How does he manage to keep count of the number of clothes each potli (bundle) contains… He collects from dozens of residents in our buildings. But, never even once, he has done any goof-up… Above all, I have marvelled: How does he keep the account –- who has to pay how much without noting down anything… So brilliant his memory is! He explains, “ Saabji, main computer aur calculator use nahin karta hun.” Respect to this man who i...

  “The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.” – Rumi   H ave the stories dried up? Come on… They can never be. There are a hundred stories unfolding before my eyes throughout my day… I want to tell them all in my daily posts. In fact, since I posted my last blog on June 15, so many wonderful things have happened in my life… So many things –- both wonderful and awful –- have happened in the outside world… The football world-cup had some underdog heroes… I started writing stories about them; but, gave up… The deadly earthquake in Venezuela deeply moved me… Tried writing something around it; then, gave up… My first blog book (of the ten-book series) was released at a grand function on June 21… My well-wishers shared images, videos and heaped praises; but, I didn’t post a single image or a word… It’s a mystery, quite frankly, as to what makes me write… A dear old student of mine (62), called some days ago… She was shattered… words wer...

  “Yes, and how many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?” From Bob Dylan’s song – ‘Blowing in the Wind’ O ur two-month summer programme just concluded, yesterday. We had decided to keep the certification ceremony simple; and, therefore, held it in our newly-renovated premises. Three of our young students were capturing the memories through their mobile cameras. Tanvir Shaikh, an aspiring pilot, was one of them. Around 1 noon, all of a sudden, Tanvir’s phone rang (as he hadn’t kept it on the silent mode)… The ringtone was a soothing azan (the Islamic call to prayer). Among the 25-plus members present in the room, he was the only Muslim. The haunting sound of azan had turned every head turn towards Tanvir… who sounded apologetic for not keeping his phone on the silent mode. I, instantly, said to all, “It’s a beautiful call to prayer... Let’s be silent for a moment.” I let the azan play, as the Grace before meal…… The stillness in the room was very poig...

  S ome months ago, while speaking on phone, a friend of mine (62), said, “Mujhe phir se pyaar ho gaya hai.” (I am in love again). Before I could say, ‘What?’, he clarified, “Krishna se.” Well, I knew about my friend’s fascination towards ISKCON during last few years, and I had observed how anchored and peaceful he had become. It’s an amazing transformation. Still, that early morning, when he said, “Mujhe phir se pyaar ho gaya hai,” I wasn’t thinking about ‘Krishna’… Instead, being a mortal, I was thinking, “What… at 62?” Then, two weeks ago, this young girl (23), who had just completed her LLB, had turned up for one of our Sunday Workshops. Everybody’s eyebrows had gone up seeing the ISKCON marks on her forehead, prominently displayed… It’s clear, that the young girl had not only just turned a lawyer, she had, also, just turned Krishna’s beloved… “Very good,” I thought, “it will help her stay away from the dirty, dark stand-up comedy shows.” Of late, it’s interesting to ...

  Sometimes, big trees grow out of acorns… I think, I heard that from a squirrel.” Jerry Coleman   L ittle squirrels are my favourites… They are very inspiring creatures. If you watch them, you will notice how busy they are –- all the time jumping and hopping… all the time collecting acorns -– the little seeds of oak trees … for that matter, seeds of any trees… yes, they gather them, dig holes in the ground and burry so many of them, all over –- to save them for the winter season. But, then, they are known for their forgetfulness… Most of the seeds do not get retrieved by these forgetful squirrels… and, they grow into mighty trees… and, trees grow into gigantic forests… M any years ago, on seeing my relentless acts of writing, publishing them into books and magazines, a gentleman had reminded me of the relentless acts of little squirrels… “They just burry the nuts in the ground and forget about them. The nuts, which are forgetfully left behind, become great trees.”...

  “I sit before flowers, 
 hoping they will train me in the art of opening up.” Shane Koyczan   T oday was the second session for this group of young kids. They come from underprivileged areas of our suburb. An NGO has been helping them through computer and AI skills. The same NGO has requested our Centre to help them in their soft skills… develop self-confidence, communication and interpersonal skills. I found one of the young girls a bit lost during the session. “ Beta , you are feeling ok?” I asked her. Then, to involve her in the proceedings, I nudged her gently to come up to the stage and tell something about her… To my surprise, the young girl did not get rattled. She stood there in front of about 20 of us (including her peers, two instructors and me). “You can speak in Hindi, if you wish,” I encouraged her, “Or, you can mix Hindi and English.” The girl chose to do it mixed… “Friends, my name is Muskaan… I have recently cleared my tenth standard, and I ...

  “I concluded, that in politics, as in life, the real struggle  is not us-versus-them. It is us-versus-us.”   Miles Taylor   D uring yesterday’s PD session, our young kids were debating.  Most of them have just cleared their class-10 and are seeking admission in what they believe to be the ‘best colleges in town’. It’s very interesting –-   even entertaining -– when you listen to them. Some are fed-up wearing uniforms till now… So, they want to be free from it by joining some town-side colleges which have no uniform… Some want to step out of their ‘suburban bubbles’… explore the joy and roughness of commuting by Mumbai local… “Nothing else teaches us how to be rough-and-tough,” they argue. Some assume, that some of the downtown colleges will give them the ‘best’ teaching, while some think, that these colleges will help them with varieties of clubs… “Such exposure makes us confident in life,” they assert. When these young kids debate on this su...