Gerald D'Cunha

"The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit  in their shade, has, at least, started to understand  the meaning of life." - Rabindranath Tagore A t this time, yesterday, suddenly the sky turned dark, exploded with deafening thunders, and, it poured like hell... "What the heck is this? October has come... and, it's raining as if we are in June or July." many of us reacted... The seasons have gone for  a toss... No one knows what comes next -  the winter, the summer or the monsoon... Gods must be crazy! Wait a minute... Why drag Gods into this mess? Humans must be crazy... Gods, please forgive us! They have declared that Aarey is not a jungle... The trees will go now... The little birds, insects, snakes, frogs, little and large animals will have to go... I wonder, where, but! This was how man made his home, here on this planet - making plants, creepers and creatures all homeless......

D o we have to agree with everything everyone says every time? The ‘everyone’ may be my best friend, parents, teachers, authorities and the government? My son is 27 and I am 61. When he was a baby, yes, he agreed with whatever I tried to teach him or convey… It’s no more so, now. And, that’s how it should be… I, seriously, think so. The movies, music, icons, leaders and philosophy that I love, my son may not… my wife may not. But, we are not enemies, we are not each other’s conspirators. In fact, I wonder, at times, if my son and wife had agreed with everything I believed in and every time… what kind of mind theirs would have been! Herd mentality… Just think about it! For thirty years, The Dawn Club has been helping young ones and little ones to speak and debate in public. Our senior Sir, Mr. Ramakrishnan, would, often, use the phrase – ‘The Parliamentarian Language’… to convey to us all, that we should be civil, gentle, graceful and, yet...