Gerald D'Cunha

Pic.: Alwyn Mathias “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” -  Lao Tzu S ometimes, when I meet some of my ex-students, after many years, I get amused by two of their familiar questions: “Sir, do you still teach?” And, this one: “Are you still ‘there’?” I am so used to these questions from my ‘very successful’ ex-students, that I have my answers, too, kept ready for them… To the first question, I ask them with a grin: “What else do you want me to do?” To the second one, this: “Where else do you want me to go?” I don’t think there is anything wrong with or surprising about the questions of my ex-students. They can’t believe that, after thirty-six years, I can still continue teaching the same way as I did then… They expect me to ‘grow’…. run my classes more professionally, the way others around me do… yes, like a good, profitable business… They want me to hire teachers and run it through them… wherein I should just ...

“So, what is a regular day like when you are not doing a film?” The answer to this question impressed me. The interviewer, Roshni K Olivera, ends her interview with this question in today’s Bombay Times. And, the interviewee, actress Kajol, gives this answer: “I feel like I am doing a lot, but if someone asks me what exactly I have accomplished, I don’t know… putting my son to sleep, feeding him, taking care of things in the house amount to a lot of work. But, yes, I haven’t arrested 14 criminals in one day or saved the world or anything of that sort! (laughs).” Kajol is a famous actress; her mother, Tanuja, was ever more famous in her hey days. And, yes, her macho-husband, Ajay Devgan… yes, they have a lot to harp on as far as the thought that crosses every mind is concerned: “What exactly I have accomplished in life?” People talk about ‘balance’ and ‘priorities’ in life. Even a great social contributor, such as Gandhi, could not claim such...