Gerald D'Cunha

“The suddenness made me realize how you are just a cork floating in the ocean with unpredictable currents! And you are desperately trying to control it.” Irrfan Khan I t’s almost a week now, and I haven’t scribbled a single word… And what a big deal? And who really cares? The Sun, the Moon and the Stars went about their daily routine, so did all the birds in the sky and the fishes in the seas… Animals in the jungle followed their routine, and so did the clouds in the sky, leaves on the trees and the flowers in the garden… It’s only the human race – to which I belong – seems to be obsessed with voicing its opinion – commenting, tweeting, reacting, trolling whatever you call it … Yes, it’s only animals like me that have this strange need to be visible, audible and circulated… lest we fade into oblivion, insignificance! How strange it is, even in times like these – when we are forced into our home confines, willy-nilly! Yes, th...

“Commitment leads to action; action brings your dreams closer.” – Marcia Wieder “I f wishes were horses, even beggars would ride them.” I used to, often, display this quote in my classroom. The message was loud and clear: “Don’t just ‘wish’ to succeed. ‘Dream.” A funnier version of this quote, which conveyed the same message, was, also, displayed, time to time: “Everybody wants to go to heaven; but, nobody wants to die.” W ishing is the pastime of the lazy lot… It’s daydreaming. Nothing changes unless you get up and do something about ‘the problem in hand’… And, that ‘getting up and doing something’ has a name. The name is ‘Commitment’. Just get up and do. Sign up! A friend of mine called me, the night before last. Her friend, a mother of 16-year-old son, wanted to meet me about her lack of self-confidence and English communication. I told my friend to get the lady call me the following morning. I got the call ...

Pic.: Mavourneen Peters “Gerry sir, our problem is not lack of knowledge… our problem is lack of implementation.” - Manjeet Singh Khalsa L et me clarify it at the outset itself: Manjeet Singh Khalsa is not any old-age baba or any new-age guru.  He is just my friend and lives here, next-door… who loves to eat sensibly and live on his own terms… and, yes, yes… who, at 50-plus, has a belly of a baby! I am intelligent enough to ‘know’ why Manjeet has a baby-belly and I have a pot-belly. I ‘know’ how the baby-belly goes and pot-belly comes… how fat forms and what fat does! So, Manjeet Singh Khalsa, my friend, reminds me, again and again: “Gerry sir, our problem is not ‘lack of knowledge’… Our problem is ‘lack of implementation’!” Full stop!!!! I had got up early – very early – this morning. So, I happened to see an interesting post shared by my Tai-chi-class friend, Hazel. “EXCERCIES TO BURN ABDOMINAL FAT IN 14 DAYS FLAT!” ...

“Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man. But, sooner or later the man who wins, is the man who thinks he can.” Which battles of life are we talking about, here?  I had just arrived in this big city of Mumbai, some thirty-three years ago. As a shy and scared young-man, my battles were just of any other young-man like me: How will I overcome my lack of self-confidence? How will I learn to speak fluently in English? Will I be accepted by people around me? Will my views be accepted? Do I possess in me what it takes to claim my place under the Sun? Do I know what I want to claim… and, if I claim, will people laugh at me? Will I be loved enough… helped enough… respected enough? After thirty-three years, when I now look back at this young-man’s fears and anxieties… yes, the battles he had to fight… I can see this: He has built enough self-confidence to face his world… He speaks in decent Engli...

“What we see in Life… is what we are looking for!”   Exams are approaching, and, one of my students has been giving sleepless nights to his mother. “I have forgotten everything… I am blank,” he has been repeatedly telling her, “I can’t give the exam.” The mother is shocked. “You have attended the classes for a whole year… Solved so many exercises, given so many tests… and, now, you say you can’t give exams?” She is yelling at him. Two days ago, the mother came to meet me and described to me her plight. “What happened beta?” I asked the young-man, holding his hand, gently. “Sir, I have forgotten ‘everything’,” he said with the meekest voice. “Don’t worry beta, it happens sometimes before the exams,” I tried to pep him up, “We still have time.” “Beta, you don’t have to take any tension,” the mother joined, “just try your best and give the exams.” “But, mom, I can’t… I am blank!” he, again, screamed, “I don’t remember anythin...

  During the last twenty years, I must have met this man – a very intelligent man – at least twenty-scores times… And, every time I meet him, I am bound to hear from him about one thing: his book! “I am writing a book – an inspiring Novel… It is almost ready,” he had told me this when I had met him for the first time. Yes, that was twenty years ago. Today, just an hour ago, I met him, once again… and, this man told me exactly the same thing: “… My book is almost ready!” This man, now 70, is still writing his inspiring Novel. It is almost ready! I have told you, that this man is incredibly intelligent and capable. Writing a book, for this man, should not take such a long time. So, every time I hear this man’s famous confession – the latest up-date on his book – I smile in my heart. “Why is the Novel not coming out? Why, for twenty years, it is ‘almost ready’?” I ask myself. Honestly, I wonder, if this man has ever written even a line… let alon...