Gerald D'Cunha

  “Go back; don’t throw back.” Darnell Lamont Walker   M any years ago, I had attended a wedding of one of my cousins in my hometown, Mangalore. A couple of years ago, I happened to see a picture shared by this cousin on FB… It’s the traditional ‘family picture’ captured on the belief: ‘Bigger the size, the better the picture!’ So, they would stuff, in one frame, almost a few dozen… parents, grandparents, great grandparents, cousins – first, second, third… uncles and aunts, both, from dad’s side and mom’s size… Imagine the size, if the families of groom and bride both made to fit in! So, my friend Joe, who is known for his wicked humour, commented on the picture shared by my cousin. He wrote in Konkani: “Maplyacha kaantinth tharlayaso mando!” ‘Maplyacha’ meaning the Muslim fish vendor’s… ‘Kaantinth’ meaning in the huge fish-basket… ‘Tharyaso’ meaning of Sardine fish… ‘Mando’ meaning head… All put together, my friend wanted to tell me this: “I can see th...

Y ou and I cannot remember birthdays of everyone around us. We remember our own and of some significant people in our lives. For me, it is my immediate family – my wife, son, parents, brothers some of their family members and some close friends.  I am not talking about birthdays of Jesus or Mary, Shiva or Krishna, Gandhi, Nehru or Dr. Radhakrishnan… I am certainly not talking about remembering birthdays of Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar or Lata Mangeshkar… I am talking about remembering people around me… those I see, meet, talk, work with almost every day… even my neighbors and students… I am talking about them… Yes, I am saying that I am unable to remember all b’days… And, mercifully, I am not expected to! Right? Right. Thanks to this Facebook, every morning, I am reminded to wish at least half a dozen of my FB friends… These days, FB reminds me of the upcoming birthdays, too… so that when the birthdays actually arrive, I will not forget to w...