Gerald D'Cunha

Many years ago, on one morning, when a DAWN CLUB session was in progress, Fr. Rupak had come to see us, his teachers. He had been one of our dear alumni, and had been a very active participant of our Workshops and PD sessions. That   was when he was just a teenager. Then, he went about joining a Catholic seminary and eventually received his priesthood. Being a missionary, his vocation took him to various parts of the country and the world. Presently, Fr. Rupak is serving somewhere in Africa, where, yes, Lord wants him to serve.  I have been always a well-wisher of Fr. Rupak and felt proud being his teacher, even though it was for a brief while, and even though it was not relating to his academics.  Well, there is a reason why I remember Fr. Rupak in   this Post, today. Let me share with you that. That morning, I had casually ushered Fr. Rupak to the podium and requested him   to share with our young ones his own insi...

The other day, some of us were discussing on the subject of ‘Values’. There were two teenagers and three parents, including myself. I was more of a spectator.  One of the parents, a lady, was quite aggressively trying to tell the young ones how important ‘Values’ in life were. The particular parent sounded too rigid and pushy… and, the teenagers evidently showed their resistance.  The other parent, a male, quickly sensed the danger of being so pushy on the young ones. He stepped in to defuse the tension. Without being discourteous to the parent who tried to dominate, this particular parent handled the subject of ‘Values’ in a very compassionate way. He too agreed that some ‘Values’ would always remain universal and timeless. But, he subtly asserted that it was equally important for all of us to change with times, and be flexible. He gently emphasized on the need for parents to understand the young ones and the world they lived in, th...