Gerald D'Cunha

“A shot to kill the pain. A pill to drain the shame. A purge to end the gain. A cut to break the vein. A smoke to ease the crave. A drink to win the game. An addiction is an addiction, because it hurts the same.” Unknown M y youngest brother, Vivek, was one of those hyperactives on social media, particularly on various WhatsApp groups. Known in family and friends circle for his sociable nature, he loved the constant social conversation. In addition, he loved all sorts of jokes, which he would share, like crazy, on WhatsApp groups. His comments were instant and insane, very entertaining and even provocative. And, all of a sudden, the messages, jokes and forwards stopped coming from my brother… There was no response from his end for the messages, jokes and forwards sent to him. He was off the radar, all of a sudden… Days went by, weeks and then months. “What happened,” I wondered. It took his wife to tell us wh...

Pic.: Anima D'Cunha Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone! This old story dramatically describes as to what happens if we do not learn to be assertive in life… if we do not stand for our rights… THE COBRA’S PROMISE PAST: There lived a Swami in a village temple. People from the village came there to pray. On the way to this temple, there was a large banyan tree, under which, in a hole, lived a cobra, peacefully. One evening, while the children were playing around the tree, one of them stamped on the snake-hole. The cobra, in his self-defense, attacked the child. The poison quickly spread in chi...