Gerald D'Cunha

T he Boards! The Board Exams! The Tenth! If we haven’t worried over them, and felt the anxiety and dread – I mean, while we grew up, both, as children as well as parents – then, we are a ‘blessed breed’. I have some dreadful memories of my own ‘tenth’. But, when it came to my son’s, I was not at all anxious… Not because, he was brilliant in studies or exceptionally self-disciplined; but, because, having dealt with thousands of young boys and girls over a period of more than four decades – having seen them go through the same feeling, which I had gone through when I was of their age, I have developed a detached attitude towards the ‘results’, which is the outcome of our efforts. As a teacher, I am very strict when it comes to young ones’ commitment to work. I lay a lot emphasis on their attendance, homework, concentration and behaviour inside the class… I insist on accountability, communication and being self- dependent … I encourage them to mind the compan...

Pic.: Shreeshay Patel - b Fo             - by SHYAMALA ACHARYA                 Former  lecturer /Mentor/Home-maker          C onfidence is a state of one’s mind. When we do something we love, we do not experience any fear or hesitation in doing it. This is exactly what I do… and, this is exactly what makes me confident.          Being a housewife, I do everything any housewife does or would do. But, along with all this, I am a housewife with a difference - 'A home-maker' and an active member of Chinmaya Mission (my extended home). I am very proud to say, that this mission has given and made me what I am today. My strength, my confidence, my self-esteem… all these are a blessing bestowed upon me by the Chinmaya Mission and my Aunt, Nirmala, who introduced me...

Pic.: Pradeep Nanda S o, the long-awaited - and  a lot-hyped-up - Mumbai Marathon, finally, got over, yesterday. “More than 40,000 took part,” today’s TOI headlines say, proudly…  Well, some ran full, some ran half, some quarter… and, some a little at least… Yes, there was a lot of buzz around it, a lot of life… The preparation for it, itself, was a huge thing… The participants, their families and friends were proud…  as if, it was something extra-ordinary - like a great sacrifice or martyrdom… that deserved 21-gun-salutes from the rest of us, the bystanders… yes, those who did not or could not run… Someone from our Society had been practicing for it along with his little girl for some time. He completed half, it seems. I did not know this. “We should honor them during the flag-hoisting ceremony in our colony,” a lady suggested to me, last evening, very excitedly. I am the Hon. Chairman of our Society, you see… I smiled… On the same day, that is ...