Gerald D'Cunha

  “We’ve got to live no matter how many times the skies have fallen.” D.H. Lawrence   P ain is pain… When there is loss, a tragedy, a calamity (whether manmade or natural) in our personal lives or in our society… anywhere around the world – pain inside us is inevitable. We are not lifeless stones… we bleed, we cry, we grieve… When a dear one dies, I feel the loss, and feel the pain… When Hamas killed helpless citizens in Israel, I felt the anger, pain and helplessness… In retaliation, when Israel has been ruthlessly bombing the innocent citizens in Gaza – hundreds and thousands of them – how can I not feel the same anger, pain and helplessness? Just as one felt when Japan mercilessly bombed the Pearl Harbour… and when, in retaliation, America destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki… Just as one felt when al-qaeda brought down New York’s magnificent Twin-towers,   and, when the consequent mayhem was unleashed by America in Afghanistan and other countries… Just a...

  “Don’t be so humble; you are not that great.” Unknown   T he workshop I enjoy doing the most is on ‘Self-Confidence and Communication Skills’. And, I love doing it for the youngsters the most… Towards the end of this workshop, I run this slide… “Every chaiwala cannot become a Narender Modi… Every railway T.C. cannot be a M.S. Dhoni.”   This slide comes after a heavy dose of “You can do it… A chaiwala can become a Prime Minister, and a Ticket Collector can become a M.S. Dhoni.” Before the young ones go home day-dreaming, I remind them, “Sweethearts, there is a zameen-aasman ka farq between ‘I can’ and ‘I will’… “If wishes were horses, even beggars would ride them.” So, it goes without saying, that the launching pad of every rocket has to be firmly planted on the ground… Every man who becomes a success – a star or a superstar – has his roots here on ground. That’s such a comforting feeling, and that brings hope and inspiration for all of us, here on gr...

  “Seva karna   hai toh ghadee mat dekho, Prasad lena hai toh swaad mat dekho, Satsang sunna hai toh jaga mat dekho.” Unknown Guru   D r. Brijesh* is not a doctor of medicine. He is a doctorate – a PhD. But, that is not the point of interest for my blog, today. He lives in another metropolitan city, hundreds of miles away from amchi Mumbai . But, we have known to each other for over two decades, now. We share common values – simplicity, straight-forwardness, mutual respect, and, above all, sharing. There were many occasions, he had sought my help in matters of my expertise. And, there were many occasions, I had sought his help. I particularly remember one early morning, some ten-twelve years ago. I was heavily weighed down by some issues… I was driven to the edge and, I was breaking down easily. So, that particular morning, I was baring it all over the phone before Dr. Brijesh. All that he did was what I desperately needed at that time: a good, hearty, empathe...

  “Let’s build bridges, not walls.” Martin Luther King Jr.   I came across this interesting dialogue while looking for appropriate quotes relating to self-care and assertiveness: “Not everything is about you,” Clary said furiously. “Possibly,"  Jace said, "but, you have to admit, that majority of things are.” (Cassandra Clare, City of Glass)   When we criticize others, are we aware, if we are criticizing the ‘person’ or his/her ‘actions’? I think, many times, we aren’t. Similarly, when someone criticizes us, are we aware, if it is our actions or we, as persons, that are being criticized? Again, I think, many times, we aren’t. It’s easy for us to say, “Hey, it’s not about you.” But, ‘something’, always, is… Isn’t it? That’s what drew my attention to in the dialogue shared above. While Clary, furiously, declares, “Not ‘everything’ is about you,” Jace reminds, ‘Something’ is… In fact, "‘majority of things’ are"! To me, the take away from th...

“Never hate your enemies… It affects your judgment.”  ―  Mario Puzo ,  The Godfather W hen I was a little boy in my village, Cassius Clay – who later became the famous Muhammad Ali – ruled the boxing world. “I am the Greatest”. Yes, this was how he loved to thump his champion-chest. He was my dad’s favorite… My dad, you know, was a young-and-dashing man, too, at that time! Some fifteen years later, when I migrated to Mumbai, I was a young-and-dashing man, now. My dad wasn’t… Ali was a spent force, by now… Moreover, the years of head and chest punches – and the ranting and swearing - had taken a big time toll on him. He suffered from Parkinson’s  and found it difficult to speak clearly… he walked like a little baby… and, certainly, he no longer spoke like a World Heavy-weight champ of the boxing ring… We never heard him say – ‘I am the Greatest’ In fact, what we began to hear from Muhammad Ali was this: “Ali is not the ...

I blog every day… almost every day. I share these Posts on my FB timeline so that many can get to know about them. I am delighted to know that many of my friends like my writings, and I do feel elated – and even proud – when they tell me that they find my Blog very motivating and useful in life… My yesterday’s Blog was about the latest Hindi movie, ‘M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story’. I had used a lovely picture of Dhoni from the internet images. I had titled the Post – ‘THAT RANCHI BOY IN US’… It was night’s 10 when I had published that post… What surprised me was the response. Several likes and comments made me seriously wonder: “Hey, are these likes and comments for my Post or for Dhoni’s story? Am I the one praised here or Dhoni?” Now, let me tell you, that I am not just joking here… I am serious. Let me remind you that I had used a vibrant picture of Dhoni from the internet… It was very eye-catching. Moreover, M.S.D is a ‘deity’ and cricket is a ‘religi...

Pic.: Mansi Modi Bhuva Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found it very useful – was telling a nice story in two tenses… Past and Present. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people who were earnest to improve their English with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and tell it to someone. This story is told by Dr. Stephen Covey in his famous book, ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’, where he tells us that it is an actual story found in the ‘Naval Proceedings Manual’. Through this story, Dr. Covey beautifully conveys that, in life, there are the Laws of Nature – the Lighthouse Principles – that govern our life, no matter who we are… and whether we like them or not, and, yes, whether we agree with them or not… I am a huge admirer of Dr. Covey’s writings. So, as a mark of respect, I wish to present this amazing story as it is. The only change i...

Pic.: Anima D'Cunha I am happy to note that there are many kids around me who have their heads firmly planted on their shoulders… They don’t get swayed easily by the fad, fashion or the glitter… Leave alone the sales gimmicks! When I was a kid, I was a kid. I didn’t – and couldn’t – behave like an adult. I was fascinated by the ‘latest’ gadgets, desired to at least see and touch them even though I couldn’t afford to own them. When someone owned them, I would stand next to him and have an eyeful of it… even envy! But, I knew, even when I was small, that, gadgets and toys did not bring true happiness in life… An attitude of gratitude did… I am not saying this for effect, now.  I valued money and knew how important it was in life. But, I knew money was not everything in life… that, there were several things in life money could not buy. My happiness, certainly, was one of them. T wo days ago, in our PD session, I had given for GD the topic – “Shou...

Pic.: Pradeep Nanda A s a human race, we are a strange species… In fact, a very, very funny one! We need calamities – like a war with another county or an earthquake, tsunami or flood or a deadly terrorist attack to unite us together… It takes a war and a tsunami to make us forget for a while that we are Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs… It takes an earthquake and a terrorist attack to make us forget for a while that we are fighting her on this earth on such silly and petty issues… It takes a nasty whip from God to tame our ‘huge’ egos… to bring us on our knees… That’s why I call us – the human species – a wired and funny species We choose to fight when God is kind to us… We chose to abuse His mercy! “Pray for Chennai”… Yes, I am going back to it, once again. My heart bleeds for Chennai as it bleeds for the hapless victims of any such calamity. We need to really, really do whatever we can to reach out to innocent victims… But, then, what do...