Gerald D'Cunha

“O pinions are the cheapest commodities in the world,” I had come across this line in a book when I was a new-comer in Mumbai (Bombay) and struggling to get a foot-hold here. The context was: what I wanted to do in life and what others thought I was capable of doing. The book I was reading was ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill… “ Whatever  the mind of  man can conceive and believe , it  can  achieve. ” I needed to hear this message desperately at that time; because, I was so full of self-doubts… and so full of low-confidence. In such a state, one was so susceptible to external voices: “No, you can’t do it… Give up.” So, the advice of Napoleon Hill had come just in time. I quickly realized, that others’ opinion – no matter who those people are – was only their opinion… It’s their truth, their belief and their story. Not mine. I became almost immune to such gloomy, defeating prophecies… I began to focus on what was important and dear to m...

Pic.: Ruma Chatterjee I had a good friend, by the name Paul, when I was in college, in Mangalore. He lived quite far from the college, in an interior village. Paul loved the typical tailor-made polyester shirts and terry-wool pants and would wear them impeccably ironed. Some of his young cousins, who lived in Bandra, here in Bombay , would come down to the village during summer. They wore their crumpled tees and torn, stone-washed denims... and, yes, for days, they wore the same stuff! Now, our poor Paul had some tough time at home... His elderly grandma would give him an earful, everyday, as he spent a good deal of time ironing out his clothes: “Look at these Bombay kids... They have plenty of money; but they don’t show-off like you do... So humble and simple they are, that they are able to survive, for days, on those torn and crumpled clothes. Learn from them... You need your expensive clothes, and you need them crisply ironed... Don’t you?” The next day, in ...