Gerald D'Cunha

  “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” Abraham Lincoln   E lbert Hubbard, who wrote the inspiring essay ‘A Message to Garcia’, had said:   “I believe, that the best way to prepare for a Future Life is to be kind, live one day at a time, and do the work you can do best, doing it as well as you can.” There is great depth in this simple-sounding statement. Let me dissect it, in this Post… Are we all not concerned and busy with preparation for a Future Life? Every human activity – individual or collective –   invariably revolves around this goal – ‘Future Life’. Perhaps, we do not like to admit it openly, or wish to give a different spin to it. But, I firmly believe, that we all are concerned and busy preparing for a Future Life… Based on this assumption – and reality – I wish to delve into the fragments of Elbert Hubbard’s statement. He says, “I believe, that the best way to prepare for a Future Life… Is to be kind : Kind...

“Start by doing what is necessary;  t hen do what is possible; and, suddenly, you’ll be doing what’s is impossible.” Francis of Assisi I n the beginning, there was only one phrase: ‘Common Sense’. Then, someone with ‘extra sense’ said, ‘Let there be IQ’.   Not pleased, another soul, with even more sense, said, ‘Let there be EQ’. No, even that was not impressive enough. Thus, came a soul with extra-ordinary sense and said, ‘Let there be ‘SQ’. Stupid! What about ‘AQ’? So, the Guru of Gurus said, let there be ‘AQ’! Well, for those like me, who have been long living under the rock, here are the full forms: IQ = Intelligence Quotient. EQ = Emotional Quotient. SQ = Spiritual Quotients (My wife argues, that it is ‘Social Quotient’). AQ = Adversity Quotient. The day we learnt about the sad and shocking death of Sushant Singh Rajput, we also learnt about – thanks to WhatsApp University – the ‘Theories of Intelligence’. WhatsApp professors claimed...

“To be prepared against surprise is to be trained; to be prepared for surprise is to be educated.” James P. Carse I had to read the above quote a couple of times to fully comprehend its meaning. Let me read it one more time: “To be prepared against surprise is training; To be prepared for surprise is education.” Every summer, for last three decades, I and many of my associates at THE DAWN CLUB have been conducting Personality Development programme for young ones and little ones. The programme would spread over two months – roughly from April 10 to June 10. This summer, due to lockdown, the programme went for a complete toss. Many kept suggesting, that we should do something ‘online’. But, I was not at all convinced… nor ‘prepared’! Did I say, ‘I was not prepared’? Yes, I did. One of the standard features of our PD programme has been the release of one or two inspirational books on the day of certification. We would involve...