Gerald D'Cunha

Pic.: Ivan Mathias T here are two colourful words in English – ‘Gullible’ and ‘Charlatan’. I chanced upon both these words in Dr. Abraham Kovoor’s books – ‘Begone Godmen’ and ‘Gods, Demons and Spirits’. It was more than thirty years ago! For those who do not know who Dr. Kovoor was, I want to tell this: He was a rationalist … never believed in any God or god-men … He exposed all god-men by challenging them to prove their miracles … He called them by that colorful name – ‘Charlatans’ … those who practiced quackery or some similar trick in order to obtain money, fame or other advantages via some form of pretense or decepti on … And, to the rest of us – the followers of these god-men, the bhakts, he called so lovingly by the other colorful name – ‘Gullible’! I would love and hate Dr. Kovoor as I read his books depending upon who he was exposing … If he exposed a baba who I found was a ‘ dongi baba’ , yes, I would jump with joy, cheer, say “Shabaash Dr. Kovoor...

Pic.: Pradeep Nanda M y grandfather - dad’s dad – was an extremely shy and private person. As a farmer,  he worked in our paddy fields, in the hot sun, all day long, which made his skin intensely dark-brown… and, yes, he wore on his body a piece of cloth just enough to cover what was necessary in a village like ours! The grandma, on the other side, was exactly opposite… She was fair and lovely… exuberant… loved singing and dancing… had lots and lots of friends…. She loved to attend all the events and functions that were happening around… The grandpa shied away from the crowd… Even with his olden-days’ bare-minimum-literacy, he was able to befriend books and magazines which were published in Konkani and Kannada… I saw him lying down on his bench, during his free times, and reading his favorite books (Konkani translation) by St. Augustine. He was, particularly, influenced by Thomas A. Kempis’ ‘Imitation of Christ’… He was fond of reciting the age-old proverbs and ...

In my class, today, two young men were arguing. One said, “Kasab has been hanged.” The other said, “No, he is yet to be hanged.” Finally, the matter came to me. And, frankly, for that moment, even I got confused: “Is he hanged? Or, is he still there?” So, we all did what everyone else does in such times: we googled.  “Not out!!!!” The verdict was out! “Are you just joking?” I hear you asking me, “Didn’t you really know that Kasab was yet to be hanged?” Yes, I was not so sure, really! “Public memory is too short!”… Heard this or forgotten? Well, if that is true, then, my memory, too, is ‘too short’! Am I not a part of this so-called ‘Public’? Last week, Kejriwal & Co were making so much noise about Robert Vadra – the Gandhi-family’s son-in-law - and his so-called ‘loot of our country’. So much so, I literally turned deaf! Not even a week, now! Robert is out and Khurshid is in! There is so much...