Gerald D'Cunha

  “There is always a door, no matter how dark the rooms is... Find it and get out.” Shafqat Bashar   W e have heard the saying, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein had said this. Let me paraphrase it this way: “We cannot solve our problems from the same place where we find them.” It means this: From the place we find our problems, we see everything through a smoky screen… The mind is cluttered, confused, scared … It is in pain and anger. How can we find a way out – a direction – unless the smoke gets cleared, and the visibility comes back? So, in the statement above, we are encouraged to step aside from the place where we find our problems – calm down, be patient, drop the blame and self-pity, our anger. And, this is that ‘new place’ from which we are able to think clearly, see clearly, and act wisely… Yes, every solution emerges from this place… a ‘new place’! F or quite some time, a dear young-man ...

  “All colours will agree in the dark.” Francis Bacon   I just found some pictures of mine with a group of students. The pictures are nearly thirty-five years old. My first reaction, when I looked at those pictures, was – “OMG!” The “OMG!”, as you must’ve guessed, meant this: “Did I look so bad?” I remembered Dilip, who had clicked those pictures. When he had clicked them, thirty-five years ago, I had reacted the same way – “OMG! Do I look so bad?” Dilip’s response was instant and typical of him: “Sir, jaisi shakal waisi nakal!” Dilip may have been my student. But, his freaky response had an important lesson for me: “Hello, you will see yourself exactly how you want to see!” If I have a healthy self-esteem, then, I am able to appreciate what I see in my pictures. If not, no matter how good the pictures are, I would always react – “OMG! Do I look so bad?” Thirty-five years on, I still have some issues with my pictures – I never look good in them, you see… It’...

Last night, I couldn’t watch the full match – India V Sri Lanka finals in West Indies. India had to score 202; and, though it was a small score from Sri Lanka, the pitch and the tight bowling from Lankan bowlers had made the task tough for India. I watched the first ten overs, and, then, went off to sleep. What had happened finally, I learnt through my FB friends, this morning… when everyone was showering praises upon praises on M.S. Dhoni. Yes, that’s the time, I got curious and checked on YouTube as to what had really happened. My admiration for Dhoni grew  hundred notches higher, instantly! What a man… What a player… What a captain… What poise… What clarity… What a die-hard determination! How does this man maintain his cool, his clarity? How does he manage to hold his nerves when everything and anyone around him - the entire world, in deed – is on fire, unable to even breath, see or think? I am really amazed, awe-struck! Not...

This is an old advice: While crossing a busy street, look on all sides. If you find yourself in a chaotic or a panic situation, just stand there, still. Just don’t move… Do nothing. I, often, do that right in the middle of a traffic-infested street… when I cannot figure out to which direction I should move… move forward, backward or sidewards . Yes, when I am confronted by this confusion, this madness on the street. I, suddenly, decide to freeze there, and do nothing… And, invariably, the trick works… The traffic moves past me… The way becomes clear… and, I move where I had set for! And, the same trick comes handy to me in the midst of my daily life… this daily frantic rush… when pressures from all sides send me on a panic mode… when my mind fails to decide how to clear past this traffic, this clutter… this madness… Yes, heeding to the old advice, I, suddenly, decide to stand there, still… Freeze… Do nothing! Believe me, it wo...

For the last two days, I have been having a very bad cold. My head was heavy and eyes were sleepy. So, after taking a strong doze of medicines, last night, I went into a deep sleep. My son stayed late to study for his board exams; my wife had to leave early this morning, and hence, went off to sleep early, too. At 11 in the night, the SMSes stared flashing. "There has been firing at several places in Mumbai by the terrorists," our son knocked on our bed-room door to break the news. But, my sleep wasn't broken. After he left, my wife hit the bed again. But then, she struggled to catch sleep after that. At 1.30 am, my mobile phone rang; she picked up. My younger brother from Navi Mumbai spent the next half-an-hour giving her the 'live coverage' of the going-ons. This time, she tried to wake me up. "Listen. It seems, they are showing on TV the live coverage of the terror attack on Mumbai," she somewhat succeeded in breaking her husband's unusual snooze....