Gerald D'Cunha

  “Politeness is the first thing people lose once they get the power.” Amit Kalantri   Y ears ago, I had a student, who I had taught in his Junior College. He must’ve been 15 or 16 and I must’ve been 23 or 24 at that time. He was raised by his elder sister as their parents were no more. The sister, who was slightly older than me, would call me by my first name – Gerry. So, her baby-brother, my student, too, started calling me by my name. I had no problem with that at all. Yes, whenever he would do it inside the class, I would feel a bit awkward (Shall I say ‘hurt’ or ‘small’?), but, I would wear a comfortable mask before my other students. After this boy completed his Junior College, he joined Mumbai’s (then, Bombay) famed St. Xavier’s College   to pursue B.A. One day, he took me around his new college campus and proudly described the great heritage of this educational institution. Now and then, I would hear him greet someone passing by, with – ‘Hi Victor’, ‘Hi ...

Pic.: Vimal Tulsiani S ome days ago, a young-boy, who regularly reads my Posts, asked me this question; “Sir, why do you end your comments and replies, always, with that ‘four-letter word – ‘LOVE! “O my God,” I screamed in my mind, “No one has made me aware of it, all these years!” “Why, don’t you like it, dear? I asked the 19-year-old, “I have been using it ever since I was your age!” “Sir, I like it,” the young-man said, “it really makes me feel special!” “Well, what you are saying now, does the same thing to me,” I said running my hand gently over his shoulders, “Probably, we all have this deep need in us to be loved by others… to feel special in their eyes.” Y es, ‘LOVE’ is just a word of four letters. I must’ve felt so good, so special, when I first received it from someone – when I needed it the most as a young boy – that, this very fact must be the definite reason as to why I have made a conscious decision to make it a part of my daily vo...

Pic.: Bhushan Thakkar L ike the proverbial two sets of teeth of an elephant – one for eating and the other for showing - I think, each one of us has two different sets of speech: one for our home, and the other for the world! Generally, the world is unaware of the quality of our speech at home: how we speak to our own nearest and dearest people… The world calls us cultured or uncultured – well-brought-up or badly brought-up – generally on the basis of how we present ourselves before it, how we speak ‘outside’! It is said, that our speech is the refection of our inner character… It is, also, said that our character is what we are in the dark… So, who – other than our nearest and dearest ones at home - know our dark side? Who have seen, heard and felt the effects of our dark side? Today is the festival of ‘Makar Sankranti’. Early morning, my wife lovingly teased me with the famous Maharashtrian greetings: “Tilgul ghya… go...