Gerald D'Cunha

“If one’s bowels move, one is happy, and if they don’t, one is unhappy... That’s all there is to it.” - Lin Yutang (1895-1976) “A 3-week fat-to-fit challenge,” I read the announcement of my ex-student on his FB status yesterday, “I have lost 1 kg in a week!” The accompanying half-minute video was the proof that Vivek was serious about his shedding job! “Great job, bro,” complimented one of Vivek’s friends, “ Lage Raho ,” wrote another… “Inspiring!” lauded another… “Where is it?” enquired yet another… Meanwhile, Vivek must’ve felt a lot pampered… rather, motivated to shed more kilos! Was Vivek trying to show-off? Is a status like this one really needed? Does it help Vivek in any way? W hy people do what they do… yes, I am not supposed to poke my nose into others’ affairs. Maybe, it is good for Vivek: The fact that he has made a ‘public announcement’ means, he will be under its pressure to keep up his commitment. People wil...

Pic.: Chirjiv Nagpal T here is a popular proverb in Kannada. It goes like this:   “Rogi bayasiddu haalu… Vaidya heliddu haalu.”   It means: The patient craved for milk… the doctor prescribed, too, milk.   I would, often, hear it from my mom, when I was a small boy back in our village… Whenever I and my brothers would jump in joy on seeing some favorite dish prepared by her… She knew how her little-ones had craved for it… So, with a mischief in her eyes and a silent joy in her heart, she would dish out the folklore: “Rogi bayasiddu haalu… Vaidya heliddu haalu.”   Another occasion on which we would hear it from mom was when we came back from school and jumped before her: “HEEEEEEEEEY! No school… Head Master died (Or a Trustee, a Minister or just a torrential rain!)”   Mom knew how badly her little-boys hated to go to school that morning… how they wished someone important had died or some tragedy had struck our town! ...

Pic.: Ivan Mathias “Just think, if it weren't for marriage, men would go through life thinking they had no faults at all.” -       Author: All wives      This is the Valentine Day month. They say ‘Love is in the air’… “Not love,” said someone to me, last night, “it is ‘smog’ from the Mankhurd dumping-ground.” Perhaps, he was right… When the ‘smog’ gets cleared, we may be able to see ‘Love’ there…. In the air! So much of love, so much of love and so much of love… that most of us have become not only blind, but also fools… Yes, men and women both… Before the marriage, everything looks ‘perfect’… romantic… Once married, nothing seems right, leave alone ‘perfect’… Everything skewed… screwed! “You know, I was a FOOL when I married you,” once, a wife had yelled at her hubby, in frustration…  “Yes darling, you are right,” her hubby had replied, “but, I was in love so much… that ...

Pic.: Mavourneen Peters “Gerry sir, our problem is not lack of knowledge… our problem is lack of implementation.” - Manjeet Singh Khalsa L et me clarify it at the outset itself: Manjeet Singh Khalsa is not any old-age baba or any new-age guru.  He is just my friend and lives here, next-door… who loves to eat sensibly and live on his own terms… and, yes, yes… who, at 50-plus, has a belly of a baby! I am intelligent enough to ‘know’ why Manjeet has a baby-belly and I have a pot-belly. I ‘know’ how the baby-belly goes and pot-belly comes… how fat forms and what fat does! So, Manjeet Singh Khalsa, my friend, reminds me, again and again: “Gerry sir, our problem is not ‘lack of knowledge’… Our problem is ‘lack of implementation’!” Full stop!!!! I had got up early – very early – this morning. So, I happened to see an interesting post shared by my Tai-chi-class friend, Hazel. “EXCERCIES TO BURN ABDOMINAL FAT IN 14 DAYS FLAT!” ...

Pic.: Mavourneen Peters “Gerry sir, our problem is not lack of knowledge… our problem is lack of implementation.” - Manjeet Singh Khalsa L et me clarify it at the outset itself: Manjeet Singh Khalsa is not any old-age baba or any new-age guru.  He is just my friend and lives here, next-door… who loves to eat sensibly and live on his own terms… and, yes, yes… who, at 50-plus, has a belly of a baby! I am intelligent enough to ‘know’ why Manjeet has a baby-belly and I have a pot-belly. I ‘know’ how the baby-belly goes and pot-belly comes… how fat forms and what fat does! So, Manjeet Singh Khalsa, my friend, reminds me, again and again: “Gerry sir, our problem is not ‘lack of knowledge’… Our problem is ‘lack of implementation’!” Full stop!!!! I had got up early – very early – this morning. So, I happened to see an interesting post shared by my Tai-chi-class friend, Hazel. “EXCERCIES TO BURN ABDOMINAL FAT IN 14 DAYS FLAT!” ...

Pic.: Akshay Puri I f I have to choose two simple things – the wayside things as I call them – I had come across, today, which made me smile and feel a little better, they would be these: 1.       An old anecdote shared by Chaitra Rao from Manipal in one of the Reader's Digest issues (LIFE’S LIKE THAT), and, today, shared on FB by one of my friends, Nisha Nair. 2.        A random click by another friend of mine, Akshay Puri.  First, the anecdote… “When my mothers’ breakfast upma repeatedly failed to meet dad’s expecting standards, he sat her down and explained the fundamentals: the importance of right amount of water, the timing, and how his mother used to dish out great upma in 15 minutes flat… It worked for us anyway. Since then, we have been having good, steaming-hot upma every Saturday morning. Only the cook has changed… Dad has to make it!” I was at the dining table, having my Saturday-...

Pic.: Pradeep Nanda P ranav, Yukta, Jhalak, Suraj, Rushali, Sukanya, Satnam… all these are smart college-teens. They come from very good families and schools… Great Boards, great teachers and great parents… and, above all, a great city – Mumbai. Amchi Mumbai…  These teens must’ve been just babies (or not even born) when it was decided to rename Bombay as Mumbai… But, with the name change, the old and peculiar bambaiyya bhasha – the colorful street lingo of this city – did not change at all. In fact, it has been getting more and more colorful – and richer - over the years… SSC, ICSC, CBSC, IB, Cambridge or Oxford… whatever Board our kids here go to, and whether they live in slums or luxury homes, none of them are left untouched by this beautiful bambaiya bhasha… I myself have a rich vocabulary and do use it quite effectively… even while teaching… yes, mostly, for ‘effect’… and, yes, to talk to these brats in their own bhasha… One thing: I don’t use ‘filth...