Gerald D'Cunha

  “A graceful heart is a virtue of the meek.” Suzy Kassem W hat happens to my self-esteem and mental well-being if I spend too much time – even little time – listening to and intensely involving with those Primetime TV debates? What happens if I keep involving myself in those endless twitter-wars between people, say, Kangana Ranaut and Diljit Dosangh or Amit Malviya and Kunal Kamra? Sometimes, out of curiosity – and my innate human prejudice and weakness – I get involved, only to come out a lot ‘disturbed’. Then, I regret: “Why did I waste my time?”… “Why did I allow myself to deflate my self-esteem?” “Don’t bring home the filth of the road,” my dad used to, often, scream at us when we were little boys, “What belongs to the road should not come home.” My heart and mind are my home… What goes on at Primetime or on twitter, yes, often, is just ‘filth’… Leave it to the road… Don’t bring it home…   I am strongly reminded A friend of mine has a simple yardstick: “Does...

I n life, we all need icons. We need them for constant motivation and inspiration. Many of our icons are people who are around us… who we meet, talk to and interact with… Maybe our parents, grandparents, uncles or aunts, brothers or sisters, our teachers, work colleagues or friends or someone from our neighbourhood. We pick our icons from this lot. Similarly, we pick our icons from some living legends – from any field – who, unlike the earlier lot, we do not met, talk to or interact with… But, we constantly get motivation and inspiration from these icons. The third lot is those legends who have long dead and gone… spiritual masters, freedom fighters and revolutionaries, scientists, civil liberty leaders, Presidents and Prime Ministers, inventors and explorers and so on… I, sometimes, hear some making this remark: “I don’t believe in icons” or “I don’t have any icons”. I wonder: “Is it possible to live life without any icons – call them idols, Heroes or Role models? A co...

Pic. Anima D'Cunha I regularly remind the young students in our PD sessions, that they need to set fine benchmarks in order to propel themselves to success. “When your benchmarks are low, shallow, your inner drive, too, will be shallow… Only when you set high standards of achievement… a loft benchmark, you will be able to reach there… You need icons and heroes to inspire you… You need great role-models.” Whatever the human heart deeply aspires, it attracts. This has been the theme of the age-old Law of Attraction. “What you deeply like, deeply admire… you attract in you.”  The Law is as plain and simple as that. “You become the hero you worship.” So, there is power in the Law of Attraction. Therefore, the choice of our icons and ideals… our values and life-principles… yes, the choice should be made ‘consciously’. For, the Law doesn’t discriminate between the good icons and the bad icons… the good ideals and the bad ideals… It brings forth whatever we deeply, deepl...

Tamilnadu. When I was small, we called this state - Madras. My dad, though hadn't studied much, was a politically-conscious person. I still remember the heated discussions he would engage himself in, too frequently, with anyone and everyone he could. I first heard a name called Karunanidhi from him, amidst such passionate discussions. It is nearly fifty years, since then. Today, Mr. Karunanidhi, 85, still rules this vast state. His political career spans over 60 years, and he holds the record of winning every election he contested during this long period. From the pitiable, dusty streets to massive express-highways, from the humble bullock carts to supersonic jets, from the silent/B & W movies to Maga-screen-multiplex experience... everything in this colourful state has changed, except this colourful man called Karunanidhi. I, sometimes, wonder: Are the people of this state not tired of him? How can they ignore so many young and dynamic men and women? What makes this man so end...