Gerald D'Cunha

  “To attain knowledge, add things every day; to attain wisdom, remove things every day.” Lao Tzu   O ne of my friends, who has been a fine financial-consultant and quite a resourceful person, is now on a sabbatical. “What are you occupied with, these days?” I asked when I met him, yesterday… “Cutting vegetables and washing clothes,” he said without even blinking. “Seriously?” I asked him. “Yes, very seriously,” he asserted, “I am 63 now; and all my life, I hadn’t learnt how to cut vegetables or wash my own clothes… I feel very happy and relaxed as I do them now.” T here are so many things, as this friend of mine has found, you and I haven’t learnt/done, yes, ‘all our lives’. As another friend of mine, who is a bigshot in a corporate proudly claims, “I haven’t boiled even a glass or water”… and as another bigshot goes further and claims, “I haven’t learnt to turn on the gas stove.” So, what does this tell us? In life, we may be experts in some things and du...

  “Pride feels confident in how much it knows; humility is humbled by how much it has to learn.” Collins Hasty   I write these Blog posts in English; and I do it almost daily. I have put together – written/edited/published – more than thirty books for the Dawn Club. I have been teaching Commerce students for over four decades, for which I create material… Yes, I do all this in English… But, English was not my medium when I was in school. I spoke Konkani at home and Kannada was my medium in school. I had a huge fear towards this language, which had added to my inferiority complex. It was only in my degree college, when, inspired by my idol, Prof. B.S. Raman, I was desiring to become a fine teacher and writer like him, that I resolved to overcome my handicap of communicating in English. I was 17 or 18 then. I am 64 now. Even though more than forty-five years have gone by, I still consider, that I have miles to go as far as learning to communicate in English is concer...

  “When God is at the center of your life, you worship; When He’s not, you worry.” Rick Warren S ome days ago, I was sitting with a young couple. In the course of our discussion, they were describing to me about how the conflict between Israel and Arabs had originated. The couple was in the early thirties, and I was amazed by the ‘knowledge’ they possessed. They sounded very authentic in their knowledge about different religions, particularly Judaism (Religion of Jews), Christianity and Islam… I suddenly felt how unaware I was about my own religion for all these years and still claimed myself as a ‘Christian’.  So, that evening, I just remained quiet and listened to this young couple… After the couple left, I was asking to myself: “Do we need to ‘know’ all such things in order to ‘know’ God?” I was not asking this to defend myself or justify my lack of knowledge on historical facts about my own or my fellow-beings’ religions. I was asking this question to make sure...

  “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it’s the illusion of knowledge.” Daniel J. Boorstin     I really admire people who give me an impression, that they are very ‘informed’ people… which means, they are well-read, well-travelled and knowledgeable. Actually, it’s not their encyclopedic mind that I am impressed with, it’s their eloquent speech – the fine gift of gab. These are the Shashi Tharoors around us… They can hop from one subject to another, just like the grasshopper hops from one blade of grass to another… You wonder: What a mind! What a Man! So, do I envy Shashi Tharoors around me? Yes, I do. Am I lying? No Sir… Seriously, I envy them. “But, why should you envy anyone, who even though knows the entire brahmand and even though can present his knowledge with the grace of Brahma Himself? I don’t know why… But, I, most certainly, get a complex when it goes on around me… “You are an idiot,” said a near one, today, when I expressed...

  “There is stardust in your veins. We are, literally,   ultimately, children of the stars.” Jocelyn Bell Burnell   O ne my dear friends, who is also the mother of one of my students, has a unique hobby: She sends to all her friends the Good-morning messages, every day, with an interesting ‘Did-you-know’ kind of fact. Well, for a person like me, invariably, each one of them is - ‘No, I did not know’! So, each morning, I have this simple opportunity to know one more fact… Yes, at times, I do get fed up and frustrated with myself – or, should I say with ‘my life’? – and ask: ‘How much more is there to know?’! Actually, it’s the distorted amplifier of my inner voice: “Baccha , how little do you know!” This morning, my friend sent this one:   “It’s a lazy Saturday morning. See if you can find the 8 words hidden in the picture… Happy hunting… Good Morning.” There was a post-script: “The answers will be provided in the evening!” I tried scratching my ...

  “I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn’t know.” Mark Twain   I f some of us have travelled all around the world – experienced different cultures, cuisines and customs – there are two reasons for it. One: Our professions; two: our interests. I have met many people, who fire our imagination by telling us stories around the world. I have also met many people, who keep the stories to themselves, even though they have been around the world, many times… The storytellers are a distinct breed. I think, unless one is gifted with this talent, stories only remain in one’s head… Yes, whether one has been around the world, or just around his courtyard! Stories come from one’s imagination and that irresistible itch in one’s soul - to tell them! Meanwhile, should a person like me - who has never stepped out his country, and not been to too many places in his own country – feel inferior while interacting with those who have globetrotted? I don...

  “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it’s the illusion of knowledge.” Daniel J. Boorstin   A few things, which I claim, “I know”, often, make me arrogant. And, unless, someone shakes me hard to make me realize the fact, that, there are so many things, which “I don’t know” – yes, till then, I tend to think this world revolves around me… How silly and how small I am! For example, right since my schooldays, I have been not only bad in technology, I have also been suffering from its phobia. Today, my commonsense tells me, that these phobias are my baseless fears… Many of them – all of them, rather – can be overcome. Yet, I haven’t stopped to work on many of them. So, they are still there in my life sending me on a panic mode quite regularly… The little problems I face in my daily life – be it related to plumbing, electrical work, computer, internet, mobile phone etc. - are enough to put me under stress. Need I have the required skills to fix them? Pr...

“We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.” Jean Baudrillard I n yesterday’s TOI, there was this interesting article about the plight of teachers inside the classrooms, in these ‘information-overloaded’ years… The class rooms of some of the ‘Best schools’ have Wi-Fi connection and students can obtain answers, examples and options without even waiting for the teachers to come out with… In fact, the teacher is, often, left blinking… sorry, dumb-founded! ‘’They know it all… and, what am I doing here?”  This question haunts many, many teachers, particularly the ones who aren’t tech-savvy… “They google mechanically,” tells one of my friends, who is, like me, an old-school-of-thought teacher, “they do not do it out of childlike curiosity.” Is it true? I think, it is. The way the young ones ‘search’ on Google is more as a habit… It is there handy, so just click it… It is just a...

Pic.: Chandrasekhar Varier O n the eve of this Karva Chauth , there was a beautiful story by Vikram Battacharya doing rounds on social media. It was about prince Siddhartha leaving his palace in the middle of the night… He had left behind Yashodara, his young wife, and their just-born son, not uttering a single word… He had moved on into the wilderness to seek answers to his ‘personal quest’ which he was haunted with… This incident in the life of Gautama Buddha, if we stop and reflect upon, can sound so disturbing… How could he be so selfish, so indifferent and insensitive? Why did he marry in the first place, and why did he go for a child? Was he not responsible for them? Was he not supposed to discuss his plans with his wife… How could he just walk away like that? What is the big point in seeking answers to your personal questions at the expense of your loved one’s well-being? Didn’t Gautama feel the guilt… the weight of his decision while he was wandering in th...