Gerald D'Cunha

“I do not know what I may appear to the world; but, to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself, now and then, in finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than the ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” Isaac Newton S ometimes, a thought crosses my mind: Did the Buddha, Jesus, Nanak, Kabir, Sai of Shirdi, Mirabai, Aristotle, Socrates and Plato, Michelangelo, Darwin, Newton and Einstein and so many ‘greats’ like them – ever worry about someone stealing or copying their ‘stuff’? Sorry for making their colossal work appear so trivial to be called ‘stuff’! Those were the days when ‘Intellectual Property’ was not a ‘property’ yet… and Hashtags, copy rights, patent rights and branding had not found their place in the lexicons… And, yes, yes… those were the days when the houses had no doors… Quite literally! I smile when I think of this: Some houses, even today, still do not ...

T his is the season of results… tenth standard and twelfth standard, particularly, where the excitement – the joy and despair – is maximum. Yesterday, tenth (ICSE) and twelfth standard (ISC) results were out; and, today twelfth standard (HSC) results are out… In the P.D.  session, this morning, I asked some boys and girls to come up on stage and share their joys and despair after the results… not just theirs’, but their parents’ and grandparents’, their siblings’ and friends’ too… The ‘Board results’ are something… big thing! When I was a young boy like these students, I had gone through the same experience… the joy and the despair. My parents, even though they weren’t educated, had gone through the same experience, too… “At your age, I was nowhere near you,” I tell my students, “You are far, far, far better. Hence, I have no business to judge you, leave alone ‘condemn’ you.” When I look back at my own tenth, twelfth and graduation marks, I am now ab...

“There is no competition of sounds between a nightingale and a violin.”  ―  Dejan Stojanovic I think, Virat Kohli is one of the most aggressive and competitive cricketers today. He has it all: style and substance, grit, grace and allure. But, then, when I watch the plight of his IPL team in the on-going edition of IPL, I feel bad for him… The ship has sunk, and I don’t think, it can come up, again, this season! But, then, that’s a cricket match… a small part of Life. It is not Life itself! Kohli, like Shahrukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, is running a race in his own track. These legends shine in a league of their own… There is competition out there… For, it is man-eat-man world out there… Cut-throat. Yes, cut-the-throat! As blunt and cruel as that… But, then, there comes a time in every legend’s life, when he learns to view competition from a sublime and spiritual perspective… There is a race beyond this rat-r...

Pic.: Varsha Chitnis Junnarkar “You can be the moon and still be jealous of the stars.” - Gary Allan T his is the truth… No matter who I am, I do feel jealous of someone – someone better than me – in life. Rejoicing in other people’s success is a wonderful remedy for my sickness called Jealousy. Yes, I know it is. But, to me, rejoicing in other peoples’ success doesn’t come first… That, the other person is ‘my own’ – yes, this thought doesn’t come first… That, his success is my own, his happiness is my own… yes, all these amazing thoughts don’t come first, to me. To me, what comes first is: that, the other person is different, his success and happiness are not my own… that, when he succeeds, I lose… that, when he is praised, I feel sad, isolated! My jealousy comes from my insecurity, my fear and lack. It comes from my low self-esteem. When seen from a spiritual perspective, jealousy comes from my ignorance… poor self-knowledge… So, today, I wo...

Pic. : Uttam Ghosh “None of us knows what might happen even the next minute, still,  we go forward. Because we trust… Because we have Faith.”   ―   Paulo Coelho W henever I ask our participants to write down some of their main strengths and weaknesses, I come across this one: “I trust people easily” or “I trust people too much.” Should we trust people – easily? I think, if we operate from our innate faith and strength, trusting others – even if it means easily and early – comes to us naturally, and, that’s how it should be. On the other hand, when we operate from our fear – insecurity, lack and skepticism – it doesn’t come to us naturally… It cannot. Let’s imagine this scenario: I meet someone and approach him with lack of trust. And, he, too, approaches me in the same manner. Where is this interaction, this relationship going to take us? One of the two parties has to operate with a strong, confident heart… a heart...

Pic.: Chandrashekar Varir ”Abundance is not something we acquire…  It is something we tune into.” - Wayne Dyer W hen we are young, we are less cautious… We take more risks, and do it often. Being optimistic and zestful is easy when we are young. But, as we age, we become more cautious… We take less number of risks. To remain optimistic and zestful is not as easy as it used be, once. “Age is only in the mind,” I have said it so often, and I still do. “How old is really old?” Yes, I, too, have asked, and I still do. But, then, thoughts of aging do pop up in mind, now and then, and I find myself playing safe, taking less number of risks… becoming more and more cautious. Is it not natural? I think, it is. Is it not acceptance… being mature and graceful? I think, it is. Y esterday, there was a small function after our Tai Chi class. Our teacher, who had completed ten years of Tai Chi teaching, had invited many of his ex...

Pic.: Chetna Shetty “There is a lie that acts like a virus within the mind of humanity. And that lie is, “There is not enough good to go around.” - Michael Bernard Beckwith in ‘The Secret’ T he more I reflect on the subject – ‘How ordinary people, like you and me, become extraordinarily successful’ – I get more and more convinced, that they all had a very, very clear picture of what they wanted. Yes, the first thing towards any achievement is being clear (In Napoleon Hill’s words – ‘being definite’) about what you want to achieve. It sounds so simple! Yes, you and I can, always, be ‘definite’ about what we want to achieve. What is tough is to ‘believe’, with that rock-solid faith in our hearts, that we can achieve it! Napoleon Hill had made it famous when he had given us the power-line:   “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve!” Wayne Dyer had put it this way: “You will see it when you belie...

Pic.: Nirmala Sundar T here are a hundred gloomy-and-scary stories about money, buried deep inside our mind – the sub-conscious mind. These stories have come from a hundred different sources… Yes, once we had believed in them… But, do we still? Here are some of these stories… Say beliefs, if you wish: Money is the root of all evils… You can’t make money in honest ways… Rich are crooks… Money spoils relationship… You don’t need money to be happy… Only some can make money… Making money is against our religion… Rich exploit poor… There is only so much we can earn… Money is not meant to be spent… Money doesn’t grow on trees… Only hard work brings money… Don’t befriend wealthy… I do not have what it takes to be rich… I was born in a hand-to-mouth family… So, who am I to dream big? What if I lose my money… become bankrupt? What if people cheat me… trap me? What if I die leaving behind huge debt? ...

Pic.: Aparna Khanolar Sheth “How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in savings accounts?  ... I rest my case.” -Robert G. Allen L et me begin this post with a confession: I love money! Let me make one more confession: I think about it all the time! So, who I am – a good man or a bad man? I might not have ‘chosen’ to amass wealth in my life; but, I do think about money the moment I open my eyes early in the morning, and I do think about it when I close my eyes late at night... Yes, I think about it in the midst of my joys and sorrows, in the midst of my most intense prayers, as well... I know, that I don’t need loads of money to be happy and content in life... I, also, know, that no matter how much I amass, I will not be able to say ‘enough’ unless I am wise and strong... unless I have a right perspective on money... unless I value it, respect it... and use it as my faithful servant a...