Gerald D'Cunha

“I don’t think of all the misery, but of all the beauty that remains.” –Anne Frank M y knowledge about the New Zealand was, always, limited to its cricket team. Maybe, to some of her places where a couple of our friends migrated for work or studies. But, nothing beyond that. I think, I am not alone in this… Most of us are aware of what is happening in America, UK, Canada, Pakistan, the Middle East, or even China, Russia and Israel. They are, always, in news - good or bad… But, we do get to know what is happening in these and many other countries around the world… Not about New Zealand. She has been a very peaceful country… of gentle and tolerant people, who belonged to all kinds of ethnic back grounds… faiths, cultures, languages, food habits… She has been a loving home for countless immigrants for decades. And, despite this multi-ethnic and multi-religious presence on her soil, this nation was never in the news for the wrong reasons… Yes, for reason...

I was just 16 when I watched the famous Kannada film, ‘Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu’. Translated into English, it means: Bhootayya’s son Ayyu.  It was 1974. I was a typical teenager. This movie has forever remained etched in my mind. For the last few days, I have been thinking about this movie… Maybe that, the story is so timeless… and, the characters in the movie are so real. Just like the high-voltage drama of Ramayana and Mahabharata, the drama in this movie, to me, hits with the same directness. Time and time again. All epics have the same theme: the battle between the good and the bad. And, all of them, invariably, end up with the same message: the good triumphs over the bad. That, fear, anger, hatred, revenge and envy… these are the forces within our soul which can drive us to do destructive things. And that, love, compassion, peace, tolerance empathy, forgiveness, and reconciliation… these are the forces within our soul which can drive us to do ...