Gerald D'Cunha

D o we have a choice over the people who cross our path? From my own experience, the answer to this question is:‘Yes’ and ‘No’. I had no choice over my parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, siblings, cousins and my teachers. I had a choice when it came to choosing my spouse… But, again, when I deeply reflect on it: Did I have a choice? What about my son? Thousands of students who have crossed my path? Scores o associates, neigbours, and acquaintances? What about the most positive people and what about the most negative? Did I have a choice over any of them? Maybe I had… May be I hadn’t. The question, today, should not be whether or not we have a choice over the people who cross our path… The question should be: whether they cross our path with or without a reason. To this, my answer is: “Yes, they do cross our path with a reason.” Mind, you, they all… the best and the worst… the little ones, the young ones and the old ones… the prettiest and the ugliest…...

Pic.: Chetna Shetty Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found it very useful – was telling a nice story in two tenses… Past and Present. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people who were earnest to improve their English with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and tell it to someone. This endearing Oriental story brings a lot of comfort in my heart… We never know how good we are, despite our cracks… until some wise-soul, comes our way to show us the amazing beauty we have been able to leave behind… Yes, despite our ‘cracks’, I say! THE CRACKED POT PAST: L ong   time ago, there lived an old woman in a Chinese village. Every day, she carried water from the village stream to her house. Two pots, hung on each side of a pole, she carried them on her shoulders. Now, one of the pots had a crack on it; so, by the time the w...

Pic.: Amrita Jeurkar W hen a friend of mine, wrote in one of the WhatsApp groups, last night, “Gayi bhains paani mein”, I wrote back: “Nothing is a waste in life… not even tears.” The friend of mine was referring to an uncomfortable situation, where, it seemed, the consistent efforts to come out of it had gone wasted… yes, my friend had expressed his dismay by saying… “Gayi bhains paani mein”. Apparently, one believes, that, once the buffalo goes into water, it is very difficult to bring him out. Well, the proverb may have some truth. But, I know, that, however difficult a situation seems to be – at this moment in my life - it is only a ‘life situation’… It is not my life! And, every situation, which is man-created, either by me or someone around me, ‘has to’ change as time goes by… It cannot outlive the creator! In the above situation, the creators were others… with some cruel intention. So, no way the particular situation could l...