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 tell the kids: Somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose; Just   don’t’ fight about it… Just try to get better.” Yogi Berra   E very sports person – be it a Sprinter, Boxer, Baseball or Basketball player, Tennis or Badminton player, Cricket, Hockey, Football, Pole Vault, Horse-riding, Swimming, Cycling, Motor bike, Boat or Car race whatever be it – knows this: 1.     He has to be in his best form, and he has to, always, play to win. 2.     He can’t win in every game… Sometimes, he can lose. 3.     When he wins, he should be humble and magnanimous in victory. 4.     When he loses, he should be graceful and respectful in his defeat. 5.     Conceding defeat and congratulating the winner are part of every championship. 6.     Finally, a game is only a game; it’s not Life, or the end of it! As a spectator, we all tend to involve intensely in the games that we watch. ...

  “Happiness is gentleness.” Hugh Prather “G entleness towards self and others makes life a little lighter,” Said Deborah Day. A little lighter, or a lot lighter? And, is being ‘lighter’ same as being ‘happier’? The Wise say, that only the strong can be gentle; cruelty always comes from the weak. I am very fond of, both, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. There are scores of videos on YouTube, in which we get to see their interaction with a cross-section of people, both inside and outside the White House. It’s so delightful to watch how they treated people – all people – while they occupied the most powerful position in the world… They treated everyone with kindness and respect… Is it not, then, true, that ‘Only the strong can be gentle’? Deborah Day rightly points out, through the first part of her statement, that it’s not possible for us to be gentle towards others unless we are gentle towards self, first. In one of the videos I watched a couple of days ago, Bara...

Pic.: Rajiv Sharma I was watching on TV, last night, the special programmes on President Obama’s visit to India. I have long admired the way he communicates with such depth, confidence and élan, all at the same time, and all extempore… Yes, no matter how long he speaks. I follow him - of all the other things I admire him for – for this strength of his: the power of public-speaking. “How does he do it?” my wife was spellbound, last night, “THAT is public-speaking!” “You are right, darling,” I expressed my agreement, “THAT is why we are glued to him, like this!” But, this Post is not about President Obama’s phenomenal ability to move people with his gift of gab. By now, no one on this earth would need me to point it to him or her… I, myself, have blogged many times about it, in the past… There are so many of his great speeches – particularly relating to his two-time Presidential-elections… Just a click on YouTube, you have them, right before you…...