Gerald D'Cunha

  “The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. The grass is greener where it’s watered.” Robert Fulghum   J ust as the grass on the other side of our fences, always, looks greener, everything else in our lives, too, does… When I was in college, the situation at home was quite challenging… Dad was a mechanic in a local workshop… He was a loving Dad, but was an alcoholic… Mom struggled, every day and all through her life, to keep us above the water… So, when a young boy watches this situation at home, and feels a lot ashamed and deprived of, what would be running through his mind? Well, the same situation may not yield the same results… To some, it might motivate to work towards a better living condition; while, to some others, it might leave as bitter, harder and even angrier humans… I wanted to come out of poverty of all kinds… I realized, early in life, that money was not everything. Though I held Napoleon Hill’s ‘Think and Grow Rich’ as my...

  “When you choose one way out of many, all the ways you don’t take are snuffed out like candles as if they’d never existed.” Philip Pullman   I was talking to a friend of mine, last afternoon. He is slightly younger than I am. He hailed from a very humble South Indian family and had to go through a lot of hardships to complete his education. Being very focused and determined, he completed his Chartered Accountancy in his first attempt. It was time to make the crucial choice: to accept the best offer for a well-paying job, or to set up his own Chartered Accountancy firm from the scratch… My friend chose the latter. With that choice came the endless struggle to make his way up! My friend and I, both, started our respective careers almost simultaneously; and our journeys, of being self-employed professionals, very much resembled. Idealism, dynamism, simplicity, loyalty, commitment, hard-work, passion – everything seemed similar. The kind of households we both came f...

“Those blessings are sweetest that are won with prayer and worn with thanks.”  ―  Thomas Goodwin W hen we ask our near and dear ones to bless our children – when we say ‘Need your blessings’ – do we really believe, that the blessings help our children? Last evening, my friend Tabassum, who, like my wife and me, has only one son, messaged me… “Sir, Mustafa will be leaving for New Zealand tomorrow for higher studies… He needs your prayers and blessings.” Of course, young Mustafa will have my prayers and blessings. I promised my friend, Tabassum, that I would personally meet Mustafa and convey my love, wishes, prayers and blessings. So, this morning, I dropped by for a few minutes at Tabassum’s place. The atmosphere at home was charged with emotions… I could relate to it… Only one son… For over 21 years or so, he was the centre of your galaxy… and, now, the time has come to leave him out of your nest… Yes, the world, today, is not like the o...

A couple of days ago, I was talking to one of my brothers over the phone. This bother of mine lives abroad with his wife and the school-going son. Like all other parents, my brother and his wife too had been struggling with the issues relating to a teenager’s growth, particularly studies. The constant anxiety and silent irritations… these, eventually, either make many of us, parents, either cynical or wise in life… In my brother’s case, thankfully, it has been the latter… It has left them wiser. “It’s all in the family,” my brother said jokingly, “our son is exactly like how we were – a ‘late bloomer’… You know how we found our way, I am sure, he, too, will… He will be a survivor.” I started laughing in joy… How true that was! The only difference between we bothers and our children was: our parents weren’t educated and didn’t have high expectations from us, their children. But, they did remind us, constantly, to study, behave well, be pious… and, then, they lef...