Gerald D'Cunha

  Is it ‘Aaj baap buddha ho gaya, or, is it ‘Aaj beta bada ho gaya’?   I keep saying, that, to me, the need to write something every day is like the need to breathe every moment! So, whenever some of my friends do not see my Blogs, for a week or so, they get worried: “Is everything alright?” they check. I had posted my last Blog on 5 th August… Today is 15 th . Was everything alright at my end? How could I survive without writing – without breathing? Our only son, Kenrick, got engaged to his long-time love Nishta (we call her fondly, Nina) on 12 th of August. There was a small engagement ceremony with a few family members and friends. These are still Covid times… Hence, it had to be short and simple… Very intimate. During the days of preparation for this special day, one night, I got up and penned something very intimate and profound for the young couple… I poured my heart and within half a night, I came out with a small book…   I named it - ‘August Rings’! ...

A 16-year-old boy, by the name Aarya, called me up, last afternoon. He wanted to join our ongoing Personality Development course. He said, “Sir, can you give me all the details so that I can discuss them with my parents?” I gave Aarya all the details, and, within the next two hours, his mother called me up. “Sir, my husband and I will come along with Aarya tomorrow morning at 9 to enroll him. Is that fine?” “Perfectly fine, ma’am,” I said. Today. Sharp at 9, Aarya - a lean-and-tall boy who has just given his tenth-standard Board-exams – was here in my office accompanied by his parents. This was a different experience for me, today. Normally, the parents ask me a dozen questions, like: “Sir, what do you teach in PD?”… “How do you go about it?”… “Will they be confident after the course?”… “Do you take out fear from them?”… “What about English - Will they be fluent… Will you teach them good vocabulary and diction?”… “Will they be ‘perfect’?... “Do you gi...

“G uru, kaise ho?” It is Shripad, checking about my well-being? “Mein teek hun chela… Tum kaise ho?” “Ek baat puchna tha, Guru…” “Puchlo chela…” This is how our typical conversation goes… Shripad Ragunathan came in my life the way Raghav (Nana Patekar) came in the life of Jay (John Abraham) in the heart-warming movie - ‘Taxi No 9211’! It was 2006, the start of academic year. Shripad was about to start his T.Y. B.Com. One morning, his mother called me up and said, “Sir, I want my son, Shripad, to join your class. Can my husband and I come and talk to you?” The next morning, Shripad’s parents came to meet me. I learnt, that Shripad was their only child and was a ‘differntly-abled special-child.’… that, he was excellent in his self-confidence and speech but had difficulty writing, grasping and socially gelling. He took a lot of time to write and his handwriting was not coherent and legible… His mother, right from hi...