Gerald D'Cunha

Pic.: Aparna Khanolkar Sheth T wo days ago, I had been to the Times Litfest, which was being held at Mehboob Studios, in Bandra. In one of the halls, two lady-authors were doing the reading from their newly-published books. When my wife and I walked in, the session was half-way through. We had not checked about names of the authors or their books before walking in. So, for quite a while, we sat there inside, clueless as to who they were! Then, the clue happened! During the question-answer session, a middle-aged lady from the audience stood up to tell one of the authors how impressed and inspired she was by the unbelievable simplicity shown by the particular lady-author. “Your dad was our Prime Minister for a decade… Yet, I can’t believe one can be as simple as you are!” “My God, she is Dr. Manmohan Singh’s daughter!”  Both my wife and I were now shaking our heads in pleasant disbelief, too… Ms. Daman Singh, daughter of our two-term P.M., Dr. Manmohan S...

I still remember a line my mom used to deploy to discourage us, her little sons, from judging others. As kids, judging and passing a loose, critical comment about others came casually to most kids. We were no exception. But, every time our mom found us passing any loose comment about someone – his mistakes, misconduct or misdeeds – our mom would promptly remind us to mind our own. Yes, our own mistakes, misconduct or misdeeds. “He will give account (before God) for his conduct. You mind your own,” she would counsel. Even today, like everyone else, judging, commenting and being critical of someone else’s mistakes, misconduct or misdeeds comes automatically to me. But, before I indulge much in it, my mom’s counsel comes to my rescue: “He will give account (before God) for his conduct; you mind your own!” Sometimes, I wonder as to why this tendency in me to underline others’ faults and misdeeds… when I very well know that I have enough of my own. I also ...