Gerald D'Cunha

I haven’t been to the hallowed shrine of Sai Baba at Shirdi. But, I feel very close and connected to the great mystic. The more I reflect on the kind of life he practiced and preached, the more relevant spirituality and religion seem to me. The same is my feeling about Kabir. The God we hear about in the teachings of Sai Baba of Shirdi and Kabir is formless… And, He doesn’t reside within the confines of temples and mosques… Their God lives in every pore of our being… in every breath we take… and, to experience Him, we need to pull down the walls we have created between us – the Hindus and Muslims, between you and me… “Sab ka Malik Ek Hai"… How loosely we use Sai’s famous words! Is that really so? That, the God that you and I worship is the same? Really? Will I teach it to my children? Will I teach it to my students? “There is a wall of separation between oneself and others and between you and me,” says the great mys...

“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully As they do it from religious conviction.” -      Blaise Pascal I have witnessed the communal riots right since I was a little boy in our home town, Mangalore (now Mangaluru). Our small house was surrounded by families of all major faiths… On the very left lived a staunch Brahmin family, on the very right lived a staunch Christian, a Hindu (GSB) and   a Muslim family. Right behind our house lived many families that belonged to various faiths… Ditto was in the front, across the road… So beautiful this co-existence was, so enriching… This sight still continues to behold us, inspire us! Here in Mumbai, at my age of 62… In my floor, wing and our buildings live people of different faiths… Ditto is in the Society where I hold my classes and house my office… I am the only Christian in this building. But, during these thirty-two years of our co-existence here, none of...