Gerald D'Cunha

  “Find your rhythm in the grind.” From the movie ‘Rocky’   T his year, Silvester Stallone turns 80, and his cult movie – ‘Rocky’ turns 50… I turn 68… I haven’t become a legend like Stallone. It’s said, that during his struggling days, he had to sell his dearest dog for a few dollars, to survive in Philadelphia. Once he made millions of dollars when his movie ‘Rocky’ became a super hit, the first thing Stallone did was, that he bought back his favourite dog… In my struggling days, here in this big city of Bombay, I had to sell my favourite possession –- a Citizen watch (gifted by my elder brother) -- for hundred rupees. But, even though I could afford to buy a nice watch once I started earning, I decided not to wear a watch at all… Much later, I would learn about another struggler, who had arrived much before I did, here in this city. M. F. Husain’s paintings were sold for crores of rupees. But, to keep the memory of his struggling days alive, he had decided neve...

  “The toughest opponent you’re ever going to have to face is in the mirror.” Rocky Balboa S ince last evening, I must’ve watched this video, at least, half-a-dozen times…  And, let me confess: I did so for Pete Seeger! Pete Seeger was 90 when he was pumping life into that mammoth crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C, in Jan., 2009. It was at the inaugural concert of Barack Obama’s first Presidency. I bet, almost the entire crowd was made up of people around a quarter or a third of Pete's age! During his lifetime, about two dozen Presidential inaugurals came and went, two devastating World Wars exploded, apart from many more wars his country plunged into… He lived through the Great Depression… the Cults and the Isms, the Godliness and the Godlessness… And, through it all, he survived with his songs and music… Yes, I watched the video – ‘This Land Is Your land, and This Land Is My Land’ - just for Pete Seeger, the Legend… Yes, I prayed, as I watched it ov...

A few hours ago, one of my dear ex-students, and now a dear friend, Vikas, called me. “Sir, I ‘finally’ cleared ‘it’… I am a ‘full’ CA now!” Vikas is a truly hard-working student. He has a razor-sharp and practical bent of mind… His grip on technology is praiseworthy… He has been working for a CA firm, where he is immensely liked by his boss… He already has several clients whose IT and GST returns he files. Yet, for Vikas, the road to Chartered Accountancy was not a smooth ride by a chartered plane… It was tough, hard and long! Students, much below his caliber, have become Chartered Accountants with less struggle and frustration… Some of them, even, in the very first attempt! “That’s luck,” I hear some reasoning out... Maybe. But, I have known Vikas for too long a time. So, I, always, felt bad for him. Every time, he would tell me, “Sir, I couldn’t clear, this time, too,” my heart would bleed from inside… “Is it worth all that frustr...

T he strength of one’s character is tested in tough times… and not when everything seems smooth and fine. When chips are down, when people around you accuse you despite being good and gentle… when they desert you while you need them the most - some of them who you trusted the most, who you helped the most and, even, gave your neck to, staking your life and reputation - yes, when these people around you make you feel lonely in times of your crisis, Life reveals who you are… your character! “Life is not a bed of roses,” in school, most of us wrote essays on this topic. But, at that age, we had hardly touched life, the real life. In a way, Life was a bed of roses for most of us, when we were young kids. It was only when we began to walk out into the real world, that we began to sense how it really was outside… You may find that people are selfish… They may not be loyal to you all the way… They may even turn into your enemies when you expect it the least… You may find...