Gerald D'Cunha

  “Valentine’s Day is the poet’s holiday.” Ted Koosner   E ven the all-mighty and omnipresent Google has turned pink this morning… Love is in the air, you see. Frankly, when I was in college, back home, I hadn’t heard about this ‘Love Day’. But, by the time I landed   in this big city – that’s some 43 years ago - it had already spread all over the world. When I heard my young students wishing each other (including their teachers) – ‘A Happy Valentine’s Day’ – yes, that’s when I realized, that when things are air-bore, they spread very, very fast. That’s also the time, I first began to grasp the meaning of the saying, “Jab jaago tab sabera”… Love was always in the air… I was just waking up to smell it! W hether the idea of celebrating this day as the “Valentine’s Day is a desi one or a videsi one – I really don’t care. It makes almost all of us feel a little high today. And, I think, that’s something nice… Thank God, they have dropped the idea of hugging the...

                                                     “Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin Dance me through the panic ‘til I’m gathered safely in” (From the song ‘Dance Me to the End of Love’ by Leonard Cohen)    T wo days ago, I saw some beautiful pictures shared by a friend of mine on FB. She was sharing with us the joyful moment of her son’s wedding. Like everyone else did, I, too, sent my greetings: “Congratulations! May the young couple grow closer and closer in love and stay blessed in married life.” On the same day, it was time to wish a very dear overseas-couple in our family. It was their 21 st wedding anniversary. I sent this song: “Many, many more years of ‘ Aur Ahista’ to both of you,” I wrote. What did I mean by ‘Many more years of ‘Aur Ahista’ ? O ne of the most painful things in a married life is to...

“Perhaps the crescent Moon smiles in doubt at being told that it is a fragment awaiting perfection.” Rabindranath Tagore T he Waxing Moon – the Moon moving from the New Moon to the Full Moon – is a delightful sight to behold. Though I love to behold the Crescent Moon in both its avatars – that is, when it is waxing and waning both – the sight which inspires me the most is when it is waxing… moving from the New Moon to  the Full Moon. In Astrology, it is believed, that the Waxing Moon period - the 14-day period during which the Moon moves upward from its infancy – is the time for spells that attract positive change, love, good luck and growth. It’s also believed, that this is the time for new beginnings, to conceive ideas, and invoke blessings. I have never analyzed this belief, though. Yes, the Waxing Moon has always fascinated me ever since I remember. I have found it not only inspiring… I have found it very, very romantic, too! “See the Moon,” my wife t...

Pic.: Tess Alexander/Bridget Babu “To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.” -  David Viscott T hey were showing ‘Ashiqui – 2’ on TV last night. When my wife, accidentally surfed on it, almost three-fourth of the movie was over. Something attracted her attention, and she chose to watch whatever was left. And, soon, I joined her... Well, both my wife and I hadn’t seen the movie earlier despite it receiving so many good reviews and awards, both for film and music. So, if I say, here, that, ‘Ashiqui- 2’ was a ‘Love story’, you know what a review would my observation would receive! But, if I say, here, that Love stories never end? That, they appeal to all ages? That, at heart, we all are ‘Ashiquies’ – lovers? That, each one of us has a love story, which can be made into a great movie? That, there is so much sweetness and sourness packed in everyone’s story? That, the feeling of being in love is the greatest feeling of all?...

Pic.: Mehul Bhuva “Love, Romance and Sex – these are our natural, positive emotions… Maintain their sanctity. When you blend these three emotions, a mighty force is born. Through marriage and intimacy,  you give a physical outlet to this force. However, if you learn to transmute this force into the work you do, You will see miracles… the birth of a genius.” L ove is the most beautiful of all human emotions. And romantic love is, in deed, romantic! If God Himself couldn’t see Adam feeling lonely in the lovely Eden Garden, and if He had desired man to be happy and fulfilled in the love and company of a woman – which had prompted Him to create Eve - then, romantic love has to be divine. It is blessed by God Himself! Intimate love, is intended to be very, very sacred… It is intended to be respected, honored, celebrated and cherished. It comes with great responsibility. If romantic love has to en...

I watched, today, the movie – ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’. Both my wife and I loved the movie, immensely. This Post is not about this romantic movie… but, about that young-man, who at 80, conceived it, directed it and produced it… And, who died… with his boots on! It is about man’s passions and dreams. It is about believing in your heart… and pouring it in your work… It is about remaining young and romantic till there is breath in your soul! So, a few questions have still not ceased haunting me even after hours of coming out of the theatre: Do our hearts age? Does the flame of romance remain aglow in all of us till there is breath of life? Did Mr. Yash Chopra has a premonition of his death? Was the title – ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ – supposed to be for Yashji’s life, rather than for his movie? I admire men and women who live passionately till the end of their life… Who keep doing things they deeply believe in… Who remain eternall...

If love has to be special, tomorrow – on 14 th of Feb, it has to be, first, special... today!  I do not know what a Valentine Day means! And, at 53 – and after twenty-one long years of my marriage, I am still trying to figure out what Love is! Yes, what LOVE is! My wife’s cousin Sunita and her wonderful husband, Benjamin , had got married twenty-five years ago… on -  what the whole world raves about as a -  'Valentine Day’. They celebrated their Silver Jubilee yesterday (for everyone’s convenience)… and, as I had told in one of my earlier posts, I was to raise the toast for this amazing couple.  Fr. Donald, the young and dynamic Priest, is a very close and dear relative of Sunita. Last evening, he celebrated the Mass in the serene ambience of that beautiful chapel in Andheri. Father never made us feel that it was a Mass… Instead, he made us feel that we were there to celebrate, to witness, something so special. It is only against ...

L ondon must be the land of young hearts! Yesterday, the evergreen hero of Bollywood, Dev Anand, Passed away there… He was just 88! Some months ago, the legendary painter, M.F. Husain, Too died there. He was only 95! And, both these maestros lived like teens Till they gave out their last breath… They dreamed big dreams… young and childlike dreams; They loved life… the bright and vibrant side of it; Their hearts remained tender, romantic And untouched by the weariness of the passing time… Yes, Dev Anand and M.F. Husain, Both, died with twinkle in their eyes, Boots on their feet… And romance in their hearts! And, they, both, died in London… The land of young hearts. Age is only in the mind… Age is only for the body… The mind becomes tired and the body gets wrinkles… But, the heart – the heart of a zestful soul – Plays forever like the little kids do, Sings forever the way the teens do. My heart doesn’t age… If it did...