Gerald D'Cunha

  “Learn character from trees, values from roots,   and change from leaves.” Tasneern Harneed   W hen I was a kid in our native village, we had thick jungles around… lots of trees, ponds, hills and streams. As a young boy, I don’t remember harboring a dream of living in such a setting – in the woods surrounded by trees, ponds, hills and streams. Yes, like other young kids, I, too, yearned to go away to a big city like Bombay and live in this concrete jungle… To my grandparents, eating on banana or teakwood leaves, cooking food in earthen pots, and drinking with cups made of mud or coconut shells – yes, this was the normal way of life, a bare necessity. But, here in these big cities, eating on banana or teakwood leaves, cooking in earthen pots, or drinking with cups made of mud or   coconut shells – isn’t a bare necessity, anymore. But, if we do it consciously -   eat on banana or teakwood leaves, cook in earthen pots, or drink in cups made of mud or ...

  “Teachers can change lives   with just   the right mix of chalk and challenges.” Joyce Meyer I see many young students around me – mostly between the age 16 and 20 – who teach other students. They remind me of my own early-teaching days. I was in F.Y. B.Com… I was weak in studies… extremely self-conscious and full of self-doubts. I was scared of revealing myself… and, I was worried about my future. Against such a backdrop, I remember watching my teacher, the legendary Prof. B. S. Raman (St. Aloysius College, Mangalore) and waking up to a dream: to be a fine teacher and writer like him (He had written every Commerce textbook). He taught us for three years… and, without talking to him even a single word – one-on-one – he was able to unleash that dream in me… That’s the beginning of my self-belief, self-confidence and self-responsibility. I was so consumed by that dream, that I found myself teaching some of my friends after the college hours… When they said, “Ger...

No, my wife and I could not watch ‘Vishwaroop’ last evening. The show had already started, and the next was too late. So, we booked our tickets for the morning show today. A blessing in disguise… We saved money, you see! We loved the movie… essentially because of the action, the stunning visuals and of course, Kamal Haasan. I, particularly, loved this movie for one more reason. It is Sunday, today… The movie had caused a lot of noise in Tamilnadu. So, maybe for that reason, or maybe it is a Kamal Haasan ‘filam’ – the multiplex where we watched this movie had plenty of Tamilians – the young, the middle-aged and even the elderly. Next to me, was a young Tamilian-couple. They reminded me of the way we watched our Raj Kumar Kannada-movies in Mangalore! There was this theatre by the name ‘Ramakanti’… which screened exclusively ‘Tamil’ films. I have some explosive memories of watching here some Tamil blockbusters – starred by MGR and Shivaji Ganeshan. Th...