Gerald D'Cunha

Pic.: Amrita Jeurkar I t is more than a month now since our young-ones started attending this PD course. One of the most common concerns of all parents is the conflict with heir young children at home. That’s the concern of the young-ones, too. There is conflict at home… loud arguments, anger, frustration and sulking. Parents complain that their young children do not listen to them, they are insensitive. The children, on the other hand, think that their parents do not understand their feelings, they are insensitive. So, to help reduce this conflict, I make them speak on the subject, both, on stage and in GD’s. “When you go out with your friends, particularly at night, if parents want to know – where you go, why you go, with whom you go and at what time you will be back, is it fair on their part to do so… Or, is it too much of controlling?” I asked our young-ones to discuss in the GD, today. I was impressed with what I heard. Though, almost all of them voi...

  It was 1993. A few weeks after the infamous Mumbai-Bomb-blasts, we had received a short letter written my Merlyn, a young British-lady. She had seen the gruesome images of mayhem in this city and she had expressed her genuine concern for us and written to my wife, “I hope, all of you are safe.” Just a few weeks before that, I had taken my wife and our just-a-baby son to the beautiful Keem beach, not very far from Mumbai. MTDC has resorts here; we loved the quietness of this place, the excellent food and, above all, the stay in those close-to-the-Nature tents. We had gone there just for a week-end. But, because we loved this place, we decided to extend our stay for a day more. So, by that Sunday evening, the entire place was empty… The Mumbai revelers go there just for a short week-end to re-charge their batteries…and, they go back to the city so that they can resume to work on Monday. That Sunday, when night fell, we looked around… We suddenly felt we were...

All of us are concerned about the safety of our dear and near ones. We express our concern in many ways. “Take care,” is a very, very common phrase we use, time and time again, to do that. I do it every day, so many times… and for so many dear people in my life. Some months ago, a very dear young-student of mine was travelling alone to Pune. When the bus started, she sent me a sms saying that the journey had just begun . She was very excited to travel by the Expressway and all alone, particularly.  “Take care,” I instantly replied, “Be careful with the strangers.” “Don’t worry sir,” the young one quickly consoled me, “I am sitting next to an elderly lady!” I sent a smiley to this dear student of mine. But, behind that smiling face, hid a little bit of my embarrassment. “How much protective we are! How low is our trust level!” I wondered. But then, I also felt a lot happy for what I had done and said to this dear one, so spontaneously. I meant well for her...