Gerald D'Cunha

  “The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.” Dalai Lama   T here are a thousand rituals, which, as a Roman Catholic, I have followed all my life. Those of you, who do not know who Roman Catholics are, let me tell you this: They are not Romans… It only means, the Pope and our Religious HQ, are situated in Rome… Yes, it’s unbelievable to think, that the same Roman empire ruled over many countries, including Israel, while Jesus Christ was alive… Pontius Pilate, who ordered of Jesus’s nailing on the cross, was a Roman Governor… The soldiers, who brutally tortured Jesus, were Roman soldiers, the infamous ‘persecution’ of the first-century Christians was unleashed by Roman emperor, who had vowed to nip the Christianity in the bud… And, that’s why, when you see, how Rome, in time, became the epicenter of Christian faith and its followers came to be called ‘Roman Catholics’ – yes, it sounds stranger than fiction! I was trying to tell you, tha...

  “A river cuts through rock not because of its power, but because of its persistence.” Jim Watkins   I love rivers… They are very, very inspiring. Whenever we see a deep, serene river, we, often, forget how, hundreds of miles away, they originate. Invariably, they originate as violent, fierce waterfalls somewhere in mighty mountains…   and, from there,   they flow down, making their way all through, till they join the oceans. If you try to stop them, they make new way to reach their destinations. But, river being a river, it has to flow constantly; it has to persist… It has to join the ocean… I love this story about every river. You and I – generations after generations – may come and go… while these rivers keep flowing. “D id you go for the Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj?”         No, I didn’t. But, several of my friends did. Almost all of them are back and have resumed their daily grind… What about the ‘change’? I mean...

  “Everything in life is speaking in spite of its apparent silence.” Hazrat Inayat Khan   T he Sufi teacher’s quote above reminds us, that God listens through only one language – silence… Yes, everything in life is speaking, in   spite of its apparent silence. Hebrew, Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic – and a thousand other languages - may help us to pray, chant or sing. But, to me, the language God connects the most is our profound silence… L ast weekend, my wife and I had attended a wedding at one of the resorts in Karjat. The couple, who were hosting their son’s wedding, belonged to Bori community. The guests belonged to varied communities… different religions, languages, food habits, customs and culture. What was impressive was the connect we all felt while we participated in this family’s happy occasion… What mattered the most was the quiet human thread that connected all of us. That night, we and our three other dear couples, stayed at another nearby farm house ...

  “We will be judged by, ‘I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was naked, and you clothed me; I was homeless, and you took me in’.” Mother Teresa   F rom Richard Attenborough’s movie, ‘Gandhi’, two powerful scenes come to my mind… First scene: One of Gandhi’s most faithful followers - an English woman associated with his work for a long time – one day, in his Ashram, expresses her deep wish to be converted into Hinduism. Bapu’s response takes my breath away… “You do not deed to convert yourself into a Hindu,” he tells her, “You just need to become a better Christian.” The second scene: It involves, once again, a young Christian priest, an English man, who has been deeply inspired by the ideals of Gandhiji. He mentions these ideals in one of his Sunday sermons in the church… We see some hardened men and women walking out. Apparently, they have come to church to hear what Jesus said two thousand years ago, not what this ‘coloured man’ (by all yardsticks, m...

“I close my eyes, in order to see.” Paul Gauguin I love stories from The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The Bible and almost every Holy Book. My earliest impression of some of these stories goes back to my primary-school days. Ours was a local village-school. But, the teachers in our school knew to recount these tales with vibrant imagery. About the stories from the Bible – both, The Old and The New Testament – yes, we had our Sunday-school teachers, who, too, relayed those stories with life! Therefore, those stories are still alive, not just in our minds, but, also, in our hearts. Thank God, we kids grew up appreciating stories from the Holy Books of all faiths. I feel, truly, blessed about this fact. Ours was a mixed neighbourhood...   Hindus, Muslims and Christians, all. As a kid, I remember spending a lot of my play time in Hindu households, who used to have on their walls those large-size colourful calendars of Hindu deities. I, particularly, remember getti...

“Grace is the free, undeserved goodness and favour of God to mankind.” Matthew Henry A dear friend of mine, who never forgets to wish me on my birthday, sounded a bit anxious, this morning (23 rd July). “Was your b’day yesterday, or is it tomorrow?” she messaged me to check, “Hope, I haven’t missed it.” “Don’t worry, you haven’t missed it,” I calmed my friend down, “It’s tomorrow.” “Thank God,” my friend said with a sigh of relief, “I will call you tomorrow.” “L ive as if there is no tomorrow.” Often, this line is used in a negative sense… If one lives carelessly, this line suits him. In Goa, such a casual and laid-back attitude to life is called ‘ Susegad ’… ‘Khao, piyo, maja karo’ ! But, what about Pumbaa and Timon’s African philosophy - ‘Hakuna Matata’, in the movie ‘The Lion King’? Is it an attitude of being ‘careless’ or ‘carefree’? Have I been, predominantly, ‘careless’ in my life, or ‘carefree’? I really do not know… But, one ...

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein M y wife and I are presently staying at my in-laws' place because of the lockdown. Today, early in the morning, my 85-year-old father-in-law asked me about a Mother Mary shrine near Mangalore. “Today is the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel,” he said. I was clueless about both, the feast and the Mount Carmel shrine which my father-in-law was talking about. It was 6.30 in the morning… He had already finished saying his prayers! A couple of hours later, Jennifer, my cousin, sent to me this picture: She wrote, “Remembering Sr. Leo who used to give us these scapulars every time she visited us.” Sr. Leo was my aunt. She and Jennifer’s mom (Mary) were both my dad’s younger sisters. Sr. Leo (Cecil, her real name) was a Carmelite nun. She was one of the calmest souls we had known. Whenever she visited...

“There is always more goodness in the world than there appears to be, because, goodness, by its very nature, is modest and retiring.” Evelyn Beatrice Hall T o me, it’s nearly four months inside my house. I hadn’t just stepped out of door. Just yesterday, early in the morning, I stepped out, along with my wife, to take a few breaths of fresh air, and, yes, a few walking steps… It felt as though I was learning to walk again, and breathe again! But, I was sternly instructed by my wife and son, not to touch anything, including my own nose and mouth (which, anyway, were hidden behind my mask), not to sit anywhere. And, as soon as we were home, went all my clothes into the washing machine… and, after my heart settled down, went I for a bath! “What a horrible way to live!” that’s my honest reaction, “I was angry and frustrated for a while!” M any of you may be thinking, that I am a very positive, very zestful person. You’re wrong! I experience eve...