Gerald D'Cunha

“The great thing about social media is that it gives everyone a voice. But, the trouble is, it’s, often, a very loud voice.” -      Mark Zuckerberg W hile in college, I remember going to a particular restaurant (in my hometown, Mangalore) to enjoy the tea served there in the white cups. Somehow, that memory has stayed etched in my mind even after fifty years. I think, like this, each one of us has some soft memory spots… Here in Mumbai, after my Sunday Tai Chi session, a friend of mine and I go for a simple cup of tea served in those white cups… Ah, that simple pleasure… those quiet old memories… and, above all, the peace in being anonymous in, otherwise, noisy world around! This morning, I was amused to see a young man capturing his chai moment for his social media status. As I knew him and was connected with him on social media, I smiled when I saw his broadcast soon: “What a delight!” While I am no one to judge this young man –- or any of those who pos...

  “Stillness is the language God speaks, and all else is a bad translation.” — Eckhart Tolle   I met this doctor friend of mine after many years when I rejoined the Tai Chi classes. He is a gentle soul; and his presence and speech, always, have a   calming effect on me. Every Sunday morning, after our Tai Chi session, we both sit in a nearby Mani’s restaurant for a simple cup of tea… During those few minutes there, we discuss anything that is simple and light… But, I don’t know if what we discussed this morning was simple and light… One of the relatives of my doctor friend (Age 56) is at a terminal stage of cancer. She and her husband have come (from Dubai) to stay at the residence of my doctor friend for undergoing Chemotherapy in one of the hospitals in Mumbai. “Presence of loved ones around can help the recovery process,” I said. “That’s true,” said my friend, “However, one can be lonely even when surrounded by several loved ones around. Inner issues ne...

  “Walking is the exact balance between spirit and humility.” Gary Snyder   S rinath Shetty was my student when he was doing his T.Y. B.Com some 38 years ago. He came from a working-class family with zero business background. But, being a disciplined and determined young man, he went about acquiring one of the chemical factories his uncle had built… and, from there, he never looked back. Yesterday, Srinath and his wife Neeta had organized a puja to celebrate the house warming of their new abode… It’s a massive mansion with more than 4,000 S.F. From the 23 rd floor height, the large windows treated the beholders’ eyes to some of the breathtaking expanse… One could stand there and get immersed in the stunning silence, feeling small… I said – ‘Feeling small’… I expressed my joy and gratitude in a message I had typed on my way back home… Such an exclusive spread of delicacies… and such genuine warmth. Srinath had worked hard to deserve this height –- literally –- thr...

  “Extraordinary things are always hiding in places people never think to look.” Jodi Picoult   T his morning, while our teacher was guiding us through the meditative Tai Chi session (online), I suddenly became aware of my breath… my heart… my lungs… my spleen… my liver… and, my kidneys!  I am 63… I have been knowing about the role my breath and these organs played in my life. I have been writing about them – particularly the heart and breath – in my writings, so often. Still, this morning, when our Tai Chi teacher guided us to rub rigorously our palms, and place them gently over each of these important organs of our body –   heart, lungs, spleen, liver and kidneys… to feel their presence, to thank them profusely… to caress them with the smiling, loving and healing energy of the Mother Nature… yes, as I was doing it, this morning, with a striking awareness, I could see an overwhelming feeling in my being… Breath felt anew… Heart felt childlike… Spleen...

  “Earth provides enough to satisfy  every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” Mahatma Gandhi   J ust outside our building window, the developer of this building has bought and reserved a sizable plot of land to raise another tower… Probably as tall as this one (16-storeyed), or even more. It’s more than fifteen years, the plot remains vacant. But, he has secured it from all sides by fencing it with tall metal-sheets. From the fifth-floor glass-window of our tower, I get a clear view of what is going on inside that reserved parcel of land… When monsoon comes, the wild vegetation grows on its own, almost as tall as a two-storeyed building… I know snakes have come there to build their home… When monsoon goes, and seasons change to winter, then to summer, the vegetation dies out on its own, and you can see the little grass struggling to survive here and there, the plants dried out and fallen, which once stood tall as strong towers… Now, one can see there half-...

  “It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” Roy Disney   S ometime before the pandemic broke out, my wife and I had been for our annual Tai Chi camp at Lonavala. As it happens at every such camp, this time, too, we got to meet and become friends with many wonderful fellow-learners. One such person was a senior faculty in an engineering college in Mumbai. During the course of our discussion, she narrated to some of us an incident in her teaching career. Apparently, one of the students of our new friend was caught indulging in unfair practice during his exams. Consequently, he was failed. Being the faculty directly in charge, one night, she found at her door the student accompanied by his father. It seemed, that the family was well-placed financially and fairly educated, too. The house visit was to persuade the faculty-in-charge to ‘do something’ and promote the young man. But, our professor-friend, tried her best to explain to the son and t...

“A huge part of recovery and life is slowing down and accepting the unknown. This is how you get to know yourself.” -       Brittany Burgunder I don’t like wars… But, I like war stories… war movies. Last night, I watched, with my wife and son the English movie ‘1917’, in one of the theaters. It’s a movie no one should miss… “So beautiful”! And, isn’t it so ironical when I have to say ‘So beautiful’ to describe a movie on war? It is… Wars - and needless to say the World Wars - are ugly and destructive. But, through the stories of this ugliness and destructiveness, the human race is able to appreciate, value and pursue beauty and peace. That’s what makes ‘Bhagavad Gita’ so priceless… Yes, such a priceless gem has come right in the midst of an ugly and destructive war! In life, we need such contrasts, such ironies… to help us value life itself! “M y net worth is now zero.” When I read...