Gerald D'Cunha

  “We’ve got to live no matter how many times the skies have fallen.” D.H. Lawrence   P ain is pain… When there is loss, a tragedy, a calamity (whether manmade or natural) in our personal lives or in our society… anywhere around the world – pain inside us is inevitable. We are not lifeless stones… we bleed, we cry, we grieve… When a dear one dies, I feel the loss, and feel the pain… When Hamas killed helpless citizens in Israel, I felt the anger, pain and helplessness… In retaliation, when Israel has been ruthlessly bombing the innocent citizens in Gaza – hundreds and thousands of them – how can I not feel the same anger, pain and helplessness? Just as one felt when Japan mercilessly bombed the Pearl Harbour… and when, in retaliation, America destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki… Just as one felt when al-qaeda brought down New York’s magnificent Twin-towers,   and, when the consequent mayhem was unleashed by America in Afghanistan and other countries… Just a...

E arly in the morning, today, I had a very delightful – rather painful - sight from my kitchen window…  A family of monkeys – small ones and big ones - was busy climbing down (slipping through the drainage pipes) from the terrace of one of the buildings in the next compound. Visibly, they wanted food… So, they stretched their hands inside the kitchens (through the windows) and took whatever they could get… Obviously, till the people inside the houses came with sticks and shooed the monkeys away. But, the monkeys, being monkeys, kept hopping from one building to another… All that they needed was some food to eat! Some twenty years ago, when our family came to live in this area, it was a virgin place. There was nothing around here…Some locals grew vegetables, and, for miles and miles, one could see only the lush-green trees and hills. Our builder had first invaded this place and built our five buildings… We had difficulty even to reach this place. In a few years...

Pic.: Shreeshay Patel T sunamis come, unannounced. In life, tragedies, too, come the same way – all unannounced! And, when they do, we all are left with the same two options: to go crushing down with them… Or, to rise above them. And, whether we go crushing down – overwhelmed by our fear, sorrow, self-pity and anger, or whether we will rise through the ashes, like a Phoenix, yes, it all depends on how reverently we view our lives… how closely we watch… how blessed and privileged we feel… how grateful, how merciful… and, despite a few tragedies that have come striking our doors… Should my life end with a tragedy which has struck me unannounced? Should I spend the rest of life in sorrow, self-pity, blame or anger? Should I lose my hope… should I give up on life? Or, is there something ‘better’ in store for me… A greater design, a divine purpose? Many times, when tough times come in my life, I see myself reacting with self-pity, blame, ...