Gerald D'Cunha

  “The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.” – Rumi   H ave the stories dried up? Come on… They can never be. There are a hundred stories unfolding before my eyes throughout my day… I want to tell them all in my daily posts. In fact, since I posted my last blog on June 15, so many wonderful things have happened in my life… So many things –- both wonderful and awful –- have happened in the outside world… The football world-cup had some underdog heroes… I started writing stories about them; but, gave up… The deadly earthquake in Venezuela deeply moved me… Tried writing something around it; then, gave up… My first blog book (of the ten-book series) was released at a grand function on June 21… My well-wishers shared images, videos and heaped praises; but, I didn’t post a single image or a word… It’s a mystery, quite frankly, as to what makes me write… A dear old student of mine (62), called some days ago… She was shattered… words wer...

  Sometimes, big trees grow out of acorns… I think, I heard that from a squirrel.” Jerry Coleman   L ittle squirrels are my favourites… They are very inspiring creatures. If you watch them, you will notice how busy they are –- all the time jumping and hopping… all the time collecting acorns -– the little seeds of oak trees … for that matter, seeds of any trees… yes, they gather them, dig holes in the ground and burry so many of them, all over –- to save them for the winter season. But, then, they are known for their forgetfulness… Most of the seeds do not get retrieved by these forgetful squirrels… and, they grow into mighty trees… and, trees grow into gigantic forests… M any years ago, on seeing my relentless acts of writing, publishing them into books and magazines, a gentleman had reminded me of the relentless acts of little squirrels… “They just burry the nuts in the ground and forget about them. The nuts, which are forgetfully left behind, become great trees.”...

“Do you understand the violence it took to become this gentle?” Nitya Prakash   M ore than two decades ago, I had published a book by the title – ‘Why The Sun Burns’. It carried some of my notes, which I had scribbled in my diaries over the years. One such note – passage – was this: “The light doesn’t emerge unless the candle burns; It’s not my wish that I should suffer, to spread a little goodness around.” Anger, hurt, pain – these are very much present in our lives. No matter how sagely you may find me from outside, that’s not what I am inside. Inside, yes, inside this mountain, there is burning lava... waiting to be exploded... and, now and then, it does... But, anger is like the poison a cobra is blessed with. Did I say, ‘blessed with’? Yes Sir, I did say that... The presence of poison and the presence of anger inside us – both make us who we are. The cobra doesn’t go on a rampage, just because, there is poison inside its head... Likewise, you and I do...

  “A story, to me, means a plot where there is some surprise. Because, this is how life is – full of surprises.” Isaac Bashevis Singer   “B e careful”… “Take care”… “Sambhalke ”… these and many similar expressions have become a part of our daily vocabulary. Invariably, we use   all of them to express our love, care and concern for our loved ones. But, every day, as we step out into this world, you and I know, that we have these two options before us: We can either step out harbouring more trust and love in our hearts, or more distrust and hate. Thus, we have a choice - either to stretch our two hands in embrace, or cross them tightly against our chests in self-protection… Mercifully, knowing fully well, that this world and its people aren’t perfect, most of us do choose to walk out with our two hands stretched in embrace… harbouring more trust and fear in our hearts… Yes, everybody out there is not a crook – he or she is not there conspiring against us, tr...

  “Tears are words that need to be written.” Paulo Coelho   A while ago, I happened to meet this woman, who asked me, “How’s your health?” “Good… No complaints,” I responded without even blinking. The woman smiled as though to tell: “You are right… After all, complain to whom?” All is seldom good in life… There are a thousand problems to complain about… But, then, who do you complain to? I find myself, particularly since last night, saying repeatedly this simple prayer: “Thank you Lord… Help me Lord… Sorry Lord.” The woman, who asked me, ‘How’s your health?”, I am sure, has several challenges in life, including her own health issues or of those near and dear to her. Still, she asked me, with all her sincerity, “How’s your health?” (She knew about my health crisis and major surgeries I had undergone seven years ago.) “Why me?”… This comes from sadness - our self-pity and blame… I have asked this enough number of times, and, now, stopped asking it… “Thy w...

    “The cause of poverty is not scarcity, it’s fear and small thinking.” Alan Cohen W e find the poorest of the souls, often, sitting on the mightiest of the thrones, or owning largest ‘wealth’ on this planet… Poverty is a state of mind… the state of lack of love and gratitude towards life and people around… Be it Donald Trump, or be it Elon Musk… These guys are nowhere near the treasure called ‘Love’… The more they crave to sit on the thrones, the less secure they feel. Forget about their outlandish dreams and promises to make the Nation, or Life, great… “Enough is abundance to the wise,” said Euripides… People who are consumed with the ambition to conquer the world – yes, they will never understand… what ‘enough’ is! The Bible… Sorry, why do they need help from ‘the Manger and the Cross’ to woo people - to place them on thrones? Jesus Christ, Gautama Buddha, Shirdi ka Sai Baba, Mahatma Gandhi – were they ‘poor’ souls? Did they suffer from insecurity? T here ...

  “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” A.A. Milne T he Google Maps – the live directions – have made driving, searching, finding and reaching easy… na? It seems, we all have put ourselves on an autopilot mode… Just tell “Google dear, take me here, and take me there… Alexa darling, play this for me, and that for me… and, now, with mind-blowing AI at our fingertips, we do not have to think at all… Are we thinking: Just some years ago, when there were no calculators or computers – how complicated our life was…Na? No pun intended, perhaps?   I think, the technology has to only help us do things faster, while it should not rob us of our powers – to think fresh, take risks, be curious, find alternatives, learn from our mistakes, trust self and trust people around, teamwork, and above all, to stay alert, agile and young… As the old saying goes about money, even technology should be a great servant – never a bad master… ...

“None can destroy iron, but its own rust can. Likewise, none can destroy a person,   but his own his own mindset can.” Ratan Naval Tata   F ollowing the demolition of Babri Masjid (on 6 th December, 1992), communal riots broke out in Mumbai (Bombay) and destroyed the delicate social fabric of brotherhood… Scores of lives were lost and crores of rupees, too… Communal clashes are clashes between two communities – who follow two different faiths. But, imagine, you and I burning down each other’s homes, killing each other’s families, looting, raping, lynching – imagine getting reduced to such levels, just because we are instigated against one another… It's the worst form of living… The darkest form of worship! The communal riots had left so many citizens, who truly loved the secular spirit of this city, deeply moved.   Mr. Ratan Tata, who was young and energetic then, wrote a moving piece in a leading English daily – visibly shaken and saddened. From my s...