Gerald D'Cunha

A n aunt of my mom – mom’s mom’s sister – was brought to Bombay, by one of her uncles, when she was barely 11. So, as years rolled by, she lost contact with her family in Mangalore. Her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren all got disconnected with their relatives in hometown. Recently, one of mom’s cousins, from this particular family branch, got in touch with me. He was very keen to reconnect with all his relatives from my mom’s side. Thus, we decided to meet here at my place, last week. Mr. Frank Furtado is my mom’s cousin’s name. He is in his seventies… but is good-looking and healthy. We both felt very happy meeting each other. He had many interesting stories to share with me; all of them he had heard from his mother when she was alive… “Call me Frank,” my mom’s cousin told me during the course of our conversation… I was addressing him as ‘Sir’. “Well, that won’t be possible for me, Sir,” I sincerely confessed, “It’s not in my nature to c...

T here was this young ninth-standard girl, who attended a few P.D. sessions a year ago. She was going through a very low phase at that time… She hated being treated as a ‘slow learner’ in school… She thought she was ‘normal’, but her teachers and authorities felt she was ‘not normal’. It was her parents, particularly the mother, who – like Edison’s mother did – refused to accept the ‘validation certificate’ of the teachers and school authorities… “We know our child better than anyone else does,” asserted the parents, “we shall see that our child grows up confident and compassionate.” Two days ago, I received a phone call from the young girl. “Sir, just wanted to share with you my joy… I got 91% in ICSE tenth.” I was happy for the girl. I had not taught her any of her subjects… All that I had done was to help her through our few P.D. sessions. “Sir, I can never forget those sessions in my life,” the young lady said, “You came at the right time in my life… You put m...