Gerald D'Cunha

  “When God is at the center of your life, you worship; When He’s not, you worry.” Rick Warren S ome days ago, I was sitting with a young couple. In the course of our discussion, they were describing to me about how the conflict between Israel and Arabs had originated. The couple was in the early thirties, and I was amazed by the ‘knowledge’ they possessed. They sounded very authentic in their knowledge about different religions, particularly Judaism (Religion of Jews), Christianity and Islam… I suddenly felt how unaware I was about my own religion for all these years and still claimed myself as a ‘Christian’.  So, that evening, I just remained quiet and listened to this young couple… After the couple left, I was asking to myself: “Do we need to ‘know’ all such things in order to ‘know’ God?” I was not asking this to defend myself or justify my lack of knowledge on historical facts about my own or my fellow-beings’ religions. I was asking this question to make sure...

  “He who has no Christmas in his heart, will never find it under a Tree.” Roy L. Smith’s L ast night, a dear friend of mine, a Sikh by faith, who lives in London, shared with me the picture of a beautiful Christmas tree decorated by her two teenager girls… “Our Christmas Tree”, my friend captioned it warmly. Well, the Christmas Tree hadn’t come up, yet, at our place. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” I consoled myself. “He who has no Christmas in his heart, will never find it under a Tree,” I reminded myself with Roy L. Smith’s words. I am inspired by Christmas season. More than that, I am incredibly inspired by Jesus Christ’s life. But, then, as I became an adult, my idea of Christmas has undergone a sea-change. The hype and hoopla and the utterly humble crib, to me, look a complete contrast. In my mind, and in my heart, I prefer to remember Jesus Christ quietly… Yes, with least glitter. “Come on,” many times, I hear my friends and relatives saying. A lot of preparation goes ...

“The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance.” -       Benjamin Franklin       M y first memories about the revered Udupi Sri Krishna temple roll back to my primary-school days in Mangalore. Udupi, as many may know, is a stone-throw away from Mangalore (Now, Mangaluru). We had a story called ‘Kanakana Kindi’ in our text book. That seemed to be the reason why our school took the school kids to the famed centuries-old shrine in Udupi…yes, on an 'educational picnic'! Ever since then, I have been fascinated by this legend – ‘Kanakana Kindi’… Translated from Kannada, it means – ‘Kanaka’s Window’. This is how the legend goes… Kanakadasa (Dasa, in Kannada, means devotee) was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna, who ceaselessly sang through his tambura (a string instrument) in devotion to Lord Krishna. Once, he had gone on a pilgrimage from his village to Sri Krishna tem...

"When life itself has become a prayer,  we are connected to that source of love and life."  -  Brian Hardin P rayer doesn't need my mouth, eyes, ears, hands or legs. Yes, I am not dumb, blind, deaf or without limbs. What if I couldn't speak, see, hear or use my hands and legs? And, what if I did not belong to any religion?  To me, prayer is a quiet, private communication with our Creator... by whatever name you and I call Him or Her. Therefore, it really makes no difference... I believe, that there is this Supreme Creator behind all these things... and, He must be 'one'! L ast night, my wife and I were invited by a close friend of ours for a Navratri aarti and dinner. He is a Tamilian brahmin and his wife is a Gujarati brahmin. Both are Chartered Accountants. There were two more families as guests - one Rajasthani and one Maharashtrian. The traditional Golu was beautifully decorated by my friend's children... The dres...

Pic,: Chetna Shetty W hat these little kids and young men learn in the Ganpati pandal… yes, they can never learn in their schools and colleges. In my own housing society, the Ganeshotsav has been organized for last fourteen years without any break… and, each year, it has been done in a bigger and grander way. The young men, who started it all, are now busy with their respective career and families. The little kids, who had been watching and assisting the seniors, have now grown up and taken over the charge… and, I see the same pattern unfolding, now. The little kids, who are now seen running around their older counterparts, are being moulded to shoulder the responsibility… For fourteen years, to sustain a big-scale event like this, without infighting and ego-hassles, is something commendable. The schools and colleges haven’t taught these little kids and young men all this… They have learnt it on their own. That’s why, I said, “What they learn in Gan...

Pic.: Chetna Shetty “B lessed is he who knows what he is blessed with!” I wish to limit this Post only to one of those blessings: our talents. When young-ones come to me complaining about their low self-confidence or low marks in exams, I send them back only with one advice: “Discover what you are good at… your talent; place your total trust in it and follow your heart… Confidence will automatically shoot up… Motivation will come on its own… Marks will just roll as the by-product of your work.” Many understand what I try to advise them, and many don’t. So, invariably, I tell them, this: “Blessed is he who knows what he is blessed with!” S uccess, to me, is the process of self-discovery. I am dead sure that there isn’t a single soul on this earth who has been sent here by God without being packed with a talent or two. Everyone, from a street urchin to a billionaire’s son, from an American to an Algerian, yes, every soul on this earth is blessed with some g...

Pic.:Nishtha Narryani I t is almost thirty-five years since I came to live in this great city – Mumbai. But, I haven’t been to Mount Mary church during the weeklong festival time (popularly hailed as ‘the Bandra Fair’). Yes, even once! So many of my friends, particularly non-Catholics, find it strange. Come cyclone or come tsunami, these faithful will never ever skip a Mount Mary ‘dharshan’ … and, I truly feel that’s something remarkable! Prayer and worship are what they are only when you perform them with all your faith… My friends, including the non-Catholics, find tremendous amount of peace by a visit to the Bandra shrine during the frantic rush… I respect that. In my case, it just works the opposite. I have been to Mount Mary shrine umpteen times… when my soul felt the thirst to be there… I have been there both in my good times and bad times… to thank Mother Mary for her help or to plead Her to have mercy on me, the sinner. But, I have gone there on week ...

Pic.: Aurna Anand J ayprakash – we call him JP fondly – is a young, bright, articulate and, above all, a very positive person who lives in our housing society. A Chartered Accountant by profession, he hails from a traditional, yet progressive, family of Tamilian Iyers. Having married to beautiful Sheetal, who hails from an equally-progressive Gujarati-family, their outlook towards life, especially towards raising of their two little-children, is something I have, always, admired and appreciated. Imagine how a Tamil-Iyer and his Gujju wife would choose to celebrate the ‘Navratri’ festival! This morning, my wife and I had been to JP’s house to see and pay our respect to the ‘Golu’ (also called ‘Kolu’) arrangement. ‘Bombe Habba’ – the festival of dolls – that’s how we would call it in my home-state, Karnataka. Many of our neighbors and classmates would invite us to see the beautiful arrangements of dolls in their houses. One would find there all sorts of do...

Pic.: Chetna Shetty W hat is endearing to see, here in Mumbai, is the amazing fact that Ganesh idol is kept and worshiped by almost every kind of person – regardless of religion, class or creed. Mighty rich and the downright poor, Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, yes almost all rejoicing in the Ganeshotsav … And, the Visarjan. .. Little ponds and lakes, vast rivers and seas… Lord Ganesh is sent off in any of them… But, it was not so, where I grew up – Mangalore. Only the members of  GSB (Goud Saraswat Brahmins) – the Konkani community – would keep Ganesh idol at their places… and, on the final day, immersed the Lord’s idol at the wells in their compound. It was a quiet, dignified affair… Mostly a private one. What I remember the most about it is, that, our next-door land-lady had a GSB tenant. Now, the land-lady was a Christian and had her rigid mindset. She would never allow her tenant to immerse the idol in the well in their compound. So, they approached my mom,. S...

Pic.: Gloria Pinto For all seven days of Ganeshotsav in our Society, our Youth line up very exciting events for young, old and the little-ones. The prayer, fun and food are a very good combination… It brings all of us together… helps us forget that we belong to different castes, classes or even ages. If such get-together can enhance the quality of our lives… help us bond, forget our differences… if it can provide the little-ones, young-ones and ladies opportunities to express themselves, develop their confidence and talents… why not embrace it? Well, whenever I am there around any festival celebration, I see this bright side of the story. God is a happy God for me… not a serious one… Not the one who stops me from bonding with people of other faiths… Not the one who doesn’t want me to honor and celebrate our differences. Last night, I was with a group of our Society members and watching the brilliant show – singing and fashion show – of our little...