Gerald D'Cunha

  “Past three weeks have put a spring back in my step.” Captain Tom Moore   I was invited to conduct an online session on ‘Self-confidence and Communication Skills’ for students of first-year Architecture at a premier institute. The session was held this morning. I, always, tell the young ones my own story: how I went about developing my own self-confidence and communication skills. It is easy to tell my own story – because, it’s true to me. The events were real… My killing inferiority-complex – what we today call as ‘social anxiety’ – was a real thing to me when I was these students’ age… I suffered from a crushing feeling of worthlessness, which showed up on my body and mind both… Despite my ‘good-boy’ image, I endlessly felt undeserving and worthless… It had affected my academic performance… I wasn’t clear about what I had to pursue in life… My dream box was empty… Enthusiasm and motivation, which are, always, linked to our dreams, obviously, had forsaken me. And, ...