Gerald D'Cunha

  “You don’t stop laughing when you grow old; you grow old when you stop laughing.” George Bernard Shaw   W hether we like it or not, and whether we want it or not, we age… the body and the mind begin to lose their vitality, their responses. To some, the deterioration comes faster, and to some, a little later… but, it does come, Sir. None of us will stay eternally young, dashing, agile, alert, attractive - and making headlines. Even if we want to, we won’t be able to… Hema Malini was, once, a dream girl, right? She fell for a very, very handsome married man, Dharmendra… Today, Hema Malini is relatively active via politics (Even though, some of us wonder what has been her contribution in that sphere!). Dharmendra, apparently, spends most of his time in his farms… But, every time I watch this Sholaywala Veeru and compare him with his ‘dost’ – Jai, aka , Amitabh Bachchan, I wonder, why Jai is still there in that space, and Veeru, sadly, isn’t! L ike most around me...

“Dismiss thoughts of good, bad, right, wrong, success, failure – be spontaneous.” Joshua L. Goldberg   O ne evening, I was returning from work… It was around 6.30, and I was especially tired on that day… Two more long-distance zoom sessions still awaited after reaching home… As it was a rush-hour for our building lift, when I sneaked in, it was already packed with people returning from their duties, some elderly men and women returning after their daily walk… Just when the lift door was about close, two little boys – probably about age 9 or 10 – got in. There was no place; still, they didn’t care, nor did any of us , the so-called ‘elders’ who were weight-conscious…. We knew, that the lift would happily take  few kilos of additional weight… So, as the lift started taking us up, the two little friends -  one, quite chubby and heavier in size holding a bat in his hand, the other, a lean, little sardar – continued their animated conversation… They seemed least bother...

  “The key to retirement is to find joy in the little things.” Susan Miller   M any a time, I use this line: “Teachers do not retire.” That’s, probably, to remind myself that, one day, I may stop teaching students and earn money; but, I will, always, continue to ‘teach’, contribute, empower, inspire etc., etc.… and, yes, all free of charge! Thus, once a teacher, always a teacher… But, then, is it not true for all of us, irrespective of the role we play in life? As humans, we seldom retire… We stay tuned to life… receiving from it, and passing on to others… But, what we receive from life shall, always, outweigh what we ever pass on… Frankly, I do not like the word ‘Retirement’… As the saying goes, we may retire from our ‘Job’, but never from ‘life’… In fact, a new life beacons us when we step out from our paying jobs… There is so much out there to savour… so many little things, which we never had time – or never bothered – to stop and smell… appreciate… valu...

  “There is stardust in your veins. We are, literally,   ultimately, children of the stars.” Jocelyn Bell Burnell   O ne my dear friends, who is also the mother of one of my students, has a unique hobby: She sends to all her friends the Good-morning messages, every day, with an interesting ‘Did-you-know’ kind of fact. Well, for a person like me, invariably, each one of them is - ‘No, I did not know’! So, each morning, I have this simple opportunity to know one more fact… Yes, at times, I do get fed up and frustrated with myself – or, should I say with ‘my life’? – and ask: ‘How much more is there to know?’! Actually, it’s the distorted amplifier of my inner voice: “Baccha , how little do you know!” This morning, my friend sent this one:   “It’s a lazy Saturday morning. See if you can find the 8 words hidden in the picture… Happy hunting… Good Morning.” There was a post-script: “The answers will be provided in the evening!” I tried scratching my ...

    “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” Theodore Roosevelt   O ne of the most endearing qualities about our former President, (Late) Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, had been his childlike approach to almost everything. Be it as our country’s ‘Missile Man’, or, be it as its most adored President, Dr. Kalam had been   the epitome of simplicity and childlike curiosity. And yes, of human spirit and perseverance, too. So, some days ago, when Dr. Swati Mohan suddenly exploded into limelight, following her feat as Mission Director of ‘Perseverance’ – NASA’s Mars Rover (2020), as an Indian, I felt proud, too. Well, that is not the only reason why I am writing this Post… To me, Dr. Swati Mohan is a global citizen – a star-struck curious-child like the one anywhere under this God’s vast sky – than being an American, Indian or even Indian-American citizen. I am more fascinated by how she got hooked on to the Stars and Planets in space. In other words, l...

  “I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, ‘Mother, what was war’?”   Eve Merriam   M y friend, Vikram, who is one year older than I am, is a relentless walker. We lived in our housing complex for nearly twenty years, till a year ago, when he and his wife moved to their new house in Pune. Besides his crazy sense of humour, Vikram, as I said, was a crazy walker… His walks, always, started when the Sun was right over your head – that was around 10 or so in the mornings. He was able to follow this routine because he ran his own business. So, while the rest of us were well into our daily grind at our work places, Vikram kept orbiting around our buildings in his walking shoes for over an hour every day… He would never miss it, come hail or come tsunami… “What about your walks?” I had asked him in the thick of lockdown. “That’s what I am doing right now?” was the answer.                         ...

Any thing that can bring some simple joy into our hearts… has been our religion. We worship what makes us happy! Whether I am a Christian or a Hindu, and whether I am a Muslim or a Sikh… that’s not the religion I am talking about… I am talking about a religion which brings simple joy into our hearts… very simple joy… A young couple from the interior North has come, lately, to live next door. Last night, our door-bell rang. The young-man said shyly, “Sir, my wife wants to see the Christmas-tree… She loves the way it is decorated.” My heart sank! There wasn’t a Christmas-tree at our place. “Come, please sit,” I made them comfortable, hiding my own discomfort. We spoke about the lovely things about the Christmas-tree, the Crib, the Star and the mid-night Mass (which, these days gets over before it is mid-night due to security regulations!)… The young-lady’s face lit up! She was new to our big city… The young-man asked me, if they could attend the mid-night Mass. ...

I was in a departmental store, last evening. Diwali being close, there was a long queue at the payment counter. On the large TV screen, just behind the cashier, Mr. Bean show was on… And, after a very, very long time, I found myself just laughing, the way I would do as a little school-child. I really didn't mind the waiting… I really didn't care as to who stood around me… Mr. Bean’s stupid exploits just broke my resistance… For that moment, I really forgot that I have been heavily stressed out all through the day. Stressed out for what? Yes, I can give a hundred reasons why I was stressed out… But, justifying my stress with reasons is the surest way of re-enforcing it in my life… While watching Mr. Bean’s exploits, I found the stiffness in my body all dropping, the serious-as-grave look in my eyes turning into a twinkle of a little child… and, the desire to ‘enjoy life’… laugh… play like a child… springing up in my soul, all over agai...