Gerald D'Cunha

When I am sad and unhappy, if you give me two options: either to consult a Philosopher or our Mullah Nasrudin, I would, any time, prefer the Mullah. I know, the Mullah is a crazy fellow… but, he can surprise us with some of the best solutions! “Look at the bright side… There are people worse than you in this world… The Glass is half full and not half empty… Every dark cloud has a silver lining… God tests you through your difficulties… Sweet is the pleasure after pain… and, Tough times never last but tough people do...” All these are the ways of a Philosopher… and we all are busy solving our problems by philosophizing… rationalizing… theorizing…  The Mullah may sound like a quack. But, he can offer some of the best treatments. One day, the Mullah was talking to a man from another town. The man began to lament: “Look at my tragedy… I have this wealth, but I am so sad and miserable. In desperation, I have bundled up all my wealth and set on a ...

A couple of days ago, two students had approached me for help. Incidentally, both were in second-year BMS and they wanted me to help them for their third Sem. Now, I am a teacher… and, I earn my living by teaching young ones like these. As there are teachers of all kinds, there are students of all kinds, too. This Post is inspired by this: “Why was I enthusiastic about taking in one of those two students… and cold about the other?” Yes, I am telling you the truth: I felt like going the extra-mile as the first student was talking to me… And, on the other hand, I really felt repelled, closed, as the second one was dealing with me. As teachers, we, often, pretend before the world that we are more empathetic, less biased and more caring humans. I think, most of us are, even though such fine human traits can be found in almost every other segment of the society, as well. Likewise, we, teachers, react and behave, too, with our vulnerability and fallib...

  Some days ought to be our ‘bad-hair days’! Yesterday was one such day for me. Right from the time the day broke out to almost the time the night fell, it seemed my train was moving on a wrong track! Well, no head-on collision or any such things happened… Just that, I was finding it difficult to put it back on the right track. By late evening, I simply let go… and decided to enjoy the fun of going through a bad-hair day! I got good sleep. And, this morning, my train is back on track... i.e. the right one!   In life, our attachments and expectations can be varied… One of the expectations – rather our attachments to beliefs – is that ‘things have to move the way we want them to’.  But, do they, always? Obviously, they don’t. So, when they don’t, we resist… we get upset, annoyed, irritated, frustrated even bitter, angry and violent. Yes, the root cause is our failed expectations… and, our inability to come to...

There is a process through which the fragile glass is turned into ‘toughened’ one... There is a process through which pig iron is turned into shining steel... There is a process through which the clay becomes a beautiful pot in a potter’s hands…  And, yes, there is a process, through which the log of a tree, cut high up in the mountain-jungles, is expected to become tough wood by the time it reaches the low-land down. Tough things become tough because they have to pass through tough tests… Likewise, tough people become tough because they have to pass through tough times! Well, we know all these… That, we need to have great patience, trust, persistence and commitment to find precious diamond in black coal! That, trees don’t give fruits the very day they are planted… we have to wait, trust, hope and of course, care… That, a woman has to conceive and wait for nine long months… with love, trust, hope and prayer… ...

“The tree is on fire; its leaves are burning… Why are you getting burnt when you have wings?” “We have been eating fruits of this tree, shitting on its leaves… This is our moral duty to get burnt with it!” Frankly, I did not know that, this morning, I would stumble upon this poem. And yes, I had no hint that it would inspire my Post today. I am thankful to Mr. Sunil Kumar, a very senior and respected member of our housing complex. As I am the Hon. Chairman of our Society, I was privileged to stand next to Mr.  Kumar as he did the honors, this morning: hoisting of the National flag on our 65 th Independence Day. After doing the honors, Mr. Kumar spoke a few words urging all of us to be loyal, grateful and committed to the place we live in… Which was the ‘place’ Mr. Kumar was referring to? Our Country? Our State? Our City? Our Society? Our home?... Or, our own heart? There were more than two d...

There are a million kinds of people in this world. Still, the story in this Post starts this way: “There are two kinds of people in this world. Those, who send us ‘missed-calls’… and, those, who don’t like them!” Now, to which kind do I belong? Last evening, I was talking to a friend of mine. Suddenly, his cell-phone buzzed. But, before he could pick it up, the buzz stopped. When my friend checked on the screen, his face wore a look of disgust. “Shameless character,” he burst out.  “Why? What happened?” I asked. “This fellow is a big doctor; a rich fellow… but, look at the mentality; disgusting!” my friend did not hide his feelings. Just a few minutes before that, I had gone through exactly the same feelings. In my case, the ‘missed-call’ had come from a parent of one of my students. This parent was an advocate, lived in a posh locality and projected quite a sophisticated lifestyle. However, every time he had called me regardi...

I had missed the Olympic Games opening ceremony two weeks ago. Last night, at our 1.30 time, the closing ceremony was to be telecast. I did not want to miss this time. So, just before the ceremony began, my son woke me up. I sat with my son till 4… and relished every bit of it.  I had been watching the events selectively during these fifteen-days-long London Olympics. As an Indian, I was rooting for our contestants. Felt happy whenever a Silver or a Bronze was won… felt sad when they lost out! But, Olympics, to me, are not about the nations, even though over 200 nations take part in it. To me, it is about celebrating the human spirit… it is about exploring new heights to scale… It is about self-belief… and, it is about admiring the best, the winner. Why should I feel so happy when Jamaican or Kenyan sprinters set new bench-marks for the world in those events? Why should I root for Usain Bolt as if he is from my own country? I felt...

  Many years ago, a gentleman told me this: “In life, we get only what we deserve.” I was very young at that point of time. “Nothing is impossible!” was the familiar slogan for a young man like me, “You can get what you want, in life!” So, I did not agree with what he had said. “Who should decide what we deserve?” was my argument.  When hot blood runs through your veins, it is not easy to accept a statement like that. “Man is the master of his fate and captain of his soul!” Probably, Shelley himself was too young when he had made his famous remarks! Well, I still believe that, it is far better to approach life with the paradigm - “Nothing is impossible” than what a weakling wears around his heart. I still believe, that we can get what we want in our life. I believe, that my success in this world – my happiness and position – is very much in my own hands. But, still, every time the Law of the Universe intervenes and ‘squares up’ things ...