Gerald D'Cunha

  As part of the on-going Ganeshotsav in our housing complex, last night, the Youth had organized programs for the kids. We have seven-day activities in our complex. But, the day we have kids’ activities, the turnout is the maximum!  It is a real treat to watch the excitement of those kids… Right from a small baby to twelve-year old, we have them all on stage! And, yes, to cheer them on, we have their lovely parents and grandparents… bothers and sisters, even aunts and uncles! Yes, just to see their little bundle of joy, all decked up like a Fairy or Princess, a Narad or a Michael Jackson… and just standing there on center-stage to move those tiny hips or mouth those three-or-four-words dialogues! The little one standing there and just jumping up and down… yes, it is enough to make the beholders happy. And, if the kid can dance or sing… believe me, it is a huge feeling for the entire family… A celebration! Yes, it is.  You ...

I understand Politics as much as my barber understands Nuclear Physics! Especially, our Politics – the Indian Politics! How many times, they marry each other… and, how many times they dump? They know, so very well, how badly they need each other… still, they only end up using each other – till their stomachs are full – and, then, all of a sudden, they forget that they have been on a piggyback ride, all along… So, they think ‘the other’ is not required… They dump! Now, see this way: the Parties need us, the citizens, as much as we need them. Is that not so? So, they come to us for votes with their folded hands, with all the possible promises in the world… and, once we have placed them in power, they coolly forget that they had been taken there by us… on our piggyback! Well, there is another Politics… the Politics of living. The other day, my wife and I had been to the residence of one of our friends. It was the second day of Ganeshotsav … and, ...

  “Let there be beauty in your work,” I was repeatedly telling the class, last evening. Many had come without the homework; and, many had come with a shoddy work. Some had copied (out of my fear) from others. And yes, there were a few, who had put their hearts into the work they had done… Everything was visible, open… The work of heart was glowing… It was beautiful! The shoddy work, the copied work, too, was visible… It was ugly! In the midst of my repeated reminders to my students – “Let there be beauty in your work” – I began to wonder: “Do they know how to add beauty into their work? And, why to add it?” “To add beauty into your work, your heart has to be there in it,” I found myself telling them. “When your heart has gone into your work, it glows… captivates others’ hearts…" Well, my students couldn’t have an argument on it. Those who had sincerely done their work, they knew how they had done it… what had gone into their ...

Beyond a certain point, it is pointless to worry about our future. In fact, ‘worry’ is the wrong word… Worry never helps. So, beyond a certain point, it is pointless to be ‘concerned’ about our future! All things are taken care of! About twenty-five years ago, I did not have a fixed place to run my classes… I used to shuttle from one place to another – almost frantically – to keep my kitchen fire burning. Just some three years earlier, my ship had sunk… I was trying to put all those pieces together. Learning from my past mistakes, now, I was not in a hurry… I was treading cautiously.    But, I was happy the way  things were going…  though I had to keep running all day long  in order to stay still, as they say.  I knew my future would  unfold on its own  if I remained sincere to my heart. One night, Uday, a student who had passed out two years e...

Today is the first visarjan – of one-and-a-half days’. So, my eight-o’clock-batch students wanted a day off. I could take some rest and reach late.  At nine, when I reached near my classes, I thought of taking a glimpse of the Ganesh murti decorated just outside… There was no one around; so, I thought I could peacefully spend a moment inside the pandal.   My heart spontaneously smiled the moment I reached the pandal . Three kids – aged between eleven to fifteen – were fast asleep inside!  “Good morning,” my smiling heart wished them. Immediately, the youngest one jumped. “What’s the time, sir,” he asked me. “Nine, beta ,” I told him. “Oh, no!” he seemed worried and started pulling the blankets off his friends’ faces. “Nine it is; we have missed the school!” The other two pulled over the blankets and turned to other side. The youngest one decided to sit down for a while… The school, any way, had gone for a toss! ...