Gerald D'Cunha

Pic.: Avinash Mantri Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone… I had this story in my primary school text- book… It makes me feel that I am still in Life’s primary school! THE SCHOLAR AND THE BOATMAN PAST: O ne day, a village boatman was rowing a scholar to the other side of a river. As the boatman was doing his job quietly, the scholar asked him: “Have you studied the Vedas?” "No sir, I haven’t,” the poor boatman replied. "What? You've wasted your life," the arrogant scholar shouted. "Can you not speak Sanskrit? "No sir; I cannot." "Ayyo...

Pic.: Azriel D'Souza Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone… There are many Mulla Nasruddin stories that make my heart smile. This is one of my favorites… HOW MULLA NASRUDDIN’S WIFE GOT RID OF HIS DONKEY PAST: M ulla Nasruddin's wife hated his donkey.  "I don't want that good-for-nothing donkey in my house... Sell him in the market, or dump him in a pond... But, out he must be, before the Sun, tomorrow, goes down," one night, Mulla's wife gave the ultimatum to her husband.  Mulla, somehow, had a great love for his donkey, though, he too knew that the lazy animal...

Pic.: Chetna Shetty Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone… Here is a lovely story which tells us how our big egos function and how they are cut to size, invariably always… Someone ‘bigger’ – who doesn’t give a damn about what we think of ourselves - comes to do the job! THE LION AND THE LEOPARD  PAST: I t was a hot afternoon. In a jungle, a lion, who was tired and thirsty, wandered in search of water. Finally, when he came near a pond of water, the lion saw a leopard there. The leopard, too, was tired and thirsty and had reached there in search of water. “What are you doing here?” the lion b...

Pic.: Avinash Mantri Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone… There ‘are’ these people in this world… and, like this monkey did, they who keep harassing others… and, they get away with their misadventure only till they receive a treatment they really deserve… I call it ‘Bhagwan ki lathi’… THE MONKEY AND THE BUFFALO PAST: T he   legend has it that, long time ago, Lord Buddha was born in the form of a buffalo. So, by his very nature, this buffalo was very kind, tolerant and loving to every creature around him. No matter how unkind and unloving others behaved towards him, the buffalo did ...

Pic.: Avinash Mantri Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone… Not to let the poison of a vindictive person’s words affect you, calls for true inner strength… a spiritual strength… What we call a high self-esteem is a reflection of this strength… I love this Buddha story… THE POISON OF YOUR ABUSE BELONGS TO YOU PAST: O ne   day, in the midst of Gautama Buddha’s teaching, an angry bystander started abusing Gautama. It was too ugly, too offending… and too provocative. However, the Buddha remained unaffected. He heard him out patiently till the angry man vented out all his venom. After that, t...

Pic.: Azriel D'Souza Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone… We need Birbal’s intellect – call it wit or shrewdness – to deal with all these fools and fanatics around us… HOW MANY CROWS LIVE IN AGRA?   PAST:  O nce ,   a scholar wanted to prove before everyone, that Birbal, Emperor Akbar’s favorite minister, was a hoax. So, he threw a challenge before Birbal.  “Birbal, you claim yourself to be a wise-man,” taunted the scholar, “can you tell me how many crows live in   Agra?” A grim silence fell over the packed courtroom. Even Emperor’s face suddenly wore a worried look. “...

Pic.: Chetna Shetty Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone… I had first heard this story from an elderly Christian couple, some twenty-five years ago, in a Marriage Encounters programme my wife and I had attended…The story happily pops up every time my panic button goes up! BEWARE OF DOG  PAST: O nce, a Christian couple, Mr. and Mrs. Fernandes, came to live in a new housing society. Their flat was on the ground floor. Everyday, Mr. Fernandes  left for work early in the morning and came home late in the evening. His wife began to get bored being alone at home. There was another Christian family, D’Souza...