Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the hundreds of writers, teachers and mentors, both classical and contemporary, who have shaped my life and helped me learn these truths, many of whom I have never even met personally.

• I thank God for the abundance of creative talent that he has bestowed on me.
• My great influencer has been my Dad, who planted and nourished the little mustard seed of faith, and his encouragement of reading. And of course, his awesome value system.  Mum for always appreciating my talents and praising me far more than what I deserved.  Patrick, who showed me the other side of love. Brenda and Liam, whose storytelling ability leaves me spellbound.
• Ruskin Bond for agreeing to write the Foreword of this book_pending approval
• Merlyn D’Souza, my dearest friend and mentor, who encouraged me with this book and was overwhelmed when I told her about my desire to ask Ruskin Bond to pen the Foreword. She instantly sent me all her paper clippings of this legend. Her love for nature, butterflies and the Maker reinforced mine. Late Flora who always nudged me with the progress of my poems.
• Alfred Santamaria, Edward Rodricks, Yvonne Pereira, Leena John Sr.,  Aunty Marie Rodrigues, late Ida & Stella, Roger Dickson, Amy D’Souza, Olivia Nazareth, Patsy Bennet, Lorraine Correia, Dr. Chico, Eric A. Rodrigues C.Ss.R, Jeanette & Carlos D’Souza, Fritz Mascarenhas, Shreen & Ravi Malani Esther Yates, Peter D’souza C.Ss.R, Zarryl & Luana Lobo, Late Fr. Francis Martin who taught me so many lessons and who continuously encouraged me
• My friends:  Delon Pereira, who began the laborious job of keying in the poems, from scraps of paper, serviettes, and more, and who has seen the completion of it; Ivel Mendhana C.Ss.R, Stanley Sunil Kumar  – who proof checked my first proof (and may not even remember it!), Sherry, Elizabeth, Judy Bartley,  Carol Esteeves,  Charlotte Fernandes, Patsy Abreo, Neelima Singh, late Celia Sylvester, Leslie Carvalho, Jean Pinto, Suresh Aranha, Denver Pinto, Nirmal Raj, Hoban , Sanjay, Edwin & Kusum, Rosa, Shaji, Senthil, Shilpa, Shubhangi, Shirley D’mello, Nita Kamath, Kiran, Merlyn Lobo, Ranjini, Premila, Violet Shirley, Claret
• Farida Masters, Fiona Xavier, Florie Fernandes, Carol Jones, Radhika, Edwyn, Carol Esteeves Elizabeth Partridge Hughes, Ravi Verdes, Benjy Smith & Sunil D’cunha, Brain & Annie D’lima, Gerrry & Wilma Pereira, Carlos & Marlene D’costa, Belita Pereira,
• The Santamaria family, The D’couto Family, Nikhil Pradhan & Dolka, Rosemary, Debbie Rodricks,  John  & Barbara Lazaro, Jackie & Keith D’cunha,
• My Colleagues:  Anand Subramanian, Peter Colaco,  Manju, Dhanavanth
• My relatives: Tia Edith,  Placid & Sushila, Alexander and Patricia Carvalho, Carol, Raymond, Martin, Desmond.
• I bequeath my legacy of thoughts to Liam, my darling god son – may he his twinkling laughter and amazing story telling echo down the ages
• Isha Yvonne Khan and Leena John, my two complementing halves, albeit complete in every way, that make me complete.
• Proof checkers:……………. Designers:……………..artists……………., production house, etc

There are many to thank, people I have met and those whom I have learnt from. And there are many, whom I have never met, but whose works have left an indelible print on my heart.

The great influencers since my childhood have been:

The Holy Trinity

Creflo dollar, John Hagee, Joel Osteen, Joyce Mayer