All of us must learn to forgive and forget: Al Alva

I believe in God, I believe in Jesus and I strongly follow him and his preaching which my mother instilled in me from childhood.  But, I also believe that — at the end of the day — that all gods are the same. So that in itself is a spiritual thought. Spirituality for me means spreading peace by sharing a simple smile, by being genuine and not being fake and plastic. I think spirituality means never saying or speaking badly about others or doing bad things to another person.

It also means that I must help my friends and loved ones achieve their dreams. When I was younger, I used to use to stay with the nuns of St Charles Boromeo in Chembur (Mumbai) and S. Julia, one of the nuns, was my guide. She used to teach me to forgive and forget. Unfortunately she passed away almost a decade ago but I believe she is still with me; she still looks upon me and guides me through my inner voice. I enjoy sketching my life-dreams and I stick them on my wall.

Then they inspire me on an everyday basis, enough to achieve them in the near future.  I also like to go to the nearby chapel when nobody is there so that I have a one-to-one chat and connect with God. Once in a while, I also attend group prayer sessions. My entire day is devoted to connecting with my spiritual side because in whatever I do, I invoke the blessings of Jesus. So, with every tattoo that I make, I ask him to guide my hand with steadiness.

Everything I do, I try to involve Him in it. I have learnt to trust my deeper instincts and that has helped me make my life much better. I have also learnt — from my father — that no matter what I have or what I achieve, I must never show-off and must always try to be a humble human being.