The Conjurer

It is definitely not something new. But something much better than what we imagined it to be or what we have seen before. The Conjurer Arun Sharma enthralled the audience from the minute he walked on to the podium. His charismatic attitude in engaging the audience was well received. His way of using the magic slogan “Bambam bazooki…Maruti Suzuki” was the best take away for the audience.

It is really a tough task to grab the attention of the crowd and to make them laugh and giggle within 10 minutes. But Arun not only made them to cherish the 10 minutes but also to leave them awestruck at the surprises. There were aahs and oohs all throughout the 10 minutes and that by itself showcases the elements of the show.

The first event where he pulled out the silk cloth out of his naked hands seems to be a usual gimmick. But the profound fact is that Arun did not use a full sleeve shirt. His hands were literally naked. So the act added more glamour and captivated the audience.

The second act would probably be the highlight of the show. If the first one was a starter, this one was the main course. It was very evident from the premises that Arun set on how the energy can only be transformed from one form to another, that he has magic in his blood. Being the son of the great illusionist Mr. Rajkumar, Arun easily set on to transform the audience’s energy to hold a playing card on the air for a few seconds. The inhale and exhale exercise only fascinated the room with more energy.

The last act was precisely the dessert. There was a lady from the audience who taught Arun a way to shuffle by dropping everything on floor. Arun did not let the volunteer panic. Instead he made the situation very light and that would come only on experience. Arun did a stupendous job in reading the volunteer’s mind and spotting the card correctly.

“I was dumb-struck at this performance” said one of the attendees at the conference. “I have seen many acts like this before. But this one is special because I thought I could figure out but ended up just mesmerized” said another.

These are the true testimonies of the fact that Arun rocked the show with ease and elegance. We are all looking forward to many such magical moments from him.

If you are interested to know more about Arun Sharma, please visit the below link:
http://arunsharmamagic.wix.com/arunsharma and if you want to master the art of impossible, please visit https://www.facebook.com/delhischoolofmagic

The 20 P's of Public speaking

"Public speaking is an art and every speaker is an artist". Having said so, no art form can be mastered without proper efforts. Unlike our engineering examinations, where we prepare in the last minute and still manage to clear the exams, art forms need proper practice and efforts to achieve a step by step success. These are few P's that might be essential to give a good speech. These are the points I have learnt from senior speakers and out of the little experience I have. 

Speech scripting phase

• Passion - Develop passion towards the art of public speaking. As Oprah Winfrey said, "Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focussing on what excites you". Let the art of speaking in front of an audience excite you. Feel elated each time you speak in front of an audience. Your passion will drive you to write great speeches. 
• Purpose - Speech Purpose is a very important element in public speaking. A speech would have a general purpose and a specific purpose. At a high level, the general purpose can be to entertain, enlighten, inspire or persuade the audience. Specific purpose depends on the topic or subject you choose to speak upon.
• Preparation - Prepare a rough outline of what you are going to speak. You may have 100 speech topics running through your mind and you may be confused on which one to choose. Finalize on one topic and have a set of ideas which you can speak about in 5-7 minutes. Normally when I get a subject to speak, I take a piece of paper and have the ideas like a flow chart. Not because am a computer programmer, but because a flow chart helps me to keep the ideas ready so that I can start writing. For example, when I wrote my CC #3 speech about my friend, This is what I initially did. 

• Pen down your ideas in the form of a proper speech. Choose the points that are of high importance and organize them so that you stick to time limits. Remove the points that are of less significance.A convenient idea would be to have roughly 100 words per minute. So if it is a 5-7 mins speech, which again has 30 seconds grace time, you can roughly have 750 words in it. 
• Prioritize your ideas properly as speech organization and development is very important. There are umpteen ways in which the speech can be organized. It can be chronological, cause-effect etc. Make sure you have a striking opening and a bang on conclusion. Your opening has to be attention grabbing. Have an organized body, which keeps the audience hooked to your speech. Conclude in such a way that it leaves a lasting impression in the minds of audience. In DTM Saro's words, "Last words are the lasting words". 
• Personalize your speech according to the target audience. At times we use few jargons and end up in excluding a set of audience. For example when a speaker says, "Life was tough when I was working in night shift. Everyday we used to have compilation issues and the deployment would fail. I had to fix them diligently". In the above statement, words like compilation and deployment may suit only those who are from a Software engineering background. It is ok to use them in corporate clubs where all of them are from the same field. But when you address a mixed crowd, make sure to avoid these. Ensure that everyone in the hall is included and none of them feel excluded from your speech.  
• Proofreading or script review is a very important phase. This is the phase where your speech script would attain a state of completeness. Send your script to your mentor who would review it and give his/her comments. Based on those comments, edit your script and create a final copy that would be delivered on stage. You can even deliver once in front of your mentor before going on stage so that you feel more confident and you learn stage usage and body language for the speech. Make sure to send the script well in advance to your mentor, at least 10 days prior to the day of speech delivery. This gives sufficient time to mentors to review the script as all of them are working professionals in one or the other field. This also gives you enough time to rehearse. 
• Practice makes a man perfect is a well known adage to all of us. Nothing makes you a better speaker than constant practice. You can practice the speech in front of your mentor, family members, or even a mirror or camera. Make sure to time the speech when you practice at home. Be sure that you do not get time disqualified on the day of delivering it in your club. At times there are speakers who deliver a wonderful content, but they get disqualified by time. They could have made things better if they had attempted the speech at home, with a timing device in place. 

• Pronunciation is a key challenge for most of us while speaking. Since we are not native speakers of the English, we end up in pronouncing the words with mother tongue influence. One technique that has really worked for me is "Words in the news" by BBC learning English. It gives you a passage from the current news. Ten words the in passage will be highlighted and their meaning would be given in the bottom segment. There is a listen button which enables you to listen to that passage as read by the BBC news reader. So every day, if you can spend 3 minutes on this, you can learn ten new words, with meaning, usage and pronunciation. Another technique that I learnt from my mentor is to read newspaper or an English book loudly for few minutes everyday. By doing this your tongue gets comfortable in pronouncing English. 

Speech delivery phase

• Punctuality - You might be thinking, "What is public speaking to do with punctuality". I would say that there is connection between them. Arrive early to the club meeting when you are delivering your speech. Or if it is a contest, be there at the venue well in advance. If you come late and see that the meeting has already started, your nervousness will increase. Your heart will start beating faster due to tension. It is very important to make sure that you are in your comfort zone when you are delivering a speech. So go early, say by 15-20 minutes, have casual talk with people around and relax yourself. 
• Positivity - Positive attitude defines your performance on that day. It is necessary to look positive and sound positive. As Toastmaster Rajesh Natarajan told in one of his sessions, "Everyone has fear. It is inevitable. What is important is masking the fear and looking positive and confident on stage". If you want to mask your fear, the only way is to be positive. 
• Pleasant look - Look pleasant with appropriate dressing when you deliver a speech. A pleasant attire does not just mean wearing a suit and tie. The clothing that looks appropriate to the speech content is always welcome. If it is a professional talk, or a seminar, an educational session etc, a suit and a tie would be the perfect choice. Your dressing is the first thing that would catch audience's eye even before you start your delivery. Make a careful choice in this aspect. 
• Pitch, Pace, Pause and Projection - Once again, I learnt these 4 P's from my mentor DTM Saro. These are the major elements of vocal variety. Pitch is nothing but the ups and downs that we bring in to add emotions. Pace is the rate at which we deliver the speech, or the speed of delivering. It should neither be fast, as this may lead to few words being unheard, nor be too slow. The pace has to be in accordance with the script. Pauses play a major role when we speak. The can be used for a lot of purposes. For example, you can pause before you break a suspense in your speech, or you can pause after you deliver a heavily emotional line (both happy and sad emotions) thereby giving the audience some time to absorb those emotions and react to them. Projection of your voice is based on  the size and acoustics of the auditorium. The projection should be such that even the last seated person in the hall is able to hear you. 
• Palpitation is your friendly enemy. You can neither avoid him completely, not let him take over you. It is natural to be nervous, but make sure that it doesn't become obvious. At times when we get nervous on stage, we start clasping our hands, fiddling with our tie, holding our id card, looking up and down etc. Make sure not to do all these as this would portray your nervousness evidently. 
• Performance - At the end of the day, what matters is your performance. Try and give the best shot. Despite the Sergeant's instructions, there might be mobile phones ringing, people walking in and out. Do not get distracted by all these elements. Just focus on the delivery and make sure that it creates an impact. Deliver a speech to express yourself and not just to impress the audience. 
• Power - The power of your speech should be such that it has to leave an imprint in the minds of the audience. The audience should be able to take away something from your speech. It may be a message or it may even be memories, ensure to deliver in such a way that it stays longer in the hearts of audience.
• Pride - Pride is one feeling that has to invade you after your delivery. You may or may not have done well. Whatever be the case, feel proud that you have taken one step forward in your career as a public speaker. 

"Proper planning preparation & practice prevents poor performance"

The Strange Tale

(Disclaimer : All incidents mentioned below are completely fictitious. Or at least, that is what the ownesr of this blog believe.)

As soon as I was born, my mother came close to my ears, and whispered "son, one day you can become anything. You can become anything you choose".  Thus the adage that one is in control of one's own destiny was inflicted in me soon after my birth. I had no reason to doubt it, until I heard that voice on a fateful day soon after my 60th birthday. As soon as I heard the voice, the realization that my destiny was as much controlled by the other Man as by me, if not more, struck me like a lightning. I also realized that my mother had only been half-correct. The voice, belonging to a Man, had simply said "Ah! That one would make an excellent bureau!". With those words uttered by the voice, my life - a large part of which had been spent standing peacefully in a jungle among creatures behaving with a consistency that I now miss - changed its course. Though I didn't end up as a bureau, I ended up as an "old teak chair"

                                     

As you must have noticed by now, I am not an eloquent narrator. I would blame it on the lack of practice. It is not that I don't have things to say. Think about it, after all, like my brethren all around you, I have a keen ear for detail. My numerous brethren and I have been watching you, and we have been observing a lot of things you do when you believe that you are alone. No, it is not that I don't have much to say. It is just that, until now, I have never felt the compelling need to say it. But in the past few days, I have seen some really strange things, strange even by my standards. Ever since I saw them, I have felt the irresistible need to talk about them. It is as if all four of my legs would burst, unless I recount the short, but strange tale. Let me begin at the beginning.

My current master brought me for a worthy price at an auction a few years ago. Since then, I have been the darling of his eyes or, rather his posterior. After a tiring day's work, nothing would relax him more that a peaceful sedentary session with me. Having lived at his house for quite sometime now, I had just begin to feel settled. I was hence surprised when my master packed me in a cardboard box few days ago. Blinded and suffocated, I could sense that I was being moved somewhere. As with all other journeys that I have been through, I had a tedious time throughout. I couldn't wait to come out of what seemed like a coffin, and get a whiff of fresh air. After what seemed to be a really long time (standards change when you are locked up in a box and are barely able to breath), we came to what I hoped was the end of our journey. I wasn't unpacked yet, and after a few minutes, I was carried by hand somewhere. Judging by the change in pressure, I was being taken upwards (having spent most of my life in dormant positions, I am highly sensitive to changes in altitude). When I was finally able to open my eyes, I was in a room.

The room smelt as if it had been cleaned only recently. From where I was placed, I couldn't see the entrance of the room, and worse, I couldn't watch the television. All I could see was a bed, placed in a direction perpendicular to me. By stretching my eyes a little to the left, I could see an open window. Rays of morning sunlight entered through the window, and illuminated the bed in front of me. I wondered if my master had shifted here for good. I was a bit upset at this thought, but the fact that I will still be owned by a person I had got used to cheered me up. From the other rooms, I could hear my master shifting more furniture. After about an hour, the sounds of furniture stopped. I could now hear footsteps, and they were moving away from me. I told myself that this was just a normal day, and like every other day, and the master would come back in the evening. Maybe he will pull me in front of the television, and fall asleep on me. Throughout the night, I could watch one of the most amazing inventions of Man. By now, I could hear the door shut, and his footsteps climb down a staircase. I had been right about the house being above the ground level. I desperately hoped that I was right about my master coming back to me too, but my intuition told me that he won't.

The length of the sunlight in the room slowly receded as the Sun climbed up. I kept staring at the empty bed, and the wall behind it. Soon, it was dusk, and I still had nothing interesting to observe. For the first time in my long life, I regretted not being able to turn my neck around. I had no way I could see even the entrance door of the room. A couple of times through the day, I thought I heard a flutter outside the door, but realized that it was wishful thinking. Gradually, my mind was getting depressed contemplating the uninteresting future ahead of me, and this depression must have led me to sleep. I have no idea for how long I dozed. But when I did open my eyes, I saw the two of them.

My initial reaction when I saw them was to be surprised at not having heard them walk in. With all due modesty, I have a very keen sense of hearing. In fact, my sense of hearing is so keen that by hearing a person's footsteps just once, I can easily identify through his walk. I was surprised because I hadn't heard them walk across to the bed, and by the look of it, they had been in the same position for long. One of them was a middle-aged man, and the other was a young boy. The windows were drawn, and they were illuminated by a single candle placed before them. The boy was resting his head on the older man's lap. I was stripped of my initial surprise at not having heard their footsteps, attributing it to my disappointed state-of-mind, and was now filled instead with curiosity. They were already into a conversation.

"I felt it today uncle. I am sure something is about to happen". The boy said, in a voice that betrayed fear.
When the older man replied, his voice seemed to come from a distance, as if it didn't belong to the him. "Nothing will happen my boy. They won't dare to come here."
"I am afraid of them. I really hope they don't come here."
"You have nothing to be afraid of. I have been living here for quite sometime now, and I have never felt their presence here. Now, you have had a tiring day, and it's time to go to bed. Did you drink the  milk I kept for in the kitchen?"
"No, I forgot"
"Quick then, drink the milk, and sleep", the uncle said, his voice now raised to a gentle command.

The boy got up, and walked with an unconvinced look. My mind registered his footsteps as unnaturally light. The uncle blew the candle, and the room was cast into complete darkness. I could hear some notice from the kitchen, wherever it was, but the noise stopped soon. As the minutes passed, the house seemed to be eerily silent. I kept vigil for a few more minutes, staring at the blankness and seeing nothing, and finally I dozed off.

When I woke up again, the uncle was not in the room. Once again, my senses had failed to awake me at the sound of his foot-steps. I could hear very light footsteps walking around from the other rooms, and I identified the footsteps as that of the boy. Not much happened for a long time, and occasionally I could hear the boy roaming around the house. Around noon, after a reasonable period of silence, I could again hear the boy's footsteps. I didn't give much attention to it, and continued to concentrate on what I had been doing, which was nothing. But then, I heard two people climbing up the stairs. Both pairs of footsteps were new to me, and I wondered if one of them belonged to the uncle. In a couple of minutes, the boy must have heard them too, because his footsteps stopped abruptly. Now, I could hear voices too. Abruptly, I could hear the running footsteps of the boy, and I realized that he was coming towards my room. He soon entered the room, and I could see that he was frightened of the footsteps from outside. He closed the door of the room without locking it, hurried across the room and attempted to hide behind the head of the bed. His eyes were facing the door, and I could see his face, which was white with fear. I had no doubt that anyone else walking into the room can see him too.

Meanwhile, the noise from outside the house increased. The footsteps had momentarily stopped, and I heard a  key being inserted into a lock. The door opened, and one loud and masculine set of footsteps entered the house. Apparently, the other person stayed outside the door.  The Man who had entered the house seemed to be unaware of the tension in the room I was in, and he seemed to be casually wandering around the house. With each passing moment the boy in front of me turned whiter.

The footsteps from outside came closer towards my room now, and there was a creak as the door opened. A couple of steps more, and I could see an unremarkable man walking inside the room, whilst looking at me with mild interest. He was now exactly front of me, and was turning his head toward the bed. I turned my full attention to the boy. He was shaking with fear, but rooted to his spot, as if the visitor might attack him anytime. And then I heard the ear-piercing shriek. It took me a moment to realize that it was coming from the visitor. The man seemed to be as much afraid of the boy, as the boy was of him. He was still shouting, as he took a couple of steps back, turned around and ran out, knocking a few things on his way out. The boy still stood at the same spot.

I could soon hear blurred voices from outside. The visitors were running down the stairs. I heard the women shout something like "I told you so! The neighbor warned us before coming here. This must be the reason he offered the house at such a low price!" As the noises faded, the house was cast back into silence. The boy just stood there for sometime, and soon walked out of the room. Soon, he climbed down the stairs, and I was left to myself once again. I had plenty of time to ponder over what had happened, but still couldn't make head or tail out of it. A few more hours passed before I heard the boy's footsteps again. It seemed the boy was speaking to himself as he climbed the steps. As the door to the house opened, I could make out what he said.

"No, you go in first." He still sounded agitated.

I was startled when I heard another voice replying to him. "All right, you stay outside for a minute. See, no one is inside. And I am sure no one will be coming back for sometime". It was the uncle.

"You are so sure of everything." The boy entered the house, and his voice lost some of its initial fear. "But, why didn't you believe me when I said they were coming. You almost convinced me that they won't".

The uncle sighed, took a deep breath. "Look", the uncle started speaking in a explanatory tone, "you are very young, and you are very new here. Whereas, I have been here for quite some time". The faint footsteps of the boy becoming a little stronger as he spoke. Both of them were walking towards my room. "As time goes on", he continued, "you will start losing all your senses. It starts with your sense of touch, and when you are as old as me, it becomes very difficult to sense these humans. Soon, you will start moving like me too".

"Humans!", he uttered the word as I would have uttered them, if only I could speak - with rage, combined with a feeling of powerlessness. "These humans are everywhere. They take over all houses, destroy them, and rebuild them. At this rate, we soon won't have any more houses to haunt." As he said this, the uncle entered the room. As soon as I saw him, I understood why I had never been able to hear his footsteps. He didn't walk, but glided in. It was almost as if he didn't have a pair of feet.

Note : A slightly different version of this story was first published in my blog here.

Those few moments

Image courtesy: Google images

I was one among those few lucky candidates who had the privilege of skipping the aptitude test and attending the personal interview directly. I had already thanked God, because I know that I would have suffered if I had to take up an aptitude test. And I may not have been in TCS if I had faced the aptitude test. “Mathematics” had never been something I was really good at. 

I had missed the regular bus on the day of interview and went in the subsequent one. It was almost 9 AM when I reached our campus. I had carried my shirt in a backpack and thought of wearing it few minutes before the interview begins. I went to the computer science laboratory to staple my resume which I had not done earlier. One of the fellow prisoners in my college came up to me and asked, “Dude, Are you from the Computer science department??”. “Oh yes!”, I replied. “In that case, your interview has already started I believe. I saw a few guys from your department going towards the interview panel room”. I was shocked to hear that and rushed to change my clothes. Finally I went to the panel.

Thank God. Students from Electronics and Communication department were not done with their interview and we guys were asked to wait in the cloak room. Umpteen discussions were taking place among students. I heard so many voices around me “Dude, what is the answer for this question, what should I answer if they shoot this kind of question, what is this, what is that.....” Oh my god !! I heard all terminologies from 4 years of engineering syllabus in those few minutes. All this made me feel even more tensed. I refrained myself from talking to my own friends. Even lending my ears to people around seemed dangerous as it may shoot up my pressure. At last our placement co-ordinator came and announced “Students form the CSE department, kindly gather near the panel”. We were asked to sit in the corridors of the panel area. Finally a fair man from TCS came to us. “15 people can come to the waiting hall now”, he said.

[In the waiting room]

I quickly occupied the very first chair as I desperately wanted to get done with my interview at the earliest. I couldn’t withstand the pressure building within me. I was eagerly waiting to be called for the personal interview. Finally the placement officer called me. He pointed out a panel and asked me to get in there. Eventually the so called interview was about to begin and I was ready to face it (was afraid of course).

[Inside the panel room]

Me : Knock ! knock !

(I saw 2 gentlemen inside. One seemed to be a mid 30s man and the other one was much younger. The young man looked at me and shook his head signalling me to come in. The moment I entered both of them gave a broad smile. I smiled back and greeted them. I do not remember their names. So let their names be x and y. Oh no.. I told you in the beginning of the article that I am bad at mathematics. No more algebra. Let x=Suresh and y=Joseph)

The short man : Very good morning. Am Suresh and he is Joseph. Please take your seat !!

Me: Thank you sir.

Joseph: You are Mr Gautam right ?

Me: Yes Sir!!

Joseph: So just brief about yourself Gautam!!

Me: Hearty welcome to our campus gentlemen. I am Gautam Vaidyalinga Sharma. (I spoke for around 7 minutes. Spoke about everything except my horoscope. I knew those gentlemen won’t be interested in that. Then I concluded my introduction with the following sentence) I love to work a lot and I have the habit of understanding and analyzing things before doing them as it gives me more mental satisfaction.

Suresh: Can u give an example of this characteristic of yours. Just tell one instance where you have done something after understanding and analyzing well. It would be nice to hear that as well. 

Me: 110 crore people from our country sing the Indian national anthem. But how many people do you think know the meaning of our national anthem. Once we understand the meaning, we’ll sing from our heart with the pride that we are Indians. So it is always better to understand something before doing it !!

Joseph: Oh!! Even I don’t know the meaning of Indian national anthem. Can u share it with me so that I’ll also sing it with pride?

Me: I would be glad to share it with you. 

You the ruler of our minds our nation
To you our humble salutations
You the custodian of so many
You the guardian of India’s destiny
Through Punjab and sind
Gujarath and Maratha
Dravida utkala and Bengal
Across lofty crests and mellow leas of the vindhyas and Himalayas
Your name awakens one and all
It rests upon the melodies of Yamuna and Ganga in harmony
And swells the waves of the titanic sea
Your blessings we seek
Your praises replicate you
As the protector of India’s fate
Jaya hey jaya hey jaya hey
Victory for ever to you !!
Suresh: Ammmmazing!!! (In the meanwhile Joseph applauded as a symbol of appreciation)

(They turned the pages of my application form. He saw the second page where I had mentioned “Oracle - Java Standard Edition 2 programmer - Certified Professional”.)

Suresh: Oh you are a certified Java professional. That is indeed nice to know. Is java your favourite programming language?

Me: Yes sir. It is my favourite.

Suresh: Very good. I appreciate your extra-curricular and social activities. Now let us have some tech talk about your favourite Java.

“My bad time has started”, I told myself.

The so called “Tech talk” went on for 20 minutes. He asked me all possible interview questions in Java including “How to make java understand inputs from other languages apart from English”. All his questions were answered by me rightly/partially rightly and at the end of every answer I received a “Good” from him. Very kind of him indeed. He made sure that I am motivated always. 

[After the deadly 20 minutes of life in the Java world]

Suresh: Apart from Java which technological learning has fascinated you the most?

Me: I am fascinated towards web application development. Learning J2EE now.

Joseph: Are you by any chance nervous Gautam?

Me: I was initially nervous. But the gentlemen in front of me are so friendly that I am feeling good now :)

(In the meanwhile Joseph walked out. He got a call I believe)
Suresh: So let me ask a few questions from servlets.

Tech again .. ahww no!! :(
(Then he questioned me for some 5-8 minutes from Servlets. Again I answered all of them rightly but for two)
Suresh: It seems that you have presented a paper on cloud computing. Just explain me about cloud computing and it’s benefits.

(I gave him explanations which he asked for... Then I saw a smile in his face. I thought that he would spare me at least now. But he did not!!!)

Suresh: Gautam!! Where do you imagine yourself after 5 years?

Me: I can imagine myself as a responsible employee of TCS in a better designation than now.

Suresh: When there are so many companies. Why TCS??

Me: TCS is the best IT solutions provider in India. TATA is the pride of India. (I spoke about the glories of TCS and the TATAs for about 5 minutes). When all these glories are there. Why NOT TCS... sir????

Suresh: What do you expect from TCS?

Me: I do not have much expectations. I would expect the company to expect something from me and will deliver my best to satisfy those expectations.

Suresh: Do you have any geographic constraints ?? Because TCS has around 147 offices in 42 countries!! Do you have any problem working away from home town and away from family?

Me: TCS is TCS everywhere sir. I am very eager to work in different geographies. Would be glad to!!!

Suresh: U have to sign a bond for 2 years [and he explained so many other procedures]

I just smiled and said “I am fine with anything”
Suresh: Am impressed by your performance Gautam. All the best for a bright career.

Me: Thanks for the wonderful session sir.

(A hand shake.... and it was over)
Phew !!!!!!!!!

Blessed Creation

We THE HUMANS are least equipped when compared to all other living creations existing in this universe.

We cannot run as speed as a tiger, 
We cannot dont have eyes as sharp as an Eagle,
We dont have teeth as efficient as wild cat,
We cant swim as fast as dolphin

Yet all these other creations can only adapt to the environment, 
But we can Create Our own Environment.

Because, of all the 8.7 million species only we are blessed with ABILITY TO DREAM.

If you use it properly YOU CAN CREATE YOUR OWN ENVIRONMENT,
If you don't YOU WILL ADAPT TO THE EXISTING ENVIRONMENT.

Choice is yours DREAM BIG :)


- A Gist from my old CC.

The Social Network

The first thing that struck him as he opened the door was the uncharacteristic pleasantness of the weather. A perfect start to a Saturday after the dampness of the previous day. He woke up a little later than he  had planned and had to hurry to make it up, leaving him without a chance to notice the weather until he stepped out of the house. As he locked the door he realized that he had subconsciously broken into a song. He stopped himself , looked around quickly and let out sigh of relief after confirming that no one had heard him. Still cheerful, he pushed his bike out of his driveway. He had a long day ahead and later, he would thank himself for having found the time to gobble a few slices of the bread before leaving.

***

He finally managed to break out of the traffic jam. He had always wondered on the fact that there seemed to be more people returning home on Fridays than any other day of the week. And add to it the festive atmosphere all around - why were so many people so happy on a Friday? It is almost like everyone in the World hates his job. Of course he looked forward to the weekend too. His roommate would not be home but still it will be a well needed break. He would probably watch a movie or two, and get a long pending haircut. He'd had dinner at his office canteen but the Friday atmosphere made him stop at a bakery near his house to treat himself. He was quite sure he would be too lazy to go out for breakfast the next morning, so he bought a loaf of bread and hastened home as it started to drizzle.

***

He hated rains and was glad that it didn't rain today. The roads were still pretty wet, but he would enjoy his ride. As he eased on to a comfortable speed he caught himself singing again. This time he didn't stop himself. He savored riding in this weather. He was proud of the way his pair of legs and hands work in coordination to control and increase the speed as necessary. Sure, there were a million other people on the road who were as skillful as him - just look at the number of people riding bikes. But that doesn't take away anything from the amazing feeling. He loved riding his bike.

***

He loved the internet. Outside, it was raining pretty heavily now. He was crouched over his laptop constantly refreshing various tabs on his browser to get instant updates. He had been sitting in the same position for the past two hours, and he couldn't think of anything that would remove him from his place for another few hours. As he refreshed another social networking site and realized that there were no new updates, he wondered if he could be spending his time more usefully and immediately brushed aside the thought. Shivering in discomfort, he instinctively covered his naked feet with a blanket to reduce the chillness.

***

It was becoming sultry now - the only sort of weather you would expect from this part of the country. The sun was coming out and so were the vehicles. This city never has a holiday, he told himself. People constantly keep travelling from one place to another with no purpose at all.  He lifted the helmet visor to let in air. Wearing a helmet always involves a call between keeping out the dust and letting in the air, and the later usually wins. He gladly breathed in the relatively fresher air.

***

He needed fresh air, and he needed it badly. It had been months since he had even talked to his friends, let alone meet them.  He had spent the past few weekends slouched in the same fashion and there was no doubt in his mind now that he was getting addicted to the internet. Will it really be so difficult to be disconnected from the web, he asked himself. No, It shouldn't be. He used social networks just out of choice. He was just a passive user who was more interesting in watching the activities of his "friends" than announcing his own activities. In fact no one would miss his presence online if he inactivated his account at the very moment. Outside, the rain had considerably reduced. He could hear water drops trickling down from somewhere.

*** 

Like drops of coffee trickling out of a filter, motorbikes can find a way out of most traffic jams. However when half the width of the road is stagnated with water from the previous day's rains, even the shrewdest of drivers are forced to wait in a logjam. A traffic jam on a water-logged road is a motorcyclist's nightmare. To add to it, it was sweltering hot now. He glanced at his watch. He was sweating profusely and suffocating within the helmet. He decided to remove his helmet, and loosened its straps when the bus ahead of him started moving slowly. Immediately the car behind him beeped its horn loudly, forcing him to move forward.

***

His phone beeped and he glanced at the display. "Harsha calling". Another close friend he had been meaning to give a call for a long time, but had never summed up the strength to do so. Apprehensive of a a mild rebuke for being out-of-reach for so long, he pressed the Accept button and said "Hi da!!". As his friend greeted him back, he realised that nothing was amiss, and close friends can continue conversations they had years back as if they had been in touch every day.  Ending the call after an hour he realized that he had missed a lot in not remaining in touch with his friends. Harsha had called him to arrange a get-together the next day, and convinced him to join. The rain outside had stopped, and his mind was easing out.

***

The traffic eased out as he reached the highway. He increased his speed a little - he could still make it on time. It had really been long since he had met any of his friends, and he was quite excited at the thought. His mind drifted of to the last time they had met, when he noticed a water tanker ahead of him leaving a trail of water in its wake, which would soon evaporate due to the heat. He realized that he could not remember any of the vehicles he had noticed in the past few minutes, and that he had been riding mechanically. He forced himself to concentrate a little more on the present.

***

He was quite sure that his lack of concentration was not a result of his addiction to the internet. He had always had trouble concentrating on the present, and as a result, poor observational skills. He rarely noticed the details in his surroundings.  "Come on!", he told himself, "you can't blame everything on the internet". But then, another part of his mind countered, he couldn't deny that his addiction had affected him. Only the extent to which it had affected him was debatable. There is only one way to know for sure, he decided. He would remain away from the internet for a month, and see how he fares. Before that, he would have to remove all the temptations to go online. He would start by deleting his Facebook account. He clicked on the "Deactivate Account" link in his browser page, to be greeted with a confirmation window. His cursor hovered over the confirm button, and hesitated.

***

There was no time to hesitate, and it was an impulsive decision. Being just a few minutes away from his rendezvous, he was going at a fair speed, and was getting ready to overtake a dump truck passing on the left lane. The dump truck was carrying loose gravel, and just as he lined up with the rear end of the truck, a handful of stones fell out of the truck. The first flew straight to his helmet, through his open visor, and hit him hard on the chin. He exclaimed in pain, and noticed that there were more stones flying towards him. He decided to brake, and as he braked hard, a SUV speeding behind him brushed his bike's rear.

Thrown towards the ground, he felt his untidy hair fall over his forehead. His helmet was flying ahead of him, the straps he had loosened a few minutes before  flapping on the helmet's mass rhythmically. He hit the ground full stretch, but the helmet was still revolving. He could see the visor now, dirty and scratched, the scratches combining by chance to form the first letter of his name. His bike was lying before him. Its MRF tyres covered in mud. He wondered at his ability to grasp in these details when he least needed them.

He felt something wet flow over his spine. Someone was running towards him now, but he couldn't make out their features. His mind was starting to become hazy. It was funny how time seemed to slow down at the most critical moments. He felt like a character out of a computer game. His mind drifted on. Computer game - computer - internet - Social Network. The events of last night played back in his mind. The rain, the dil pasand (or was it dil kush?), the depression, the call, the plan (would he be able to meet them now?), and his conviction to erase his online presence. As he recalled hovering over the delete button, he realized that he was in great pain. He couldn't move his legs, and he felt an immense urge to close his eyes. He forced himself to think back on the previous night. Did he click the button? Think, dammit! This is important. This could mean life or death!

Note : Though some parts of this story are based on real incidents, I wrote it with a wild idea - what if social networks have more power over us than we fathom? This story was originally published here.

Image Courtesy : http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/10/03/internet-addiction-to-be-added-to-the-list-of-serious-mental-disorders/

Vertical fall and Toastmasters

This happened on December 2010. I was planning to visit my brother, he was in Banglore then. At those times it was Banglore and not Bengaluru. I was with my dad and mon. We took a bus from Calicut and reached Bandlore, took rest the same day. Next day we went to wonderla, water theme park.

I was standing in front of a ride- vertical fall. The height of it was almost equal to a six storied building, except in case if a storey has an exceptional height. I was looking at the people, taking a keen observation. I saw a girl, almost my age. She came in front of the entrance with a double mind, stood there for almost five minutes and then she decided to climb up the stairs. I can see the same dilemma in her when she reached the top as well. She was having second thoughts there also. Finally she decided, any ways this won’t kill u. She sat on the ride and she started to skid through a tunnel. It was all fast and she reached the pool in no time. Now I can see her face clearly and she was very happy. She broke the ice. Believe me on this, she went through this same ride almost ten times. This gave me confidence to do the same. All I remember is me breaking the ice, the rest all was a consecutive twelve time ride in vertical fall.

This was the same case for between me and Toastmasters. People asked me to join, the told me that I can do it, they tried to convince me that I am good in it. Guess what I didn’t believe in me. Believe me, two important people, who I care the most, forced me to at least attend a meeting as a guest. Finally I agreed after three months.

I attended a meeting and I saw pros in action. I became afraid, I cant do this. How can we say one thing is not possible unless we don’t even take a first step. So as a first step I joined Toastmasters. I booked a slot for my first speech. Two days before the speech, I have speech ready and I was all set to go. Still I had second thoughts and procrastinate it to next week. What if I do something wrong? Then I reviewed it with y mentor and was in a good shot to go.

“TM Rohith, My first icebreaker, My first icebreaker, TM Rohith ”

My heart was pumping at it double rate, but I started…..

"His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy

There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti

But he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down,

The whole crowd goes so loud

He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out

He's choking how, everybody's joking now

The clock's run out, time's up over, bloah!"

Exactly…… Exactly this is my situation, But, I said “I was in the same situation when I was in college”.

I broke the ice, and to my greatest astonishment, I was the best speaker. See…. you don’t know what you can do unless you attempt to do it. This was just like my first ride in vertical fall. Then my ride in Toastmaster was faster than which I had in vertical fall. In three months of my journey, I gave three speeches with three best speaker awards and completed six projects in CL manual.

Now I quit TCS and I can’t attend the meeting any more. I miss it really hard. If I was there in TCS for another one year, they would be calling me DTM Rohith.

This is for all the would-be Toastmasters:

Unless you take your first ride, you don’t know the thrill of it.

This is for all the Champions Toastmasters:

My envy will be with you all the time, during your dreams as well.

When wonderla closed at 7:30PM, I missed vertical fall. Even I asked the manager whether this ride is for sale.

TM Murali, this one is for you, I am ready to spend a Million on your club and figures are negotiable. Call me if you change your mind.

Table topics - "Sweet dreams" or "Nightmare" ??

Dear Toastmasters 

Many of you might have attended the educational session handled by Toastmaster Arna Chugani on "How to ace table topics". It happened on 7th February 2013. I'm here to add a few more tips out of the little experience I have and also out of the lessons I took from people like Murali and Sushant. Hope it would help members while facing table topics. 

First let us have a recap on what was told at the educational session by TM Arna. 

Table topics can be broadly classified into three types. 

1. Quote based topics. Example: You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.
2. Fact based topics. Example: Cost of living in increasing in India. 
3. Scenario based topics. Example: If you are jumping from a helicopter, and your parachute doesn't open. What will you do. (Well I  took this example from Diwakar :-P . He gave this topic in one of the meetings when he was the Table Topics master)

While you are given a topic, you can follow one out of the following technique. With presence of mind, choose one of the following techniques that would do best justice to the topic given. You can also use a combination of these techniques.

1.         His View point – My view point technique : In this technique, you can talk about the topic from the perspective of two people. Yourself and someone else. For example if the topic is “Social networking”, you can say what you think about it and what your friend/mom/dad/someone else thinks about the same.

2.         Past-Present-Future technique: In this technique, you can talk about the topic saying how it was in the past, how it is now and how it will be in future. Say for example the topic is about “Telephone conversations”. You can say how telephone conversations used to be in the past, how they are now with the advent of Smartphones and how they will be in future.

3.       Cause – effect technique: Here you can talk about the cause of an event and the effects of it. For example if you are asked to talk about the Uttarkhand floods, you can talk about what caused it and what were the effects.

4.       Problem – solution technique: In this technique, organize the topic in a problem-solution manner.  If you are asked to talk about human rights for example, you can say what are the problems faced by people today and you can also provide solutions to them.

5.          Random connection – In this technique you can randomly connect the topic to various ideas and finally as a conclusion get back to the crux of the topic.

I know I have missed 1-2 techniques of what Arna had taught us. Long since the educational session happened. Poor memory of mine doesn’t remember everything. If you remember other techniques please post them in comments.

Now apart from all these techniques let me give you some points that I learnt in my Toastmasters journey.

Mistakes that we do in club meetings during table topics session:

1.         Asking the TT Master to repeat the topic: We ask the table topics master to repeat the topic at times. This won’t be allowed in the contest.  It’s better to speak with whatever we understood out of the topic.

2.         Using the topic as a buffer:  We start speaking by repeating the topic once again which gives us a few seconds to think. This can be used as a last option when we don’t have anything else to speak. But it is better to always not start the speech by repeating the topic as it would give an impression that we are using the topic itself as a buffer and thereby taking time to think.  But it is good to repeat the topic in the middle or end of the speech as it would give an impression that we are remembering the topic well.

3.         Delayed start: We often start with “The topic given to me is...”. Or we conclude by saying “I would like to conclude my speech by saying that....”.Or at times we say something that delays the actual start of the speech.  Both of these are not advisable. Remember  CC#3 – “Get to the point”.

4.         Admitting our weakness:  At times we start saying that, “I actually don’t know what to speak on this topic, but let me talk whatever I know”. Or, we start with a sentence like, “I am actually a little nervous. Am not very clear with the topic, but let me try”. Kindly do not admit on stage that you do not know or you did not understand. Just speak whatever you know.

5.         Concluding soon: This is a mistake that I do. The moment I see the green card, I feel glad that I am qualified for voting and I conclude my speech. Most often I receive feedback saying that my speech was too short. So kindly try talking at least till the yellow card and then start concluding.

6.         Explaining the topic: If the topic is “Life is beautiful”. How much ever you try to explain the topic, you will again end up in repeating the same point in different ways. Eventually you will be beating around the same bush. Never do that.

What can we do to give a better table topics speech:

1.         Read short stories and jokes: This will help you to easily say a story and connect it with the topic. Anything can become a matter for you to talk about. Remember, what helped me in winning the club level Table topics contest, was a small story that I received as a forward sms the previous day. Stories, jokes, anecdotes will always help.

2.         Make the topic personal:  This is a very effective technique. Try relating the topic with your life. Try talking about stories or events from your life that fits into the topic. This technique is easy because it helps you to remember things. You won’t struggle to talk because its your life and you know what had happened. You will be comfortable to talk.

3.         Never hesitate to say lies: No one is going to inspect if what you spoke was truth or not. What matters in table topics is your ability to talk about something for 2 minutes. It can be a lie as well. You can always cook up some stories and deliver them as a speech, as long as you are able to connect with the topic. I have seen people cooking up stories and presenting them beautifully. Yet, they are champion table topics speakers !! 

4.         No matter what.. Talk !! – At times, you may be a given a  topic that makes no sense. Or you may not have understood the topic at all. But, keep talking with whatever you understood out of it. Say you get a topic  “Heart has its own reasons which reasons know nothing of”. I know the topic is horrible. But there are topics masters who give such topics. In this case, rather than trembling with fear on stage just talk something. From this topic we can clearly understand two keywords – “Heart, reasons”. Talk about these two elements and conclude.

5.         You still have time to think: Every topics master repeats the topic twice, slowly. So if you have listened to the topic carefully for the first time, you can start framing a speech before he reads it for the second time. In that way, you still get a few seconds to think.

6.         It is yet another speech: Remember that Table topics speech is yet another speech and organization is important. Try delivering a speech with proper opening body and conclusion. 

Be relaxed, don’t panic, Speak from heart !!!!!

Miss you champions.

"Toastmasters.... Toastmasters....." Mathew kept yelling.

"If you are not going to stop speaking about Toastmasters, you will soon be a dead piece of meat", I replied

He kept on taking about this for a really long time, say six months. I was least bothered. He has gone mad with Toastmasters.

What is the outcome of toastmasters? Nothing, you will be able to speak well in public. It was a piece of cake for me.

I was not that bad in English, I have been only to English medium schools. So I can speak well. This is what my mind said. Finally to get Mathew out of my veins, I decided to attend one meeting. There was some competition on that day. I saw three people speaking, I was jaw dropped. I can never speak in front of public like that!!!!

By the end of the meeting I came to realize that I can deliver a speech like that. The first step to do that is to join. The very same day I was officially a Toastmaster.

My first step in toastmaster was to be a part of a demo meeting. There I volunteered to become a table topic speaker.

The topic was "Do you think pink colour is for girls?" I managed to speak for two minutes. TMOD said, "This is how a Toastmaster speaks." I was overwhelmed. That was my first time and I have not even done anything in Toastmasters, still he said I am a Toastmaster. The energy that I had, or the confidence that I gained for speaking two minutes is all because my mind kept on whispering "You are a Toastmaster".

From that day I was a part of the Champions family, I hardly missed any of the meeting or even demo meetings until I left TCS. After delivering my first speech, I got an opportunity to announce the 50th meeting of champions Toastmaster in ChennaiOne building. I was literally shivering and tensed. Suddenly an HR came and asked, "Who is going to announce? I will listen from the cabin and will give my feedback." I replied "That would be me." This made scared me more. After making an announcement I went back to her. She said, "No wonder, because you are a Toastmaster". I was overwhelmed again. The energy that I had, or the confidence that I gained for announcing is all because my mind kept on whispering "You are a Toastmaster".

I have delivered three speeches and all through the speeches, I felt my improvement. I guess its not a matter of becoming a DTM or delivering 100 speeches that matters. Its all about the courage that you gain when you call yourself a Toastmaster. The very moment I start to converse in English, my mind whispers "You are a Toastmaster".

"Toastmasters.... Toastmasters....." I kept yelling.

"If you are not going to stop speaking about Toastmasters, you will soon be a dead piece of meat", all my friends now reply this.

Now sitting in Melbourne at a temperature of 5 degree Celsius, I can’t sleep. I thought it was because of jetlag or the cold weather, but my mind kept on whispering "You are a Toastmaster, but now you miss champions and now you don’t have a club". I then realized that I will not be able to sleep until I become a part of Toastmasters. Anyways, I will not transfer my membership to any other club. It will be always in area G5, District 82, TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club.

Miss you champions.........

Foot Volley

Foot volley: Proud invention of the 2000 Batch of BITS,Pilani.

The nature of the game is quite simple.

It is similar to volley ball, but played on a tennis court.
A minimum of 3 players and a maximum of 7 players on one side of the court.
The player who serves the ball serves right out of the baseline and serves to the opposite court (inside the half line).
The opponents should return the ball in less than 3 passes.
Between passes within the team one bounce is allowed.
Except hands any part of the body can be used while playing.

The players need a mixture aggression, smartness, team spirit, good attitude, natural flair and loads of talent, to succeed in this game. No other game can be as demanding and at the same time, as fun providing as this one.

On Kindness

"Kindness is a distemper which is soon cured by experience"

 - Abraham Miller 

The weather that morning wasn't pleasant. It wasn't uncomfortable either, just unremarkable. As I wheeled out my bike out of my driveway, I wasn't happy. I wasn't sad too, just indifferent. Brushing a speck of imaginary dirt from my relatively newer shirt, I started my bike and headed towards my office. The first person I came across on the road was staring at my shirt. I immediately looked down. Was something wrong? Perhaps a couple of buttons were undone? Nothing seemed out-of-place. I readjusted my belt with my left hand and continued driving.

When the eyes of the second person who crossed me lingered on me for a moment longer than necessary, I felt quite awkward. This time, I adjusted my rear-way mirror to focus on my shirt, but still couldn't find anything wrong. With a mild shrug, I rode on. I tried to put the thought out of my mind, but my eyes were unconsciously checking every passer-by to see if they found anything wrong with my atire. In another 10 minutes, I reached Medavakkam Main road. In case you haven't traveled by this road, it is a two lane road, one lane each for vehicles travelling on either side. There is no median-separator.

I was going at a reasonable speed through a plain stretch of road and there were no other vehicles around except for a bus ambling on the opposite lane. A shabbily dressed aged man carrying a shoulder bag walking on the opposite lane did not attract my attention. At least not until he fell down flat on the road with a thump just as I crossed him. I had already crossed the spot where the man fell, and I had every reason to keep going. Moreover, the man's appearance indicated that he was quite possibly poor. Haven't we all been taught that a poor person falling on a road for no apparent reason at all is most probably drunk? I mean, if he had been dressed like the millionaire in the movie Pushpak, I might have immediately rushed to his assistance. His appearance made me hesitate.

But I was reminded of a reader's editorial I had once come across on The Hindu (for those of you who aren't aware - "The Hindu" is an Indian  "newspaper" that has some news and a lot of opinions) which talks about the apathy of our society towards such incidents. The bus on the opposite lane braked cautiously, but no one seemed to get out of it. Not wanting to set a bad example by ignoring a person in need of help, I took a U-turn, stopped my bike and hesitantly went near the fallen man. Another motorist travelling in the same direction as I had stopped his bike, and came forward to help. I was still suspicious of the man lying on the ground, but both of us tried to lift him. He was heavier than expected, and my thin frame was not able to support him fully as he leaned on my shirt. By now, a third biker had appeared from somewhere, and he took over from me and moved the man away from the road. Momentarily left with nothing else to do, and spotting that the shoulder bag still lying on the road was probably blocking the bus, I moved it aside. Probably happy at being freed of the burden having to help someone, the bus driver rode on.

As is the case in such situations, our first thought was to provide water to him. I asked the other two people, but like me, they didn't carry any water bottles with them. I ran to the only two houses in the vicinity, only to find that both of them were locked. Meanwhile, the man had regained partial consciousness, and was whispering something about not having eaten anything for the past two days. Having done little to help until then, I was about to suggest that each of us contribute around 10 to 20 rupees to the aged man, when I noticed that the biker who had arrived immediately after me had already drawn out his wallet. Before I could speak, he just took out a few bills marked Rs.100 and offered to the man, turned to me and asked me to flag an auto. An auto driver was curious enough to stop, and we bundled the tired man into the auto.

By now, the shabbily dressed man had regained full consciousness. As we instructed the auto driver to take him to the nearest restaurant, the man who had drawn his wallet randomly took out some more currency notes and forced it into the auto driver's hands. Just as the auto started, the shabbily dressed man shouted "Innum oru 50 ruba kudunga sami". The man with the wallet glanced at us, and noticing that we were too slow to provide any suggestion, took out another note. The man in the auto happily took it as the auto left us.

I turned with admiration at the man who had, without a moment's hesitation, acted so generously. He shrugged off my glances, and hurried away from the place. I could put myself in his shoes and imagine how he would have felt. He would have felt plain uncertainty and an inability to decide if he had really been of help to someone in need, or had been duped. He would have wondered if he had been generous enough, or if he had been too generous. He would have pondered on why he wasn't feeling as happy, as one is supposed to going by popular opinions, after having performed a genuinely kind act. It is ironical that after having helped someone quite possibly in need, the first emotion that strikes us is self-doubt. Certainly, something is wrong. Either with us, or with a society that more often than not exploits  kindness, or with the people who teach the greatness of being kind.

As I wheeled around my bike, I wasn't happy. I wasn't sad too, just indifferent. Brushing a speck of (not imaginary) dirt from my relatively newer shirt (where the poor man had leaned) , I started my bike and headed towards my office. Strangely, no one seemed to stare at my shirt anymore.