Toastmaster third project - Get to the point

October 14, 2012

Today I delivered my third project in Toastmaster.

The project was to “Get to the point”.

Objectives as per Toastmaster “Competent Communicator” manual as below –

• Determine your general purpose
• Focus in on your specific purpose
• Ensure that the entire speech maintains focus on your objective

However there was a catch – I have to give speech in Hindi, yes you heard me right.

This was a special session where all speakers have to use Hindi only.

Anyways, the speech (in Hindi) is as below.

अगर मैं कहूं कि मेरा नाम दिन में चार बार लेने से आपके साथ कुछ अच्छा होगा ? और इस बात का आप जितना अधिक प्रचार करेंगे, उतनी ही आप पर लक्ष्मी की कृपा होगी..

यदि मैं आपको कैंसर का रामबाण उपचार बताऊँ. तो क्या आप मेरा विश्वास करेंगे ?

मजेदार बात ये है कि मुझे अच्छी तरह ना जानते हुए भी आप आँखें मूंद कर यकीन करेंगे.

क्योंकि हम बिलकुल ऐसा ही करते हैं,... जब हम ऑनलाइन होते है.

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हम अनगिनत मेल या मेसेज फॉरवर्ड करते है. कुछ हानिरहित चुटकुले, कुछ उपयोगी जानकारी देने वाले और  कुछ अच्छी किस्मत के लिए

आखिर इसमे हर्ज़ ही क्या है ?

इसके चार तरह के नुकसान है.

१) पहला तो आप एक मुर्ख लगेंगे. खुद मुझे कुछ दोस्तों कि तरफ अपना नजरिया बदलना पड़ा ,जो कि ऐसे अच्छे भाग्य के सन्देश भेजते थे.

facebook पर साईं बाबा की तस्वीर को आप like, share करो और आप पर साईं बाबा की कृपा होगी. वर्ना आप नास्तिक कहलाओगे.

२) दूसरा आप किसी धोखेबाज़ी का शिकार हो सकते है. ऐसी बहुत सी मेल्स आपको आती होंगी कि आप भाग्यशाली विजेता है फलां फलां lottery के, जिसका टिकट ही आपने नहीं लिया होता.

या कोई वेबसाइट खोलिए और .... बधाईयाँ, आप १०००००० वें व्यक्ति हैं क्लिक करने वाले और जीतते हैं एक आईपॉड.

३) तीसरा इनमें ऐसे सुझाव दिए जाते हैं जो आपकी सेहत के लिए नुकसानदायक हो सकते हैं.

शायद आपको भी एक मेल आई हो ATM का पिन उल्टा टाइप करने के बारे में. अगर कोई आपको डरा धमका कर ATM से पैसे निकालने को मजबूर करता है. तो आप अपना पिन उल्टा टाइप करें. ऐसा करने पर ATM से रुपये तो  मिल जायेंगे पर नजदीकी पुलिस स्टेशन में अलार्म बजेगा. कितने लोगो को ये मेल मिला है ?

ऐसी कोई भी तकनीक किसी बैंक ने लागू नहीं की है. सोचिये ऐसी मेल पढ़कर आप ऐसा करने कि कोशिश करें और ATM से पैसे आने की बजाय ब्लाक हो जायें. इस परिस्थिति में चोर आपका क्या हाल करेगा ?

४) चौथा आप किसी सरकारी झमेले में फंस सकते हो

हमें यह स्मरण रखना चाहिए कि सरकारी तंत्र ऐसी घटनायों को लेकर बहुत ज्यादा उदार नहीं है.

कार्टूनिस्ट असीम त्रिवेदी और Professor अम्बिकेश महापात्र इसकी गवाही दे सकते हैं. Facebook में आने वाले बहुत से मेसेज, कार्टून उस श्रेणी में आते हैं जिनपर Law of sedition के अंतर्गत आप पर कार्यवाही हो सकती है.

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सवाल ये पैदा होता है कि व्यक्तिगत तौर पर हमें क्या करना चाहिए ?

• पहला इन्टरनेट पर "Break the Chain"  और "Hoax - Slayer"  जैसी कई वेब-साईट्स है जहां आपको सच्चाई का पता लग सकता है.

       अगर हमारे पास ऐसे मेसेज फॉरवर्ड करने का समय है तो हमारे पास उनकी सच्चाई पता करने का समय भी है. और अगर हमारे पास ऐसी mails कि छानबीन करने का समय नहीं है तो हमारे पास इनको फॉरवर्ड      करने का समय भी नहीं होगा. हमारी ऐसी शुभकामनाओं / नेक सलाहों के बिना भी लोगों का काम चल जायेगा.

• दूसरा हमें इस बात का ध्यान रखना चाहिए कि ऑनलाइन हम जो भी करते है उसकी जिम्मेदारी हमारी है. गौरतलब है कि कुछ placement agencies आपके bio-data के साथ साथ social media sites पर भी आपकी profile की जॉच करती है.

इसलिए दोस्तों, इस बात की सावधानी अवश्य रखें कि इन्टरनेट की बदौलत पूरी दुनिया एक गाँव बन गयी है. और हमारा ऑनलाइन व्यवहार ही हमें इस गाँव का एक जिम्मेदार नागरिक साबित करेगा.

Toastmaster second speech - Organize your speech

Today I delivered my second speech in GTMC (Gurgaon Toastmaster Club)

Below are it excerpts (with one image inserted for clarity) 

Mr. Toastmaster, fellow members and dear guests.

The topic of my speech is perceptions and interpretations.

I'll start with a story.

The story is about some blind men who went to see an elephant for the first time.

First man touched the leg of elephant and said to other, Listen this animal is like a PILLAR.

Second man touched the tusk and said to others. Are you mad? It’s smooth, round and sharp like a SPEAR.

Third got the trunk in his hand and said! Hey this animal is actually a snake

Fourth lay his hands on tail and said. "What are you saying this animal is like a rope?

 

Though written more than two thousand years ago, this story hold important insights for all of us in terms of interpretations different people draw.

For me the story indicates that every man was telling the truth, it was his truth and so different from truth of other five people.

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In the story, those men make their impressions based on sense of touching, but how did we make our impressions?

Broadly there are four bases on which people make their interpretations-

1)      Personal background and upbringing – The circumstances in which we grew up mould our attitude and leaves deep lasting impressions on our thinking and shapes our character

2)      Inspirations – All of us tend to make role-models at various stages of our life especially at a tender age, Later on these impressions makes us partisan.

3)      Belief systems – All cultures develop a system of values that are applied to meet a culture's needs. Our understanding of the values of a culture and our acceptance or rejection of those values is our belief system

4)      Ego – A person’s ego is his perception of oneself. It’s our sense of self esteem and we defend this sense of self importance.

And how these interpretations affect us?

All of us draw interpretations based on our knowledge and experiences but in reality how tolerant are we when our view is radically difference from the other person?

On micro level. In offices, in homes and with friends , the difference of opinion affects our relationships, our work performances and our mental peace on the whole.

At macro level, we as a society on the whole are getting more and more intolerant day by day. We just don’t respect the right of other person to differ in opinion from us.

We are quick to brand anything which doesn’t agree with our beliefs as blasphemous and unmoral.

We ban their works, burn their effigies, force them into exiles and in many extreme cases they may have to lose their lives.

So the big question is? What can me as an individual do?

One of the common mistakes is to reach outward for solutions whereas we have to reach inwards for it.

Understanding on what biases our interpretations are based about and tackling the past demons.

If we would remain positive in our outlook only then we can understand others.

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I’ll conclude with another short story.

It’s a story about two brothers whose father was bitter and cruel; an alcoholic and a drug addict who almost kills himself several times. Today he serves life sentence in prison.

One of the brothers grew up to be just like dad. A drug addict who lives by stealing and threatening others until him, too, was put in prison just like his father.

His brother however is different story, a man who’s raising three kids, is financially stable, enjoys his marriage and appears to be truly happy.

Both were asked privately, unbeknownst to the other “Why have you life turned out this way.

Surprisingly they both provided the exact same answer.

Would you like to know what the answer was, it’s “WHAT ELSE COULD I HAVE BECOME, HAVING GROWN UP WITH A FATHER LIKE THAT.

The circumstances may not be in our control but what we make of them is definitely in our hands.

Bankruptcy of mind - 1

How can somebody for whom it seems the terms Google- maniac has been defined can slam Google ?

No I'm not a supporter of Apple or Microsoft. In fact I'd love Google and Samsung to win against MS and Apple so that I can have my Samsung Smartphone with android.

It all started like this...

I was searching for a topic to prepare my second speech in Toastmaster, very recently I was criticizing people who just copy article from books, Google to make their speech in toastmaster.

But, I found myself doing the same thing i.e. searching on goggle to find material and guess what was my excuse?

My excuse was that for my second project I need to deliver a speech which has to be very structured with main points , sub points and all that.  Sooooo... I have to find some research material . Andddd..... where else to find but Google.

So I squirmed through Google and jotted down lots and lots of material which I could refine and prepare my speech but then I stopped...........

Hello!!, the speech is not on some historical or scientific thing but on an aspect of human behavior and though I can do with some psychological references but where will you draw the line between getting the reference / idea from Google  or plainly copying the material from Google and editing, re-phrasing it and branding it as my own work.

Its getting more and more complicated now.

What's an original idea anyways

Acc to one the theories (BTW what do you really expect when you read these words)

Every specie has a collective conscience where each individual can plunge into and that the reason one or more people come out with exactly same idea at same point of time.

I'll admit the first picture that cropped into my mind when I read this theory was some clips from the movie Avatar - For those who had seen the movie - surely can relate this stuff with so called Eywa

Okay I have diverted sufficiently off from the main topic and hence I will come directly to the point.

Google is probably the best thing that has happened to us.

Courtesy to it, we now have the access to all the information available worldwide in matter of seconds.

Its very hard to imagine how people would've managed before Google, From where they accumulated the required information.

But wait..... the keyword here is information  -

DID WE EVER CARED TO STOP AND REFLECT THAT WHAT WE ARE SERVED AT GOOGLE IS INFORMATION OR OPINION.

WHETHER THE VERY THING (GOOGLE) THAT'S SUPPOSED TO INCREASE OUR KNOWLEDGE HAS ACTUALLY BECOME OUR CRUTCH.

Its just like you forget actually cooking food because you are dependent on ready made food.

In the same way we have forgot analysis, deduction and making opinion because why bother ?, ready made opinions are available at Google, Much better thought off , supported by solid evidences, historical trends blah blah.

So all that we have to do is to search deep in Google and locate such gems of Wisdom and then snap. you are ready to show off your intellectual prowess.

And if you are caught and accused of plagiarism!! well impress them by explaining theory of collective consciousness [:)].

Toastmaster First Project - Ice Breaker

Just checked that I've not published my first speech of Toastmaster here.

So here it is

I’ll start with a question – How many of you have actually selected the carrier you’re into, the institute from where you have passed.

Don’t you wonder, the important decisions that shape our life are taken without any serious reflection just by going with the trends.

Mr.  Toastmaster, fellow members and dear guests.

The topic of my speech is Y2K, which is an acronym for year 2000, the year in which I was compelled to take a major decision of my life.

The major part of my life is spent in Chandigarh, where we settled in after my father retired from army. Somehow it’s planned architecture suites my father who could not shed that basic disciplined demeanor of his army life.

It’s a city where I did most of my schooling, my college education and my job also.

So in year 2000 I completed my higher secondary, Up to so far everything was okay. I selected Non Medical after metric because that’s what good studious students are expected to do, isn’t it; to become doctors or engineers.

It was very clear that two years before to me that I have to appear in competitive exams after my 10+2 but somehow I did nothing about it unlike some of my classmates who were ready with their plans of shifting to Kota as its hub of coaching centers and enrolling to another school where you can bunk classes to attend coaching.

I do attend coaching classes and appeared in all the exams, Harsh reality fell on the day of declaration of result when I found that I’m in front of may-be tens of thousands of students but more importantly and what matters most also , was behind those elusive one thousand applicants who can dream of making in institutions of their choice

All my hopes were clinging to one last result that was yet to come. Standing in queue in that room waiting for my result , those 2 hrs seems like 2 years and after that I get that wretched piece of paper telling that my rank is 800 odd something in short NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Just at the gate of that room, a man was selling the pamphlets of crash course for a institute called Indo Swiss Training Centre.

I swear that I’ve never heard of it before; but as I was not at all willing to go home and face my parents so instead I went to the institute to collect the brochure. There was a bunch of students just standing near the counter and how worse a day can be I find myself right in a ragging session.

Luckily some students were sensible enough to understand my situation, at that unlikeliest of places I got good advice that helps me to decide my future course of action.

Saying that I made a choice would be a false statement because I really don’t have much options, I was not at all willing to explore options like taking a paid seat or going in some obscure college in some remote part or to drop one year and give another try to same exams.

I set a goal to clear the entrance exams and get into that institute and achieved it. After all those years its very hard for me to imagine my life without those teachers and those classmates.

A lot of my friends pursued other options and after more a decade it’s a mixed results but I never regret my decision.

I’m not a philosopher but there are two learning that stays with me after all this.

One No such decision can ever be wrong which is taken with conviction and followed with perseverance

And for second I’ll quote zig ziglar as

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become after achieving your goals

 

Second Meeting Toastmaster (unlucky day)

Today I attended the second meeting of Gurgaon Toastmaster club (gurgaontoastmasters.com)

But the day started on a pretty bad note, first of all I could not get-up in the morning on time.

Secondly as I was about to leave , my wife told me to get some bread butter from market as she did not feel like cooking ( I had shifted house just a day before and everybody has the right to be tooo tired [ except me , offcouse!]

Thirdly I had an accident on the way with major scratches on my car (I still feel peeved thinking about car repair bill)

Fourthly I was fined by traffic police for entering into a one-way on wrong side.

Inspite of that I reached toastmaster on time but my misfortune did not ended here only

Fifthly the air – conditioner in the room was not working

Sixthly – I did not participate in table topic contest as the guy who has decided on the topics did not want to tax his brain cells and come up with a simple solutions.

[for info abt toastmaster and table topic, visit their site, I'm one hell of a lazy bone to write about it]

Anyway table topic is supposed to be a fun filled, on the spot speaking kind of thing where you pick a slip and start speaking on it, just like that (The ultimate nightmare of people like me)

And that guy just come across a topic – acceptance speech if you are selected a president: decides that its funny enough and made it a central theme of all the topics.

for example, president of india for social cause (?), winner of speech competition, winner of best employee, winner of Indian Idol.

Well I could’ve tried too, but I found topic too boring and everyone was giving the same line  (thank everyone blah blah)

Anyway still if I have to pick something positive out of it then it’s that I managed to attend two meetings in a row of toastmaster clup (two times in a row, I got up at 7 pm on a sunday morning, two times in the row I dont fell prey to procrastination, I skipped two episodes of Satyamev Jayte by Amir Khan, I resisted the temptation of sunday morning brunch two times in the row and two time in the row I dont use some minor problem as an excuse of not attending toastmaster meeting)

EPILOGUE - 

I read “alchemist” by Paul Coelho again last week. Found it an interesting read though from fiction point of view only, not something life changing or motivational.

Agreed there are some nuggets of wisdom in it, but those i think you can find in any book you pick. That the beauty of habit of reading.

The writer describes omens as signs from god in an impressive way, after this turn of events today. I wonder what to make out of it as I have all the bad omens today. will know tomorrow in office (monday morning is alway bad anyway)

Graffiti

 “Most of the world’s religions say, ‘Thou shalt not kill’. Most of the world’s religions will kill you to prove it.”

source - 1995 British television miniseries Oliver’s Travels

Search Engine

What’s the thing about search engines?

I mean it’s a good question to ask that how Google Inc earns its profit.

Google Inc is considered as a 700 pound gorilla that can take on the huge behemoth Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft’s revenue is but obvious, Microsoft windows is something which has become a part and parcel of our life.

The reason for Google’s earning is ……hold your breadths         ADVERTISEMENTS!!

You can type Google adwords in Google itself and will know the answer; you can create your own ad in adwords and need to pay Google only if people click your ad.

So Google earns revenue by displaying ads related to your search criterion.

If you click the ad, the company which has placed the ad will pay Google.

Anyways this search engine thing props in my mind as I was installing free software in my system. I noticed that almost every other software (Freeware definitely and maybe some sharewares too)

It’s very frustrating that while installing the software you tend to click “I agree” on all the pop up screens and the last thing you knew your search settings are changed.

You know it only when you have to goggle something and see some stupid toolbar installed. Off course one can always un-install it from tools but it requires someone slightly geeky like me.

Nothing bad in trying to emulate Google and making its own search – engine, But to be honest none of these players have the resources available and they rely more on the fact that may be many  will not be able to change the setting and therefore have to content with new search engines only (besides cursing the software owner)

Ads v/s Movies

The mobile phone advertisements or rather advertisements in general are touching an all time high in terms of quality whereas the movies are touching an all time low in same terms.

I was just watching the advertisements of airtel (friends sharing one) and Vodafone (the one showing an elderly gentlemen and a boy who’s his neighbor apparently).

These ads deliver the intended message in a beautifully subtle way, Something that the movies are so desperately lacking ; I mean mobile phone  is not a status symbol in India anymore, Even the rickhaw-wallas are having it, So this logic about making senseless and loud movies for mass audience does not holds good.

The truth is that  the majority of film-makers are just not good enough to make sensible and though provoking movies, Just a cursory look at the list of movies running in halls this week leaves an avid movie-buff like me hopeless. All I have is a vulgar comedy from the stable of “daily soap queen”, a remake of senseless south Indian movie, a movie which claims to an art movie but serving nothing but gore and shit and a barely concealed porn movie featuring a porn star with few other wooden actors.