Toastmasters Speech Series - The Story of My Life

Dear All,

I have decided to publish some of the speeches that I have created while being active at Toastmasters Club during the period of 2013 - 17 ( that particular phrasing makes me sound super important !!). Toastmasters was a great creative space to pen down my thoughts, opportunity to keep myself disciplined and meet interesting people. After moving to United States, those speeches never really saw the light of the day - until now.

The instant gratification monkey inside me keep driving me towards various destinations, letting work unfinished and leaving me in junctions with seven different pathways sprawled out. But it is getting clear to me that sharing your knowledge and work with the world, however unimportant that seems to you, would surely resonate and inspire someone out there. Now thinking about it, Santosh pandit also might have shared my opinion. Anyways, I believe that dusting out my blog and filing my works in to this space should bring more order in a constant battle against chaos that I wage every day. 

Today, I will be sharing the first ever speech that I attempted at Toastmasters platform. This speech is very special to me, since it serves as a raw reflection of the four very important people in my life, and my life journey that meanders around them. Many events happened in my life after the timeline showcased in that speech, but I am not altering them in any way to make it more presentable, appealing or to make it more of my present voice. I hope your enjoy the work and use the comments section to work on art of diplomacy. Here is to sharing your thoughts and ideas !!


Preface


The time was 10:00 pm, and the college conference room was still jam packed with people. I was one among them, and like all, were wondering when will the final list of TCS candidates be published, and mentally weighing their chances of getting in . I had really less to weigh and were one of the few people who barely qualified for attending the TCS interviews. Last one year of academic journey was more or less on offside , and I was really making an attempt to steer life into track when the much awaited campus recruitment commenced with the coming of TCS.


Sitting there and waiting with a heavy heart, my thoughts slipped back to my past.


Chapter 1 : Master of the Game


I was born in a cold December morning at Medical college hospital, Alleppey, as the son of Sreekumar and Valsala Sreekumar, and as the brother of Varsha, for which she had the chance of distribute sweets at her school for the first and last time . I was always told that i was a very silent kid and ate everything that was given without giving any trouble, which was a very nice thing initially for everyone. But after i passed the age of 4 , the silence was pretty evident , owing to an additional fact that my sister was a super smart kid . She uttered her first words at the age of 1 , started speaking pretty good at the age of 1.5 , started to read at 2 , and started to irritate everybody with speaking about everything she read by 3 .


People say it is always great to roam in a company of people who are better than you , as it will help us to push ourselves and grow .But to grow up with a sibling who is smarter than you , and always get compared with , is not a really pleasant affair . Although as frustrating as it was , it sometimes unconsciously pushed me to do something noticeable with my life as well . While I was academically good and content with the world and chair where i was sitting, she was an exploding firecracker, bursting with energy and enthusiasm. She always took all the prizes the school had to offer at all the events .During prize distribution , the speaker would read out -


“ First prize for English recitation – Varsha Sreekumar , First prize of English Elocution – Varsha Sreekumar ,First prize for English essay writing – Varsha Sreekumar . . . . Now we are over with English , now over to Malayalam .... “


Then the speaker will look at the audience and say


“ Hi All ,This is going to take a while . You may take a break for 10 min “ .


At the end , i will also be going up to help her receive the prizes , put them in to a sack like bag we exclusively bring for the event , and go home like a family of burglars . I will also have won a few prizes, which i will be putting to the top of the pile as well.


Sister had a bright future, and every teacher in the school had high hopes . But i think too much energy was her nemesis as well. Even though she could not bring herself to a stature that a person of her capabilities deserved in life , she was the master of her life. She is now happily married to a husband of her choice and is settled abroad. May she be truly fulfilled by her life. I am always indebted to her for kindling in me , the spirit and energy that she showed for all the decisions and actions in her life .


Chapter 2 : Catch me if you can


The early mental image that i have of my father is a muscular person doing weight training with barred teeth . I used to have nightmares in my childhood of he coming to my bed carrying weight in his hand with the same barred teeth expression . If we try to describe him using 5 words , we can narrow it down to resourceful , meticulous , cantankerous ,(as my grandfather would like to describe him ), short tempered and with addiction to all the top of the list bad habits. Reading was introduced to us through my father, who had a collection of novels at house. Reading always fascinated me, enthralled me, and gave me a “nerd” image at school. I still remember reading Harry potter books through the night, which had to be returned the next day at school.


He had a special trait about him that more than once baffled me. He has a habit of tricking people .But he always used to defend himself when i say this by saying “I don’t trick people. I just get our things done a little faster “. I had more than once got amazed by the way in which he gets things done when going straight would never have got it done. Once we went for seeing a hit movie at the second week of opening. We had an inkling that we were not going to get tickets, if we are lucky enough to get inside the theatre compound. The picture there was befitting the scenario we forecasted. The compound was jam packed and queues were looped up and increasing in length. I tried to analyse the crowd and see if anyone is there who could be asked for a ticket . I saw a amiable middle aged man standing in the queue about 30 people back, who could have a chance to get his hand on the ticket . I asked my father 

“Could i go and ask him for the tickets ?” . 

He looked at me , looked at the man , appraised him , looked back at me with a hint of a smile playing in his face . “Ya , sure , why not ? Give it a shot” .

 Backed up by my father , I went to the man , and slowly asked

“Sir !?” .

“Yes my dear boy ??” .
Confidence surged within me

“Could you get me 4 tickets for the show ? “

The man looked at me and smiled . I let out my breath and relieved . “Wow . Did not think it will be that easy ?” . I started extracting the money .

“Can you see the people ?” I looked up . He was pointing to the people at his back.

“Yes Sir , I do “

“Do you know how long i have been waiting in this queue ?”

I got the hint of where this was going.

“I don’t ... i am sorry”

I slowly started to move back . The guy suddenly exploded to people at the back “ See , he is coming with the money , and asking me to buy the ticket .We are all standing in the broad sunlight for hours , and lo behold , little prince just walts in and wants the ticket .. “

I had never felt so embarrassed in my life , especially since my parents were present there . I walked back to them in midst of the dialogues that were flying around , mostly pointed at me .

I looked shamefacedly at my father. But i was surprised to see that he was really amused 

“Ha ha .. Its ok .. To get the tickets , we have to match their effort , but not physically . Now , observe how the professionals roll it . come on “ .

He went inside the theatre, and i followed him , not sure what is he going to do . He went up straight to the manager’s room, knocked and entered

“Hi , I am sreekumar narayanan , retired commander of Indian Navy . I came to see the movie here with my family .. (slightly holding me ) .. But I could not procure the tickets . Will you be kind enough to help me ?”
The manager slightly rose from the chair “Y..Yes sir .. You see .. it is kind of rushy sir ... tickets are little difficult to get at this time sir.. Did you book your tickets by telephone sir ?”
“In fact yes .. i have ... “
The manager immediately called the booking ticket counter guy

“What was the name again sir ?”

“Commander Sreekumar”

“Ok .. (to the guy) .. is there an entry with commander sreekumar in it for “(covering mouthpiece) “How many sir?”

“4 , actually “

“OK .. 4 .. what ?... Sir , he is saying that your name is not in the list “

“I am sorry .. ? I am very sure that i have booked the tickets by phone . “

“But he is not able to place your name in there , sir ?”

“That is most unfortunate . I did not know that there is no surety for booking arrangements in the place . I have only been back in kerala for a week now , and now there has been many instances of these types of uncertainties and delays due to in competencies . If you are treating military people , the servants of nation like this , i am wondering how you are handling the queries of common man . I would like to take this up to the theatre owner, so that he get to know about the .. “ 

The manager was sitting with a flustered face , and this point he interjected “ I am extremely sorry for the inconvenience that has caused you due to this Sir . Let me see if i can get some tickets for you“ 

He again dialled in the phone and shouted some instructions at the booking guy . 

“Sir , there are no issues , sir .. We have got 4 first class tickets for you sir ...” 

I was extremely elated to hear that, and looked up at the father, but his expression was still stern. 

“I needed balcony tickets for the show “ 

“Sir , I am afraid that seems to be impossible “ 

“I have nothing against the people who sit in the first class , and in fact , i respect and honour every one of my country citizens . But it is another issue when i have to accommodate my family in between drunkards and hooligans. So if you could provide me the owner’s contact number, i will be greatly obliged “
“Sir ,... Let me go and check one more time “
The manager personally went out, and came after some time .

“Sir , I have managed to get 4 tickets for balcony . Please forgive for the troubles at the booking. Please contact me directly the next time you need to book tickets “
My father thanked him and went outside, with a gaping me at the side.

Recently we went to a music show , honouring Saleel chaudhary , which was recommended to us by my cousin brother , who was also there in the event management team . The event was held at a 4 star resort at Alleppey , where we reached at time for the show . At the entrance to the show , there were two people who were checking the show passes . We did not know that there were passes required for the show . When i was thinking about buying 3 , father turned around and said to us “Follow my lead” . Before i could say “Follow what?” he was walking towards the entrance, and with a brief nod at both the pass checkers he went inside. We stood there for a moment watching this with open mouth, then shaking out of the inertia , we too followed his “lead” . But we were not naturals at this sort of thing. There might have been some sort of guilty look in our face, because as soon as we got inside, the pass collector called us from behind.

“Sir ?”
I in turn called my father

“Fa..father .. !! he is asking something “

He coolly turned around , went to the pass collector , said something to him . The pass collector smiled and nodded, and gestured us to proceed . The father winked at me and went in to the hall. I was really dumb folded, and curious in equal measure.

For many days, i cudgelled my brain to get a what he might have said. Finally i could not contain it.

“Dad .. What did you say to the pass collector?”

Dad looked at me with a sly smile and said “Do you really want to know ?”

“YESSS “

“Ok . .ok.. I went to the pass collector and said “They are with me . “

He liked to do it not only because he wants to get things done. It was all a game to him , to read people , to change personality , and to play with them mentally .He enjoyed doing it , but always made sure that his tricks never harm anyone personally .

There are many stories about him, regarding his tricks , his bargaining habit , his navy stories , his sensitive side . He is now self-declared retired and is spending his time, running chores at home, googling , novels , watching movies and TV shows that i give to him . Like my sister, he never reached the levels that were appropriate for a man of his talents, but as they say “If we really want it, you will get it“ .It may be due to his lack of ambition in life .

I am indebted to him for all the things that he taught me in my life, and the resourcefulness that is really required to shine in all the spheres of life.

Chapter 3 : Mummy and me


As I have mentioned before , I started to speak very late during my younger days . While my sister was sent to school at 3 just to channel her overflowing energy, I was sent to school at 4 by mother, just to channel her concerns . Silence, a trait that was admired while i was a baby was started being frowned at , and by the age of 4 , relatives and “always-experts-in-messing-with-head” neighbours had started to really question my intellectual abilities . For L K G level, examinations were conducted orally at that time. Now, I guess it is conducted by TCS Ion. Since i had not started speaking, teachers were also wondering whether i will be “graduating” to next level. But mother never lost her confidence in me. She convinced the teachers about my capability, modified the exam to gestures, since i communicated by gestures and simple words, which were mostly “mother” and “food” .

She was always supportive, and helpful, and was by far the most “normal person” that i could get my hands on in the house . She was very protective and for most of my childhood , she managed to kept me inside the house and fatten me up . I was starting to get myself interested in football , and playing it very late , comparatively . I think that was one of the reasons i could never properly attain the flexibility that is needed for the game . She raised me by making her sister as an example , who was spoon feeding their son and was keeping them close . I started suffering when i joined college and started staying at a hostel. The first one year at college was really hard on me , not academically , but in terms of keeping my things in order . I was losing everything and was finding it really hard to remember the fact that “genie” is not with me now. The fact that they were fellow hostel mates, who did not have anything for themselves, and would walk every morning with a bucket , and get things from every room , like a super market was not really helping things . As my friend manu adams used to say , “Earlier , you need to buy a pen a day , now you have improved . You have reduced to it to 7 pens for a week “.

Sometimes , it drives me crazy when she overly cares for me and treats me like a child . When i am eating at some place public , and trying to look cool in front of some lady , she will come to me and say things like “Manu , is your stomach full now ? “ , “Ask that guy to put some more curry “ and will even put her food to my plate and say “Eat” .

I will always cherish memories of the wonderful food that she used to prepare, the care and love she gave , and one of the biggest lesson of life that she indirectly taught me .

“Either you can give fish to a man every day for the rest of his life or you can teach him to catch a fish , and make him independent for the rest of his life”

Chapter 4 : The karate kid


I mentioned about manu adams before in the previous chapter . I first met him during my second week at college. He had joined SCMS college first , then received higher option and came to our college . He came and sat next to me at the back bench , after finding that they are no seats at the front desk . I was about to introduce me , when he took my hand , shook it and said 

“ Hi , I am manu adams . Want to hear something ?” . I was little taken aback . 

“Ya , Of course . Why not “. 

He started “ Attalapittala tavalaachi .. chukka pidikanna chuvulaappa .. mariam vane vilakkuti ..(slow) shooooo .. poooooo .. fooooooo” ( for my out of state friends , this is a song that is sung by small children while playing ) .

I was listening with slightly open mouth .“Hi , I am manu as well “

The next day , he found a seat in the front bench and moved there . There was a period of six months during which we did not converse that much , although i could see that he is a very good speaker , a karate master , a good actor and very good sense of humour . I started having a proper friendship with him during the second year , and I even surprised myself by moving to first bench . I never thought that we could have so much fun sitting in the first bench , and understood the fact that a teacher’s attention is mostly focussed at the middle and last benchers . I could say he is the one of the few friends in my life from whom i got a chance to learn a lot. He introduced me to many good films , many interesting lines of philosophy , ideas , books of different genres and inspired my interest in speaking . He was the most responsible amongst all friends in my life. He has surprised me with how he used to take initiative and do things at his house and college . He gave me the title “The procrastinator” for the trademark laziness i had with me .

My attempts at relationships with girls were not always smooth . He was always there, supporting and getting me up from my moments of depression. He always used to enact my body language when I become nervous on seeing a girl – one hand will go to my pocket and the other hand will go to my hair. It was funny enough until he started to show that to the entire class . Even now , at times , my former classmates greet me in this fashion when I meet them .

I feel extremely lucky to have these 4 people and everyone who were kind enough to interact with me and enrich me with their wonderful personalities.


Prologue


I was shook from my reverie by my friend “They are here “. Sure enough, the people have come in with the final list . Curious enough, I did not feel any tension when they start to read out the names. I did not feel the need to draw my self-esteem by appearing in these lists. I was then sensing energy within me to move on with my life, making it enriched by interacting with all the wonderful people, do challenging things and spreading the magic of living to lives of others as well.


“Manu Sreekumar ….” . My name was called out from the list, and i knew that a new chapter was about to unfold in my life.