tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809880474443709112024-03-14T07:59:59.694+05:30piece of mindeverybody's blogging, so why not me? or maybe this would help me write a book someday....or maybe this is just another daydream..or maybe i'll forget all about having created this page by next year. Anyway...for now, its a piece of my mind - about anything and everything - book reviews, short stories, philosophy, current events and other crap.Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-51766131459738074242019-05-02T15:26:00.002+05:302019-05-02T15:27:44.550+05:30Book Review - War and Peace<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/656.War_and_Peace" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="War and Peace" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1413215930m/656.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/656.War_and_Peace">War and Peace</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/128382.Leo_Tolstoy">Leo Tolstoy</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2677119838">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
It would be about 8 or 9 years ago that i bought this book with the intention of reading it 'one day'. That day arrived when i took a break from my career, in January. Still, it took me more than 4 months to read War and Peace. That's after i set a deadline to finish it!<br /><br />That makes it sound boring. Which is not exactly true. The book does have its boring bits, but it is interesting and entertaining for the most part. I would have rated it higher if it wasn't for the 'Epilogue II' - which is a take on things's inevitability vs. man's free will. Tolstoy confuses us to the point that one starts to think what's the meaning of it all - all meaning life itself, as well as the fact that you have almost read this tome of a book and come to the end of it, and you have set a deadline to finish it off, and this guy is telling you history really is inevitable and nothing to do with anyone's free will no matter what. So France would have invaded Russia in the early 19th century, with or without Napoleon; France would have had someone else. In any case, the result would have been the same, the French retreating after reaching Moscow, with or without Kutuzov and Alexander I doing anything on their part.<br /><br />You don't really want a good book to end so morosely. So, leaving behind the unnecessary (but inevitable!) Epilogue II, the rest of the book is a page turner and (again i am insisting, like LT did in the whole novel about one thing or the other) should have ended at 'Epilogue I' with its happily ever after feel. Chronicling the lives of a handful of stately and rich people from around the year 1805 to 1820, when Napoleonic forces invaded Russia, it is a detailed commentary on the social and military setup of Russia during that time. <br /><br />Of these people, some remain with you a long time after you have kept the book down. Prince Andrew, Princess Mary, Natasha, Sonya, Nicholas, Pierre, Denisov - the characters have been painted in vivid details and the tiniest clockwork of their minds laid bare. Their interactions and dialogues with each other further introduce you to their respective worlds and you get to know them all thoroughly. The novel touches upon a lot of areas - Freemasonry, extra marital affairs, balls and arranged alliances, love affairs, hunting (yes, hunting, with dogs), generals and their military strategies and how the strategies do not (and cannot) get executed. Then there is a long discourse on Napoleon and his not being a genius contrary to the public opinion at that time. There is also a long discourse on Kutuzov and history's lack of due recognition for him. <br /><br />The novel is organized in various books, each one alternating with the themes of war and peace, and containing around 15-20 chapters. There are french sentences in between, duly translated. <br /><br />While you would need time and patience to read this one, the feeling after the you've finished the book is one of triumph. For me specially since this one was on my list for the longest time!
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/25812296-sampada-wagde">View all my reviews</a>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-63068044239818330552019-01-03T15:30:00.001+05:302019-01-03T15:30:45.063+05:30Book Review - Never Let Me Go<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6334.Never_Let_Me_Go" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Never Let Me Go" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1353048590m/6334.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6334.Never_Let_Me_Go">Never Let Me Go</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4280.Kazuo_Ishiguro">Kazuo Ishiguro</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2361690959">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Well, now at last I begin to understand why this author was awarded a Nobel. <br /><br />The story's narrator is a young woman reminiscing about her school days. This is no ordinary school though, as the reader finds out page by page. You get the feeling that the story is somehow a science fiction, but the fact is never quite out there. It turns out to be a love triangle as well, while being deeply psychological. <br /><br />While reading, one is also reminded time and again of the irony of retrospection. How things in the past seem different when you turn back from the present. How perspective changes with the passage of time and the advantage of knowledge. <br /><br />To mess with the reader's head, the author does not deliberately reveal the narrator's background, but forces us to see her as a regular person. <br /><br />Worth a read for the serious reader.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/25812296-sampada-wagde">View all my reviews</a>
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Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-77340933604136914102019-01-03T15:21:00.000+05:302019-01-03T15:22:40.003+05:30Book review - Remains of the day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28921.The_Remains_of_the_Day" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Remains of the Day" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327128714m/28921.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28921.The_Remains_of_the_Day">The Remains of the Day</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4280.Kazuo_Ishiguro">Kazuo Ishiguro</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2170687641">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Needless to say, picked this book up owing to the Nobel buzz, but was disappointed. Maybe I should reserve my comments before reading further work of the author. About the book itself, it's a good historical fiction fast-read. The setting is early to mid 20th century England, the political scenario described from the vantage of Lord Darlington's simplistic and loyal butler Stevens. There are many undertones to the narrative - the life of erstwhile aristocrats and their servants, hierarchy and ambitions of the manservants, the meaning of dignity, how loyalty drives someone to turn blind and deaf to what really is happening around, and extreme devotion to your profession among others. An enjoyable and fairly educative read if you forget the Nobel tag.
<br><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/25812296-sampada-wagde">View all my reviews</a>
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Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-40929963564138723752016-05-15T14:51:00.002+05:302016-05-15T14:59:39.617+05:30A Hearty Awakening<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is a story i wrote for <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/writeindia.cms">Times of India's Write India Short Story Contest</a>. The idea was to expand an established writer's given excerpt as per his/her rules. This particular story is for/by Durjoy Datta. The author's excerpt is in italics.<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>'Are you sure, Rhea?' asks my mother.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><i></i></span><i>'Of course I'm. Survival of the fittest, mother. I'm not going against Darwin. Also I don't want unnecessary scars on my body.'</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><i></i></span><i>It's a known fact that we are all born to die. And frankly, I don't understand why it has to be made into such a big deal. If it were not for my mother I would have said that to the bunch of people outside my house, some of them with young kids, shouting slogans, waving placards, literally wanting me to cut one of my beating hearts out. "Save A Life. Donate!" they shout.</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><i></i></span><i>For someone who is one in billions, 7.125 billion to be exact, I expect to be treated better. Scientists are still befuddled regarding my condition that gave me two hearts in my mother's womb. But years of research and sticking needles into me have led them nowhere, and they have labelled me as a freak mutation. It's so rare - literally one in all humankind - that they didn't even name the anomaly (as they call it, I will call it awesomeness). I wanted to name the condition myself, something on the lines of Rhea's Heartsawesome but the doctors aren't thrilled with the suggestion. Instead they want to cut one of them out and save a life. Huh?</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><i></i></span><i>An IQ of 180, increased concentration, exceptional athleticism and a phenomenal metabolism rate - are just the few boring benefits of an increased blood circulation. Why would I ever give that up?</i> Who in their right mind would even want me to? Freak Mutation my ass...er...hearts.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />I know my mother. She just wants to get rid of the nuisance in front of her home, or the place she used to call home before it became a media jungle, and save her career. She is by no means any stranger to waving placards. But she's had enough trouble because of me to last her a lifetime, she says. First the series of doctors, then this. I don't blame her. Like the rest of the world, there's only so much that her lone heart can handle. If only my genitor had been with her and not just vanished off the face of the earth after that one night of sperm donation. She might have been like me, metaphorically, with her heart intertwined with his. Sadly, she simply hates men now. So much so that she hasn’t had any relationship with any man in the eighteen years since then. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Never having seen my father, in my imagination he is more like a demi-god whose secret mission on this planet was to find a suitable female and impregnate her to create me, an unparalleled being. Needless to say, this thought gives me a super kick! But honestly, it also gives me a sense of responsibility, or a deep meaning to my life, if you will. I feel I have been sent to change the world or something, or to fulfill my unseen father's mission. I tried telling this to my mother, and she seemed to agree with the responsibility part. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In her opinion, right now I was being callous. 'Scars? Darwin? Are you kidding me Rhea? Don't you realize this is the beloved mission you keep blabbering about? Give your heart to someone while you're still alive. How can you have two hearts beating inside you but zero kindness?'</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mothers, by definition, have to be melodramatic I suppose. Similarly, being a teenager, I was technically entitled to throw tantrums. Never the one to follow rules or societal norms, I very calmly said, ‘Ok. I am being unkind. I am only thinking about myself and the loves of my life. Not about you, not about anyone dying of a failing heart. But you know I can’t do this to George, nor Sanjana. Losing one heart means losing one of them.’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘No man is worth such pain Rhea. They leave you to fend for yourself, one way or the other. George should be with you now helping with your submission and not in that godforsaken place called Haiti. Please listen to me. Sanjana is an amazing woman. Donate one heart so that you first get rid of the flashbulbs surrounding you. Then marry her and start a new life in Canada. They will welcome a genius like you with open arms. You won’t even need my intervention to get a permanent residency there.’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘I know Sanjana is an amazing woman, I love her for God’s sake! But George is a great guy too…why punish him? You should be proud that he is helping resettle the poor earthquake victims. Just because you have distanced yourself from men doesn’t mean I have to as well for no apparent reason! And since when have you started believing in marriage?’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘You said it yourself honey. Just because I didn’t tie the knot myself doesn’t mean I don’t wish it for you.’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This was becoming too much of an emotional discussion for me to handle. I excused myself on the pretext of preparing the thesis for my second directorate in data science. In all probability, it was going to be my ticket to getting real recognition in the world. One based on my efforts and not something I was born with. It could be a breakthrough in predictive analytics that could change the way we live. George, a professor of Data Structures and Algorithms at UC Berkeley, is my mentor. Our research has the potential to alter the course of history by predicting with a precision of 1/16</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 9.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> of a person’s last four generations’ average age how long he or she would live. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But all I can think of now is about G and Sanju. Granted that I was born unique, but both of them too were nothing short of miracles themselves. Knowing that your paramour loves somebody else as well and still accepting her was something that no ordinary person could handle. That I found two such people at such a young age had to be a miracle of sorts by all existing standards. I don’t want to steal the glory I just attributed them, nevertheless part of it could be because I have two hearts. The knowledge that I love each of the two with a full one must obviously help.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The doctors insisting on cutting one of my hearts out are pretty sure it will not affect my intelligence or focus, but are noncommittal about how my body would react to the reduced circulation. There is quite a possibility it could change my sexual orientation. Or not. It could also adversely affect my metabolism and thereby the physical agility I am so proud of. Then there is the big question of half-heartedly loving Sanju and G, or not having the capability to love one of them at all. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There was no way in hell I would give one of them up. Besides being my boy/girlfriends, they were great friends amongst themselves. The three of us were the talk of the town, for obvious reasons - two girl students and a professor hanging out three-gether, too exciting a topic to ignore. But mother was right about one thing, we had to relocate if we had any hope of leading a semblance of a normal life. Canada was more liberal than US when it came to breaking stereotypes. It was, after all, the first country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriages. That country had to be more accepting of our unique situation while keeping me close to the scientific community in my own country I so want to continue working with. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Suddenly my phone rings and breaks my reverie. It is Sanju. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘All hell has broken loose Ree. My parents have found out about us and are calling me back to India. I am flying out tomorrow.’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One of my hearts skips a beat. ‘When will you be back?’ I manage to ask.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘I don’t know man. My folks sounded real furious. They are as traditional as traditional can get. Their worst fear before agreeing to send me here to study was that I would end up marrying an American guy.’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">That was my Sanju for you. Her wicked sense of humor never left her; this almost always managed to bring out my wry side. ‘Oh my. They so grossly underestimated your unorthodoxy baby. Is this the right time to say that makes me love you so much more?’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘Ree, shut up. Bye.’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And that was that. The last thing that my witty clever lovely Sanju said to me a month ago was to Shut Up. Ironically, it is she who has gone quiet. Off Facebook, off WhatsApp, off my radar. Out of my reach. Completely. For the first time ever in eighteen long years, my heart is broken. I do all the cliché stuff that the brokenhearted are likely to do. Listen to mind numbing metallic rock. Sit on the beach and contemplate how drowning would feel. Dress shabbily. Get a new hobby: Paintball. Pour one of my hearts out to the bartender. Eat chocolate. Focus on all that is wrong with the world.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Then, like a breath of fresh air, without warning, George comes back from Haiti. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘Your mom called me up Rhea, I don’t know how she tracked me out. It is madness out there. Being a senator has its own perks I guess. There is nothing your mother cannot achieve once she sets her mind to it. Anyway, she told me about your, eh, situation.’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This is beyond ludicrous. Unfathomable is perhaps the right word. ‘Mother called you? To tell you about Sanju? She’s gone G. Just like that. Poof!’</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘I know. But that’s not the only thing I meant by your situation.’</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So he means the askers of my heart, do they even know it’s broken I wonder. Out loud I say, ‘Oh, G. People will eventually get bored and find a new story to poke their noses in. These sloganeers hungry for my heart won’t stay here forever!’</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘It’s been more than a month already. Today it took me ten minutes to drive from the university to your house, and another twenty to get from the front gate to your room. Tomorrow it could take an hour. At least think about your mom Rhea. Any chances of her going for the presidential bid will go out the window if this circus continues any longer.’</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This is totally below the belt. ‘So that’s why she brought you here? G, she is just using you to save her precious post. She doesn’t even like you. The other day she wanted me to ditch you and marry Sanju. And what about me? Do you even love me anymore? Why are you calling me Rhea?’ </span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">George looks befuddled for a moment. Doesn’t take him long to recover though, that sly trickster. I simply adore him for this, even in my anger. ‘Because you’ve grown up Rimpkin. The girl I saw before going to Haiti has now turned into a beautiful woman.’</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Leave it to this guy to make me week in my knees. ‘Please continue’, I say.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘There’s nothing better than a heartbreak to ripen one’s character. Today I see a mature lady in front of me who I am sure is capable of taking the right decisions. Decisions that would make the world a better place.’ </span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I am repulsed and recoil as if horrorstruck. G notices and leaves. Is it my imagination or is it really my mother speaking out of George’s mouth? I don’t think he has any idea he’s been manipulated. How naïve of him. Or he knows and has fallen to mother’s charms. In either case, he has lost the respect he had in my eyes. Both my hearts, the broken and the intact one, together cannot convince my brain that George is the right person for me to be with. </span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I pack my bags and hunt for my passport. From the back door of the house, I quickly sneak out and head to the airport. To hell with the thesis and the UCB scientists. To hell with mother. To hell with George. To hell with the world.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sanju, my one true love, I will come and get you, wherever you are. I will love you forever, with both my hearts. I only hope that you will love me back enough to fight whoever comes in our way. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">P.S. I did not end up even in the top ten!</span></span></span></span></h4>
</div>
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
</span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-25392600844239493462016-01-04T21:00:00.000+05:302016-01-04T21:01:08.839+05:30Normal: A postmortem<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I love celebrating New Year’s.
Who wouldn’t? This puts me in the same category as everybody else.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I hate celebrating my birthday. This
puts me in the category of borderline nutcases.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Is that okay? Is that normal?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We spend our lives contemplating about
ourselves vis-vis a perceived normal behavior.<i> </i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>I am having weird dreams about falling off a cliff lately, is that normal?</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>I don’t like going to noisy parties like my friends do. Is that normal?</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We can find all sorts of such
questions on various forums. TV shows offering relationship advice, newspaper “Ask
the expert” columns, <a href="https://www.quora.com/">Quora</a>, chat rooms and what not.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Many times not just ourselves; we
don’t spare anyone at all.<i> </i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Uncle so and so sold off everything he had and went on a world tour, normal
people don’t do that.</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>That guy is in a committed relationship and is flirting with somebody
else while his girlfriend looks on, is that a normal relationship?</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Shahid Kapoor married a college kid! Is that a normal thing to do for a
film star?</i> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Don’t we? What does normal even
mean? According to <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/normal">Merriam-Webster</a>, in the context of this discussion, normal could mean the following:</span></span></div>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">according with, constituting,
or not deviating from a norm, rule, or principle; conforming to a type,
standard, or regular pattern</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">occurring naturally <i><normal immunity=""></normal></i></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">of, relating to, or
characterized by average intelligence or development; free from mental
disorder : <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sane">sane</a></span></span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In other words, not abnormal. Not
insane. Or, average. In a mathematical sense, something that fits the bell
curve:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrjlatFw_Zd5HaQl_QrMVPvmsqVOwdkjHUtAFy15WIYEWoNd85qT6EvW5TQUhmBe8UTZXqrCwmG6Ziu_Y9q-qZG1fD_S7aUAiILfc4YtxD7y1I0NacEr4gkqXVwrGcP-HwfmiRgTgE5I/s1600/normalBellCurve.PNG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrjlatFw_Zd5HaQl_QrMVPvmsqVOwdkjHUtAFy15WIYEWoNd85qT6EvW5TQUhmBe8UTZXqrCwmG6Ziu_Y9q-qZG1fD_S7aUAiILfc4YtxD7y1I0NacEr4gkqXVwrGcP-HwfmiRgTgE5I/s320/normalBellCurve.PNG" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you do something which more
than 68% of the people in the world do, then it’s normal or conformant or
standard or regular. Otherwise not.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Most of the people don't rob a bank. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That’s normal. I guess it is okay to fit the bell curve here.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Most of the people don’t exercise
regularly. That’s normal. But it is not really okay to fit this bell curve.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Would you go on making imaginary
bell curves for everything under the sun? Now, is <i>that </i> normal?! What kind of normal
is acceptable?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But you know what, the real question here is: do you even want
to be the same as 68% people? The answer is: no; and yes.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> It’s not about being a conformist
or a non-conformist. If the majority of people on the world can swim, even a staunch
non-conformist would want to be in the majority. Simply because it’s a good
skill to possess. Same for a conformist
wanting to do something different, such as deciding to keep the car in the
right lane, or following traffic rules!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, in a nutshell, it’s okay to be a nutcase
sometimes. It is also all right if you follow the rules. After all, life is too short to
be spent thinking so much or trying so hard to be normal. In fact, lets just scratch this word from our vocabulary. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-67431639110562718542015-08-22T23:42:00.001+05:302015-08-22T23:42:12.726+05:30Book review - The Lowland<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi76wveYGmaFy0byMPws0uLFFWO5PtXhR4sh9-LgopVdTcO-p-XHsu1Sy0M7AiyN0JiIIJqnoMMCUVG6wVkEMBtUCaZBBhddB6oclSoUti_b-S2WXfo1IXh_4vtgjDIF5VvStk00ZDr8J4/s1600/TheLowland.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi76wveYGmaFy0byMPws0uLFFWO5PtXhR4sh9-LgopVdTcO-p-XHsu1Sy0M7AiyN0JiIIJqnoMMCUVG6wVkEMBtUCaZBBhddB6oclSoUti_b-S2WXfo1IXh_4vtgjDIF5VvStk00ZDr8J4/s320/TheLowland.jpeg" width="207" /></a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A simple story. A few characters. Their growth over the years. This is what can sum up Jhumpa Lahiri's latest work. No surprise elements. Nothing really earth shattering. Ordinary people with some uncommon situations in their lives, some uncommon ways of reacting to those situations in their lives. This could be another summary.<br /><br />Doesn't sound like much of a novel. But the way it grips your imagination is a proof of the sublimity of Lahiri's story-telling ability. The ability to weave stories about people around you, of someone who easily could have been you, is an art that this lady as mastered.<br /><br />She takes you through the lanes of Calcutta to the marshes and beaches of Rhode Island with bits of California interspersed in between. Then back to Kolkata. All effortlessly. All as if you are actually present there all along. Powerful pictures painted by mere words. The details of a life uprooted from India and replanted in America. The feelings, the vantage, of a life begot in America, visiting India briefly. The nuances of oceanography, philosophy, the Naxalite movement of the '70s and even agriculture, all there for you to relish. Served within the story, intermixed as herbs in a savory delicacy.<br /><br />With the same simplicity you get to meet and know Subhash, Udayan, their parents, Gauri, Bela, and Meghna - the Mitra family. Reading about their behavior, their individual traits and personalities, you get to understand them. In fact, you even begin to predict what they would think and do next. More often than not, they do end up doing your bidding.<br /><br />In my teenage, which for some reason seems a lifetime ago, i would have panned the book for this same reason. Too predictable. <br /><br />But now, i really appreciate it. Maybe now i am learning to understand the true value of human relationships, the true value of predictability. And savoring the joy of things turning out exactly the way you wanted them to be.</span></span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-43857782453024083362015-07-06T21:30:00.000+05:302015-07-06T21:30:05.600+05:30Toastmaster's Advanced Speech 13 - "Experience At PSK"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,Times New Roman,serif;">This
is speech #1 from "Specialty Speeches" manual, called "Impromptu Speaking". Five general topics have to be written on slips of paper with which one is familiar. These are to be given to the speech evaluator before the meeting. He or she will select one at random for the speaker. The objectives are to develop an awareness of situations in which one might be called upon to deliver an impromptu speech, to understand how to prepare for impromptu speaking and to use one or more patterns to approach a topic under discussion; for example, comparing a past, present and future situation or before and after . Time allotted
is 5 to 7 minutes.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;">For this speech, i had selected five general topics:</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;">1. Book review</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;">2. Movie reviews</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;">3. Recent Experience</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;">4. Superwoman Syndrome</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;">5. Any other topic on which the audience would like me to speak </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;"> and the audience chose this one for me -</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://sampada7.blogspot.in/2015/06/the-equality-of-democracy.html">Passport Renewal Experience</a> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,Times New Roman,serif;">The speech took 10 minutes fro delivery. I felt i have done much better before...both in prepared as well as impromptus.</span></span></span></div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-56439583645204645532015-06-26T20:30:00.000+05:302015-06-29T11:39:52.044+05:30Book review - Doctor Zhivago<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdlWdTB0_mSzmaf8_s2n9LWUBfYm2y5-Em_qk5-hRUt0BpGJX7PVZCVo4c0Nra3urUhzdnK0L5XgV6volRSL2BWoYAK4No8MtTyLdvEuhn3f463OpNfh0fj24hJPyCmz9Eb-CRRNE6wQ/s1600/Zhivago.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdlWdTB0_mSzmaf8_s2n9LWUBfYm2y5-Em_qk5-hRUt0BpGJX7PVZCVo4c0Nra3urUhzdnK0L5XgV6volRSL2BWoYAK4No8MtTyLdvEuhn3f463OpNfh0fj24hJPyCmz9Eb-CRRNE6wQ/s200/Zhivago.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Where do I begin? How does one go
about reviewing such a tome of a work? Genre, you might say. Tell us about the genre.
Is it fiction? Or historical fiction? Is it based on true events? Is it a
biography of a real person? Well, it is all of them and none of them. Yet, as the
tagline states, its the greatest love story ever told.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The story takes us through the
life of Dr. Yuri Zhivago, a fictitious character who might have been any
educated bourgeois (suited for a so-called white collared job, if such a thing
existed in Russia back then) or the author himself. Born at the turn of the 19<sup>th</sup>
century, Yuri is a firsthand witness to the Russian revolution of 1905, the October
revolution of 1917 and the Civil War thereafter: arguably the most tumultuous time
in the history of Russia. A period that also saw a war with Japan, the fall of
the Tsars, the rise of the peasants and soldiers, a world war, and experimentation
with forms of government – with general
chaos, dissent, atrocities, and complete upheaval of society in the country. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Yurochka, unfortunately, is born
to a wealthy merchant father who abandons him, and is left an orphan at an early
age. Adopted by another wealthy household, the Gromyko’s, he studies medicine
and marries Tonya Gromyko. Immensely thoughtful and artistically inclined, Yuri
is also a poet and a philosopher who often does not think twice before speaking
his mind - a quality that lands him in the soup many times. Living in Moscow, he
first starts practicing medicine, but then serves as a military doctor in war. Afterwards, the family relocates to Yuryatin
where Tonya’s maternal grandfather was once a steel magnate. Here, due to lack of any other means of sustenance, the family is forced to do farming to survive. Occupied in physical labor during all summer time, Yuri finds time
to write his musings only during winter.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">He is then abducted by a revolutionary
group, The Forest Brotherhood, to tend to their sick and wounded, and reluctantly
ends up being the leader’s confidant. During all these years and in his various
journeys from place to place, Zhivago encounters the married yet single mother
Lara Antipova every now and then, and eventually falls madly in love with her. So
much so that on escaping from the Brotherhood, he first goes to Lara before
taking stock of his own family. The story ends with Yuri’s death and a
heart rending epilogue thereafter.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">While there is no doubt about the
genius and depth of the novel and the priceless glimpse it offers in the
history of early 20<sup>th</sup> century Russia, it does have its shortcomings.
The first and foremost that struck me was the complexity of names of the characters
and the myriad relationships they have with each other. Then there are a lot of
coincidences and the same characters keep propping up from time to time in
various different settings. Though we can attribute this to artistic freedom,
at times it makes the reader realize that it is a fictional account after all,
and tends to undermine the credibility of the novel’s epic nature.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">With all that said, Dr. Zhivago
is unquestionably the greatest historical fiction I have come across till date.
Initially this book was not allowed to be published in its native Russia. The content
was deemed inappropriate by the Communist party since it presented the alternate
and ugly face of the revolution. The manuscript had to be smuggled out of the
country and found the light of day in Italy in the year 1957. The powerful
narrative, and the fact that such few works of art (or even news) came out from
Russia during that time, won Boris Pasternak the Nobel Prize in Literature in
1958. The Russian government prohibited the author from accepting the prize and
he was threatened with arrest and torture. Pasternak bowed to this pressure and
refused to accept the award. Though this avoided his arrest, but it was not
enough to thwart the threat of his expatriation to the West. It is said that the
Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (himself an author and connoisseur of art) then intervened
to save the patriot Pasternak from exile.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This is the only novel Boris
Pasternak ever got published in his lifetime. It was only in 1988 that his son was allowed to travel to Sweden and collect
the Nobel on his late father’s behalf.</span></span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-48463619718951154222015-06-19T20:30:00.000+05:302015-06-29T11:49:15.696+05:30The Equality of Democracy - An experience at a PSK<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A country of a billion people. A
democracy that baffles with its diversity. Everywhere you go, you can get a
glimpse of this difference. A difference that exists sometimes subtlely,
sometimes right there staring at you in your face.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">One such glimpse stared at me one
day at the passport office. People from all walks of life, no matter what
socio-economic-cultural-ethnic background they come from, get merged here, in a
sea of passport applications. Nowhere else is the power of the state more
visible than here. Maybe a police station would be another such place. But that
is another topic. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Power, concentrated in raw form,
in the hands of a few people. In their hands the power of substantiating you as
a passport worthy citizen. The bourgeois and the ordinary vying for their attention,
a few minutes of their time. Equally.
The aspirational ordinary looking at the better dressed thinking the world is
for people like these. They get to go places. The well heeled thinking this is
no place for themselves, standing in a queue waiting for their turn, thinking the world
is for the masses. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Classes and masses. Classes
cursing in English, masses in Hindi - both under their breath of course. No one
wants The Government to hear their thoughts (Government being the people at the
other side of the counter). The smell in the office a mixture of perfumes,
deodorants and sweat. More sweat than deodorant. More Hindi than English. More
casuals than formals. More with families than alone. More young than old. Rules
the same, roof the same. Discipline - or lack thereof - the same. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As a lone woman standing in one
of such queues, I think where do I belong? Who do I sympathize with? And my
turn comes.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I lay my life bare in front of
His Almighty. In all original documents. He opens my old passport, looks at the
photo and says, is this really your passport? I am shell-shocked. <i>If the Almighty
decides it’s not me in person, who would validate my identity?</i> I manage to blabber
out that it has been ten years….Sir (I almost said <i>Prabhu</i> at this point but checked myself in time. <i>Yes Prabhu, I cut my hair short, stopped
wearing glasses and have aged. Spite me</i>).</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I begin to think maybe the
Almighty is a bit chauvinistic. His boss comes to my rescue then and does the
needful. I thank my stars. The Government poses a second question: your
husband’s and your surnames are different? I say yes; I didn’t change mine
after marriage. In my head I say, is that a crime? <i>Definitely a chauvinist.</i> The
third question proves it. Address change. Where is your wife/of address proof? I
go….huh…what does that even mean? <i>Stumped</i>. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Turns out, daughter/of address
proof doesn’t work after marriage. I wonder if son/of still does? I take a 180
degree turn then and don’t look back, fearing the Almighty might decide to call
in security to throw an aberration out.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I take a look around. Feel people’s
eyes on me. The well-heeled and the not-so-chic, the smelly and the scented, the
Hindi-type and the English-type. Everyone is looking at me. And suddenly it
dawns. I don’t belong. Masses, classes, anywhere. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">To hell with them all I think. I
shall come back. Maybe with no proof of having married? Then maybe the surname
and daughter/of address proof would be acceptable? To The Government, that is.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Coming back to equality. Well,
we’ll get there. Someday. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">P.S. I did get my passport
renewed in spite of everything - surname, appearance - in my second visit. Apparently, a
joint bank account statement suffices as the ‘wife/of’ address proof, which The
Government aptly forgot to tell me the other day. Google to the rescue! After
all, it is the new savior now (till the day it turns the way all All-Mighties are
supposed to turn: sour).</span></i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">P.P.S. In case your are wondering what a PSK means...it stands for Passport Seva Kendra. </span></i></span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-10660576008206890232015-05-22T21:00:00.000+05:302015-05-22T21:00:01.613+05:30Toastmaster's Advanced Speech 12 - "Big Data"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This
is speech #1 from "Speaking to Inform" manual, called "Resources For
Informing". The objectives are to analyze your audience regarding your chosen subject, focus your presentation at the audience's level of knowledge, build a supporting case for each major point using information gathered through research, and effectively use at least one visual aid to enhance the audience's understanding. Time allotted
is 5 to 7 minutes.</span></span><br />
<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Data. Big Data. <i>Naam toh suna hoga?</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMlB_fpkfvhmiqFKa4bvAXOcWWvIhVw0VemJLOnFHoRs6wOkJWvbKTROkxNVtPtKEzaEA5kyWGT516Ex0es5GJbPiFiilozao3ebfRjoLJEsLE8w7Aw_UyxbIaBYD0jes2BOle_hoOuhc/s1600/BigData_WordCloud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMlB_fpkfvhmiqFKa4bvAXOcWWvIhVw0VemJLOnFHoRs6wOkJWvbKTROkxNVtPtKEzaEA5kyWGT516Ex0es5GJbPiFiilozao3ebfRjoLJEsLE8w7Aw_UyxbIaBYD0jes2BOle_hoOuhc/s200/BigData_WordCloud.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Good Afternoon fellow
Toastmasters. Seriously, there would be no one in the world of technology who
hasn’t heard this name..unless of course one lives in a cave, in which case,
most probably one doesn’t have<span> </span>anything to
do with technology at all. </span></span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jokes apart, Big Data is
something that has baffled many of us at many times. But my friends, nothing
could be simpler to understand. Unlike terms such as cloud computing -which has
nothing to do with clouds or specifically with weather prediction, big data
means exactly what the name suggests – big, huge, large, gigantic, humongous
data. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43Ufp7I2j8K3KhYhV3yvAsa-RUnyPbU3W7DkFq2brfV62O9HaOk5QlYkDmLP8FjYgMnpaGbCtL0YQkmcD3BEFQxTHzisWKNQ2TAVF3pyMNcDxY4a02ttWOtSTYCZeRPgw2L7rfA4kxr4/s1600/DOMO-Data-in-One-Minute-600x953.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43Ufp7I2j8K3KhYhV3yvAsa-RUnyPbU3W7DkFq2brfV62O9HaOk5QlYkDmLP8FjYgMnpaGbCtL0YQkmcD3BEFQxTHzisWKNQ2TAVF3pyMNcDxY4a02ttWOtSTYCZeRPgw2L7rfA4kxr4/s640/DOMO-Data-in-One-Minute-600x953.jpg" width="401" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Imagine the amount of data that you yourself deal with everyday…..on your
office laptop – work files, mails, archives, knowledge sharing docs..then on
your home PC or tablet – pics, videos, music, movies…then the content you
access online….or your data on the “cloud” – on social networking sites,
content sharing websites, or even your email data or browsing history…..things
that the apps on your smartphone remember for you – notes that send you an
alarm across devices, ebooks that are in sync on any device you use, and on and
on. Look at this image on the left…according to visualnews.com…every minute of the day,
this is what users do on an average on the internet. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">48 hours of new videos uploaded
on you tube, over 204 million email messages, 2 million searches on google,
3600 photos on instagram, 47 thousand app downloads on the Apple Store…and this
is just one minute. And there are 1440 minutes in a day. 365 days in an year.
Imagine the amount of data. <span> </span>A Zillion
terabytes, isn’t it?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Don’t you think big is a small
word to describe it? Now to organize, capture, and analyze all this data is
such a Herculean task that our traditional data processing techniques - that I
learnt in college ten years ago - fall short. There is a need of multiple high
capacity parallel processors that might be running in a distributed
environment. To support them, we need to have a new set of exceptional software
techniques and technologies; these are also known as Big Data or sometimes Big
Data Analytics. Examples of some software being used today are - Hadoop, MapReduce, Cassandra, Storm. MongoDB and many more.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To study big data, you should first understand its nature and attributes. There are various characteristics
of Big Data..but the 4 Vs stand out – Volume, Variety, Velocity and Veracity.
This infographic from IBM best describes the 4 Vs. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Iu8u7Rw885tvhWdNwzSbOeoH8UDl2g6d0oDUn3fYvfPn-WnmVAqp6OSZ6SmkL20FIucLtQsE7MfNoqU_RpEcahwAuMmdOYH6b5RPvIBzaWtlESdV1iZBq-gACS3B3plRehnqAGvWyTM/s1600/4-Vs-of-big-data.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Iu8u7Rw885tvhWdNwzSbOeoH8UDl2g6d0oDUn3fYvfPn-WnmVAqp6OSZ6SmkL20FIucLtQsE7MfNoqU_RpEcahwAuMmdOYH6b5RPvIBzaWtlESdV1iZBq-gACS3B3plRehnqAGvWyTM/s640/4-Vs-of-big-data.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Volume: Scale of data; we already
saw a sample in previous slides. Variety: different forms of data – text,
images, audio, video. Velocity: Analysis of Streaming Data – increasing speed
with which the data is getting uploaded and has to be analyzed; and Veracity: Uncertainty
of Data – whether the data is accurate and how to determine the accuracy.</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2MY_fAYgDqAu-1BzVNWefyUD1kX22SHlFeerRuxOY_ZMvRvdBMMJdni8aObSedpmEUvRgI2nVP9zFN7SOmXefbu4jYd1W5A43CGSsM7HPyZzr3B5kQslpLjMbj8geKwDDF3o-QjRcGlc/s1600/dikw1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2MY_fAYgDqAu-1BzVNWefyUD1kX22SHlFeerRuxOY_ZMvRvdBMMJdni8aObSedpmEUvRgI2nVP9zFN7SOmXefbu4jYd1W5A43CGSsM7HPyZzr3B5kQslpLjMbj8geKwDDF3o-QjRcGlc/s1600/dikw1.gif" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Image Source: <u><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm">http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm</a></span></u></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now you all might say…ok…big data..means lots of
data…with volume, variety, velocity, veracity. So What?? </span></span>Well...t<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">o understand and decipher all
these zillions of bytes of data, to uncover correlations that you didn’t know existed, and then to
predict user behavior is what Analytics is all about. This can involve data
mining, predictive analytics, forecasting, optimization, artificial
intelligence and what not. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eventually, after applying all these techniques, an answer would emerge as shown in this graph. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Data, when structured and correlated, becomes
information; information, when interpreted and sifted for patterns, becomes knowledge; knowledge, with a little bit more understanding and correctedness,
transcends to wisdom. With the application of this DIKW pyramid of information
science, the future might just become a better, or wise place to live.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Like any scientific discovery,
invention or innovation, it is up to us how to use this wisdom when we ultimately get there. Not just doing
things right, but doing the right things. <span>Not just the what, how and why of things, but doing what is best for the greater good.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV8qF6dr-HVNK8PaLWNTk07b55FVJEl0o8icbRA5gi34peOUp2MX9M3uC2RQnokWehN4TV-_9RHPjjtTevJqLRt8UHrE2iBdDAxLamdKVju4AyT3DoFuUHD92ml371n4Fz3UwO_8qoetc/s1600/DIKW.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV8qF6dr-HVNK8PaLWNTk07b55FVJEl0o8icbRA5gi34peOUp2MX9M3uC2RQnokWehN4TV-_9RHPjjtTevJqLRt8UHrE2iBdDAxLamdKVju4AyT3DoFuUHD92ml371n4Fz3UwO_8qoetc/s1600/DIKW.png" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 3.36pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;">Image Source: </span><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DIKW.png">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DIKW.png</a></span></span><span style="color: black;">
</span></span></span></div>
</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sources:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.visualnews.com/2012/06/how-much-data-created-every-minute/">http://www.visualnews.com/2012/06/how-much-data-created-every-minute/</a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/big-data-analytics.html">http://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/big-data-analytics.html</a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm">http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small;">This
speech took 8 minutes to deliver and was appreciated for the subject (the audience being an IT crowd),
research and the visual aid : PPT. </span></div>
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Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-57882872688498081122015-05-09T12:51:00.000+05:302015-05-09T12:51:00.437+05:30School Diaries<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">White, Black, Brown fingers, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Stained with the same blue ink; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Light, Dark, Green, Grey eyes, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Filled with the same curiosity blink. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Singing morning prayers in one voice, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Accents give away their nativeness; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Mother tongue might be different, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But what about Mom’s caress? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">First benchers, back benchers and those in between, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Divided by grades or height they sit; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But the peals of bells declaring the day, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Generate the same bag-packing fit. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sakeena or Rahul, Jaspreet or David, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Call out to different deities to bless; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But the jump of joy is equal, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">When <i>jalebi </i>is served in the mess. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Like colors of the rainbow, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">They shine in their unique ways; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But with the moral fiber school inculcates, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We hope the unifying radiance stays. </span><br />
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-55535104063057080742015-03-22T19:00:00.001+05:302015-03-22T19:00:30.809+05:30Women must have it ALL<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A speech for Area Level International Speech Contest. </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Opening Scene. Running on a treadmill.Panting.)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
2 km. 4 km. I need to do 10 km
today. Yesterday I looked so fat in that dress! I should probably start pilates
or yoga, join some class…but my gardening would suffer then…maybe I can steal
some homework time for this..oh no no no..i can’t do that…it’s about my kid’s
future after all…if that smug mrs do-it-all sharma’s son gets better grades,
how am I going to face the mirror? Talking of mirrors, the one in the bedroom
needs some shining…let me meet the maid today..i’ll show her how cleaning is
supposed to be done! For that matter, cooking as well. Oh..what time is
it….gosh!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Stop Panting</i>) Mr. Contest master, fellow toastmasters and whoever
has run on the spot without getting anywhere…good morning..rise and shine and
glimpse into the world of a superwoman… the all powerful, omnipresent, <<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">speaking very fast</i>> always fresh,
always ready, always there for you, never late, never wrong, the best daughter,
the best sister, the best friend, the best wife, the best mother, the best employee,
the best project manager <<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">stop speaking
very fast</i>,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> deep breath</i>>..….your
own fine superwoman…..miss perfect. What? Did you say nobody is perfect? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Well....i am nobody. And
everybody. Unique…one and only…just like everyone else! Or, am i? <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pause for effect.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Funny how things happen and wake
you up when you are least expecting them to…me and my husband went to our
friends’ place a few days back. They had the most beautifully kept house..spic
and span…the tiles were so clean you could bend over and check if your
lipstick’s still good! The bathrooms so spruced up and redolent, you’d almost end
up apologizing to the toilet seat after relieving yourself. <<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pause for audience laughter</i>> Naturally,
my competitive instinct told me to look down upon myself and berate me for
being a lax homemaker..what kind of a woman was I if my floor tiles were simply
clean..and not reflective..or if the bathroom smelled just good, and not
aromatic? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Oh..the shame of it! Like other things of prime importance in my
world, I ended up discussing this with my husband. “Did you see the kitchen?
The cook top was virginal….as if nothing was ever prepared on it! The lady of
the house must have a magic wand.” The answer he gave me was an eye opener, “Oh
yeah…the sorcerer! Her amazing housekeeping skills automatically make her the
best person that ever existed, isn’t it? And by corollary, it makes you the
worst…because you live in a digital world..either 1..or 0.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Well….even if he was saying this
just for me to stop nagging him about his shoes lying here and there, he did
have a point. What have we done to ourselves? The double whammy of guilt laden
with consumerism has led to ever increasing expectations, and we are now slaves
to it. We’ve gone beyond mere obsessive-compulsiveness and landed into the
realm of ‘the superwoman complex’. The idea that one can do everything…and why
can….one has to do everything. Phrases like just a housewife, just a mother,
just a career woman….hurt us….we feel dishonored by them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
With decades and centuries of
crusading for women’s rights…right from a suffragette in the 20<sup>th</sup>
century to the neo-feminists of the day…what is everyone fighting for if the
object of the movement – woman - is its worst adversary! What we really need,
first and foremost, is freedom from this superwoman cape. This garment of incessant
unnecessary burdens that we ourselves have proudly adorned ourselves with. Who
said looking fat is disgraceful…do yoga if you feel like..who said gardening is
essential…if it is, hire a gardener. Who said the poor mirror will disown you
if mrs. Sharma’s son excels in his studies! Take it easy ladies! Lets try being
happy with good…or just ok. Sheryl Sandberg says “Lean In!”, Indira Nooyi say “Women
can’t have it all”….Melissa Mayer has some radically different ideas. And us
ordinary women think we must have it all. Well, if you do want to have it all,
let it be <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">L</b>ittle <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">L</b>eisure. (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">make a, L, L symbols with fingers as you say
it.</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This ended up being a runner-up speech that day. </i></span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-6517956359299496732014-05-29T20:30:00.000+05:302014-05-29T20:30:03.172+05:30Toastmaster's Advanced Speech 11 - "Let's Rock!"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This is speech #1 from "Speaking to Inform" manual, called "The Speech to Inform". The objectives are to select new and useful information for presentation to the audience; organize the information fro easy understandability and retention, and present the information in such a way that will help motivate the audience to learn. Time allotted is 5 to 7 minutes.</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Lets rock this thing guys..all the
best!” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“In my world, chocolate rocks!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Rihanna is rocking that dress.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Good Afternoon fellow Toastmasters.
Can you tell me the common thing in the three disparate statements I just
uttered? Yes, ROCK. But in all the sentences, this word has a very vague
meaning. We can only assume that it means something good, positive, something full
of hope.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For me, hope is what rock is all
about. In this context, I mean rock music. It’s a genre of popular music that
originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the 1950s. Rock
music drew influences from a number of other genres such as blues and folk, jazz,
classical and many more. In the 1960s and later, rock developed into a range of
different styles. But the 60s is when it really took shape – hence this is also
known as the Golden Age or Classic Rock period. A number of sub genres of rock
have emerged over the years - like blues rock, folk rock, country rock, jazz-rock
fusion, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, glam rock, heavy metal, punk rock,
new wave, alternative rock, indie rock, garage rock……to name a few!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Of all these, psychedelic is my favorite…but
before getting to that, lets discuss how to differentiate a rock song from
others. Well, there are two elements to any song – the sound and lyrics. Rock
lyrics generally address a wide variety of themes, mostly social or political.
They can also stress romantic love. On the sound side, there is a heavy use of
guitar, usually electric guitar, combined with bass guitar and drums. But what
really distinguishes rock is its emphasis on musicianship, live performance,
and an ideology of authenticity. For example, you must all have heard the song by
A.R. Rahman - “Sadda Haqq” – what makes it a quintessential rock song is the
use of guitar and drums…and the lyrics with a social message, an inherent
attitude of being right and doing right, not necessarily in accordance with the
society’s rule. That it is also depicted as a live performance in the movie is
one more factor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the 60 odd years of its
existence, rock music has served as a vehicle for various cultural and social
movements. This has also lead to major sub-cultures such as mods and rockers in
the UK, the hippie counterculture in the US, punk culture, goth, etc. Inheriting
the folk tradition of the protest song, rock music has been associated with
political activism as well as changes in social attitudes to race, sex and drug
use. Most importantly, rock is often seen as an expression of youth revolt
against adult consumerism and conformity. “<i>Sadda
Haqq, Aithhe Rakh</i>!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Coming back to my favorite category
of rock, psychedelic…this is a style of rock music that is inspired or
influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the
mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It often uses new recording
techniques and effects, extended solos and improvisation. The music draws on
non-Western sources such as the ragas and drones of Indian music – such as <i>tanpura</i>, <i>ektara</i>, <i>surpeti</i>, and <i>shankh</i>. The lyrics are somewhat surreal
and whimsical. They can be literary-inspired as well....like Jefferson Airplane’s
“White Rabbit” based on Alice in Wonderland. Many musicians have pioneered
psychedelic rock…some of them include the Beatles, the Byrds, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, the Jimi
Hendrix Experience, Cream, the Doors and Pink Floyd.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well…all these names might not mean
a lot of many of you guys, but they have been my companions on many a sleepless
night……my partners on long lonely drives through the wilderness….my weapons on
busy city streets fighting the woes of everyday traffic. Or merely songs transfixing
my world into something altogether different on quiet weekends. So to all of
you all who haven’t taken a dip in this turbulent ocean of occasional
tranquility, lets rock!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 115%;">Source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/">http://en.wikipedia.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small;">This speech took 8 minutes to deliver and was appreciated for the subject, research and vocal variety. Organization could have been such as to motivate the audience to learn.</span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-55473779969386600652013-07-19T20:46:00.000+05:302013-07-22T11:47:22.454+05:30Book Review - The Sea, The Sea<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1xZfPC4cKP_LC7I6BThiPWEIQM7rY23IuGLI5kEjQSZTu0YCnejKqWnROMIF2jpv43MZyLLLt9Lu58YnzJpDgeoCNrCL1WD3XLAohhk0mf55v2Z6XU0UkJJ5nD_Ix3ue1ioM6y2fZv8/s1600/TheSeaTheSea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></a>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1xZfPC4cKP_LC7I6BThiPWEIQM7rY23IuGLI5kEjQSZTu0YCnejKqWnROMIF2jpv43MZyLLLt9Lu58YnzJpDgeoCNrCL1WD3XLAohhk0mf55v2Z6XU0UkJJ5nD_Ix3ue1ioM6y2fZv8/s1600/TheSeaTheSea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1xZfPC4cKP_LC7I6BThiPWEIQM7rY23IuGLI5kEjQSZTu0YCnejKqWnROMIF2jpv43MZyLLLt9Lu58YnzJpDgeoCNrCL1WD3XLAohhk0mf55v2Z6XU0UkJJ5nD_Ix3ue1ioM6y2fZv8/s320/TheSeaTheSea.jpg" width="201" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How do you start to review a work
of fiction that touches the deepest of deep gorges inside your mind so much so
that you read and reread sentences, passages, pages to really understand them, make
some sense out of ordinary situations made bizarre by the workings of human
psyche, but are still left baffled....more confused than ever? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I mean the above as the best compliment
I could give the author, Iris Murdoch. Sample this –</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“<i>We are such inward secret
creatures, that inwardness is the most amazing thing about us, even more
amazing than our reason. But we cannot just walk into the cavern and look
around. Most of what we think we know about our minds is pseudo-knowledge. We
are all such shocking poseurs, so good at inflating the importance of what we
think we value.</i>” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The book, written in first
person, is a memoir of a fictional character, Charles Arrowby, who is a famous theatre
director from London and has retired from his world of glamour to live a quiet
life besides the sea writing his memoirs. So as we start reading, we are
actually taken through the process of Charles preparing to write his story in
his own words, and then the story itself, in the way he wants to unfold it. In
between, we can also find the ramblings of Charles’ mind, analyzing what he has
written so far!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So we get to know all that he is
thinking, random thoughts about his past, present, future, about the people in
his life, and most importantly, about his childhood first love, who he
accidentally meets during his stay at the sea. Will she come back to him? Did
she ever love him? Did he really ever love her or for all these years just kept
this fantastic idea in his head that she was indeed his first love? Did her
husband want to kill Charles? Who, if any, was Charles’ real soul mate? Should
he have cared for her more? In short, some mind-boggling stuff. Feelings that
cannot be fully expressed, told in words that defy definitions. Unrequited
loves. Destroyed lives. Weird men and women. Twisted relationships. Spirituality.
Internal Gods and Demons. Misplaced trust. Reckonings and disbelieves. Madness.
Can one ever know true intentions?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“<i>Then I felt too that I might
take this opportunity to tie up a few loose ends, only of course loose ends can
never be properly tied, one is always producing new ones. Time, like the sea,
unties all knots. Judgments on people are never final; they emerge from summings
up which at once suggest the need of a reconsideration. Human arrangements are
nothing but loose ends and hazy reckoning, whatever art may otherwise pretend
in order to console us</i>.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you are confused in life, read
this book. It will reassure you that most people also are.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you are not confused in life, don’t
read this book. It will surely confuse you, if you have the ability to
understand emotions.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I plan to read it once again....maybe
after a decade!</span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-38878089149208423812013-04-22T10:00:00.000+05:302013-04-22T10:00:03.775+05:30Toastmaster's Advanced Speech 10 - "Sixty Years Young"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This is speech #5 from "The Entertaining Speaker" manual, called "Speaking After Dinner". The objectives are to prepare an entertaining after-dinner talk on a specific theme and to deliver the talk using the skills developed in the preceding projects. Time allotted is 8 to 10 minutes.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Good evening ladies and
gentlemen. Hope you enjoyed the dinner. If any of you is still wondering what
this party was all about and why we cut that huge cake, well, let me remind you
it’s my father’s 60</span><sup style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> birthday.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I know you all know, but making sure doesn't hurt, right?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You all know him as a devoted brother,
a friend in need, a professional par excellence, and a very strict uncle who is
somewhat obsessive compulsive and wants things to be done a certain way…”Don’t eat
on the bed..at least put the plate on a newspaper!” “Put your shoes at their
proper place” etc. But no one but my brother and i here can know him as a
father. So I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to him. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Everyone has seen a coconut,
right? That green/brown thingy that has to be cracked open? Tough and hard from
the outside but all watery inside? Let me explain. You know, my earliest
childhood memory is when I was still crawling on fours…I learnt to walk a bit
late, so I must be about an year old that time. Papa was sitting cross legged
on the floor with an old newspaper and a plate in front of him, knife in hand, and
ready to peel apples for all of us to eat. At this sight, I was suddenly very
hungry and went up to him crying and asking for a piece even before he had
started peeling it. He asked me to wait for two minutes but I kept on shouting
and insisting now, now….papa lost his temper and shouted back at me. I was
shocked for a moment and then started bawling...mummy ran up to me and took me
away. After a while, when I was still hiccuping papa came to me and offered a
piece of apple. I distinctly remember having seen tears in his eyes then. That
might have been the day when my sub conscious understood what a coconut he is...the
day i fell in love with this man.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He relentlessly did what fathers
are ideally supposed to do, slogging for hours to provide us a good life, a
good education and secure our future. But what he also did was to inculcate this
feeling of responsibility in us, well…by sometimes analyzing the phone bill with
money doesn't grow on trees speeches! I remember I used to love counting
currency notes, and he always made me do it, all the while sharing tidbits about
the importance of savings and spending, that is now rooted deep inside me. Whenever
a new gadget was introduced in the market, I know he would want to own it, but
kept his own desires secondary to ours.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Perhaps the best thing about
growing up with him, yes I said growing up with him – everyone grows up every
day, do they not? He certainly does, and I don’t mean in age. Anyway, I was
saying that he did not differentiate between my brother and me anytime – in the
sense of my being a girl and his a boy. I was asked to learn to make tea as easily
as to screw on a light bulb. So if there are some different set of activities
that being a girl vs. a boy involves, I was not aware of them..till a long time…till
I started realizing my friends in school who were girls, had not ever held a
screwdriver in hand. Well..he made sure I played with dolls too…but that’s another
thing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Always open to debate, and
willing to listen to a rational argument, we kids were never told not to talk
about things we didn't understand, never reprimanded for speaking our minds. I
have since understood that this is pretty rare. I cannot express in words what
a world of difference this simple act makes and what strength of character it
needs to let your children argue with you..even at times be at loggerheads with
you. Then leave them to make their own decisions, acting only as a channel if
they are not able to find a direction. That’s my coconut father for you. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Perhaps I have never told you
before, but papa, I am proud of you. I hope you are as proud of me as well.
Thank you for being the person you are, because that makes me the person I am.
Happy birthday.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ladies and gentlemen, hope I did
not bore you with this somewhat emotional harangue. Enjoy the rest of the
evening. Over and out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This speech took 10:05 minutes to deliver and was appreciated for holding the audience's attention till the end.</span></o:p></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-627417921784242112013-04-21T17:37:00.001+05:302013-06-25T11:52:06.574+05:30Toastmaster's Advanced Speech 9 - "Ahilya Bai Holkar"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This is speech #5 from "Storytelling" manual, called "Bringing history to Life". The objectives are to understand the purpose of stories about historical events or people and to tell such a story using skills developed in the preceding projects. Time allotted is 7 to 9 minutes.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the simmering heat of the month of April in the eighteenth century,
hundreds of people had gathered in and around Rajwada in Indore. All the surrounding roads laced with dust and
dung had been barricaded with ropes. With sweat trickling down their bodies and
faces it was difficult to see, even breathe in the dusty loo that was blowing,
but everyone stood beyond the fencing, awaiting the royal elephant to emerge
out of the gates. After all, it’s not every day that one gets the opportunity
to witness an execution.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Good Afternoon fellow
Toastmasters.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was the year 1767. The era
of Ahilya Bai Holkar. An iron lady, known for her wisdom and sense of
justice. Ahilya Bai was born in a middle
class family in 1725 in a small village in the Aurangabad district. The great
Holkar warrior, Malhar Rao, was on his way to Pune when he stopped at this very
village for a while and saw this eight year old girl at a temple. He at once
recognized her to be levelheaded and intelligent and decided to have her as a
bride for his only son Khande Rao. In 1737 she was married to Khandoji and thus
came to Indore. Years passed in marital bliss and they were also blessed with a
baby boy, Maloji. But suddenly, like a bolt of lightening, disaster struck and Khande
Rao died during the siege of Kumbher in 1754. Ahilya Bai was inconsolable, this
young female even considered going Sati but her father-in-law convinced her of
the futility of such an act and she gave up the idea. To quote her biographer,
Malhar Rao thus "gave to the world what otherwise would have remained a
Sealed Book – a splendid example of Aryan Rule under an Aryan Lady."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Till his own death twelve years
later, Malhar Rao Holkar trained Ahilya Bai in matters of State and governance.
He kept her informed about the political developments, such as his dealings
with Najib–ud–daula and how Awadh was seeking his help, and about his own
movements. In the battle of Panipat, Ahilya Bai also participated as a warrior,
under her father–in–law's paternal but strict training. She captured a fort in
Gwalior and then stayed there for a while to oversee the manufacturing of
armaments. After Malhar Rao’s death, Ahilya Bai became the de facto ruler.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Among Ahilyabai's accomplishments
was the development of Indore from a small village to a prosperous and
beautiful city; her own capital, however, was in nearby Maheshwar, a town on
the banks of the Narmada river. She also built forts and roads in Malwa,
sponsored festivals and gave donations for regular worship in many Hindu
temples. Outside Malwa, she built dozens of temples, ghats, wells, tanks and
rest-houses across an area stretching from the Himalayas to pilgrimage centres
in South India. There are many stories of her care for her people. She helped
widows retain their husbands’ wealth. She made sure that a widow was allowed to
adopt a son; in fact, in one instance, when her minister refused to allow the
adoption unless he was suitably bribed, she is said to have sponsored the child
herself, and given him clothes and jewels as part of the ritual. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She launched a campaign to rid
her kingdom of Thugs who sought to plunder the kingdom, personally leading her
army into battle. Her war time exploits became legendary. Ahilyadevi earned a
reputation for administering justice fairly during her rule without partiality.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Her only concern was her only son
Maloji, who had no interest in the matters of state, and was in fact showing
signs of insanity. He spent his days just roaming around and playing pranks.
She often warned him and employed various ways to bring him to see the right
side – brought in tutors, sought medicinal help, even divine intervention, but
all to no avail. She ignored many of his misbehaviors and mischief, but one
day, he did something that the just ruler within her could not stand. Maloji
had put poisonous scorpions in a few of her courtiers’ shoes which resulted
into deaths – and murder was a capital offense.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The royal gates opened, and out came the disgraced prince screaming and
shouting for mercy. The elephant followed and brutally squashed Maloji under
its feet. Ahilya Bai, in her prayer room was informed that her only son had
been brought to justice, just as she had instructed.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now there is another version of
how Maloji actually died…that one says he died of natural reasons owing to his
health..but then, that version would not have made such a good story, would it?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Source: <a href="http://hssthistory.blogspot.in/2011/05/ahilyabai-holkar-ugc-history.html">http://hssthistory.blogspot.in/2011/05/ahilyabai-holkar-ugc-history.html</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahilyabai_Holkar"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahilyabai_Holkar</span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ahilyabai_Holkar"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ahilyabai_Holkar</span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This speech took 8:45 minutes to deliver and was appreciated for topic selection. </span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-19570856601276071362013-04-13T17:00:00.000+05:302013-06-25T11:50:42.141+05:30Toastmaster's Advanced Speech 8 - "Roshni’s Deliverance"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This is speech #4 from "Storytelling" manual, called "The Touching Story". The objectives are to understand the techniques available to arouse emotion and to become skilled in arousing emotions while telling a story. Time allotted is 6 to 8 minutes.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On a dull, damp morning of July,
Roshni woke up to her mother’s frantic shakes, “Roshni! Get up! You don’t want
to be late on your first day in your new school, do you?”. But Roshni wanted
exactly that. In fact, she did not want to go to this new school at all. She
had gone there earlier for the admission interview. It was so big and
sophisticated, with everyone talking in English, she hadn't understood quite a
lot and had felt like a misfit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She had spent days haggling with
her mother to not send her to this alien place. “I promise I will be a good kid
now, I will listen to everything you say. I will sleep in the afternoon and not
bother you or ask you to play with me. Please, I don’t want to go to this
school”. But Mother was firm in her decision, “It is for your future Roshni.
You will thank me later.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And finally the day had come. Roshni
put on her brand new uniform, shiny shoes, bag and water bottle and set out for
the dreaded place in the school rickshaw. At the school, everyone was gathered in the assembly
hall and she was asked to join the line of students of her class, the third
standard. It was a painful experience for the shy and reticent Roshni. She did
not even know the prayer they were singing! Or that she was not supposed to
carry her bag and bottle into the assembly area! She thought everyone was
looking at her as if she had committed some heinous crime. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the classroom, she quietly
went and sat on the last bench alone, out of the line of sight of the teacher.
All children around her were bubbling with excitement and were enthusiastically
chatting away about their summer holidays, “You know I went on a trip to
Shimla! Oh it is sooo beautiful!” , “ I went to a summer camp and learnt
skating! It is so much fun, you should
try it!” “My cousins from America visited us! They are so cool!” and so on..</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Roshni wished someone would ask
her about her holidays. Or how she was. Or maybe just what her name was. No one
did. However, the teacher was kind and introduced her to the class. “Students, this
is Roshni. It is her first day in our school and she’ll be studying with you
all now. Let’s welcome her!” Everyone clapped and that was that. She again went
back to her bench and sat alone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then came lunch time. It was then
that Roshni discovered that there were separate groups of 4-5 students each within
the class, who ate in their designated areas. She wanted to be a part of a
group of girls who seemed likable. But how could she go and ask? Wouldn't it
be sort of an intrusion? What if they bluntly refused to accommodate her? She
was the one eating alone…couldn’t people see that? Was she so unwanted here?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All such thoughts ran through Roshni’s
mind and her eyes welled up. She spent the rest of the day counting down to the
last period, crying silently, with no one to console her. No one even took
notice. For them, it was an exciting beginning of another school year, of
getting back with old friends - they did not have time to spare for this
unexceptional new comer. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Roshni went home, barely managing
to hold her tears back. At the sight of her mother she could no longer hold her
emotions - she ran to her and clutching
her arms started wailing at the top of her lungs. Mother was alarmed, and
asked, “Roshni what happened <i>beta</i>?
Are you hurt? Did someone say something to you?”. Between sobs, she told her
about the day. Mother just smiled and said, “That’s it? And you are taking the
roof down for this small thing? Honey they don’t know you yet, do they? Once
they get to know and understand you, you will be friends! For that, you will
have to take the first step, go and talk to them.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But Roshni had other ideas. With
her sense of extreme self respect - that people often mistook for ego - she
decided that she would not be the one approaching people or asking for their
attention. After all, action speaks louder than words! So instead, she devoted all
her energy and concentration into studies; went to her teachers to get clarity
for things she did not understand due to the new language; and of course took
her mother’s help, who was always there for her. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Six months passed away in this fashion
and the day came when the class teacher walked in with the results of the half
yearly exams. Customarily, she announced, the third ranking student
is….Abhishek…the second ranker is Dolly..and the first rank this time has been
bagged by…Roshni. Roshni stood up and walked to her
teacher to collect the report card. With her head still meekly down, she took
the card and went back to her seat, ears ringing with her classmates’ applause,
and sat there alone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That was the last day she sat
alone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This speech took 9:15 minutes to deliver and was appreciated for story development, dialogue and the climax. The characters could have been described better.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-72042534567648390042013-04-10T21:00:00.000+05:302013-05-31T15:10:34.579+05:30Toastmaster's Advanced Speech 7 - "Live In The Moment"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This is speech #3 from "Storytelling" manual, called "The Moral of the Story". The objectives are: to understand that a story can be entertaining yet display moral values, to create a new story that offers a lesson or moral, and to tell the story, using the skills developed in the previous two projects. Time allotted is 4 to 6 minutes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Has any of you present here ever
been stuck in a traffic jam? On the top of a flyover?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Good Afternoon fellow
Toastmasters.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For those of you who are not from
Indore, let me tell you there exists a world on the other side of <i>Rajwada</i> as well, and believe it or not,
it is part of this city. Till about ten months ago, I used to be a resident of
that world (and soon going to be, again..back to where I came from!). Now,
driving from across that part, to the office, is no piece of cake. With people
constantly celebrating festivals of religions you did not even know or
recognize, organizing protests and human chains, bringing out wedding
processions and what not on the already clogged roads, traffic jams are a
common occurrence. Add to this our city folks’ amazing sense of driving, and
you can get a jam for no apparent reason at all. Because, it seems there are
only two rules of driving here, one – there are no rules; and two – but nobody
really wants to get involved in an accident.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So imagine my surprise when one
fine day I took my car and started from my home to the office, and the roads were
clear! People were actually stopping at red signals and starting only when they
turned green! If they had to turn right, they were in the right lane, not in
the middle one! All bicycle, <i>thela</i> <i>walahs</i>, auto rickshaws were giving me
space to pass through. I could not believe my luck and had just begun to thank
the stars when halfway through the journey, from the top of the <i>Shastri</i> bridge - you know the one where
we have a Mahatma Gandhi statue - far in the distance, I saw, horror of
horrors, a traffic jam. Since I was at a height, I could see way too far in the
distance; all vehicles were moving at a snail’s pace, a straight one way road
had become a jigsaw puzzle.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My jubilant mood at once turned morose
and instead of praising the stars, I started…well...cursing them. Honestly, you cannot drive in this city
without that. While descending the flyover, all sorts of thoughts crossed my
mind…this is going to take me forever..will I ever reach the other side? There
will be so much blaring of horns and heated up emotions, what if someone accidentally scratched my car? Why cant people simply move one after the other in
a civilized way and get rid of this nuisance. This is too much…there is no hope
for this place…my day is ruined.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Going through such thoughts, I
did not realize that I had come down the bridge and was in the middle of what
seemed to be a nightmare from the top. The snails I had seen moving from far
beyond, weren’t actually snails…it was a decent enough speed at which they were
running. Sure, it could be better, but it wasn’t that bad either. The street
wasn’t even so much clogged as it had appeared to me before. My favorite rock CD was
playing on the music system and I was actually enjoying the sluggish ride. In
fact, now I was calculating how many songs would play before I reached my
destination and deep in my heart hoping that the drive took more time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Friends, what I really want to
tell you via this story is that, when we look way too far ahead in the future,
sometimes things looked clogged up, nightmarish even, because we are seeing
through a bird-eye view. But when we are actually living the moment, we
discover that it’s not too bad (especially if good old rock music is playing in
the background). So why not avoid looking at things we don’t understand, things
that have not taken shape yet, and things that ruin your present and make you
worry unnecessarily? Why not live in the moment?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This speech took 6:40 minutes to deliver and was appreciated for variations in pitch and volume while narrating and that the moral of the story came out from simple day to day activities. There could have been more surprise elements in the story.</span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-33336422069968257182013-04-07T18:30:00.002+05:302013-06-25T11:52:39.558+05:30Toastmaster's Advanced Speech 6 - "Innocence aka Thapa"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This is speech #2 from "Storytelling" manual, called "Let's Get Personal". The objective is to learn the elements of a good story and to create and tell an original story based on a personal experience. Time allotted is 6 to 8 minutes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Have you met innocence before? I
have. He is 24 years old and divides his time driving people around in Leh and
hibernating in Zanskar. His name is Thapa.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Good Afternoon fellow
toastmasters.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even if it has been almost a year
now that I have been to Ladakh, the name still brings up a flood of memories. It
was in May last year that I went to this eastern valley in the State of Jammu
and Kashmir with a group of friends. We spent about a week there, struggling to
breathe in sub zero temperatures, where the lowest altitude was 11,000 feet
above sea level - the height from which a normal sky dive occurs. The very
first day we reached there, our tour organizer allocated different cars and
drivers to various groups. It was then that we first saw this 5-feet tall, young
Sherpa kind of guy with his rugged jeans, careless sweatshirt and tousled hair,
squatting atop the bumper of his car, picking teeth with his nails. Our first
thought was, “Seriously? This guy? Cant we get someone else?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But that was not to be. The five
of us were stuck with him for the next five days, and he with us, and thus
started the process of discovering this gem. Along with being a driver, Thapa
could also function as a tour guide, albeit a poor one, but guide nonetheless.
A worshipper of Dalai Lama, he would always turn the car encircling a shrine on
the shoulder of the road. Incredulously, we would ask, “Why Thapa, there is
this 6 feet wide road in front of you and you are playing such stunts?” and his
ready reply would be, “For good luck madam. This is mountain road, but no
accident will happen, you will see.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But of course, an accident does
happen. Apparently, encircling a shrine does not guarantee any benefit against
refraining from honking on blind turns. I think Thapa did not know that there
existed a horn in his car, he never used it! After prodding a bit, he
sheepishly accepted that he did not honk because the poor driver coming in from
the other side of the turn will get scared with such a loud noise. All we could
do at this point is to request him with folded hands to also worry about poor
us. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What we did not know then is that
Thapa need not be told to worry about us or his fellow drivers or anyone else;
he did that on his own. If anyone felt sick due to long drives on the zigzag
curvy roads, he would be the first to get down helping, consoling, offering
water without saying a word. If you merely mentioned you were bored with the
same songs playing again and again, he would get a new USB with the latest
songs, God knows from where. If you were singing along and he had to stop the
car and get down in between, he would still keep the engine running so that the
music doesn’t stop. If you pleaded with him to let you drive for a bit, he
would get teary eyed and say, “Please..I will lose my job”, but a while later
move away from the group and let you drive when his boss was out of sight. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The younger of two brothers,
Thapa lived with his family in a village near Zanskar during winters and came
to Leh to work as a driver in summers. As per the military tradition in his
village, his older brother was the star of the family with a job in the Army,
the most respectable job a man can get, and our protagonist was the ugly
duckling who failed to get entry due to his physique. Nonetheless, in his
girlfriend’s and his own view, Thapa turned out pretty well earning “six
thousand rupees per month” as a driver. His dream was to buy the car he was
currently driving and continue the same profession. Ladies and gentlemen, he
wanted to be the proud owner of a vehicle, not to employ someone else and reap
the benefit.…but just own the car and keep driving tourists around! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After spending five days in the
company of this <i>Kurkure</i>-loving,
god-fearing, bashful, sensitive person with a twinkle in his eye, we could not
help but become his fans. On the last day, on our very last drive, we tell him
about the importance of savings, opening a bank account, and how he can take a
loan and fulfill his dream of buying a car and marrying his girlfriend. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the airport, we say our
goodbyes and take a last look at this guy with his rugged jeans, careless
sweatshirt and tousled hair, squatting atop the bumper of his car, with tears
in his eyes, and think Thapa, you are innocence personified.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This speech took 7:20 minutes to deliver and was appreciated for characterization and dialogue The presentation could have been more dramatic.</span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-24316147402011002112013-03-14T20:00:00.000+05:302013-04-21T17:53:45.031+05:30Toastmaster's Advanced Speech 5 - "Cinderella's Story"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small;">This is speech #4 from "The Entertaining Speaker" manual, called "A Dramatic Talk". The objective is to develop an entertaining dramatic talk about an experience or incident including vivid imagery, characters and dialogue. Time allotted is 5 to 7 minutes.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once again, this blog came to my rescue and i narrated this story written three years ago - </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://sampada7.blogspot.in/2010/02/cinderellas-story.html">Cinderella's Story</a></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This speech took 6:40 minutes to deliver and was appreciated for characterization and climax. A couple of sentence formations could have been done in a better way.</span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-59330462471755077852013-03-04T17:50:00.001+05:302013-04-21T17:53:45.034+05:30Toastmaster's Advanced Speech 4 - "A Software Engineer's Worst Nightmare"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This is speech #3 from "The Entertaining Speaker" manual, called "Make Them Laugh". The objective is to prepare a humorous speech drawn from your own experience and deliver it in a way that makes the humor effective. Time allotted is 5 to 7 minutes.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I had attempted to write a humorous article a while back and used the same for this speech - </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://sampada7.blogspot.in/2008/11/software-engineers-worst-nightmare.html">A Software Engineer's Worst Nightmare</a>
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This speech took 6:30 minutes to deliver and was appreciated for the humor's relevance to the target audience. Voice modulation could have been better.</span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-39780426330607206192013-02-17T18:34:00.000+05:302013-06-25T11:52:43.344+05:30Toastmaster's Advanced Speech 3 - "Saat Purya Bhaji"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">This is speech #1 from "Storytelling" manual, called "The Folk Tale". The objective is to tell a folk tale that is entertaining and enjoyable for a specific age group; and to use vivid imagery and voice to enhance the tale. Time allotted is 7 to 9 minutes.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once upon a time, long long ago,
in a faraway land, there lived a king with his young daughter and two little
sons. The princess was a rare beauty and the apple of the king’s eye. He wanted
to marry her off to a really special person and hence put up the most difficult
challenge that he could conceive of for her <i>Swayamwar</i>.
There was a huge pond in his kingdom, in the middle of which the king got a long
smooth oily pillar erected. Whoever could reach the top without using any tool
would be the winner of the contest and consequently, his daughter’s hand.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The word spread far and wide and
princes from all over the country started pouring in to try their luck at the
pillar but no one could climb it - even halfway. Days turned to weeks, weeks to
months, months to years but the challenge remained unfulfilled. So much so that the king and
the princess became the laughing stock of the country, as far as remote villages
and dense forests. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In one such forest, there lived a
fiercely huge monster – green colored with bloodshot eyes, stinky teeth, dread-locked hair and sharp pointed nails. When he heard of the challenge, and
its reward, he came rushing to the kingdom - and lo and behold – climbed the
pillar in no time at all! The honorable king, with a very heavy heart,
organized the wedding and sent his precious daughter off in the jungle. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Years passed and there was no news
of the princess, now the monster-wife, from the forest. The king’s sons, who
were then too little to understand what had happened to their sister, were now
young men, restless and eager to meet their sibling. They asked their father
where she went and he told them the story. The two brothers, specially the
younger one, were aghast by this tale and decided to embark on a journey to
bring their sister back.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They packed two lunch boxes with
seven poories and cooked vegetables each and started off in the direction on
the forest in a bullock cart. They crossed a few miles and the elder one became
hungry. The younger said, go ahead and eat your lunch. He ate. Then a few miles
later, he became hungry once again. The younger said, go ahead and eat my seven
poories too. The elder ate and was finally satiated.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They resumed their journey on the
bullock cart and a few miles later, the younger spotted a pot of curd lying in
the way. He said to his brother, “Lets take this and keep it in our cart!”. The
brother was afraid to do so and said, “We don’t know who this belongs to. That
person might come after us and threaten us!”. The younger then said, “Give me
my seven poories back or let me take this pot”. The elder had no choice but to
relent.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After some time, they came across
a rope. Again the younger wanted to keep it, the elder didn’t. So he said, “Give
me my seven poories back or let me take this rope.” This way, the bullock cart
was stocked with a rope as well. Sometime later, they found a broom lying on
the road, the elder said, "It might belong to a sweeper, he will come to us and
demand it back.” The younger relied with his standard retort, “Give me my seven
poories back or let me take this broom." Then at the edge of the forest,
they found a donkey, and with a “Give me my seven poories back or let me take
this donkey”, the younger one loaded the cart with a donkey as well.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In this fashion, the two
brothers, with their bullock cart and supplies went to see their sister. When
they arrived at her home, the monster had gone hunting. The princess was pleased
beyond words to see someone from her own clan after so many years..and that too
her brothers..now so grown up and gallant! The younger brother immediately
said, “We have come to take you away!”. The
poor princess, afraid for her life and now her brothers’ too…asked them to unload
their cart on the cellar and put the oxen far away, out of sight of the
monster, since he would be back soon. The brothers agreed, took the pot of curd,
rope, broom and donkey and the lunch their sister gave them on the cellar.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Soon, the monster came home and
said to his wife, “I can smell humans!” She said, “That must be me! There is no
one else here!” The monster still surveyed the house but could not find
anything and sat down for his own lunch. Exactly at the spot at which the monster
was sitting, there was a hole in the cellar at the top, where the brothers were
sitting. Suddenly, the younger brother had the urge to relieve himself. The
elder said, “Go and take a leak in that hole!”. The younger one obliged for
once and urinated directly in the monster’s lunch! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The monster immediately cried
out, “Who’s above?”. The young prince, recognizing an opportunity in this
encounter replied with all his strength, “Who’s below?”. Monster shouted, “I am
a monster”; the brother boomed, “I am a mega monster”. The monster did not
believe him and screamed, “Really? Show me your tail!”. The prince took the
long rope and started pushing it down the hole, this alarmed the monster a bit
and he said, “Show me your puke!”. The younger brother took the pot of curd and
poured it down the hole. The monster was seriously scared now, but still
managed to ask one more question, “Show me your loudest shout!”, as an answer,
the young prince took the broom and started hitting the donkey with it with all
his might. The donkey brayed like there was no tomorrow and the terrified
monster ran for his life. The brothers then took their sister back with them to
the kingdom, her rightful place, and the king welcomed them with open arms. And
they lived happily ever after!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The moral of the story is, no
matter how ferocious the adversary is, if you decide, you can beat it. Where
there is a will, there is a way!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">This speech took 10:36 minutes to deliver and was appreciated for vocal variety.</span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-86755245159204845872013-01-17T20:14:00.002+05:302013-04-21T17:53:45.036+05:30Toastmaster's Advanced Speech 2 - "Love And Its Syndromes"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This is speech #2 from "The Entertaining Speaker" manual, called "Resources for Entertainment". The objective is to draw entertaining material from sources other than your own personal experience and adapt your material to suit your topic, your personality, and the audience. Time allotted is 5 to 7 minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Everything happens to everybody sooner or later if there is time enough”, said the great G. B. Shaw. Another great writer, Mark Twain, said, “The trouble with life is that there is no background music!” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Good Afternoon fellow Toastmasters. These days I tend to agree with Mr. Shaw quite a lot and disagree with Mr. Twain just a little bit. I am guessing most of you present here would have watched the movie Main Hoo Na? Have you? Then you must know the Main hoo na syndrome; remember the scene – scenes: actually there were two – where Shahrukh Khan sees Sushmita Sen and his arms go up in the air on their own accord and violins start playing in the background? Well, that’s a blatant exaggeration. But then, for the major part of the movie the theme song keeps playing softly as if inside your head in a continuous loop – that, if you are a music lover is still believable. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You see so many movies, read so many books, watch television, listen to countless songs, watch your friends fall in love and do things they otherwise wouldn’t; and you being your practical pragmatic self laugh at the senseless absurdity. Let me illustrate with a real life story. A couple of my friends, who are now married to each other but at a time were coping with the strain of a long distance relationship – and I swear this really happened – both used to look at the moon at the same instant! Like they show in gooey romantic movies! Yes, in the 21st century when you already have web cams, skype and video calling. Can anyone beat this Na Tum Jaano Na Hum syndrome? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then there is the who-will-put-the-phone-down-first complex, from the movie ‘Mere Yaar ki Shaadi Hai’: a couple is talking on the phone, both say bye, both don’t really cut the line, and the conversation goes like this: “You didn’t put the phone down”, “You too didn’t put the phone down”, “Ok, lets do it together, 1, 2, 3, cut.” And then once again, “You didn’t cut it this time either”. And we, the bewildered audience feel - someone cut the wire please and put the poor phone out of its misery. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And there are so many others, Subodh from Dil Chahta Hai, giving a balloon everyday complex, Raj from I Hate Love Storys giving a flower everyday syndrome, I will bring the moon for you if you just say it; your feet are so beautiful, don’t put them down on the floor; the list is endless, and it makes you silently shriek..ughhh…stop it!! Stop it! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But then one day, out of the blue comes a tall, not so dark, handsome guy, not on a white horse, but in his mini-SUV and sweeps you off your feet; all the romantic comedies you so categorically laughed at suddenly start dancing in front of you in mockery; all symptoms I just described begin to terrify you and you fervently pray not to end up as one of the examples. But thankfully, something similar to the Saathiya syndrome happens. The scene is - Suhani and Aditya are travelling in a Mumbai local and are having this conversation: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Suhani: “So, you really love me, huh?” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aditya: “Absolutely. How can I prove it to you?” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Suhani: “Jump off the train” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aditya: “I will. As soon as it stops.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then your heart says, that’s my man. Then you start believing completely in Shaw’s Everything happens to everybody and totally discard Twain’s there’s no background music in life. Because, if you are really listening, there is.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">This speech took 5:45 minutes to deliver and was appreciated for content and the ability to captivate audience. Body language could be improved.</span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-55096376229294395222013-01-16T18:38:00.001+05:302013-01-16T18:38:22.441+05:30The heart and soul of a speech – an (un)scientific derivation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"What is the most important
aspect of a speech?" When asked this question, some are often perplexed and
don’t have a ready answer, some even more so because they are Toastmasters! Ah….the
irony of it….who else knows the innards and anatomy of a speech better than them?
Starting from the beginning of a Toastmaster’s journey, the Competent Communicator
manual projects guide them through the process of writing and delivering a
speech – how to write an organized speech, how to make it apt and to the point,
how to add shine and sparkle to it; what is body language, voice modulation,
visual aids and how these can add value to a speech; how a speech should always
be backed up by extensive research; and how to persuade or inspire an audience
combining all the aforementioned attributes together.</span></div><br>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With all that background
knowledge, to single out the most important facet is indeed difficult. Being an
engineer expert at drawing a graph first and noting the readings later, I
decided to apply similar logic to this burning question and arrive at an
answer. Reverse engineering is the second best solution to the most challenging
issues, ask anyone working in the IT industry! (The best one is of course a machine
reboot, but that’s sadly not applicable here.)</span></div><br>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So for any given speech, if we
take out the body language and expressions, would it still be a reasonably good
speech? This one is easy; sometimes just listening to a speech and not watching
the delivery arouses such emotions that hundreds of people are moved and
motivated to take some action. Who can forget Pandit Nehru’s iconic ‘At the
stroke of the midnight hour’ speech once they have listened to its audio clip? This
conjuncture rules out two major factors and makes the choice that much easier
for us, even Cassandra would agree. In other words, this ‘Listening can
sometimes be as good as watching’ theory leaves us with the confidence that
visual aspects can definitely be forgotten for now.</span></div><br>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Does that mean voice modulation
takes the cake? Again applying the same theory, let’s try removing that too -
we are not watching a speaker, not listening to his/her speech delivery, but we
are, wait for it…reading (yes! Genius thought, wasn’t it!)…reading the speech
transcript. Now if anyone says that reading a speech has not made them laugh or
cry at times, is definitely lying. We know that any speech worth its while
would deal with an appealing subject, and would have an introduction that would
immediately grab your attention, a body which doesn’t bore you and a conclusion
summarizing and reinforcing the thought. Wouldn’t reading such a speech still
have some degree of effect on you and serve its core purpose? There you have it
– the heart of any great speech has to be its content. A syntactically and semantically
correct artistic prose, laced with rich vocabulary, impeccable and relevant
facts, aptly placed quotes, text that flows from one paragraph to another
flawlessly and makes you think, feel, or understand: even reading such a speech
material would have a profound impact. Q.E.D.</span></div><br>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next step in our logical
analysis should be a corollary of the theorem we not just constructed, but even
proved. For this, let us consider a speech that was delivered with the required
conviction, with appropriate hand and body movements, expressions defying a
mime artist, voice graph more rhythmic than an
ECG report, but with such grammar that made you flinch. Or some
statistic that you know for sure is made up. Or with such a vocabulary that even
your kid could manage better. Or a hasty introduction and abrupt conclusion.
Could the immaculate delivery save such a speech? Surely not. Q.E.D.</span></div><br>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In a nutshell, content is the
lifeblood of a speech, its basis, its foundation. You add other aspects to it
to make it stronger, more impactful and attention-grabbing; whereas content is
what you use to even build up and utilize the other parameters effectively. Without
good content, a speech is spineless. It’s like eating the cherry on top,
without having tasted the dessert. Like tearing out the glittering gift wrapper
to find an utterly disappointing gift within. A river sans water. A body sans
soul.</span></div><br>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Being a blogger myself, I admit
that I am not totally impartial in this derivation, but hey….I did present a
valid argument (thanks to reverse engineering!).</span></div>
</div>Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-480988047444370911.post-7144142146113236832012-10-18T16:01:00.002+05:302013-05-31T15:15:33.277+05:30Toastmaster's Advanced Speech 1 - "My Very Own Sky Fall"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Having chosen "The Entertaining Speaker" manual, my first project is called "The Entertaining Speech". The objective is to use vividly descriptive language and entertain the audience with a topic they would be interested in. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Date: 15<sup>th</sup> November
2006</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Place: A private airport near
Dallas Fortworth</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Time: 11 AM CDT</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A 90 pound version of me alights
from the car shivering in the 11 degree temperature with four other, equally
anxious men. A big burly man, who must be in his late fifties, greets us at the
entrance, looks at me expectantly and says, “You’re gonna jump?”, I nod and he
is visibly elated. He says, “Well, you’re gonna jump with me then!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Good Afternoon fellow
Toastmasters. You guessed it right, I am talking about the day I did something purely
for myself, for the experience, and for the satisfaction of having dared: the
day I sky dived. </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The big burly man’s name was Larry,
who had an experience of about 4000 tandem skydives. So we entered the hangar, and I,
being the youngest and the only female there, was given the privilege of selecting
my turn. I thought, well….before I lose my painstakingly accumulated courage and
start freaking out, let’s get this over with. And I volunteered to go first.
Larry said, “Great! Sign these papers please.” And there was this questionnaire
in front of me..do you have any heart related disease, any lung disease,
whether you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, blah blah. This was
all routine..the real shocker was the undertaking – “I hereby declare that I am
doing this activity of my own accord, with complete knowledge of the perils
involved. If anything unseemly occurs, I take total responsibility.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />And then it dawned on me. There
could be accidents, one can even die – how stupid of me to not consider this
before? Suddenly I wanted to run away, but something, maybe pride, made me stay
and sign.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />What happened afterwards is a
flurry of events, which are kind of blurred in my memory. I was asked to put on
all the gear - jump suit, goggles, helmet, gloves and the works. I haven’t put
on more layers of clothing till date. In a daze, I suited up, stepped into that
airplane, with four people, the pilot, Larry (the tandem guy, saver of life and
opener of the parachute), John (the photographer), and Keith (an experienced diver). Larry said, “Ok girl. Off we go, now you cannot
back out.” Sometime during the ride, my and Larry’s gear was tethered together
for the tandem jump with me in front. I swear to God, I have absolutely no
recollection of it. When i came to my senses at 11,000 feet, the door of the plane opened and a mad gush of
wind came in that chilled me to the spine. Everyone said, Jump! But I could not…my
ears heard their voice, even carried it to my brain, but my body was frozen at
the spot. I wanted to scream, but my vocal chords did not obey. A tiny part of
me also wanted to jump, but my hands wouldn't leave the door and my legs wouldn't
move, and I held on to Larry for dear life. And all this while, my rational
mind was shouting like crazy....why did you do this to yourself?? <br /><br />You must have heard
how adrenaline rush makes things move in slow motion, well, I experienced it.
Finally, someone tore my hands away from the door and someone gave a push and I
was airborne, falling under gravity. With the sky below my feet and the chilly
wind in my lungs, I was a bird for 50-60 seconds. John and Keith had also
jumped after me…while John clicked pictures, Keith, in a span of second tried
to explain to me with gestures how this is so beautiful and how this moment
will never come again, and how important it is to cherish and live it. So I let
go, attempted to smile even when the high speed winds were as if tearing my
skin away, and looked all around the amazing landscape. Then the parachute
opened and brought us in a vertical position..Floating like a feather, I distinctly
remember having said, “Larry! I am a bird!”. I imagine he must have smiled
then.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />These three minutes of my life
are, needless to say, among my most treasured memories. The day I was pushed
into realizing one of my crazy dreams. Isn’t that all we need sometimes, just a gentle
push?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">This speech took 7:34 minutes to deliver and was appreciated for choice of topic and language. However, more preparation could have been done, and expressions can be improved.</span></div>
</div>
Sampadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17285379476235283955noreply@blogger.com0