Failure - An Awful Tasting Medicine!! - 5th Speech

I did a monoact depicting a college graduation ceremony wherein Steve Jobs and Michael Jordan inspire the students with their speeches.

College President:
Dear Students,
   Its a great pleasure to be part of yet another commencement ceremony at our college. Instead of boring you with my lectures on the opportunities that await you in this world, I have with me here two great legends, who are living examples of motivation, perseverence and passion. I do not have to introduce them as they are already a role model for many of you here.
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Sir, the stage is all yours.
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Steve Jobs:
Its a great honor to be present at the commencement of a great college. Truth be told, I have never graduated from college. This is the closest, I've ever gotten to a graduation. I dropped out of college in 6 months but kept hanging around for 18 months to attend some classes that interested me. At that time when I looked forward, I could find no application for what I learnt. However, much of what I stumbled into, out of curiosity and intuition, turned out to be priceless later on. You can't connect the dots looking forward but can only connect looking backwards. Believing that the dots will somehow connect down the road, will give the confidence to follow your heart even if it means leaving the well-worn path and that will make the difference.

At the age of thirty when I was being extremely successful at what I loved to do, I was fired. It was devastating and I didn't know what to do for a couple of months. I didn't see it then but getting fired turned out to be the best thing that happened to me in life. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again. It freed me to enter one of the most creative part of my life. Though I was rejected, I was still in love with what I was doing. That helped me to grow to what I am today. Hence it was an awful tasting medicine but I guess the patient needed it.

You've got to find what you love. Since work is going to fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to believe what you do is great work. Only way to do great work is to love what you do. I love being with Apple and I keep saying to myself: Stay hungry, Stay foolish. Considering the amount of knowledge wealth available to us in this world, I say to you: Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.
Thank You
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College President:
Thanks Steve. Students, That was an inspiring speech by Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple computer.  Now Sir, will you please come forward and take center stage.
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Michael Jordan:
As Steve mentioned, its really a great honor to be present at the graducation ceremony of this wonderful college. I just have a couple of things to say to you.

Being a successful person is about knowing where you are going, not forgetting where you started.
It is about having the courage to fail, not breaking when you are broken, Taking everything you've been given and making something better.
It is about work before glory.
Its about what's the inside of you and about doing what they say you can't.
Its about being who you were born to be.

  When I was rejected from the varsity team since my height was only 5'11'', I ran to my home, closed the door of my room and cried for a long time. However, I rebounded and became the star of junior varsity team. Even after joining Chicago bulls, there were lot of hardships but I stayed focused and everything fell in place. As Steve mentioned, find what you love and enjoy what you do!!

Guess what!! I have missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I have lost more than 300 games. 26 times, I've been entrusted the game when in need, but missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. That's how I succeed. All the best to you all to succeed in life.
Thank You
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College President:
Thanks Mike. That was an awesome, motivational speech from Michael Jordan, the legendary Basketball player. From both their speeches, we need to understand that failure does not mean that "Oh We are doomed!!" It is a fresh start to re-inforce what we love and achieve success using the rich experience taught by the failure. All the best, students, Find what you love and pursue it - True Love gets better and better with experience. True Love never fails you!!
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Sources : Steve Jobs Commencement speech at Standford University 2005
                   Michael Jordan - Nike "Failure" Commercial
               Michael Jordan - Nike "Become Legendary" Commercial
              Wiki on the general life history of Steve Jobs and Michael Jordan

Third Speech at Toastmasters

Dear Toastmaster, Fellow Members and Guests,

Anybody's seen the film called  Limitless??

The protagonist of the movie will have a special tablet which will ensure 100% usage of his brain all the time. His brain is extremely active and he finds himself excelling in a field that he already has a flare for - the stock market. He identifies trends based on a lot of factors and the investments made fetch great returns.

This movie left me thinking..God has given us an excellent machine which is built very intelligently with lot of intricate mechanims - entire Human being - specially the Human brain. We can work wonders with it based on the usage in the right way and with the right amount. We don't need a "special" pill to make it function to its maximum. It is the activities we choose and how we go about doing it that makes the best use of our brain.

There are studies/reports that say "To stave off the mental decline associated with old age, engage in intellectually challenging activities, maintain a positive outlook and keep up your social life". This necessarily need not be a prescription for old age people alone. This is the medicine for all ages to keep the brain healthy and active. We need to develop and keep nurturing a skill that we like the most. By skill, it can be anything that interests you - Learning a new word everyday, spell it and use it whenever possible; solving crossword puzzles; playing scrabble; taking up action video games which improves your eye-hand co-ordination and increase the number of things that we can visually attend to simultaneously;building blocks etc.

Paying attention to our sensory experiences helps a lot in enjoying what we do/see/feel/hear/taste in your daily life and at the same time increases our memory capability to a great extent. For eg. we can practice sharpening our senses by identifying each ingredient in everything we eat. Similarly working off stess by a good physical activity that you enjoy will not make it tiresome and at the same time will free your mind and keep it healthy. Coming up with interesting speeches/table topics speeches in Toastmasters and innovating them as we move further is also a great way to keep your brain active.

In all the above, the main criteria is that we should like what you are doing so that the amount of effort we put in won't be tiresome or stressful. In fact if you think about it, when we do something that we like, it will seem effortless. Also, we should not be addicted to the same activity continuously for years together. It will make the brain stereotypic. We should engage in either more than one activity or work on ways to enhance an activity that we like the most.

For eg. there are people in this world who can do multiple things at the same time and hold records for it. I recently read in a magazine about a person (Chezhian) and was spellbound by it. The situation is like this: Imagine that each of you are asking me a question or doing some activity in order from < person name> to <person name>. At the end of it, I tell you the result of the activity or the answer to your questions in the same order it was performed/asked and all are right. The questions can be in any field - be it literature,science,mathematics or anything else. Now here in this room there are just 10-12 of us. The same activity was performed in a room of 70 people with one man responding to all their questions/activities without making a mistake.

We may think that this is a herculean task. However, it is sheer practice and developing meticulously what we've got with passion. This person likes memory games and also has interest in learning new things and remembering them. He has developed his skills and has kept nurturing this skill by setting various goals and taking the right steps at the right time.

 "Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking"

This is a quote from a person who utilized the maximum capacity of the brain all the time and was successful - Sir Albert Einstein.

Let us not keep thinking and wondering leaving our brain "hingy" but effectively utilize our brain to keep our days occupied and interesting. That way, we will live our life to the fullest.

Over to the Toastmaster..

Second Speech at Toastmasters

My second speech in toastmasters was about one of my passions, Bharatanatyam. I gave a brief introduction about the art form, demonstrated a few mudras and showed the navarasas. I also told the audience that my passion for the art form helped me give the first stage performance (Arangetram) within 4.5 yrs of learning the dance, on Aug 14th 1995. I ended by demonstrating the "bhava" or expressions for two lines of the song "My Heart will Go on" by Celine Dion. Being in the USA, I wanted the audience to relate to the contents of my speech and this conclusion gesture helped a lot in that as specified by my evaluator :)

Ice Breaker Speech at Toastmasters

Dear Madam Toastmaster and Fellow Members and Guests,

First of all, I take this opportunity to thank God for my parents, my husband, my kid, my education/career and all the unforgettable events of my life. I read in a Toastmasters magazine of an exercise to describe yourself in three words. My three words will be "Expressive, Enthusiastic and Persisting". Out of these three, my biggest strength is "Perseverence". If any of you had added me on IM, you would have noticed the byline which states " In the confrontation between the stream and the rocks, the stream always wins, not through strength but through persistence". I have derived this trait from my parents, especially my father.

After having forgone the opportunity to study at a good school during his crucial years of education, though he was a topper,he wanted to ensure that I study at a very good school. In India, there is a tradition that investing in a girl child's education is not as beneficial as compared to investing in a boy child's eduction. This is because, as the girl grows, she would be married and will move to the in-law's place. The boy would stay with his parents and will support his aged parents during their later years. As a corollary, many of my relatives, tried to persuade my father into putting me in a school that comprised of an old building (which would fall anytime) and a barren ground full of sand. My father turned a deaf ear and put me in one of the best schoolsthough it was almost 4-5 miles from my home and we had to rely only on public transport initially. Also he was particular that, even if he had to to travel owing to his job, I will stay and study in the same school, so that I do not get disturbed by the environment changes. I will surely have a separate tribute speech dedicating to my parents.

My parents' difficulties and endurance bore fruit when I cleared my High sChool education with overall 92% ( 97% in Maths, 97% in Physics and 92% in Chemistry). This helped gain admission in one of the most acclaimed Engineering colleges in my place where I graduated "First Class with Distinction". Even before I came out of my college, I was offered a good job through a campus Interview conducted by a well known IT company and then there was no looking back. My parents were also quick to recognize my other passions such as Classical Dance (Bharatanatyam - a traditional dance form of South India) and Sports - Athletics and Basketball. My passion in Classical dance helped me grow and win lot of accolades through 13 years of regular practice and striking performances. During one such performance, where I was portraying "Lord Shiva" a God of the Hindu religion and known to be a Master of any form of Dance, many from the crowd cheered stating that they actually saw the God in action and gave me presents of all kind for such a wonderful performance. I cherish those moments.

Similarly I went upto District level Selections in Basket ball, which was my other passion. However, when it came to academics/Dance/Basketball as a career, I chose academics as my career since it depends only on my talent to come up in the current field. However the other two involves a lot of other factors which will take a long time to overcome as have seen in many instances. Even in my career, my perseverence has helped me achieve a lot of accolades from my leads/clients. In just 8 months of my IT career, I won the "Shooting Star" - Individual Star Performer award worth of 100$ from my client. Still I feel that I have been a "Jack of All Trades and King of None". The day will come when the following two things happen:
1. The CEO of my company/client company sends a personal email to me stating that I am an Asset to the company

2. My son will state that I am proud to have them as my parents since they have not left me to crave for anything and they are the reason for my success
When this happens, I would have fulfilled God's reason for creating me and my mission on Earth. From my experience, perseverence has helped in a lot in my life and hope this speech helps a couple of you to persist for what you want to achieve in your life.

Thank you.

Cricket - Synonym for Sports?

Three cheers to our Indian Cricket Team for winning the T20 World Cup. I was one among the enthusiastic millions watching the nail-biting final, ball by ball, with my eyes glued to the TV screen. I was elated when they rejoiced after winning the cup. Though all this celebration was going on, I did have some disturbing thoughts at the back of my mind. No doubt, cricket is the most famous and most favorite game among the Indians. During weekends or holidays we'd find most of the guys out in the streets playing cricket. However that doesn't mean that we should neglect and not promote/help other sports grow.

I read in an article that Rohit Sharma was initially living in a rented apartment and then he shifted to his own apartment in Mumbai. I also read that BCCI has offered rewards of 80L to the T20 winners and 1crore specially to Yuvraj. It is good to encourage sportsmen who make India proud, but this is very lavish. The same money could be used to develop sports facilities in rural villages and other places, promote other sports and encourage enthusiastic sports people who might be deprived due to lack of funds. We might be having lot of Viswanathan Anands,Kutraleeswarans,PT Ushas,Leander Paes,Sania Mirzas,Narain Karthikeyans waiting for opportunities to prove themselves and excel in their respective fields. Why can't India win the Olympics gold in athletics and other events?A win in such an event would also be as ecstatic as the win in T20 world cup. Being a sportsperson myself, though I haven't travelled outside TN for sports, I have seen people facing a lot of difficulties to move forward and shine in various fields due to inadequacy of funds, unavailability of proper facilities and politics playing a major role rather than merit.

The Government should promote and help sports other than cricket to make them grow and become as famous as cricket. The media is also a culprit here since they don't give a big coverage to any other sport wins as they give to cricket. The media should also project and encourage upcoming stars in other sports. This would help them to get more sponsors enabling them to participate in more international events and thus bring laurels to our country.

Disclaimer: Whatever I have expressed is my opinion and NEED NOT coincide with the views of every other Indian.

Change is the only constant thing in this world-II

Three years at the company!!!Has the time come for me to shift?Well, this question would never have occured to me if my career growth had been still exponential. I would never have thought about exploring opportunities outside if I had been properly judged during my appraisal. I would have been content in my current company if my compensation was anywhere near the industrial standards. I would have been happily commuting to my current office location if it were not for the distance and traffic which results in me being out of the house for almost 13hrs a day though my average working hours is 9.3.

Handling each case separately, for the past three years my career growth had been phenomenal. I got wonderful opportunities to prove my talent and I really enjoyed the assignments. At the time I joined the company at Chennai, there were just 40 of us in our department. It has now grown to a huge extent. But since I was one of those early birds, all my higher officials know me well and recognized my work really well. But now, at Bangalore, it is as if I need to start right from scratch to prove myself. I am also working on a particular application which is almost extinct now.To start right from scratch in my current company with a compensation very much under industrial standards, I might as well prove my capability in a new company which is willing to give a better compensation for my talent.

For the past three years, though I have won lot of accolades and praises both from internal team and client, I have been receiving an appraisal rating similar to someone who is just above average. This year my supervisor gave me a better rating which made me happy. But the happiness was shortlived since the team manager changed the rating to the usual rating that I had been receiving earlier. I was really irritated with this since at that point of time I had worked in a technology which I knew nothing about initially but learnt it quickly and won a customer satisfaction rate of 5/5 in all the issues I handled using that technology at client site. The appraisal policy is not being followed properly and it is a huge mess here which results in lot of attrition. No wonder my current company didn't prevail in the top 20 employers list.

Since my appraisal was not handled properly, my compensation and hike was very much below the industry standards. The irony and the proof for the fact that my current company's appraisal policy is in a mess is that this time I got a better hike compared to my fellow batch mates though they have gotten a better appraisal rating than me. They say that there are a lot of other factors that decide the hike. However politics play a major role here. Nothing is black and white!!! Still my compensation does not meet the industrial standards.

Due to these reasons I have resigned from my current company. This is my first company and I was very thrilled when I joined it in the beginning. I really wanted to give my best since I had seen so many of my friends suffer without getting jobs as soon as they passed out of college(Thank God, all are well settled now). Hence my job was so precious to me. But when I want to give my best, I don't think there is anything wrong in me expecting the same in return. There would be lot of such software people who would have worse and better stories than mine. Actually in software industry shifting from one company to another for better prospects is not a big deal. Well, with God's blessings, I hope to stay in the next company for a longer time.

Ambi thanga kambi :p

At Office during lunch

Malini:Today, my husband and I had a nice time watching the newly married couple fight
over some issue.

Ambi:What was the fight about?

Malini:The guy didn't get a red color scarf that the girl wanted and so she didn't prepare his favorite corn flakes for breakfast. They were fighting over this.

Ambi: Yes, this surely is a valid reason for fighting. The guy can even skip his breakfast. How can he refuse getting the girl what she wanted?

Malini:I don't take my husband for shopping at all. I buy whatever I want and he doesn't say anything

Maneka:Good for u. My husband transfers most of the money as soon as the salary comes
leaving a minimum balance in my account. This is my mother-in-law's wish too

Ambi:Is it so, Maneka?Before marriage how often u went for shopping?

Maneka:Maximum thrice a week..

Ambi:Then, it must be really difficult now!!

Angana:U know what, my son is on diet nowadays. The doctor said that he is overweight for his age.You know, he weighs 45kgs already and he is just 9yrs old.

Malini:That is normal weight only, Angana

Angana:No No,it is overweight only. Initially we used to stuff only food items in one fridge and it was kept mainly for him to have snacks during regular intervals.

Ambi:Is it a 180Litre fridge?

Angana:No no, it is a 210L fridge. Now we stuff only half of the fridge with food items.

Ambi: Oh god! Ur son must be starving now!

Angana:He does find it difficult but he understands that he needs to reduce his weight.

At home at dinner time

(In Sun Music, the ad "Ellor kangalum endhan mele" is going on)
Ambi thambi:Where is my jerkin?
(no answer)
Ambi thangamani(ATh):Where is ur tiffen box?
(no answer)
(The ad ends)
Ambi(picking some letter on the stand hurriedly before ATh notices him oothifying at Shriya) :Did u ask me anything? I was actually going through this letter.

ATh:Oh really!That was not meant for us.You yourself put it there in the morning so that it could be returned to our neighbour.

Ambi:Oh I forgot!!

ATh:Fine,Shall we have dinner now?

Ambi:sure

ATh(after laying the table for dinner):Look at ur plate and not the tv, so that I can serve
the correct amount of food.
(In Sun Music,Hema Sinha is hosting a show)
Ambi(still looking at tv):You start serving,i'll tell u when it’s enough

ATh:She's got such an irritating nasal voice,she's not that good also,what do u find in her?

Ambi: Its a boy thing,u won't understand

ATh:Ur taste is really bad

Ambi:But u were my choice right?

ATh:That was the only exception!!

Ambi:What abt the girl we saw that day at the Garuda mall outside shoppers stop?Wasn't she great looking with a matching purple lipstick to match her purple three fourths?

ATh(looking at Ambi skeptically):U've still not had ur dinner,do u remember?

Ambi thambi:Ambi, Why don't u tell her abt the girl u saw at the busstop?U also said that u missed the bus since u were busy varuthufying kadalai with her

Ambi:You too Brutus!!Thangamani, don't believe him. He is cooking up something against me, Please serve the food. I will look at the plate and not the tv.
(The ad, "Ellor kangalum" on sun music)
ATh(curses her fate):Ambi Thambi, u eat. Let him watch whatever he wants, and then eat whatever is left.Let us finish the kesari and not give him anything.

Ambi(Switches off the tv):Sorry sorry sorry!!Where is the kesari?

Andha Na(tka)l Nyabagam-II

Appolaam summer holidays vandha veetla seri bore adikum nu en friend Meghna veetuku daily enga appa morning kondu vittaar naa evening thaan vandhu kootitu povaar. Aniyaathuku koothadippom.Odi pudichi vilayaadradhu, choppu saamaan, story books padikardhu etc. Oru dharava ippdi dhaan edho vaaluthanam pannum bothu avanga veetla azhagaa oru kalai porul(indha pot maadhiri irukum) adha thalli uttu odachiten :p.Avanga edhuvum sollalanaalum namakaavadhu koncham embarrasment feeling irundhurkanum. Adhellaam onnume illaama aduthanaalum vandhu adhe maadhiri neriyaa vaaluthanam pannitu irundhen.

PT(Physical Training) period la naanga main aa Dorge ball velayaaduvom. Rendu team aa pirinjikanum. Oru team round katti nippaanga. Innuru team andha round ulla poi nikkanum. Andha round katti nikkara team la irukaravanga ball eduthu andha round ulla irukara innuru team aalunga mela aim panni adipaanga. Yaar mela padradho avanga out.Adhula round la nikkum bothu neriyaa pera out pannirken and adhe maadhiri ulla irukum bothu kadasiyaa out aaradhu naan thaan. Sometimes adhukulla bell adichidum and I will emerge out victoriously :p

And andha time la romba edhirpaakara naal,birthdays!!! Adhuvum birthdays podhu school irundha color dress potutu poi school la ellaarkum chocolates kudukanum. Enaku eppavume birthday leave naal la dhaan varum.Adhunaala naa enna pannuven, convenient aa tamil calendar padi en natchathiram june la dhaan varum and appo school reopen aagidum. So aniki color dress ellaam potu enaku pudicha caramilk chocolates vaangitu oru white dabba(adhu innum vachirken)la pottu eduthutu poven.First period attendance eduthona, class teacher kooptu class munnaadi nikka solluvaanga. Naanum oru perumidhathoda poi nippen. Ellaarum odane, "Happy Birthday to u, happy birthday to u, happy birthday dear,happy birthday to u" nu solli kai thattuvaanga. Adhuku approm first en teacher ku chocolate kuduthu avanga wish panna approm ellaa students kum tharuven.Avanga wish panradha vida chocolate allradhula dhaan kuriyaa irupaanga. Perku,"many more happy returns" appdi nu solluvaanga. Chocolates ellaam distribute pannona koncham meerum illa. Naan adha viduvenaa.Teacher baatuku class eduthutrupaanga, naan baatuku chocolate gaali pannitrupen.

Assignment system irukum. One yr ku 10 assignments and 3 exams. Assignments ellaam 25 marks ku and exams as usual 100 marks.Assignment almost alternate weeks varumaa. So paadhi neram veetla nalla kathi padichitrupen. Ella subjects padikavum enga appa and amma help pannuvaanga. Hindi second language eduthadhu naala enga appa enakkaaga hindi kathutu enaku sollikuduthaaru.So assignment marks kaaga aavalaa edhirpaarthutrupom.Oru class la kitta thatta 40-50 per kitta irupom.Adhanaala aniki submit panra assignment oda result aduthanaale announce pannanum nu nenaikardhu too much aa irundhaalum naanga expect pannitrupom. Sila teachers adutha naal kulla correct panniduvaanga, sila teachers oru vaaram kooda aakuvaanga appo romba kashtama irukum.Marks vandhona odane compare panna aarambichiduvom yaar top mark or enna mistakes pannirkom. Ippo namba panna same mistake innuruthar pannirundhu avangaluku mark kuduthu namaku kudukalena odane porukaadhu. Either namaku mark ethanum illa avangaluku mark korayanum.Enna oru nalla enna illa?Ithanaikum 22/25 vaangirpen. still indha sandai nadakkum. Idha vida oru dharava naan panna koothu dhaan super. Engaluku merit card nu onnu undu.adhaavadhu 10 assignment layum 15 ku mela vaangina and ella exams layum 40 ku mela vaangina merit card kudupaanga. Naa 7th varaikum continuous aa vaanginen. 8th standard la ore oru dharava maths la 13 and half vandhuduthu. I had made mistakes adhaan andha mark.Aana appo enaku adhellaam oru vishayam illa. Merit card vandhe aaganum andha varusham. So nalla azhudhu porandu teacher kitta aapaatam panni andha 1 and half marks vaangitom la.Merit card um vaangitom la!!!

More such memories will follow..