Author Archive: cbhmagic@gmail.com

Pathway Presentation mastery : Level 3 – Elective 1: Connect with Storytelling

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FACE

Good afternoon, everyone. It’s wonderful to see all your faces in person. Are you all

looking at me? Great. Then, let’s begin.

Raise your hands if you love your mothers. Thank you.

Now, take a moment to look

around the room and observe who else has their hand raised. It’s heartwarming, isn’t it? Nearly

everyone has their hand up because, mothers love their children, and children love

their mothers. Now , We are living in the age of generative AI and prompt engineering, which enables

us to refine and adjust questions to get the exact answers we seek. So, let me re-frame my question.

How many of you enjoy listening to your mothers? Mhmm. Take another look around the room.

Notice how fewer hands are raised this time. Now let me pose a more specific question: How

many of you enjoy listening to your mother’s advice and acting on it immediately? Ah, this

response is more aligned with what I anticipated.

Notice how drastically the number of hands has dwindled. Have you ever wondered

why we love our mothers so deeply, yet often resist listening to their advice?

Each of us has our own reasons. For me, it’s a bit unique.

When I was young and my mother was in her prime, she would weave enchanting tales for me

—stories of fairies, elves, kings, and other magical worlds.

Those stories were delightful to hear, but as we grew older , the life’s responsibilities took

over; the time for such tales faded. Imagining those fairies or reliving the stories became a

distant memory. Instead, she started giving me an endless list of dos and don’ts.

“Don’t do this. Don’t do that. Do it this way. How dare you do it that way?” Her constant

instructions frustrated me endlessly.

I am her only daughter. Many assume that being an only child is a blessing. But in reality,

it comes with its challenges. There are no siblings to share those moments or scoldings with.

All the parental focus rests on me. It can be exhausting to endure constant instructions and

reprimands, sometimes making life feel overly demanding and, frankly, a little overwhelming.

Whenever I felt defeated, she would always say, “Face it. Face it. Face it.”

I would wonder to myself, “What does that even mean? How can I face it when she doesn’t truly

understand what I’m going through?” Those days passed with the echo of her words, “Face it.” Though

I was equipped with a library of life’s formulas—countless dos and don’ts—I often felt uncertain about

where or how to apply them. Knowledge was there, but understanding its application came much later.

Years rolled by, until one day in February 2015, I had an epiphany  during a coffee break,

They say a lot can happen over coffee. And for me, it truly did.

I don’t drink coffee, but during that break, my friend, my mentor, Lakshmi, shared a

story from her honeymoon.  Kindly allow me to transport you to that moment.

Picture a honeymoon—a time filled with love, laughter, and two key characters: the hero and the

heroine. This couple embarked on a trip to Anamudi, the point that marks the border between

Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Exhausted from their journey, they hired a cab to return home. It was a new vehicle, and

they knew little about the driver. To make matters worse, the driver kept blinking suspiciously.

This set off alarm bells in their minds. Now, imagine the heroine—newly married and radiantly

beautiful, adorned with bangles and jewelry, exuding elegance. Yet beneath her composed exterior, fear

brewed.  Thoughts raced through her mind: Why is the driver blinking? Will he attack us? Will he

demand my jewelry or behave improperly? Suddenly, things got even more unnerving as a

scooter and bike began following them in the dark (Tobo — Tobo —Tobo)

Panicked, she looked to her husband, her Hero. What was he doing? He was blissfully

napping in the midst of this chaos!

Unable to comprehend his calm, she woke him up, urging him to grasp the reality of the

situation.

Let me pause here. Imagine yourself in the hero’s position. After hearing the heroine’s

concerns, how would you respond?

Now, let me share what the hero actually said.

“Honey, I’m not a hero,” he admitted.
“I can’t fight anyone.
If something happens, we’ll bow down and seek mercy. That’s the practical thing to do. Let’s not let our imaginations run wild.
We don’t know their intentions, so let’s not jump to conclusions.”

He advised her to quiet her thoughts and remain practical. Then, as if nothing had

happened, he resumed his nap.

This story left a lasting impression on me. It made me realise the power of staying

grounded, shutting down unnecessary fears, and approaching challenges with clarity.

From that moment, I formulated my own secret SAS ((pronounce as Sauce) to life. Its SAS. not the

tomato sauce we lick:

S – stands for

Shut down wild imaginations—Our minds can wander endlessly, crafting both beautiful and

daunting scenarios. Stay grounded in reality.

A – stands for

Analyze the situation—Even in the face of adversity, assess what resources you have and

how to use them effectively.

S stands for

Strategize—With a clear goal in mind, plan your actions thoughtfully.

While the hero in this story didn’t exude traditional heroic qualities, he was deeply

practical. And sometimes, practicality is the most heroic trait of all.

Stories have the power to leave lasting impressions, teaching us lessons we might not

grasp otherwise. Whether they are fairy tales or real-life accounts, they provide wisdom in

unexpected ways.

So, let’s embrace stories, analyse the challenges they depict, and strategize to overcome them.

After all, every dragon can be slain, and every tough situation can have a happy ending—if we

approach it wisely.

By the way what happened to the hero and heroine in this story? To find out, you’ll have to tune into

my  next speech. Thank you!

Pathway Presentation mastery : Level 3 – Project 1: Persuasive Speech

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Going Blind

Good afternoon, everyone.

We are at the very first month of new year. How many of you are still sticking to your new year resolutions? How likely are you to achieve your goals this year?  Just like You , I am ambitious too.
One of my last year’s goal was to learn a new technology and get certified. But I didn’t find one till August. Luckily, my Employer offered an alluring Zero cost  GCP training certification spanning from September to November. But that  was an unusual and unconventional training which brought down the joy of learning. Slowly, I started skipping classes. Days and weeks passed and the last month of the year commences.
This enticing zero cost came with a disclaimer that it is applicable only when Exams are taken on or before Dec 30th. As exam dates loomed closer, the anxiety, the fear of unknown started to fill the air. Every one of us were frantically searching for questionnaire and dumps to pass through the exam.
This ambience took me back to my campus days, especially to the endless hours of my grappling with Engineering Mathematics.
Do you remember your Engineering Mathematics???.
No worries, I will take you through my class.
Jackob sir, the professor, a short and stout man who breathes Laplacian Transformation, talks Euler theorem and lives the Engineering mathematics every single day.
Neither him nor the subject excited me and my friends and everyone was restless. Just a week before the internals, we realized how crucial is it to pass Engineering Mathematics. As always, there is a helping hand. Trinetra, a classmate of mine, ready to spare her notes for our preparation. Her notes were exceptionally good that we abstained from worrying about the exams.
Finally, the day before the exam, we gathered at our friend’s house. A calm house, with parents out for a work and siblings out for the school. A sneak peek at Orkut, “Jab we met”  movie, the snacks and all sort of tiny teeny things overshadowed our exam preparation. By the time of disperse, we marked few questions to prepare. Out of that, only one stands out in my memory always.
The starting didn’t make sense. The complete solution by itself sounded like an enigma. But clock is ticking. No time to inquire!  So just go blind, make it hard and vomit it was the preferred approach.
Guess what?
I got a big zero. The mystery behind – its not a multiplication in the formulae but a cross mark indicating that this subdivision “3a” is wrong. Tidy Girl, She doesnt even want to cross a page. Having failed miserably I  looked at myself . Its a Blunder. This blunder raced my mind.  Failure didn’t hurt me. But going blind hit me hard. It still bangs my head!
With this experience, tell me my friends – will I just go blind with questionnaire and dumps? Of course not. The clock was running fast towards the seasonal greetings. The whole world was in party mood, awaiting Christmas and New Year. But I was firm enough that I will not go blind. Whatever concepts I go through, I am determined to  ask questions to myself. Reason out and learn. To my good luck, I got a mentor Ravi, who was able to clear all my queries.
Finally,  the exam proved that dumps was completely outdated. The power of questioning  and reasoning out helped me gain the certification.
It dawned upon me that life is a maze, LIFE IS A MAZE ONLY WHEN WE GO BLIND. Going blind is never going to help us. Going blind will always put you down in our one step or the other.
But Going blind also helps at few instances
Even one of our well-performing Toastmasters attended the open house just to fetch his missed water bottle. Open house opened his eyes and showed a pathway towards honing leadership and communication skills. Yes, you can go blind to open house and wake up with knowledge and power.
It all depends on the situation. Going blind without assessing the situation that counts is a downfall.
Missing to assess the situation implies you are tieing up your eyes tightly and preparing to fail and fall.
Never go blind Because
Going blind makes you feel undermined
Going blind makes you feel resigned
Going blind leaves you behind
Make a promise today, that we always open our mind , ask questions , seek continuous knowledge and
keep growing wisely
I request everyone to standup at their places and  take a oath that
“We shall always asses the situation; ask right questions and will never let the next generation to fall into the trap of going blind”
JAI HIND

Thank You

Pathway Presentation mastery : Level 2 – Project 3: Introduction to Toast master mentoring

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Lost & Found

One of my major setbacks that I want to put forward today was getting onto the stage and facing everyone. If it’s a group performance, I could easily hide behind anyone, just peep out, perform, and forget it. But getting onto the stage all alone is something terrifying.

During my 7th grade, I was forced onto the stage for a short talk. In spite of the humid weather, I was completely frozen. From then on, climbing up the stage and facing the audience had always felt like thrashing in the water to save my life—without knowing how to swim.

At the outset, every speaker from the past until today has experienced the same struggle of thrashing in the water wildly. But how did they master the art, evolve, and emerge from it? Like an oxygen tank, like a floating device— There comes a few people FOR OUR RESCUE. They guide, empower, encourage, and motivate us to evolve. They are our Mentors.

Now, there can be unsolicited and solicited mentors. Sounds technical?

Good afternoon, fellow Toast masters and Guests.

Let me keep it simple. All these days, before getting into L2P3 – Introduction to Mentoring, I had the impression that mentors are superheroes who have been victorious against all odds, and I was waiting to find one such mentor. But after venturing into life on my own terms, there came a stunning realisation of truth. Life taught me a profound truth:

As human being, everyone is prone to commit mistakes.

Mentors are the ones with great experience and knowledge, willing to spend their valuable time guiding, supporting, and helping us achieve our goals.

I’m grateful to have discovered mentors I failed to recognise before.

The very first mentor that come to our mind is our Parents and Teachers. Often, they tend to play the role of a coach—always at our back, giving us plenty of dos and a long series of don’ts, constantly pestering us with advice. Those invaluable insights are often perceived as criticism, right?

They are unsolicited mentors sent by God.

Later in life, we voluntarily attend insightful sessions, listen to thoughtful talks, and get motivated by third persons—they become our solicited mentors. One such person was Mr. Sam, a guest speaker at a personality development camp. His words were…

“Get onto the stage

no matter how freezing cold you feel,

no matter how your lips tremble,

no matter how your legs shake in fear.

Of course, people make fun of your unintentional gestures on stage. But remember—these feelings fade away in just a week’s time. It’s like catching a common cold—only after seven days does it leave you. But after seven days, you gain more immunity. These trials and tribulations are indispensable, even for a cocoon to grow into a butterfly. So why don’t you take it up happily?

Be ready, be happy to get onto the stage…”

These words immediately drove me to the stage, and I delivered an impromptu vote of thanks to him.

That’s how my journey to the stage, to facing an audience, to public speaking unfolded.

But still, my silence to spotlight moments were too short. My gap analysis proved that being confined to a seat, staying within my comfort zone, would never yield me any interesting topics to talk about.

There was another Senior cum Mentor, by the name Sivasankari, at my office, who brilliantly poked me out of my comfort zone. With her companionship, I mustered the courage to rise to different occasions and take part. This acted as the next propelling force, helping me reach longer spotlight minutes.

Only after involving myself in other activities did my thinking and creativity unleash. I lost my hesitation, limitation, and fixation—and found my vision for continuous growth.

Now, I am able to get on stage and have some stuff in mind to talk about, but there is still a feeling of a huge barrier or wall between me and my audience.

Is my voice being heard?

Am I really engaging the audience?

These questions—the quest to grow—guided me to Toastmasters.

My club, V-Talk, assigned me an energetic and dedicated mentor—Toastmaster Sorabh Kalra, based in Pune – Kind, empathetic.

He prefers video calls. Months back, my confidence level was deep inside a dark hole. Meeting consistently with video on created a tangible difference in my eye contact and confidence.

His experience and approach to problems gave me the wisdom that it takes consistent practice and persistence to become a pioneer.

Without any judgements, he converses openly to find multiple solutions to the queries I bring to the table. He insists that I deliver speeches every alternate week. Though sometimes I miss them, his push keeps me motivated to bring myself back on track.

Another person—Toastmaster Gerin Jacob, our Area Director—though not an official mentor, encourages everyone in our club to take roles and constantly reminds us to explore other clubs.

A month ago, he asked me, “Will you be able to accomplish your Level 2 by October?”

I promised. But for several reasons, my plan kept postponed from week to week. When I was finally ready to block the last date of October, Gerin had already blocked it for a panel discussion! This forced me to hunt for speech slots to keep up my promise— and I am so glad that with your club, this has been possible. (I delivered this at Caribbean Toast master Club)

Thank you so much for that.

For me, the mentor-protégé partnership is like vision and action.

A vision without an action is just a daydream. An action without a vision is just a time pass.

But vision and action together can create a big difference.

As Toastmasters, every one of us here has a vision. Mentors empower us to find the right action, execute it, and discover the difference.

The difference I have made so far is:

  • I lost my limitations and found my way to boundless opportunities.

  • I lost my fear and found the right gear to be on stage.

  • I lost my stage fright and found my stage might through a mentor-protégé partnership.

How about you? What have you lost, and what have you found?

Pathway Presentation mastery : Level 2 – Project 2: Effective Body Language

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SAVINGS

What is that SAVINGS -can  any one guess ?
(Wait for the audience to respond)
Rightly said – Today’s Topic is not an ACRONYM but Savings.
How many of us here do save money ? Please put up your Hands (Gesture)

WOW

It obvious because act of savings is well ingrained and deep rooted into our hearts right from childhood.
Is there anyone unconventional – Not saving money (Put your hands up – Gesture)

No hands up – It is very common and natural that we save for our well-being, future , luxury and
the list goes on

I am here today to talk about one of my fond memory on savings of
How did I save ?
What did I save ?
What did I really reaped out of that ?

Yes Good afternoon fellow toast masters and Guest
That was a Friday evening when I was planned to travel to my home town by BUS.
Starting around 7.30 pm is a peaceful commute to boarding point. Unfortunately that was a rainy evening.

What should I do now ?
Change the Plan or Change the Goal ? (Show strong hand gestures)

Apparently, starting earlier and hiring the auto was my revised plan.
Ola, Uber, Rapido – keeps loading and loading in the rain …
Autowala at the doorstep demanded 500 bucks for just 2.5 km . It costs an arm and leg even for everyone

My inner voice so far in the background – now jumped in the foreground and compelled me to
move towards main road to hire another auto. Main road is jam packed . Vehicles were moving inch by inch. Now this inner voice started to shoot thoughtful questions.
“””Does share auto or auto make a difference in this traffic??
You neither have heavy things to carry nor running short of time . Why don’t You take the share auto ??”””

Of-course that is a valid choice. Now Share-auto is in my Road map . The share auto driver charged me just 10 rs for 1.5 km. They don’t travel till my actual boarding point. So I had got to cover the next 1km.

With more time in hand and rain being stooped , what would You do ?
My inner voice urged me to walk amidst the water logs to save money

Haaaaa. the overwhelming thought of saving 500 bucks  I  felt like a SUPERWOMAN.
Luckily I didn’t catch up cold / fever . Everything went smooth on that blissful evening. Experiencing all this my brain got wired to save more even during unexpected

~2 weeks later I had to get through same kind of situation. But this time my travel is via Superfast Express. Will any train wait for a common man?  Never ! This added hastiness into picture.
My wired brain hesitated to take auto as railway station is far far away and the road is also jam packed in rain. Smart way is to take an commuter rail and reach the Railway station for my Super fast Express. Slowly and steadily I was walking against the rain . Rain had no pity on me and my legs were completely wet. After few hard and difficult strides , I got into a public transport and reached the suburban station with the delay of 30 min. Once more I patted myself for saving money from unforeseen. Then happened the most craziest marathon in my life, running in the rain to catch the commuter rail. As expected all my efforts paid off well in reaching well within the time

WHAT NEXT THEN..?

I made myself comfortable on the upper berth and binge watching kicked off. 45 minutes went off happily. The next was the absolutely unexpected. My Legs were completely struck – could not even move a bit. I didn’t know what happened all of a sudden. Felt like stuck in the rut. The entire night went sleepless in pain.
~2 Days I lived with Volini Spray,!
Next ~2 days took  off !
missed important meetings, trainings, missed my sleep.
Doctor Consultation, Medical expenses shoot up my expenditures.
These unbearable moments gave me an incredible amount of Wisdom.

What did I save ! What did I reap !
I saved 100s of rupees to reap the pain, to lose weekend happiness, to loose my office hours, to loose my meeting , loose my training , loose my sleep and peace? (Let these Questions reachout the audience from various parts of stage and gestures)

But no worries lets always be optimistic (Show a blend of relax and reflections in your face) .
The  strain in the rain, gained me invaluable insights about my purpose on earth.
Am I  saving good memories for my family to cherish ?
Am I maintaining a good environment for the next generation to live in healthy ?
Am I saving energy to spread happiness and smiles ?
Can I build a healthy tomorrow  by being unhealthy today ?

My dear Friends , OFTEN WE FORGET OUR PURPOSE AND OVER STRETCH AND STRAIN . LETS KEEP REMINDING OUR BRAIN THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF LIFE.
So before making any savings, Lets REWIRE OUR BRAIN, make sure no actions are
detrimental to Our health and happiness and strive to make prudent decisions.

Last but not least, whatever you save, Ensure you save water, save blue so that we don’t feel blue

THANK YOU

Pathway Presentation mastery : Level2 – Project 1: Understanding your Communication style

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cs

Today the meeting is filled with software engineers, customer-facing engineers, consulting engineers, and so on. What could CS stand for?

Computer science??? (Ask the audience, They would nod)

Absolutely! The room full of Software engineers abbreviate CS as Computer Science.
But with regards to Toastmasters, CS stands for communication style.

All these days, I know, superstar Rajinikanth style, Amitabh style, Indian 2 style. But what is this communication style? I was very curious to know and ventured into the level 2 of presentation mastery. It is understanding your communication styles. There is something more to take away from understanding the communication style. Are you all excited to know about the communication styles? Good.

After a long weekend, I was very tired to get back to work with full force, slowly recollecting what is my password, my last activity … Suddenly there was a lot of people thronging at my bay. I got to see a box full of homemade chocolates from Munnar. One of my colleagues who came rushing for the dark chocolates ended up in white chocolate.

As everyone was relishing this chocolate, the person with white chocolate started asking so many questions and giving so many information. Do you know how the chocolates or homemade chocolates are made ? How this white chocolate is made? He was telling that it is made of… I was astounded to hear that white chocolate is made out of all-purpose flour. Until then I was in a impression that I eat only healthy. I defended him. But he assisted his information with a lot more facts. Telling that that’s how they are able to offer you at a lower cost  than Branded chocolates. It sounds logical and analytical, right?

This kind of communication is called Analytical communication style

  • Analytical communication style – They always believe in facts and figures. If you happen to speak to such kind of person, always get ready as if you are going to a viva; get all your information; get all your logic in place, be prepared to answer all their questions to get their approval. Got it?

  • Right. As soon as you hear this viva, your brain would have shifted to college days, right? ha ha. That is  how brains are wired.  I will take you to my college days. There people are supposed to work in a special interest group after hours. My Professor Mansoor Rumi, very focused,  precise on time, put all together he is a strict officer. But he wants the students to be ruthless on spending hours to work on new idea. I was the  so-called regular student. Apparently, one day by mistake,  I bunked the class for some reasons and somehow he came to know that. Next day I was subjected to questions.

SIR: Were you present yesterday? CBH:  Sir! I was suffering from high fever, cough and cold. SIR: Were you present yesterday? CBH: That’s what sir, I was suffering… Tell me yes or no. SIR: No sir!

Professor Mansoor Rumi – he follows Direct communication style. Direct communication style – Whenever you’ve got to speak to these people, don’t go with explanations. Be precise, Crisp & Concise. Have your details and only explain them in brief if questioned.

  • There was an Lab assistant called  GODMAN. He helps all the students, calm and composed, approachable, but he is not much outspoken. He feels pity for students. This style of GODMAN sir is  Supportive Communication style. Whenever you happen to speak to these persons, be polite and always give them some time to respond. Consider if you are asking him the answer, will he be able to give you rightly? Understand, understand the situation folks. These people will help you, but give them time. This is the third communication.

  • There is one more communication style. I’m sure there will be at least one person in your gang/team/class.This person will always be very fun loving. He will always relate something to a story, enthusiastic. He can initiate a conversation very quickly. And that is number four, – Initiative Communication style.

  • But does one size fits all ? Noooo! We have to tailor and adapt our style for the audience.All these days I had a  perception communication is how you speak. It’s not how we speak, but it is more of how well you make your message received by the audience or the people across the table. Now here is your challenge. If you want your child to focus, shift focus from gadgets to you. What should be your communication style???? WOW. the right answer shows that I did a good job in making you all aware of the CS 🙂 Thank You

Level 1 – Project 4: Evaluation and Feedback

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MOM2
(Read it as Em —O—Em 2)

 

How many of you here would like to watch the same movie again?
Almost everyone. But today I am going to take you through the second version of my MOM by incorporating all the feedback that I have received.

What is MOM in my last speech.

(Audience responded with Mother, Moments of the meeting, and someone recollected my last project’s title Moments of Magic)Thanks for remembering. MOM – stands for moments of magic.

MAGIC to me is something that starts very small but grows and transforms into big; enormous; huge over the course of time. Investment is one such. What would be the best investment according to you ? (Audience would immediately pick on Money Investment)

Well, There is one another vital investment
It’s investing in children, investing in young minds.
As educated people we are committed to instill good values, infuse good thoughts in them. But How do we do that?

Yes,it holds the same thumb rule as investment
The more the quality time you spend with your kids , the better they evolve
And the earlier you start the super they develop

But again How do we do this ?
If you just right away walk  into the house and call them,
“hey, Paaapu come here. Let’s have some time” Will they come? Not at all.

Two decades ago, when I was little, I used to pay attention to the intensity of my parent’s voice. Whenever they sound soft or mild “bhavana”, I continue to be on my cloud nine and ignore.
After a few seconds of waiting, they call me bhavanaaa. This time it is lot more perceptible, but I used to say, waittese(kiddish way to say pls wait)

By then their patience snapped and now the intensity  is like “BHHAAAAAVAAAAANAAAAAAAAAA” WHat aRE You DoiNg !

This time I wrapped up my activity and get to them.
My parents wanted me to get  rid of this habit and respond immediately
They wanted me to be well inside the line of obedience

My DAD being a Cinephile; loves to express things in a dramatic way.
He told in old voice to me “Bhavanaaa , When I was a kid like you;  if I hear my dad calling me out – I just leave everything whatever I have in my hand – Just run and rush  – Salute and Say  -Yesssss Dad!.

This is how we wish you behave and if you do that 24 times in a row, you will be rewarded”This aroused my curiosity and I started responding to them. When I heard them calling me,
I didn’t leave the things as such, but  started throwing things into the air with a jerk; run and rush , report  —  YESSS DAD.

Imagine the clutter I create by throwing things into the air.
My dad, not aware of the cluster , was overjoyed by my performance;  rewarded me one 100 rupees 🙂 That’s when my journey as a treasurer started.    Poor treasurer , by then, I believed, saving this 100 rupees inside the purse is worth multiplying(Lol)

But don’t panic, I’m not the same treasurer as then. I have all my skills honed over the last few years to function as an effective treasurer. No worries on that context.

Coming back to that one 100 rupees. I purchased a book, wrote my name and date and shelved it.
Thats all . No more memories about it.

Getting back to the clutter that I create every day. Dad is not aware but Mom ?
She never keeps her eye off her ball(me).
She signals me an alarm, she puts me an alert, she gives me a blow and then I go and clear the clutter. Slowly this became a monotonous routine. I wait for her to give the blow and then I clear the clutter

This continued for many days and I was just fulfilling the responsibility. Nothing added clarity to my thoughts.
Then one day something dawned upon me.
This is  my room,  my books, my shelf. Why should I wait for her to yell ?
Let me take responsibility. Let me do things on my own,

This attitude of taking responsibility sparked creativity.
I started looking out for ways to organise, categorise and label things so that I can access easily.
This made me to act with full of vim and vigour(phrase of the day)

Life started unfolding and this paved way for multitude of reflections.
Reflections like  – What are these books about? Did I ever read this 😉
All these questions opened a door to Redefiining

Thats when I identified the books and the gifts I received so far.
To my surprise, many were on the same subject line and by the same Author – Dale Carniege

Whats so special about Dale Carniege? (Audience responds)
You are right – His books are about “Public Speaking”

Gradually  I understood where my heart really lies.
I ventured into toast masters and my journey started

Now Just reflect.
Taking responsibility on my own and cleaning my shelf has opened my eyes towards honing my skills and identify my happiness. Nothing was clear when I was just fulfilling my obligations. I was able to figure out me when I took responsibility on my own

Yes my dear Toast masters  – Don’t go by doing things as your MOM/ DAD/ HUSBAND/WIFE /BOSS has mandated.
Take your own responsibility
Reflect
Invent your own path
Revamp & Redefine yourself — You can see the Moments of Magic getting casted

Thank you

Pathway: Presentation Mastery : Level 1 – Project 3: Introduction to Vocal variety and body language

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MOM
(Read it as Em – O – Em)

`

Ladies and gentlemen, today I’m going to talk about the topic MOM.

What comes up to your mind?

Mom – she is an embodiment of true love and eternal care. She has so many desirable and admirable qualities. In spite of so much of positive attributes, the dynamics between each and every individual and their mom has a little amount of disagreements, a little amount of conflict. Yes ??? do you agree with me?

I’m here today to share one such friction between me and my MOM.

It was during my school days. By then, I had a strong fear of insects, particularly lizards.

Yes, that strange creature that sticks onto the wall.

One day, I was all set to wash my hair.

And as soon as I started, I spotted that one horrible lizard.

It was disgusting! Ugly! and it came running towards me(aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!).

I picked up more speed(maaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!) and jumped out of the room and was crying out for aMMA ammA AmMaaa

My mom came running to hit . Hit not the lizard but me !!!

As soon as she stepped in and understood the reason for my howl,

she turned back to me and yelled.
“Heyyyyy Babana, why are you shouting for such tiny little lizard?????”

Get back and wash off your hair soon

I was not ready because the lizard was still there and how can I get in??

But she pushed me in. There was no way out. No way to escape.

I went in and then do you know what? What did I do?

I was washing my hair with my eyes wide open. Yes, all the hair wash products that was about to wash my hair went into my eyes. Eyes were burning and irritating.

But the irritation was far more bearable and tolerable compared to that horr(rrr)ible making an inch movement.

Yes! that’s how it went on. Then, I started complaining about my mom to my granny.

My granny, always loaded with lot of stories. She started telling me one story.

It is about her MOM, my great granny. the story goes like this in her own words —“That day,
We were six children in the house and my MOM was the sole breadwinner. She gives us delicious food only once in a week; so we wait all through the week for that one day – sunday evening. One sunday evening alike other days the dishes were ready. It was laid down in the dining room. Its strong aroma filling up the room and no one could stop ourselves.

We started enjoying the food. Our mom was also nearby eating her food.

In some time my mom just got up she sat down ; she did some sort of cleaning and she was doing some stuff. None of us bothered to look at her because it was only once in a week we get good delicious food and then she was the last to come to her plate. She also finished off the dinner and it went off well.

The next day there was a strange person in our house , with a strange music instrument – no one loves to touch. He came with a box, a round box – meant to hold snakes.

Only by then we got to know the reality from our MOM that there was a snake in our dining room yesterday evening. Yes it has peeped out its head it (sssh) peeped out its head (ssh ssh ssh).

And my mom was not ready to disturb our happiness, was not ready to disturb the ambience because it happened only once in a week. Neither she retreated nor she screamed. She responded very well by flipping a bucket on top of it and placed a heavy object so that it cannot move and break in.

My granny concluded the story with a moral – “Moms know when to act and when to ignore”

This story left a lasting impression on me.

I started looking out for ways to get rid of my fear of insects.

Again, the solution to this was not straightforward. It was not like a Google solution or ChatGBT helping you with answers. It was again through one of the chit-chat conversations.

There was a man, I was talking with him in relation and he was boasting like anything. I’ve seen this, I have so many insects, blah, blah, blah. Even anyone who listens to him for a minute will start thinking, he boasts as if he has stayed calm in front of the wild and ferocious lion.

But he had stayed calm in front of the butterflies, in front of the lizards, in front of the rats.

This thought, those words got repeated inside my head again and again.

Yes, I thought these are tiny little creatures. They are not going to harm us. Then I understood it’s not the insects that are horrible and awful. It’s that my fear that was horrible and awful. And then I said to myself that hereafter when I stumble upon any insects, I’m going to stand firmly.

I’m not going to shout.

I’m not going to create any chaos.

I’m going to stand firmly and continue my work.

If at all I want, I can make mild gestures to move them out of my way.

To my surprise, all my thoughts have started to manifest well.

Yes! I got rid of the fear. And now after getting into the motherhood, when my kid cries out for any help on spotting any insect, I act very courageously. My kid thinks, “oh, my mom is capable of doing all sort of bravo” . And this thought really gives me an immense pleasure.

I know how shivering I had been and how I have turned up .

Havent I heard these stores, I would have not got rid of my fears.

These are the MOM – Moments Of Magic.

These happen just like a magic. These doesn’t happen like a predefined meetings. These happen when you have a fun or some quality time with your family.

Yes!. Any problems, be it recurring or complex, gets resolved soon when you spend time with your family. Have some fun with people around you – You get to know some inputs or some ideas park on it and definitely your mind come up with some solutions.

Yess it’s not that chatgbt or google or any kind of technology that’s going to help you out there it’s only the quality time you spend gives you the boost. These are the moments of magic.

Embrace these Moments.

Keep your stresses away,

keep your gadgets away

and spend time with your family, with your loved ones.

You will relish the moments of magic and see the life turns much more happier, healthier.

Life is far more sustainable than you think.

So how many of you here are ready to relish the moment of magic right from Today ?

Over to you Toast master of the day

 One minute Acquaintance

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What a blissful evening to have aspiring minds joining us through hybrid session.

No matter where you are , just a single click is enough to see each other , communicate , collaborate and improve.
Also with launch of AI tools, life has becomev very smooth
Is there any one in this room who do not use any sort of AI tools??


Definitely Not


Well did you try asking chatgpt what Bhavana is going to speak about today ???
(Waited for the little smile to light up)

Let us be mindful that only we control the technologies and never let the technology control us.
I am Bhavana, hailing from interior South.
Today I would like to highlight a fact about Girls from interior South
There, the girls are raised to remain very silent, irrespective of their innate nature, they are well trained, well taught, well tamed to be silent.
Coming to the exposures; be it in education or experience; They have very limited exposure considering their safety and security.
If we tweak into my teenage and childhood days, I have a very limited exposure of being only to my Granny’s village .

That is a village perfectly blessed by nature, You can see a vast green layout everywhere, colourful flowers, beautiful birds chirping very happily. Thats all together a peaceful place to spend time. The houses there are completely devoid of internet boxes. Only way to spend time is to spend time with nature. I was brought up in such a widget free environment. With These experiences when I stepped into chennai , metropolitan city to start my career;  found  the life is upside down.  

 People were tightly coupled with their Electronic Gadgets . I found myself as a misfit toy .

 I started feeling very cold. These thoughts and feelings de-promoted me to be very timid, silent and shy . I even mind toward speaking out a word. Life was very miserable those days. But Changes do HAPPEN.


One fine day , there was a woman at our Office. It was her first visit to Tamilnadu. 

In spite of being timorous, I have a very good habit of welcoming and greeting people That’s how I got to talk to her .

Our conversation was just a minute long
I was very much conscious on my speeches, asking “Hi, welcome to Chennai”(in a barely audible voice). But that women was exuding confidence


“HEY , Thank you, Thank you  for your warm welcome”

She caught my attention. She exuded sublime confidence, body gestures and It was really nice to watch her speaking. Though She was an acquaintance, She had a very profound impact on me.

 I also have a good habit of imitating people in front of the mirror.

I started speaking like her with my chin up, walking like her with her very boldly, started following up her gestures. What I witnessed was a different me 

I found myself moving from a weak and faint hearted to a Bold and Beautiful girl.

That was really a magic. From then on I started coming out of my shell and Life started giving me very good experience.

One such was my FIRST STAGE EXPERIENCE.

Like our Toast master Sripathy I was also very keen to perform on stage, but not for dancing
But just for skits. I shared the stage with my fellow companions; We did well and received good applauses. By then I realised that holding the audience attention gave me a great delight.

From that day I started being on stage.

Then came  my SECOND STAGE EXPERIENCE.
One day my Manager gave us an open opportunity that anyone can host a meeting.

Without any second thought, I volunteered. I was very happy very cool because I have already been on stage and I can do well. But as the time was approaching , I started feeling cold , 

Fear was creeping till the top of my head, My throat was stuck not able to speak, when I try to talk , Only air flew out and there were so many  butterflies not in the room but in my stomach.

I was very tensed. By then my conscious was telling me “This is not going to be like your skit,

You are going to be all alone on the stage, All eyes will be on you,You have to speak out very confident” But I took a minute, deep breath, recollected my 1 minute acquaintance and somehow I managed. I was able to make it.

The beauty is that the experience still continues.

I hope that you people didnt see my Butterflies. Were you ?
Thats glad. This is my way all along to Toast masters.

I thank all the toast masters for guiding me and making me land here

Thank you