Life Etc Etc

Wednesday, May 13th, 2015 started off like any other day. I was getting ready for the office when my phone rang. I picked up the phone to hear my good friend Raghu's voice. Raghu immediately announced " Buddy we have a meeting with Dr. Abdul Kalam today at 10 PM, in Raj Bhavan . You have to be there. " It took me more than a minute to assimilate everything that Raghu had just said. Somewhere something didn't seem right, how can two ordinary people meet up with The   Former   President of India just like that. I was instantly worried that this was a practical joke that somebody decided to play on both of us. Raghu for his part reassured me that this was a real invite  and urged me to not miss out on this date with destiny .  A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the legend <Courtesy: Dhristiias > The rest of the day passed away in a blur. I didn't let any one except my family members know about this chance meeting because I myself hadn't come to terms with what

Last Friday I finally got to watch the much hyped  Batman v Superman . As a long time follower of both Batman and Superman series of films, I was looking forward to a pulse pounding action adventure which would culminate with a once in a life time battle between two of the most (arguably) endearing protagonists of all time.  Instead I was treated to an insipid tale reeking of melancholy which dragged on for the better part of 3 hours. Now this is not a typical movie review, I wanted to write this piece up from a fan's perspective to address some of the maladies which seem to plague not only this movie but also practically every superhero movie that's coming out these days. So watch out spoilers ahead.   Batman vs Superman: A battle without the fizz <Courtesy: Yulia Matvienko > The first problem with this movie is its title. Yes you heard it right, the title which conjures up images of gigantic confrontations between its two lead players just doesn't live up to

On March 20th 2016, I attended my last contest (at least for the foreseeable future) in Toastmasters. It was somewhat poetic justice that my four year journey in Toastmasters which started with a contest ended with another one. My journey in Toastmasters had come a full circle and I was proud that I was walking out with my head held high. More importantly this guy who had stumbled into Toastmasters all alone was walking out with a group of friends. Nostalgia has no place in life if it doesn't lead to wisdom and today I look back at my Toastmaster's career to recount some of the most important lessons I learnt while establishing myself as one of the premier competitors on the Toastmasters circuit. " Start Afresh ": I was a successful orator at both the state and national levels during my college days before I joined Toastmasters after a lengthy break. My results in Toastmasters initially were way below par. Nothing seemed to work. That's when I realized I st

Of all the Competent Communication manual projects nothing troubled me more than the CC 6 project. Incidentally CC 6 is also the final speech project that needs to be finished if one has any ambitions of competing in the International Speech Contest  (ISC). So what makes this project complex when it has some simple objectives such as: Use voice volume, pitch, rate and quality to reflect and add meaning and interest to your message. Use pauses to enhance your message. Use vocal variety smoothly and naturally. Should be pretty easy right considering the fact all of us use our voice everyday to converse with friends and family? Wrong , there's more to this project than just plain voice modulation. Although the project is all about vocal variety, its objectives are only met when audience easily connects to what you are presenting through your voice. In other words if everyone in the audience closes their eyes they should still be able to feel what you are attempting to put

A year ago my commentary on International Speeches talked about the myths that should be avoided while preparing a speech for an International Speech Contest (ISC). Today with the Toastmasters contest season once again in full swing I am going to point out certain pitfalls which if avoided will improve the overall value of your speech and also solidify the audience connect. The speaker and the audience <Photo Courtesy: Wan San Yip  on  Unsplash > I llogical Premise : A Premise is the base upon which your entire argument/speech is built and in many cases forms the opening statement of the speech. The conclusion that you attempt to derive through your speech is only as good as the assumption (the premise) you make.  Its therefore necessary that this premise is credible and is generally acceptable. Premises such as "You can't be successful until you hook someone who is successful", "Sleaze and not substance sells films", "There's no such thing c

India's whitewash of Australia in the recently concluded T20 series was built on some strikingly brilliant individual performances.The victory obviously left me elated but also took me down the memory lane of some singularly awe inspiring performances in Cricket. Now a lot of these performances may not be not well known but inspiration in life comes from quality and not popularity. So without any further delay lets look at three ' stand and deliver'  performances from the 90s, a decade that revolutionized Cricket. WV Raman anchors : WV Raman's stay at the top was very brief but no body could deny his talent and ice cool temperament. Both of these skills were on display when India took on South Africa in the 3rd ODI of a series which was rapidly going down hill. South Africa batted first and set a target of 215 for India. The modest target looked unattainable considering the fact that India hadn't crossed 200 even once in the first two one day interna

There are books which you read and then there are books which make you read them and change your life. Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari's (Rajaji's) Mahabharata belongs to the latter category. Mahabharata introduced me to the joy of reading books as a kid and today I couldn't have picked a better topic for my 25th post. I cannot describe what a pleasure and honor it is to extol the virtues of this classic book during this holy festive season of  Makar Sankranti . Mahabharata by C.Rajagopalachari The story of Mahabharata is as old as the mountains and has been retold several times. Mahabharata by Rajaji however stands out in my mind because here is a story which is spiritual yet not religious, is thought provoking yet not preachy, is compelling yet not tedious. The story left an indelible impression upon me for several reasons which are: Rajaji uses extremely simple language to convey some of the finer aspects of the saga. I was 10 years old when I read Mahabharata