Toastmasters ACS#4: The Folk Tale - The Tortoise & The Rabbit

The stage was set. Their bodies did sweat.

They were ready to run. On the sound of the gun.

On your marks, get set, [fire sound]!

Mr. Toastmaster, fellow Toastmasters and friends. The two of them met for the first time at a bar a few days before that evening. While in the middle of drinks and conversations, the tortoise called Turty was boasting about his tenacity and perseverance that he can win any battle. At the distance round the corner listening to all this self-flattery was sitting the rabbit, Rabby. He too was drinking.

“Enough of this”, said Rabby. “If you can win any battle, prove it to me.”

The challenge was accepted and here they were, standing next to each other at the starting point of a long race track. The rules were simple. Whoever reaches the finish line first, wins.

On your marks, get set, [fire sound]!

The rabbit began to run with super fast speed, leaving Turty the tortoise so far behind that the poor guy was nowhere to be seen. As Rabby was about to reach the finish line, he looked behind. Turty was not even in his eye’s reach.

Rabby decided to take a quick nap under an adjoining tree. All this while as the rabbit was sleeping, Turty was walking. Slowly. Steadily. Walking.

After a while, as Rabby opened his eyes, what does he see? Turty is about to reach the finish line. He gets up, puts his feet on the ground and runs as fast as he could but alas. Before he could reach the finish line, slow Turty had already crossed it.

Ladies and gentlemen, the winner is. Turty the tortoise!

How many of you have heard this story? Of course everyone!

What’s the moral?

Slow and steady wins the race.

But… the story is not over.

The next day, Rabby sat with himself with disappointment. How could he lose? It was a slow-walking tortoise. He realized that the only reason he lost was because he became overconfident and slept off.

So, in order to get back his lost pride, he went to the same bar and challenged Turty once again to another race. With pride and confidence, Turty gladly accepted.

They were to fight another battle in a week at the same place, same time.

The stage was set. Their bodies did sweat.

They were ready to run. On the sound of the gun.

On your marks, get set, [fire sound]!

Hearing the sound of the gun the rabbit began to run as fast as he could. He had learnt his lesson. He knew, this time he was not going to stop and make any mistake. He ran and ran and ran. As the finish line was in his eye’s reach, he looked back. The turtle was nowhere to be seen.

But this time, he knew. He was not going to sleep. He kept running and with a huge margin, crossed the finish line and won the race.

Ladies and gentlemen, the winner is, Rabby!

Wait a minute. The tortoise lost? Looks like he did.

What do we learn here?

The fast and consistent always beats the slow and steady.

But… the story is still not over.

This time, after facing the defeat Turty felt disappointed and humiliated. He sat with himself and thought. Actually, this whole race was unfair. How can a turtle win a race from a rabbit on a flat ground? He thought for a while and decided to change his strategy.

He went to the same inn and challenged Rabby to another race.

“Ooohhhh… I’m scared!” Rabby exclaimed. Proud and confident, Rabby accepted the challenge. 

This time, the track was one of Turty’s choosing.

The stage was set. Their bodies did sweat.

They were ready to run. On the sound of the gun.

On your marks, get set, [fire sound]!

The Rabby ran and ran and ran as fast as he could. He already knew what had to be done to win the race. While running at top speed, he suddenly stopped at the edge of what looked like a huge water body. It was a river. He stood at the edge of the river, thinking what to do. He could see the finish line at the distance on the other side of the river bank but had no idea how to reach there.

As he was in his thoughts, Turty came to the lakeside.

“Bye bye!” he said to Rabby. Entered in the water and swam to the other side. Got up, started walking and in a short while, crossed the finish line!

Ladies and gentlemen, the winner is… Turty!!!

Hurray!

So what do we learn here?

First, identify your core strengths then change the playing field to match those core strengths.

By this time, after running all these races together, both Turty and Rabby had become close friends. 

They did some thinking together and realized that the last race could be run much better. They decided to run one final time but to run as a team this time.

They started off with Rabby carrying Turty on his back till the river bank. Then Rabby climbed on Turty to reach to the other side of the river. Rabby, who had regained his breath by now again put Turty on his back and ran quickly to reach the finish line.

Ladies and gentlemen, the winners are… The Tortoise and the Rabbit!

So what do we learn here?

You may be great as an individual but you achieve much more when you work as a team.

Michael Jordan has said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

Both the Tortoise and the Rabbit won and felt a great sense of fulfillment and satisfaction when they worked as a team.

Ladies and gentlemen I ask you. What do you want to do? Win the game or the championship?

The choice is yours.

Toastmaster.

Wanna see some more posts about public speaking along with some tips and tricks? Check out my parent blog: Agastya Maurya Blog.

Toastmasters CC 10: Light at the End of the Tunnel

A few years ago, I went with four of my friends to visit an old fort built hundreds of years ago at a place near Mumbai. From the bottom of the hill, it was a long and steep 1-hour walk through the forest with no clear path laid out. It was 9:30 in the morning when we reached the top of the hill – the entrance to the old fort. It was raining slightly. The fort had one of the most spectacular views I had ever seen. On the ground of the fort there was green grass surrounded by ponds filled with water, with cool breeze all over. With all the three elements of the life at the same place, it truly was a heaven on earth. We were roaming around when at around 10am the mist started to appear. Within minutes there was so much fog that we had no idea where we were and where we came from. Separated from my friends, I could only hear their voices from far apart. There was panic. Afraid yet confident that we will find the way out, we were able to trace our footsteps in the mist to finally to locate the entrance door and the way back home.

Mr. Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and dear guests, how many times have you faced a situation where you found it difficult to locate the right path? Otherwise, how many times have you faced a situation where you failed, or where lost someone or something so dear you thought it was the end of life? That you found it was so very difficult to come out of it. 

The great philosopher Aristotle has once said, “It is during our darkest moments when we must focus to see the light.”

The 16th and one of the most renowned Presidents of the United States of America – Abraham Lincoln had a rough life. His first love died when he was just 25 years old. He married and lost three sons before the boys could cross even their teens. He had a nervous breakdown and was defeated for 8 years before he finally became the President of the United States. And being the President, he led his country through the bloody civil war, became the first president to take the bold step of abolishing slavery, strengthened the national government and modernized the economy.

Abraham Lincoln who lost and failed so many times in his life went on to say, “My great concern is not whether you have failed but whether you are content with your failure.” It is not important whether you fail, but to accept failure as part of life.

A few days back I was watching an epic story – the Game of Thrones. In the story a nobleman’s handsome son had lost his fighting hand chopped off by an enemy during battle. The young man was very sad and depressed, almost on the verge of killing himself. It was then that his friend who was a common woman of the society reminded him of the brutalities of life. The girl whispered those thundering words in his ears which the nobleman’s son has never heard. The girl said, “You son of a nobleman, what do you know what it means to lose something or someone you loved the most. What do you know what loss truly means. The first time you have lost something meaningful in your life and here you are, crying like a baby; given up already? Be a man and show justice to your noble blood. You may have lost your hand but you have not lost your life. Rise and show your enemies what you are truly made of.”

Friends, let me tell you with certainty that what happened to the nobleman in the epic story, to Abraham Lincoln and to me with my friends will happen to you too. For some of you it may already have happened or be happening right now. Like it or not, you will face, and not just once but multiple times, situations in life where you feel it is the end. Where you have lost something or someone you truly and deeply loved. And it is not because life is unfair to you but because it simply wants to test you. And the test is so very simple. In those times, how much and to what extent can you believe that no matter what, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. The test is all about your belief that no matter how much the mist, the rays of the Sun will always shine showing you the path. And friends let me also tell you with certainty that the stronger your belief that the there is light, the sooner you will see the light.

“Life as it is happens to those who believe.”

So on this winter morning of the month of February, with the Sun and the Wind Gods as our witness, let us take a pledge. Let us pledge that no matter what life shows us, no matter what it makes us go through in our time here, we will always focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. It is going to be hard for when the dark time comes it is very easy to lose focus and it is for those testing times that this pledge will guide you. Take a pledge that no matter what comes through the door of tomorrow, we will always keep our eyes fixed on the happiness that we deserve, on the difference that we need to make, on the life that we want to live. 

Take a pledge that I will embrace life as it happens. If it has to give the good, I will accept with open arms. If it has to give the bad, I give back the hell before it gives me that!

Toastmasters CC 7 Speech - The Power of the Sun

Delhi driver story…

Do you know every hour the sun beams onto Earth more than enough energy to satisfy global energy needs for an entire year?

Solar Energy or Sunlight is the source of all life on our planet. Since time immemorial, we have been tapping sunlight for our useful purposes. Greeks in the 7th century BC learnt to tap Sunlight using a simple magnifying glass. In the 18th century, we have succeeded in making Green Houses to boil water and cook rice. Solar cookers have been existence for over 50 years. It was only a few hundred years ago when we learnt what is known as the Photovoltaic Effect – creation of electric current in a material when it is exposed to light.

Think of what would you do if you were on a beach! With the vast Sea in the front, making castles in the Sand. Sand, available in abundance on the entire planet is a rich source of Silicon. Silicon is a material which shows the Photovoltaic Effect – creation of electric current in a material when it is exposed to light.

Silicon from the Sand is converted to small discs called Silicon wafers, much like Potato wafers. Silicon wafers are then combined to prepare small blocks called Silicon cells. And finally, the cells are combined together to prepare what are commonly known as Solar Modules. These modules are used both at our home roofs and at huge tracts of land to convert Sunlight into Electricity, popularly known as a Solar Power plant.

A Solar Power Plant was first used by NASA in its space exploration missions, including the International Space Station which is entirely powered from solar cells. As the technology became cheaper, its applications moved to Solar Power plants of a few Megawatts to small solar power systems for houses and entire villages. As a matter of fact, about ⅔ of the solar power installed around the world was installed within the last 2½ years.

The production of Silicon cells has increased by more than 40% in the past 5 years. At the same time, the installed capacity of solar power plants has also increased at similar rate. As on 2012, 31% of total solar capacity across the world is installed in Germany. Italy, US, China, Japan & Spain are among top 6 with 5-7% of installed capacity. India has put a humongous target of 20,000MW of solar power installation by the year 2022. Cost of installation of solar power systems has also reduced by more than 50% in the last 5 years.

A rose, however, does not come without its thorns. The technology has some drawbacks too. The most obvious is the non-availability of the Sun during night, which makes it essential to rely on battery for power storage leading to inefficiencies and increased cost. A solar power system can only convert 15% of sunlight to usable electricity, which is further reduced due to changing seasons and cloudy weather.

Nonetheless, with the rising costs of Coal and Petrol & Diesel, the balance has slowly started to weigh heavier towards Solar. Speaking of Diesel, let me conclude with a conversation I had with my friend some time back.

Friend conversation story…

The Paradise Called Puri

Recently I went for a three day conference in Puri. However, apart from the conference, the real enjoyment was the local sites and the cuisines.

I will mention the following five places which I saw.

1. Hotel Holiday Resort, Puri: Truly the place to stay if one is traveling to Puri. With the perfect beach side view and very good food, it is an amazing hotel situated at the perfect location.
2. Peace Restaurant, Puri: This place has very good food. Must try is its Muesli breakfast - contents: lots of fruits, curd, lots of dry fruits, all fresh material with a beautifully looking preparation. Cost: Rs 80 only. Warning: Too much for one person! I have heard it has good fish curry rice too for dinner. However couldn't try that out. The restaurant makes you wait for a good thirty minutes but when the food arrives, you get to know why. Simply because all food is cooked on demand. The place has decent open air ambience too.
3. Jagannath Temple, Puri: In my view, this place was rather disappointing. As it happens with most places which become too famous, it has become highly commercialized with all the Pandits primarily concerned with collecting money from people. Let’s get a little deep here. As we, a group of 5 people with a 1-year old girl accompanying us, reached the temple at 5.30am, the usual time for people to visit, a Pandit (an Indian priest) came to us to show us the temple. Good thing - he asked for only Rs 20 for the entire group. He started the visit and much sooner than later, he took us to a place where he asked us to buy Prasad (holy offering) for the lord. The person at the counter put in front of us a Menu card for buying Prasad. 

Surprise #1: The rate list had a maximum of up to Rs 500,000 with minimum rate kept as Rs 555. Bit too much one would think (normally we do an offering of anything between Rs 5 to a maximum of Rs 100 at rare occasions). Then they started bargaining, finally coming down to Rs 250. Obviously we didn’t take anything from there and left from that place. The Pandit then took us to another similar Prasad vendor. There the minimum rate on the menu card was Rs 221. One among us in the group, the father of the 1-year girl old took the Rs 221 Prasad. As we were entering into the temple, the Pandit with us asked us to quickly go to the counter to buy the entry ticket. 

Surprise #2: It was 6 in the morning, and we came to know the entry ticket counter is already closed. It means no one can now pay heed to the lord Krishna. Feeling bad, we tried to enter through another gate from which a lot of people were trying to enter when we came to know the third surprise. 

Surprise #3: The security guard told us 1-year old girl is not allowed to enter inside the main temple. Poor little girl.

Somehow we managed to enter the main temple and it was quite crowded on that morning. In the hustle bustle, as we tried to get out, the Pandit accompanying us just vanished. It goes without saying that they have their commission on the Prasad we buy. Anyway without the Pandit ‘guiding’ us, we went to the Kitchen located immediately at the right of the temple gate (quite possible to miss for a first time visitor). It was a huge kitchen with lots of eatables. We tried the malpua, a fruit cake and a type of drink, all of good taste and at reasonable prices (recommended from my side). And then we came to know of the final surprise.

Surprise #4: The same Prasad we purchased from the counter is being sold in the Kitchen at Rs 100! 

My recommendations to all visiting the temple:

•       You may take a guide Pandit. But be careful now to buy the Prasad from the counters he asks you to get it from. It’s their commissions which make things sell twice the rates.
•       If you want to take Prasad, go first to the Kitchen in the right, get Rs 100 Prasad box and then go to the temple to make the offering.
•       Stay away from random Pandits in the temple premises. The first thing they do is ask for money.
•       Try some of the sweet dishes from the Kitchen. Made of Ghee and other material, the dishes are quite good.

4. Chandrabhaga Beach: In the morning, I left at 4.45am from Puri to visit the Konark Sun temple. It is some 30 odd kms from Puri, a 30-40 minute ride by cab. On the way to the temple comes this beautiful beach – Chandrabhaga Beach. The beauty of the beach, among its cleanliness is its spectacular view of the Sunrise. I went on a Sunday morning and the cab person recommended me to watch sunrise at the beach. Being a Sunday, there were hundreds of people on the beach, all gathered to witness the Sun god coming from the horizon. With a cup of tea in my hand, I too sat with those people gazing at the sky as it turned from black to orange to red to blue as the Sun rose from the horizon. As the Sun rose, the people standing at the beach started shouting and making happy noises. Luckily for me and thousands others, the sky was clear and we had a clear and wonderful view of the Sun rising. I never knew one can also gradually see the rainbow colors as one looks at the Sun rising! I would highly recommend anyone to go to that beach in early morning and watch the Sunrise.
5. Konark Sun Temple: After watching the sunrise, the cab driver took me to the temple, located only 10 minutes from the beach. I took a Temple Guide who charged Rs 150 (for 1-5 persons) and explained me most of the things about the temple and its architecture and sculpture. I would recommend anyone going there to spend some money and get a guide else the visit would merely be limited to photographs without much understanding of the place. The temple is a monument, similar in design and concept as the Khajuraho temples situated in Madhya Pradesh (guide recommended there too). The temple is built quite beautifully with great amount of consideration on the lifecycle of a man from being a toddler to an adult to finally an old man aiming for higher spiritual goals in life. The concept of the Elephant and the Tiger over the man is interesting. Similar is the concept of the chariot wheel which also indicates the time of a day. (All this I understood from the guide)

All in all, Puri was a wonderful trip. A few disappointments on the way but the Muesli breakfast and the spectacular Sunrise made the trip worth its while.

TM Speech: Stand My Ground and Let Them Pass

“Son, Son where are you?” asked my mother.

“I’m here mom”, I replied. I was 8 years old then.

“Where” she asked again?

“Sitting on the tree mom”, I said.

Mr. Contest Chair, fellow Toastmasters and dear guests, let me tell you the story of the day I fell from a tree. It was a big fat tree in front of our house. Hun, name, you ask? Well, I have no idea and neither did I try to find out because a wise man once said, the name comes in between you and your tree.

So there I was on that sunny summer evening, sitting at the top of the tree, playing with the leaves with the wind in my hair. I saw my mother walking towards the porch calling me from a distance as she turned into a something that can only be called as the opposite of Lata Mangeshkar.

 “Where are…?! Come down right now or I tell you father.”

“Mom, relax! I’m fine.”

Play time was over. I started climbing down. I had not even crossed the halfway mark and I was mesmerized the scintillating smells of her beautiful hair and I could feel my heart beating faster and faster as she walked passed under me! The love of my life, Ritika!

Ritika used to live two houses next to mine. We were of same age, in the same school AND in the same class BUT not in the same section. For three years I was in A, she was in C. And this year when the time came to change sections, that devil woman the class teacher, she changed everyone’s but we were still separate.

And there she was, my beautiful, my Juliet; walking down the road. My Juliet, your Romeo is here playing on this tree! My Ju…

AAAaaaaahhhhhh… Boom!

“How many times do I have to tell you not to climb the tree? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine Mom!”

Ladies and gentlemen, I learnt a painful but a very important lesson that day. Never mix your love and your tree.

Yes, that tree was my best friend! There was never a day I hadn’t climbed on him and there was never a day my mother hadn’t turned into a Lata Mangeshkar’s opposite.

And slowly summer went away and like a thud on the ground came the autumn. When I heard the news that in a few months Ritika was going to leave the school, leave the house even leave the city. Oh my God! The love of my life shattered like the glass of a broken window. In despair, I climbed up on my friend. As I reached the top I saw the tree was also shedding its leaves. I thought, “Ritika? Did he also?” “Oh no. He’s a tree. How can he?” “Could he?”

I hugged him and told him not to worry. She won’t leave us like that. She loves us too.

But she left. It was winter. And I was heart-broken.

And I went to my friend to take refuge and I saw him also standing frozen like an eskimo with his branches dangling from his arms, floating like pendulums. He looked so sad and creepy! Heartbroken nonetheless…

It was then that I decided to take the hard path. I decided to rip the bandage, throw the wound away and feel the lightness within.

I went to my friend and hugged him and told him not to worry. She has left us to find a better place. Maybe we too will.

And we did!

In a short while spring came in both our lives. With new leaves and the wind all around, my friend was flourishing and so was I. I had found Tina!!! We were in the same school, in the same class and in the same section! My heart was swollen with joy!!

And this year things went perfect for me and I was dancing with euphoria, but I saw that my friend was still happy in the summer, sad in the autumn, and cold and hard in the winter. My life was all ok. So was he not my true friend after all?

Then I realized it was not the tree that was changing, it was my way of looking at him. l realized he never moved, never tried to stop whatever was happening. He was just there, standing his ground and letting whatever life bestowed upon him. And I saw how similar his and my lives were.

My springs, summers, autumns, and winters also come and go but if I’m his true friend, I too will stand my ground and let them pass. I too will get tickled by gentle morning breeze, roughened by hot summer winds and slapped by chilly winter frost. But if I’m his true friend, I too will stand my ground and let them pass.

Vipassana Meditation

My understanding of Vipassana Meditation thus far:

All of us have 6 sense doors:

• Eyes to See
• Ears to Hear
• Tongue to Taste
• Nose to Smell
• Skin to Touch
• Mind to Think

Everytime something comes in contact with any of these sense doors – Eyes, Ears, Tongue, Nose, Skin or Mind – there is a sensation on the body corresponding to the external action. The sensation happens and is evaluated by the so called unconscious mind (deeper mind) as either good, bad or neutral.

For example you hear a pleasant smell of a perfume, a sensation happens on the body due to the smell (particularly in the nose area), the deeper mind evaluates the sensation and says “Good, get more of it”!

OR, you see something unpleasant, let’s say a high beam of light of a car pointing straight at you in the night while driving, a sensation happens on the eyes and the body, the deeper mind evaluates the sensation and says “Bad, get away or throw foul words at the person”.

OR, someone abuses you, the sensation of anger runs all over the body, the deeper mind evaluates and unpleasant sensation and says “Bad, how can this man say such words to me? Retaliate”!

OR, a thought about something come into your head, a pleasant memory of your childhood or past, you get a pleasant sensation on the body, the deeper mind evaluates and says “Good, keep thinking”!

OR, an unpleasant emotion, an emotion of sadness due to some incident comes, the body generates sensations due to this sad emotion, the deeper mind evaluates and says “Bad, yet attractive, remain sad for some more time”.

OR, you see your roommate, nothing ordinary or extraordinary, just a neutral sensation on the body, the deeper mind evaluates and says “Neutral, I am indifferent. Do whatever you wish”!

And many, many more…

Depending on the evaluation of these sensations on the body by the unconscious mind, our conscious mind reacts in a habitual manner. For example if you think deeply, you will find that you act or rather react to most situations in life in an automatic, habitual manner. The habit pattern is created and accumulated over all the sum total of interactions you had in the past. Having given that background, what we do by Vipassana Meditation is to try to break the old habit pattern of the mind. Why break it? Because the old habit pattern of the mind which can be summed up as ‘generating craving for good bodily sensations and generating aversion for bad bodily sensations’ leads only to accumulation of misery and nothing else. The more the craving, the more the aversion the more we are miserable. Think of the last time you remained sad because you missed someone too much or the last time your stomach became upset because you ate too much because of craving for tasty food.

Basically the bodily sensations are the key source where the unconscious mind starts generating craving or aversion to good or bad sensations. However the truth about these body sensations is that untimately all these sensations come, stay for a while and go away. No anger, fear, sadness, lust etc stays forever. All these sensations that happen on the body come, stay for a while and go away.

And so in Vipassana we observe sensations happening on the body (and they are happening on your body even as you read this text because the all sense doors are functioning continuously).

By observing the body sensations, the outer mind is made sharper and sharper to be in continuous contact with these sensations all the times. As a result of continuous practice, when the time arrives for the mind to react in the same old way, it stops for a moment, observes the body sensations and says “What the hell, this fear is only a sensation on the body and all these sensations are temporary, they just arise and go away. Why react. Let me see how long it lasts.”!

The moment this starts to happen (and this happens), the mind develops the faculty of awareness and starts to remain equanimous under all situations. As you already must be aware of, life is a sine wave, life situations come and go. The mind learns to stay afloat and not get affected as the waves that go up or down. In a way with continuous practice, the mind is purified of all its misery generating habits.

Some Ways to Defend

To all my female friends living across the world, I sincerely hope that nothing like this ever happens to you. But if due to some stroke of luck you find yourself in such a situation, here are a few pointers that may help to get you out safely.

a. Always keep pepper spray (or stun gun) in your purse - a good thing about women is they carry a hand bag with them almost all the time. Better have a small self-defense item in it. It is a small and very useful thing for emergencies. Check http://peppersprayonline.in/ for more information. Find out where you can get one in your city.

b. Irrespective of the size, here are a few weak spots in a man's body which you may use for self-defense:
1. Eyes 2. Groins 3. Knees 4. Toes
While the other three are more common, not many people know that Knees are easy to hit weak spots which are not very well defended either (unlike others which can be prevented by hands or feet). A good hit on the knee cap (even better with a heel) will immediately tear the ligament, hence break the attacker.
Never forget the groins (balls). Even the slightest hit can seriously injure the hugest attacker. Same with the eyes. A small fingernail pinching in the eye and the attacker is impaired.
And if you do succeed in hurting or slowing down the attacker this way, my suggestion is to leave the place and not to become the attacker yourself. You do not have to bring yourself down to that level.
c. If it so happens that there are more than two and it is difficult to attack or defense, let go. It may sound disheartening to hear (it is even so while saying) but accepting the truth and trying to keep the mind calm is the best thing you can do in such a moment. It is a fact that the predator always enjoys the fear and cries of the prey. Same is the case with the assaulters. And that is why it is my advice to stay calm (which is of course a lot easier said than done). It also helps because a calm mind gets ideas much faster than a turbulent one. Maybe you find out a weak spot where you can hit and make the attackers recede even for a moment. Even that can give valuable time to think of ways of escape.
Remember, try not to be afraid and to be calm. It is the fear that rapes a girl much before the man does.

My blessings with every woman. May none have to see this ever. May all be happy.