May 01., 2018 / Toastmasters

Oration 2018 – Message

“We all are born with a divine fire in us. Our efforts should be to give wings to this fire and fill the world with its goodness.” These words of Dr Kalam always echo in my heart. I joined Toastmasters with a dream of improving my communication skills. Later, I realized Toastmasters is not just about communication, but more about the holistic development of an individual. I learned to be a better speaker, a better listener, a better friend and a better human. I thank this beautiful movement for igniting the better version of me. It was nearly a year back, I got the opportunity to serve as a District Officer. I had to work with a team of Area Directors, Club Leaders, Division Council members and other District officers. I was involved in a number of decision-making processes and I learned that the major qualities of a good leader include the patience to listen, ability to smile, take the ownership of failures and pass the credit of success. I was surrounded by an amazing set of people and this gradually triggered the fire within me.

There is something unique within all of us and our efforts must be to discover that divine fire. We should not worry about the things that distract us, the challenges we foresee or the failures that may come. It is time for us to try everything as a part of the learning process. Learning is a never-ending activity and the best thing you and I can do is to share the things we have learned. Let us mutually support and help each other to grow. Let us also learn the art of emptying the cup to understand things, the right way. Let us say sorry when we are wrong, bow down if it helps the things to move and give a hug if it makes someone happy. When we make people smile, I am sure the forces of the universe will start conspiring for us.

It is time for us to learn more, love each other and share our knowledge for the greater good. From knowledge to wisdom, sadness to joy, failures to success, let us fly together. Toastmasters helped me to realize the leadership qualities within me. For some, to realize their ability to persuade, for some the ability to inspire, and for some to listen. I wish Oration2018 inspire all of us to create wings to this divine fire within us so that we can fly high spreading the good news.

Bon voyage.

Dec 09., 2017 / Toastmasters

Resonance 2017 – Message

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do, than by the ones you did do.”—Mark Twain

These words have shaped my life for the last many years.

The moment I joined the first Toastmasters meeting, I did not have a choice but to improve my communication skills. Thenceforth, when I started meeting people and interacting with them, I realized it is not just about speaking but more about leadership. Leaving away from the safe harbours to explore my dreams was not an easy choice.

LIFE and LEADERSHIP are all about taking big decisions and the journey of Toastmasters helped to make a plethora of such decisions.

This platform has helped me to ameliorate my leadership and speaking skills. It made me take an extra step for my club and I realized when I improved, simultaneously with me, my club, my area, my division, my district and the Toastmasters community was growing. Let us all keep this serene environment of Toastmasters neat and clean, away from negativity and reach out to help millions outside the system to grow. There is nothing greater than the happiness of sharing knowledge and making this world a better place to live. You and I have a role to play, no matter how small or big we are, let us all hold the oar of this boat tight and roe together. Neither the trade winds nor any tempest can stop us from discovering the dreams we are chasing for.

As wise men say, better late than never. Let us all use the opportunities to learn things. I found likeminded people coming together and celebrating together, when I attended my first district conference, and ever since then for the last 4 years I have not missed any.

Resonance 2017 is yet another platform for all of us to witness the awesomeness and learn new things. I am sure this will help me take my clubs and division yet another step forward. I wish Resonance 2017 all the very best.

The credit for my learning and inspiration would be given to hundreds of Toastmasters that I came in touch with. They shaped me as did Mark Twain’s words, so a big THANK YOU to all.

“In this journey of Life, Learning Linguistics and Leadership let us not stop. Let us continue dreaming, driving and discovering.”