Thiruvananthapuram – A Learning Experience

It was a moment of terrible shame and disappointment when I was laughed at by an international audience at the Computer Festival and Seminar in Lucknow. I, the flag bearer of my school team, had let the whole team down in the debate competition.
Truth is, throughout my schooldays, i had always wanted to be a good speaker – but all i met with were failures of varying magnitudes. Those failures did affect my confidence and i never tasted success as a speaker in school. Chances come far and few in a college and i failed to grab them as well.
But, one fine November morning i finally made a move towards my long-unfulfilled wish. I was asked to deliver a speech on “I, Me and Myself” in front of a more-than-half filled auditorium. The first few seconds as a i walked up the stage i was shivering like hell but as soon i as i faced the audience, i was overwhelmed with a sudden gust of confidence. I managed to draw a humorous reaction from the audience with the very first sentence that i delivered. What more could i have asked for. The remaining 3-4 minutes were pure fun. I included everything from a dead-drugged Shiva, Newton’s 1st law of motion, Sachin Tendulkar, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer to photography in my speech, that kept the audience active and responsive throughout. What was more surprising was the amount of humour that i injected into my speech as i had always believed that my friends view my as a serious person. Success is relative, nevertheless i felt i was successful and above all, i was satisfied !
Once a person tastes success, he can only learn from it and improve. The next oral communication class, i had to make another speech on a photograph. This time, i delivered a better speech in better body language and managed to elicit even more audience response, humour and appreciation. Today i am confident and i feel i can face a large audience comfortably. How ironic of me when i say i am at my best in Kolkata (please don’t call it “city of joy” – its an insult if you really know what it means and how the name originated), yet project my best hundreds of kms away in Thiruvananthapuram.
Yes, my friends, (especially the ones who know me since my schooldays) i am a bit less shy now !