Speeches

This happened, at my 1st cousin's 2nd wedding... The DJ was loud.. My drunk uncle singing, I mean screaming... was loud… And her voice too, was loud.. But sweet... Out of all of this, my heart beat was the loudest…

I have a good news and a bad news. The bad news is that you are going to be learning Newton’s laws, again. The good news is that this so called smart Saai is going to be your teacher.

The deafening roar of the audience echoed in my ears. The rush of adrenaline coursed through my veins. It was a legendary battle between us and our sworn rivals. There came the final whistle and victory was ours. I lifted the trophy to the sky!

An age when hours felt like seconds and seconds felt like hours. When sour felt sweet, sweet felt sour. When dreams turned into reality, and reality into a nightmare of embarrassment. CC, Ladies and gentlemen, let me take you down memory lane to when I was 15.

Can you separate salt from the sea? No, you can’t, if you consider the entire sea but if you consider a portion of seawater, you definitely can. Contest chair and fellow toastmasters, our life is like the sea. Emotion is the salt that is found abundantly in our life, the sea. Although you can’t separate emotions from your life, if you consider a portion of your life, like a portion of seawater, you definitely can separate your emotions! Let me demonstrate how

This Cube can be jumbled into 43 quintillion different states. If you were to count one state per second, you would take a staggering 1.4 billion years to count them all. Most of those states are incomplete, just like this one. But let me tell you about a different kind of incompleteness. A question that made my life feel incomplete. Contest master and fellow toastmasters, “Who’s the most important person in your family?” Nine-year-old me, busy calculating how many mangoes John had remaining, knew that every question should have an answer. Unfortunately, amidst all the commotion, I couldn’t find a solution to my confusion. Ten years later, I discovered “The World of Six,” A concept that revolves around the game of chess and imaginary numbers. The six unique pieces in chess - the Pawn, the Knight, the Bishop, the Rook, the Queen, and the King represent my family. Let me explain why I say this.

Have you ever had a reason to hide like this? Was it because you were embarrassed? If it was the case, can you please clap on 3… 1, 2, 3? Madam contest chair and my dear toastmasters, if I were seated there, while someone asked me the same I would have gone clapping on and on. Cause my embarrassments were such.

Four Strokes; Three Lessons; Two Decades; One Story. This story is about the three life lessons I have learned during the twenty years of my life. Today, I will be giving a glimpse of these lessons with the help of swimming. TMOD and fellow toastmasters and guests, first things first, how many of you can swim? A show of hands, please.

Role model; Mentor; Coach; Are they different, or are they the same? Can I have a raise of hands from those who believe they’re different? (Comment on raising of hands) I too believed that they were different until I met a certain someone, who became my role model, my mentor and my coach. My dear Toastmasters, before I introduce you to this certain someone, let me give you my understanding of a role model, a mentor and a coach through a road trip to Kandy.

What if everything was possible, with no constraints, is there something that you would try out? Can I have a raise of hands if you’ll do have something like that in mind? What made you hold back and not try those out? Is it the fear of failing or is it the “What Ifs” like the ones in my case? TMOD and my fellow TM, let me introduce you to “What If”.

In your respective families, who is the most important out of all? When I was asked similar questions about my family, my sports team and other such groups that I was a part of, I wasn't able to answer them. If you feel the same, let me introduce you to the World of Six. A concept that helped me answer those questions. Toastmaster of the day and my fellow Toastmasters, welcome to the World of Six.

Decisions and our lives are intimate. Some of which are day-to-day while others are significant. Crushing this piece of paper is a decision. While making such decisions, have you ever asked yourself, the following three words? Are you sure? TOTD and my fellow decision-makers.