Speech 3

Too Good and dont share

Did you know that if youre being forced to withdraw money from ATM at gunpoint, you can
inform the police by entering your pin in reverse?
Or that Coca-cola logo is a secret message directed against a particular religion and the
blasphemous message is clear if you hold the logo in front of a mirror?
And of-course, you know that Bill Gates is sharing his fortune and you can be a beneficiary if
you choose to forward a certain mail?

All of these seemingly unrelated examples are: appealing, interesting and informative; But the
biggest connection is: Source of all of these are chain-emails and at the same time each of them
is incorrect.

Ms. Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and Dear Guests,

My speech today is to urge you to break-the-chain:: to stop being part of chain-emails.
Well, not all chain-mails are bad. My grudge is against the mails that seek to lure or threaten the
recipient into forcefully continuing the chain: the ones, which are meant to spread hatred,
superstitions, misinformation or simply to continue the chain. Yes, Ive even seen a chain saying:
lets see how far it can get; just add your name to the list and forward it to your friends. Can it
get any dumber than this??

At this juncture, many of you may be feeling what harm an innocuous forwarded mail can do
even if its factually incorrect? This is what many of my friends argue. But believe me its more
dangerous than it looks.

To start with, it can make you look like an idiot. Sample this: I got an email from one of my
juniors asking me to forward it to 10 guys and then press F6 five times. The mail claimed that
after this, the name of my Secret admirer will appear on the screen. Such garbage coming from a
software engineer!! I stopped reading his mails after that.

Many of us, who normally do not forward unsolicited mails, often give in to the emotional
appeals and consider our job to the society done after forwarding such mails. I believe that most
of us must have at some time received a mail regarding Red-Cross donating a cent for a cancer-
struck child or for some 9/11 victim. What we dont realize is the fact that were in fact causing
more harm to the reputation and work of such organizations by forwarding unverified
information about them. And then, they need to spend hundreds of man-hours for refuting the
contents of the mail.

Coming to more serious effects:

Remember: often the original context of the mail is often lost in a chain and if some legal issue
crops up and the mail is traced back to you, then you can be considered the author of that mail.
Are you prepared to take that risk? Let us take a fictional scenario of Mr X, working for
Microsoft, India, who gets a hoax-mail regarding a new virus attacking Windows XP. Mr. X
forwards it to some of his friends thinking whats wrong with being cautious. His friends forward
it claiming This comes from one of friends, who is working for Microsoft. It wont take more
than two-three steps of the chain for that to become This comes from officially from Microsoft
Very soon, MS is contacted for verification and when they trace the mail to their own employee,
do you think its going to be easy for Mr X. Ive read about employees losing their jobs on
similar grounds.
Things can get worse for people who fall for such imaginary ideas. Think what can happen if you
try the ATM trick and the tech-savvy robber gets to know that you were actually trying to inform
the police.

Now that I believe I have managed to convince you against the dangers that this menace poses,
here are some ideas to counter it.
The minimum we can do is not to be the source of any such message. A 2-minute search can
reveal its falsehood. Therere sites like Break-the-chain and Hoax-slayer dedicated to the cause
and theyll give you scientific reasons why the particular message is hoax. But dont stop at just
ignoring the mail. If youre able to establish the fakeness of the mail, do attack the source. Reply
to the sender, mention the links and request him to write a damage control mail to recipients of
this mail as well as the person from whom he got the mail. I know this may create a kind of
reverse-chain, but this surely is worth it.
Further if you really like to forward something, ask yourself if youre ready to be identified as
the original source of message. Such simple steps and youve done your bit against this menace.

Dear Toastmasters, the e-mail is one of the best things to have happened to mankind in the field
of communication. Lets be responsible users and not abuse this great communication tool. We
just need to use some common sense and follow some simple steps to Break-the-chain every
time we encounter one!!!
Speech 2

Whats in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Fellow
Toastmasters, Mr. Toastmaster and Dear Guests This was what Shakespeare said in Romeo and
Juliet many years back. Is really a name that unimportant? Or does it actually matter what name
do you have? Let us see both sides of the names: names of persons, names of brands and names
of places: well explore them all.

If the names were really unimportant, why do companies spend billions searching for that key
brand name? Why would politicians create such hullabaloo about changing the names of the
cities and states? Why would parents go on surfing name databases endlessly before naming their
children? Come on Mr. Shakespeare, even the name Rose has got an identity of its own. And you
can find many sweet girls named as Rose after the beautiful flower. Not all girls named Rose are
necessarily sweet-natured, but given a choice for a blind date, youd surely like to meet a girl
named Rose as compared to someone named let us say chickenpox. I know no one names her
daughter that way, but if it were not for the name, why would you make that negative impression
of the sweet girl named chickenpox even before meeting her? So isnt it the name thats driving
the entire world?

After all, your name is your face to the rest of the world, its your first point of contact with a
stranger; its your identity!!! Well, not if youre named something like Michael in the United
States or Deepak in India; In that case instead of being your identity, your name can give you a
severe identity crisis. Id like to mention again that there are 100s Deepaks working in Oracle.
We often have official mail interactions, in which the Developer Deepak writes to the Support
Engineer Deepak and the program manager Deepak is marked a copy and it sometimes is
confusing to figure out which Deepak s Action items are stated in the mail.

Anyways, coming back to the original discussion; whatever your name may be, it is in fact your
prime identity. And in case of a common first name, its your full name or even at times
nickname thatll provide you that identity.

In the corporate world, perhaps the names have become all the more important. The choice of a
good brand name is considered critical for the success of a project. There are names which are
taken as ambassadors of quality and even a new product from an established brand is in high
demand even before the quality of the product is known. One of the prime examples is Oracle
Fusion. Before it is in the market, it has already created enough vibes in the market even though
the launch has been delayed twice already.

A new height is reached when the name starts making the transition from being a Proper noun to
a verb. The speech Im delivering right now is supported by something known as Googling.
Another example is that of the Adobe Photoshop. I believe everyone must be aware of the
mantra in digital photography: Click it and then Photoshop it. The name has become a verb
here!!! And it sells!!
So does it appear that the names are in fact the only things that matter? Was Shakespeare totally
off-track when he made that remark? Are names really sufficient to take you to the path of
success all on their own?

This may sound crazy, but there actually are people who believe that they can change their
destinies by just changing their names. How many times have we heard how filmmakers like
Karan Johar and Ekta Kapoor naming their movies with the starting letter K and actors,
politicians, sportsmen and actresses changing their names. Just imagine how many of us will
recognize who is Mohammad Yusuf Khan or by the name he is well famous Dilip Kumar.

And if the names were really that powerful, why are almost unimaginative company names like
the ones named after the founders still popular? Hewlett-Packard and Bajaj are just few of such
examples. Did you know that the Google brand, which we were discussing just now, is actually
the result of a misspelling of Googol, the word for 10 raised to the power of 100? So if it were
not misspelled initially, we could all have been happy Googoling stuff out whenever needed.

So what does all this lead us to? I still am confused: Do names matter or not? Digging a bit deep
into it, we get to know that perhaps Shakespeare was at least a bit right.

I personally feel it works both ways. First you need to do your job, make your name and then
onwards your name will make you out. So let us assume Google starts something new. Itll have
a definite advantage over any non-existent name in the market.

So Mr. Shakespeare, it wouldnt have mattered if the flower were named something else in the
first place itself, but now that the Rose has marked its name by becoming a symbol of Sweetness,
love and beauty, calling someone/something as Rose does carry some weight and calling a Rose
by any other name simply doesnt make any practical sense.
Speech 1

Hello everyone my name is Deepak and I think life is like a box of chocolates you never know
what youre gonna get Well almost. If youve watched the movie Forest Gump then you
probably recognize the quote. To be more precise, I think life is like a box of chocolates and it is
our job to find the sweetest and tastiest chocolate in the box. This is a philosophy I live by and
today I would like to share how it has shaped my life.

I was born in West Bengal, grew up in 6 states of India Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh,
Jharkhand, Bihar and Maharastra. As a child I grew up with an insatiable curiosity and a love
for stories. Naturally I gravitated towards movies, television and video games. I loved to dream
about epic medieval battles between knights and wizards, passionate romances between princes
and princesses, and the bold and courageous deeds of superheroes. Ive always been interested
in stories and adventures, but it wasnt until I reached high school that I began to understand
that it was possible to bridge the gap between reality and my beloved world of dreams.

My story starts with my father, who came from a small remote village to city to pursue his dream
of becoming, famous, wealthy and influential; he studied Medical and eventually stumbled upon
what we call the world of living GODs. As a child I remember watching my father constantly
working in a government hospital amidst improper infrastructure and support; the only time he
wasnt in the hospital was the time he used to find to play with us, help us with our studies,
dining or sleeping. It was his dedication that I never went for tuition ever in my whole
life. Though I didnt understand my fathers work, I remember how focused he was and how he
excited he used to become whenever someone used to ask him about his operations and the new
machines he used to get for the hospitals; during middle school he developed the bad habit of
forcing my friends to sit down and listen to him talk about his inventions. My fathers passion
was so contagious that during my final year in high school, I decided to work with him on a the
devastated areas of Orissa Super Cyclone and that was the first time I understood the power of
passion; through his passion for helping my father was able to develop unbelievable
relationships with most people; it was his passion for helping in whatever possible way for a
better world that gave him the power to turn his ideas into reality.

During those times, I stumbled upon the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, a famous American
philosopher and writer who wrote a well-known essay Self Reliance; in it Emerson says: Insist
on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative
force of a whole lifes cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an
extemporaneous, half possession. His words became the impetus for self discovery and I began
to pursue my own interests and passions Computer Science. There were instances when I had
to fight with my father for not taking up medical stream.

Over the years Ive come to understand myself much better and Ive also learned a great deal
from my mistakes. Looking back I realize how immature I was in not accepting my fathers
wisdom and advice; but at the same time, I understand that I needed to walk my own path even if
it meant upsetting my father. Life truly is a long and bumpy roller coaster ride. However, it is
because of those bumps and turns along the way that I have been able to find my passion in life,
which is to develop software for such a great company like Oracle. There is nothing more
important to me than that. The world we live in today is so complex and so full of possibilities
that interesting discoveries can be found almost anywhere if we are only bold enough to look.

Though Ive only lived for 27 years, by following my interests Ive had the good fortune of
stumbling on a number of truly fascinating people in my life: Ive met a man who changed the
picture of India in the world in the field of Information Technology Mr. Narayana Murthy; I
met people in remote villages of my state where forget about the road and basic amenities but in
fact, they could barely manage food once in a day; Ive met a man who was a mafia gang
member, got arrested and sentenced for 5 years and then became an entrepreneur and today
owning one of the most famous hotel of Bhubaneswar; a lady who devoted her whole life to the
well being of the people around Mother Teresa.

I like to think of life as a treasure hunt in which we are all participants looking for the biggest,
brightest and most beautiful treasure of all. If life is like a box of chocolates, like Forest Gump
says, then our duty as treasure hunters is to find the very best piece of chocolate in the box. The
piece I am searching for is a life of interest marked by challenge, success, passion, love, and
service. We are all treasure hunters of life looking each searching for their own unique
gem. Thank you for listening to my story and I wish you all the best of luck on this treasure hunt
called life.
Speech 4

It was a nightmarish nightmare. Desiring to see Anushka Sharma in my dreams and dreadingly
getting ToonToon instead. It was like finding a desert all of a sudden amidst western ghats
evergreen rain forests. Waking up one day to find out that Bangalores darshini outlets wont
serve Masala dosas anymore.

I was dejected, disgusted, and devastated. I had fallen short and failed, no matter how fervently I
tried. The news gave me bigger shock than the one Saurav Tiwary and Robin Utthappa wouldve
got when they got to know that they were not selected for the T20 World Cup despite amazing
performance at the IPL3! No matter how hard I tried to hide the fact, it kept popping up in my
mind just like Amitabh Bachchans ads pop-up in every other TV channel no matter how hard
and quick you press buttons of your remote control.

Dear Toastmasters and Guests, the fact is I am a 3-speech toastmaster. I couldnt come up
with one more speech! I just couldnt write a speech no matter how hard I tried! It looked like I
could do anything else I could look as macho as Hrithik Roshan; I could make more news than
Rahul Mahajan; I could even grow taller and muscular than The Great Khali, but I couldnt
come up with one more speech! I was, I am, and I will be a 3-speech toastmaster! I could even
bear a 21-day fast, but not this tormenting truth!

It was tough to take terms with the reality! All the fun and frolic in my life faded away. The
otherwise-evergreen factors in my life enjoyment, excitement, entertainment their existence
evaporated. Wherever I went, whatever I did this fact that Im a 3-speech toastmaster hit me
on my face all the time, like Himesh Reshammiya hits us with his voice. I started feeling more
miserable than Sanjay Saawariya Bhansali! I no longer could enjoy pan-fried noodles at
mainland china the tempting tasty thing I love more than my life.

Even coffee didnt give any kick! My days were as miserable as days in office when the vending
machine was out-of-order! Roar of a tiger I heard at National Geographic channel didnt
interest me either, it only indicated that even an animal could get more vocal than me. In the
menu cards of restaurants I kept searching for words to use in my speech. Even a 3D movie at
gloriously grand PVR gold class didnt bring down my grimace.

Well, you might want to know what I did to overcome this problem. Ask me what not I did! At
times I took a crystal clean white sheet, wrote the title of my speech on top underlined it, made
a flowery box around it, overwrote it using another color pen and I wrote the lyrics of dard-e-
disco underneath!

Some times I would come up with a great opening, write it enthusiastically but then my mind
would go as blank as Rani Mukerjis world in the movie Black. It felt like Sehwag, hitting fours
and sixes in the first over, and then getting out cheaply at gully in the second!

Someone once told me you can get a speech topic everywhere, even in a casual conversation
with your friends. So, I started watching for words when my friends spoke to me. Soon my
friends started avoiding me; they said Deepak, Manyou are worse than an irritating LIC
agent!

I searched for ideas in every nook and corner of my world. I started looking for one-liners and
anecdotes in the hoardings instead of enjoying a Priyanka Chopra or a Kareena Kapoor picture!
I suspected my own sanity when I realized that I was looking for vocabulary even in Barbara
Mori interview in TV! Newspapers, magazines, movies, and even horrible TV reality shows I
desperately searched everywhere for inspiration in vain!

Dear Toastmasters and Guests, I may have to live rest of my life with this fact that Im a 3-
speech toastmaster, just like Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi live with an Aishwarya Rai sorry,
Bachchan dump. They say failure is the stepping stone for success. But for me, this failure is
like an elevator stuck midway while Im in it. I can only take heart to say that this horrendous
truth is a humbling experience. But this humbling experience gave me the courage to speak out
my feelings as a speech. So, you dont hesitate to speak and dont worry about the topic and
content. At the end of the day, your thoughts are going to be your idea and content of your
speech and your feelings are going to make the speech. Open your heart and march. On the face
of this earth, I will have to wait for few more minutes to know whether I jumped the fourth hurdle
to the race to become a competent toastmaster.
Speech 5

One of my friends recently appeared for a driving test in California. After he cleared the test, the
officer on duty congratulated him and remarked that he was known for disqualifying Indians in
the test. My friend was bewildered and wanted to know the reasons for the same. The officer
assured him that he finds most of the Indians concentrating too much on the road. At times,
theyre not exactly aware of the fact they can look at places beyond the straight line of traffic. He
often finds them not enjoying the journey, but rather going along the traffic.

I, personally, feel that he was right, at least to some extent.

We keep flowing along the traffic, barely realizing where we need to go. Id go further to say: at
times, were not even willing to stop for refueling, even when were running out of fuel. We fail
to realize that our car is not exactly in the best shape and perhaps it seriously requires servicing
to cope up with the demands of traffic. Now you may think that I am exaggerating a bit, but
actually Im not.

Dear Toastmasters and Guests, its the journey of life Im talking about. Lifes a journey, the
mundane tasks that we keep on doing daily are the road, youre the car and youre the driver as
well. . What I personally feel is that were concentrating so much on the road that weve
forgotten to enjoy the journey or even to try to know where the road is taking us.

Now think of it again:

Are we not just going along the traffic? Most of us picked science, because this is what the
toppers opt for. Then picked engineering because this is what Science students go for. Then,
opted for Software jobs because this is where the money is. And yeah, many, many of us wrote
GRE or CAT because this is what the best of the engineering students do. Just go back and think,
at which point you chose your lane yourself? Oh right, some of us actually did, but most of us,
just chose to follow them. Flowing along the traffic has become a second nature to us.

Okay, now you followed the herd and are in a lane, which you try to call as your own. Not a
problem, as long as you know how to enjoy the journey. Frankly speaking, I dont, but Im trying
hard for it. But even for those who do feel that theyre enjoying the life to the max, I sometimes
feel that the enjoyment has become too mechanical, having a drink or two with people, having a
lunch at a mall, watching a movie at a multiplex are typical ideas of enjoying life for most of us.
But what we miss in this fast pace of life are the small joys of life. The small joys, when you see
a smile on someones face and know that a little appreciation from your side is the reason for
this. The small joys, which come along when you do something meaningful without expecting
anything in return. And if you try for it, the opportunities are plentiful. Try doing something for
your alma-mater for instance. You may not yet be in a position to increase the wage of your
subordinate substantially, but sometimes just calling them up and saying Good job, guys is all
you need to do. A pat on the back can do wonders to them and the joy in their voice may be the
joy that you may be looking for yourself. In the words of our Munnabhai, Jaadu ki Jhappi dene
ka maangta, Maamu!!!
At times, I find myself running out of fuel. But its these small joys that provide me the fuel to
keep going. Enjoying the journey can be real hard if you dont take regular time off to refuel
yourself.
And well, even if you choose the right lane and get the fuel regularly, our cars do wear out with
time. May be youre no longer happy about the way the cars doing. It may be time that it needs
some servicing or may be a complete overhauling. And what do I mean by that in real life?
Simply that, may be your current skills or life-style are not sufficient for you to move forward or
to keep you happy. Try to keep learning. Join a music class, start a quiz club, think of learning a
foreign language, write a blog or simply participate enthusiastically in the orators sessions with
outmost proactiveness. Keep doing something that helps you polish your mind and makes sure
that youre simply vegetating away. Well, I need not tell this to anybody here; everybody sitting
here surely realizes the value of maintenance and that is the reason we all are sitting here. But
remember, even for the best of the cars, timely and regular service is mandatory.

Dear Toastmasters and Guests, if youre the car, youre the driver as well. The journey can be
meaningful only if its you whore driving your car to the right path, get the fuel regularly and
get it serviced at regular intervals. Wish you all a very Happy, successful and meaningful
journey!!!