toastmasters speech - 3

I did third speech at Toastmasters club yesterday. The project guidelines are - to speak with sincerity and conviction, and to inform/inspire the audience. I took the speech title from my blog name!

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Silly little things

“Hey, you are looking very happy today. Did you win million dollars in the casino last night?” Pulitzer Prize winner humor columnist Dave Barry’s friend asked him one day. For which Dave replied, “No, I saw a beautiful painting of a butterfly this morning, and guess what… when I was seeing the painting a real butterfly came flying over and sat on that painting of the butterfly! It was a million dollar sight; I don’t think I’ll ever get to see such sight again. That’s why I am happy.”

Friends, Could I ask you to close your eyes for a moment and picture that scene of a butterfly sitting on a butterfly painting? Does it make you happy?

Well, it made me happy too. There are quite a few things which make me happy. Like listening to a Gulzaar song, a walk in the drizzling rain, fragrance of flowers, glimpse of a cute kid in a passing car… the list goes on and on. I am a big fan of Oscar Wilde, who said “I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex.”

One of my friends says I get a glow in my face when I see food!! I accept that I’m a sinner when it comes to food, but if it’s food that makes me happy… so be it! If you ask me to name the most divine thing on earth, I might just say - rum-n-raisins ice-cream at corner house!

As the famous credit card ad goes, ‘there are some things money can’t buy’. How true!! I remember this one particular incident wherein I’d got set of metallic glittering-color gel pens. My flatmate liked them so much that the whole day she sat writing using those pens like a kindergarten kid, trying one color after the other! It was such good a sight that it’s stuck in my heart forever!

Talking about my friend turning into a kid, I got reminded of kids. Have you ever fed a kid? While eating they insist on seeing things like kaaka, doggie, and most favorite of all… chandamaama, the moon!! Funny, we forget to enjoy these things when we grow up!!

Because we think that we have to be serious, and not silly!! Try doing some thing silly at times. Live life unconventionally! Let rules not rule our lives. 'Consistency is the only refuge of unimaginative', I quote my guru Oscar Wilde again. Take an off on a Monday and go for a movie, go for unplanned trips, try glass noodles in the Chinese restaurant instead of that regular fried rice next time!!

Small things… small things hurt too. My friend built a big house by taking massive home loans, and paying EMI till the end of the world! I said fine… as long as it makes you happy it should be ok. But my friend was rather gloomy on the evening of the grihapravesh day. I asked why, she said 16 guests told her the house wasn’t according to the vaastu, and 27 of them didn’t like the color of the paint of the house! Simple thing... but it hurts!

In fact small things hurt more than big things. Don’t believe me? Try sitting on a mountain peak and then try sitting on a needle held upwards, and tell me which one hurts the most!

Well, while talking about small things and big things which hurt, I should share with you my philosophy for life! I know it doesn’t go well with my image to have a loaded thing life philosophy for life but still..

I believe... “Whatever happens in life, happens for good”. My belief only got reinforced when I read an article about the survivors of the 9/11 tragedy. As we all the know blasts at twin towers happened early in the morning, at around 8.45 am. All those people who had silly errands to finish and thus got late to work that day were the one who were saved that day!

A CEO survived because his wife refused to drive their son to the kindergarten, and he had to drive kid to school. Another guy is alive because he had gone out to get donuts. One woman was late because her alarm clock didn’t work that day. One spilled coffee on her clothes so had to go back home to change. One’s kid threw tantrums on the breakfast table. One’s car wouldn’t start, one missed the bus, one didn’t get taxi. The best of all… one was wearing new pair of shoes that day, and developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at the drugstore to buy a band-aid. And… that’s why he is alive today!

Imagine… all these things are little annoying things otherwise. We get irrigated when we get struck at traffic, when the children take long to get ready, when we can’t find the car keys… next time when you get frustrated on such reason, just think… it could be a life-saving reason!! I would rather live with a blister on my foot all thru my life than dying!!!

'Angels are able to fly because they take themselves lightly', said someone. Some people have this heavy thought that they are important... as if the whole world is on their shoulders! I have even seen people who think that “being busy” is a status symbol! Life’s all about stopping for a while and smelling the roses, they say. But I like this poet who said “I have never read a poem lovely as a tree”!!! Aren’t trees as beautiful as roses?

When you get stuck at traffic you might talk about poor governance, infrastructure development failure, lack of fundamental facilities, corrupt system, urban pollution, and demerits of living in IT city. But I prefer to listen to my favorite RJ Vasanthi Hariprakash every morning when the auto rickshaw moves at snail's pace. I enjoy listening to her soooo much that I have started loving traffic jams!

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In spite of being called 'good speech', my speech didn't meet the guidelines fully. This part is quite tricky. I will have to redo the speech.