Some memorable moments from my life

A few months back I completed my ice breaker speech (1st speech) in the new Toastmaster's pathways program. Among the many speeches that I have give at Toastmaster's, this speech will remain special to me since,with this speech,  I returned to Toastmaster's after a gap of almost 11 years and, coincidentally, I won the  best prepared speech ribbon also.

Below is a transcript of the speech. Thoughts & feedback are welcome.

Speech Title : Some memorable moments from my life

A wise man has said that there are 2 important days in your life – the day you were born and the day you realized why you were born. Well, I can say that I have realized the importance of the first one, and, I am still figuring out the 2^nd. Good evening friends. For my first speech with Agnel toastmasters, I want to talk about some memorable moments from my life.

In June 1983, India won the cricket world cup for the first time, and 3 months later I was born. Though I was born in Madurai, I have always considered myself as a Mumbaikar – I have lived here, I have grown here, I have loved the place, I have hated the place, and somehow it has become a part of my life.  My childhood was spent in Anushaktinagar – the BARC residential colony. I remember my childhood in a very bipolar way. The colony was beautiful & my friends were close, but, my schooling was extremely competitive. Everyone was a “scientist ke bacche”, and so the peer pressure to excel was tremendous. I really don’t remember how I performed in school, but apparently I made my mother a very religious person - she strongly believed that only god can save me.

After finishing my education, I joined TCS in Hyderabad. That was the first time away from home and I enjoyed every bit of it – both the responsibilities & the “freaking out” that came with it. It was also the time when I got introduced to Toastmasters – I was a member of TCS Hyderabad Maitree toastmasters for some time. After working for three & half years in TCS, I took a study leave to do an MBA – and I ended up graduating in peak recession in 2008-09. I remember our placement “week” that lasted for only half a day as only so many companies came for recruitment. In hindsight, I learnt more about sales in that one year than I have learnt in a 14 year career – I had to sell my skills to reluctant recruiters and get a job. Thankfully I was on a study leave, and so I could come back to TCS.

Life slowly came back on track over the next 2-3 years and then something amazing happened. India won the world cup again in April 2011 – and 4 months later I got married.  I think there is a karmic connection between me & the world cup. Me & my wife Bhairavi are two extremely different personalities , but, somehow we came together & agreed to get married. I wish I could say that my life has been a “happily ever after” since then, but the truth is that it has been more of a roller coaster ride than a bed of roses. We fight, we fight more, we fight even more, and then suddenly a realization dawns that only this person can tolerate me, others can’t, and we realize the amazingness of our relationship again.

Four years after marriage, in 2015, I had an epiphany. In my life, just my personal life being exciting was not sufficient – my job had to be exciting too. That, and some other reasons, made me transition from TCS to an e-commerce start-up. Suddenly from a 3.5 Lakh people organization, I had moved to a 100 people company. The next two & half years were amazing. I built a business from scratch, built an amazing team and had some great experiences. It was like being Himesh Reshammiya – I was the actor, I was the singer and I was the director too. About 7 months back, I moved to Raymond Apparel to take care of their digital initiatives. So these days I inspire people to be a “complete man”.

Talking about being a complete man, over the last 30+ years, I have realized that people’s lives get built around certain pillars - such as family & relationships, career, finances, health, hobbies, etc. One’s life is “complete” with a strong foundation when “each” of this pillar is well maintained – not just one or two. For example, too much focus on office at the expense of family gets instant success, but not long term satisfaction. As I conclude, I urge you to identify your pillar and nurture each one of them – they are the horses of your life’s chariot – they “all” have to be strong & run together.

Thank you.