Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Speech no 10 CC Manual : The ninety minute workout

The objective of this speech is to inspire the audience. I am using this speech as an opportunity to instill enthusiasm about the Rhetoracles club and inspire higher involvement in the club and in toastmasters in general. To do this I've used an analogy of going to a gym. 

Here's the speech :
The ninety minute workout.
Good evening everyone! How many of you work out regularly/ believe in physical training? We all do. I am sure we also seek food for thought, to keep our minds sharp. But what inspires me greatly is the fact that you all believe in one other workout as well – for your social persona. My inspiration is right here, it is all of you, this very experience of Rhetoracles meeting and tonight I am going to use this analogy of physical workout to highlight the positives of my Rhetoracles experience, my 90 minute weekly workout, how it has inspired me! By doing this my intention is to inspire you all in turn to take your involvement with TM to the next level.
I had made my decision to talk about my TM journey, so far, in my 10th speech. Believe me, Rhetoracles has been my single largest inspiration lately. But, I was struggling to find an idea to base my speech upon. When you are at Rhetoracles, you just have to look around the room to find the inspiration, literally! Recently, when our area governor Adam Porad visited the club, Emory and I were chatting with him after the meeting. I was telling him that I am just a newcomer to this club, but we have members who have been regulars for the past 20+years who have a treasure trove of wisdom and experience. And he commented that this is like a gym – you got to train regularly. Emory added to it saying that everyone has something to learn from each one of us.20+ years there sure must be something terrific inspirational about this program to have earned such a long term commitment. That night the idea for this speech was planted. What a perfect analogy! Going to Rhetoracles is like going to gym. Tonight I will emphasize 5 major motivators or benefits that one is likely to achieve through committing to a club like Rhetoracles and draw parallels with working out.
Why? The need, the necessity.
The very basic reason of joining a gym is to train your body. Chances are that you need to be in a good shape, or are recovering from an illness or training for a marathon etc. when gym becomes a necessity. Even when you are in the best condition of your health you go to gym as maintenance, to be prepared, to keep away disorders. Similarly, when you find it challenging to communicate in public, you seek help by joining TM. Even when you become wizard of words, like Emory, Dennis you don’t stop coming. You constantly hone your skills, be prepared for the next big speech. And there is also always room for improvement!
2. Stress Buster
Second and most obvious positive effect of a workout is stress relief. Exercise releases endorphin which help us relax by bringing in the general feeling of well-being. 90 minutes of interaction, fun filled information exchange also makes us forget the stressful day and I go home refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the busy week ahead. Work load is an easy excuse to use skip both your gym as well as TM. It is very easy after a hard day at work to just be lazy and go home. In fact, when I have a lot of work load, I make it a point not to miss the meetings. It helps me to do my work more efficiently before and after the meeting. (Of course sometimes we have last-minute fires which we can’t help). Try that next time and I am sure you will agree with me.
3. Boost your self-esteem
Another reason which I find to be an extremely important advantage is a boost to your self-esteem. When you work out regularly at the gym you get through the day more efficiently, you can accomplish more, people compliment you, you feel good about yourself, it boosts your self-confidence and results in you performing well and achieving more! Don’t you see a similar chain-reaction happening here at the TM program? When you practice regularly, you get feedback in the form of notes from the members – which as Susan aptly termed as ‘pearls of wisdom’, sometime ago. Once you work on the feedback, you communicate effectively, you get your ideas across the room and you sound more credible, in control of your thoughts and start seeing the desired results. That is a huge boost!
Let me tell you my story here. I was never afraid of public speaking throughout my childhood or my college days. But change can do unpredictable things to your personality sometimes. How do you deal with change? Some meditate, some engage in a sport or workout so that 1 hr. your mind is distracted from the huge to-dos and uncertainties that one is dealing with.TM worked out to be something similar for me. When I see my TM involvement in retrospect, I realized that I was standing at the threshold of a new phase in life. It was the year when I graduated, got a job, got married, relocated twice! Marriage and job are pretty huge changes in one's life. Nothing negative about these, in fact those are the changes most of us look forward to, and I did as well. But they are still changes. It is just like algebra, the more unknowns you have in an equation, and the more complex the solution becomes. You can't solve unless you substitute one variable for a fixed value/constant. TM was one constant that I held on to in the sea of changes. It provided me with some stability, and helped sanity prevail.  And now that I am past the initial uncertainties, it has strengthened my belief further! What is more, there is no fear of failure here! In fact, you are free to fail here so that you don’t commit the same blunders in the outside world!!
4. Advances in technology
The fourth reason – advances in technology. This may seem counter-intuitive at first. You will see soon that advances in technology can never take away the need to work out. Nor can it eliminate the need to convey your thoughts more effectively – both in personal as well as professional lives. In fact, an advance in technology has only increased the demand on both. As human race evolved from hunter-gatherers to farm workers to industry workers to finally sedentary jobs in front of a computer terminal, with each change our need to train our bodies to keep it in perfect working condition has only increased. We have not evolved to do away with the physical training. Similarly, with the advent of sophisticated computer programming, automation, neat graphics to display the results the need to explain those to the audience in a clear and concise manner has only gone up. Specializations demand the need to convey the findings of your area/field in an understandable language to the layman. Same is applicable in relationships and personal life. Crucial communication is not done through social networking sites or SMS; we still need words. No technology comes to our aid at such times, but the techniques practiced here sure come handy.
5. Gain knowledge, cultural exchange, broaden your outlook
If these reasons don’t inspire someone, I think they must be differently wired. For all such, I recommend coming here for the sheer knowledge you receive within such a short span of time. The eclectic nature of the club, the diversity helps you broaden your outlook, have cultural information exchange and prepares you to be a global citizen. I think this is a very easy way to accomplish that.
My goal here was to motivate you to take your TM involvement to the next level, get you committed for long-term. Yes I know, it is a voluntary organization but so is working out. I was thinking that having completed the CC would be like a milestone- but looking around the room I see that I have so many steps to climb to call it a milestone. CC is just the first step of the journey, and I hope after tonight a lot of you would feel that way!

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And here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf7smAeAW9w&feature=youtu.be


Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Speech no 9 CC Manual :Shaping the Future

The objective of 9th speech is to persuade your audience. I spoke about my volunteer experience with Junior Achievement (teaching at schools in Dallas last year and Bellevue this year ) and urged the members to be associated with organization & do volunteer work.
Here's the recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcO-Lr8xhAg

Speech no 8 CC Manual - The Other Me!

The objective of this speech is to use visual aids to complement your speech. I chose cartoon strips as the visual aid to support my speech. I talked about how it is okay to resort to humor and sarcasm to escape from the daily frustrations and be the other (not-so-perfect) me ! To illustrate this I chose 5 of my most favorite cartoon strips of all time.
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                                                                    Here is the speech -

Right after finishing one of my table topics Emory remarked that I am so full of optimism and positive thought in the way I present my ideas/express my opinion. That remark got me thinking – That is the impression I project? Hmm and an internal dialogue started – That’s just one side of being me – I too am full of irritation, frustration, at some times anger too! How do I combat these feelings? What happens to this other me?  And then as I searched for the answer something brought a smile to my face – humor.
Mark Twain’s quote to the rescue – Humor is a great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations & resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place.


And when it comes to daily dose of humor or even laughing at your own misery I take resort to some of my favorite comic strips. Fellow Rhetoracles, through the medium of cartoon strips – animated characters, I am going to reveal how I escape from my negative emotions or from the other not-so-perfect me.
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Let me start with this graph from PHD comics – Piled Higher and Deeper – is a web comic strip that depicts the life (or the lack of it!) of grad students. I got addicted to during my grad school and found solace in it while spending long hours, racking my brains, in my research cubicle. This one pretty much sums up my commitment to exercise! Yes, to the world I appear to be eating consciously, being aware of daily physical routine, but really the other me completely agrees with what is depicted here!
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Work frustrations – no one can voice your feelings like Dilbert does! Working in a large corporation has its pros and cons. The biggest of the cons – inefficient middle management –Middle managers - how do you deal with an incompetent boss – This strip is unbeatable – In computing and artificial intelligence, the Turing test is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of an actual human.
So every time I fume over a behavior issue with my manager – I imagine myself telling him – Stop failing the Turing test repeatedly!!
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Sarcasm, a flavor of humor that I enjoy the most is rather inappropriate a lot of times to apply socially! Unfortunately, it is difficult to be sarcastic and politically correct at the same time. The bitter, stinging sarcasm is left to be practiced only in a group of close friends who understand and appreciate the art! For other situations, I try to do it the Garfield way (again by visualizing and through internal dialogue) Look at this strip – although Garfield is known for laziness, gluttony, his sarcasm is hard to miss!
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I always thought that once I finish working and earn enough for travel I would be free to go around the world, pretty much do whatever pleases my mind. But realized very soon into the job that you are so much tied to your routine that your only escape is by traveling through the virtual world – social media – Facebook, Twitter. But even that escape has turned into a routine- like I know I am going to check my Facebook updates at breakfast, comment, connect with friends on twitter as part of my afternoon break and so on. How pathetic! Can’t think of a cure to this monotony L And yes this xkcd strip is exactly what happens today.. I like to travel a lot and when I am clicking a pic and it comes out well my husband says – oh wonderful it will gets at least 50 likes on Facebook , I see a something beautiful and I exclaim – I have to tweet about this! Life revolves around the social network.  I can’t help but think how miserable I am!
The only way to end this misery is by joking about it!
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Finally, I’ve saved the best for the last one.
We all want to make the most of our life, live it efficiently and emerge successful.
To hell with productivity apps, tips to stop procrastinating and all that self-improvement stuff, time management seminars. Little Calvin knows what essential skills one really needs to survive. It’s simply these 2 – procrastinating and rationalizing.
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Who doesn’t crack up after looking at these graphic strips? We often feel less bogged down if our miseries are shared by others. That’s exactly what these comic strips do to me. They tell me its okay to not strive to be perfect- it’s okay sometimes to take the path of least resistance – or at least to be wishing for it! Once I have that assurance, my frustration doesn’t really show up and the other me – the sunny side gains control again!
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source: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php;http://xkcd.com/;www.dilbert.com/‎;

garfield.com/‎;www.gocomics.com/;calvinandhobbes/‎



Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Speech no 7 CC Manual : Research Your Topic Speech Title: It can Wait!


Speech no 7 CC Manual: Research your Topic – It can wait!

Last month, young Elizabeth from Missouri ran a red light while she was texting and driving. She almost died in the crash that resulted from her distraction. She had to be cut out of the car and today she is lucky to be alive and to confess her mistake. But, not many of us will be as lucky as her to survive such risks! How many of you text/sms on your phone? How many of you text while driving? …. Can you take out your phone and share with us what your last text was? Do you think it was worth the risk? Let me tell you – no text is worth your life! It can wait!

Fellow Rhetoracles, I work as a mobile broadband professional proudly selling the superior network & devices enabling one to be always connected, always on! But this research on distracted driving has introduced me to the fatal hazards of the misuse of mobile connectivity and I’d like to present the analysis & insights of the findings.

Slide 2 – To start with I’ll let the numbers speak. According to research, 23% of auto-collisions in 2011 were caused due to cellphone use. 5 seconds is the minimum attention span lost while driving and texting. Seems short, right? Let me put it in a perspective. If you are driving at 55 mph this is equivalent to driving a football field’s length blindly! Now think about it. This puts you at a 23 times enhanced risk of being in a crash compared to a non-texting driver. Any other form of cell phone use also puts you at a 4 times risk of being in a crash. Another perspective is to look at extended reaction time. With that regard, texting and driving is equivalent to having blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 which is the legal limit. So, this is the new age DWI – Driving While Intexticated!

Slide 3 – Distracted driving categorizes 3 types of distraction and puts a risk associated with each. Manual – e.g. where you take your hands off the steering to browse, dial etc. which is 2.8 times risky. Visual – where your eyes are off the road – texting, browsing, reaching for a device which is 1.4 times risky and finally cognitive – talking or listening where your mind is off from the very act of driving or paying attention to what is on the road – 1.3 times risky.

Slide 4- All this while if you’ve been thinking that only teens are victims then let’s look at the study. Read out what is on the slide. This is why I think using Bluetooth or hands - free is also not safe. It is one thing to just dial to confirm/schedule an appointment. But when you are on a conference call in the middle of an important discussion about a deliverable, or talking to your family member about something emotional,  think about the ‘cognitive distraction’ category.

Slide 5 – Seeing this alarming statistics and reports, I started wondering as to what is being done to stop this epidemic and I found that there is a lot happening in terms of creating awareness as well as enforcing laws! Here are some examples. It can wait is a movement spearheaded by AT&T and now championed by all major telecom providers as well as major tech corporations. They urge you to take the pledge, get involved by spreading awareness and also provide a starter kit, videos, statistics etc. The transportation dept. of Virginia Tech leads the research in this area and has helped federal and state government in enacting related laws etc. Also DOT is using celebrity mass appeal to issue PSAs and spread the word.

 Slide 6 – Awareness is not enough for matters that involve life and death. So, here’s what is being done to implement the policy. Read the slide bullets– Did you know it is a primary law in Washington?

Slide 7 – So what can you do? A lot! And the time to act is now! Take the pledge and here’s what will help you remain true to it. Remember it’s you and your loved ones that you are protecting here. For smartphone users, AT&T & Verizon have drive-mode apps that prevent you from texting/receiving calls while behind the wheel. Spread the word!!!

Slide 8 – Here are some of the resources I used for my research and you can visit too! New York Times technology supplement ran a Distracted Driving series which has lots of interesting views and opinion columns.
Finally, I encourage you all to be ‘smart’ phone users!
Next time your phone beeps while you are driving, remember, it can wait!!


Friday, May 3, 2013

CC Manual Speech #6 : Once Upon a Time in Mumbai

The objective of this speech is 'vocal variety'. I narrated my personal experience at the time of a crisis and it provided me an opportunity to portray feelings of fear, shock and frustration through voice modulation, pause and articulation of certain words for emphasis.

Here's the video:

Monday, March 18, 2013

CC Manual Speech # 5 : Being Petite

The objective for this speech focuses on appropriate use of body language. So, I thought it would be best to upload the video instead of posting the speech transcript.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK9CZLWpCJI


Wednesday, February 20, 2013

CC Manual Speech #4 : Picturesque Pi



Ang Lee’s movie is based on Yann Martel’s Booker prize winning novel ‘Life of Pi’. The protagonist Piscine Molitar Patel lives in small French town in southern India called Pondicherry with his traditional mother, brother and his father who owns the zoo. The film gives due justice to setting the stage - depicting rural India in the 20th century, the hilarious administrative mistake leading to the tiger getting the name ‘Richard Parker’ and how Piscine comes to be known as ‘Pi’, how he learns the hard way about the ferocity of wild animals and many such incidences are filmed with great detail and creativity. To the astonishment of everyone, Pi who is being raised in a Hindu family starts developing faith in all religions at a very young age. His innocent belief is truly evident when he prays–“Thank you Vishnu for introducing me to Christ”.“Faith is a house with many rooms” becomes the central philosophy of Pi. This also provides a spiritual angle that serves as a preface to the rest of the story.

Such a strong buildup but the story that follows struggles to keep up with it. It all starts when Pi’s father decides to sell the zoo and move to Canada with family and a few zoo animals to meet the family’s financial needs.
Sky falls on young Pi when he loses the entire family in a ship wreck and is left all alone in the vast ocean clinging to hope of survival on a small life boat. Well, shortly he discovers that he is not all alone after all but in a terrible companies of ‘Richard Parker’ the fierce Bengal tiger, a hyena, a zebra and an orangutan. It is not long before the orangutan and the zebra are torn open and relished by the carnivores and Richard Parker emerges as the supreme survivor. All this while Pi is hidden in a corner reading the survival manual. His faith and will power help him tame the tiger. Not just that they also become friends eventually and help each other’s survival. The journey continues for 227 days with a few cliched life threatening and heroic sequences typical of all 'cast away' themed movies. This pretty much forms 2/3rd of the film. At the same time it is also the most beautiful part of the film – visually that is. CGI created Richard Parker has as much poise and ferocity of a real tiger. The serene sunrise and sunsets by the ocean, the colorful marine life, are all captured flawlessly and with an artisticsense by the camera. The mysterious island that Pi stops by is also pictured with a creative touch.


When Pi finally makes to the land without Richard Parker (I’ll leave that part of the story for you to find out) the citizens rescue him and he is taken to the officials who have the responsibility to report the ship wreck. It seems unbelievable for a human to survive this long in the company of a wild animal. So Pi narrates the other version wherein he substitutes the animals for human characters on the ship. That story reeks of the basic survival instinct shown by humans at times of despair. No wonder, the officials decide to seal the story that has Richard Parker in it.

There are many questions that remain unanswered. Is it a fable or a parable? Is taming the tiger a metaphor to taming one’s fears? Was the author drawing parallel to Noah’s Ark? Is this the proof of the powers of resolute faith? Well, these definitely come to the mind of the readers of the novel but fail to surface clearly in the movie. For those who haven’t read the book, the movie can at best be viewed as a fantastical story. Its beauty is dreamlike; almost surreal.

The entire story takes place in flashback as the adult Pi played by Irrfan Khan narrates his adventure to the author while he visits Pi’s home in Canada. This too is acts as a disadvantage as it takes away the opportunity of keeping the audience in suspense about the survival of Pi. The actors succeed in making the characters appear real.l Kudos to Suraj Sharma who debuts with this movie as young Pi Patel. But if you ask me the real hero of the movie is Claudio Miranda – the celebrated cinematographer. Life of Pi with its 3D format and CGI effects is another feather in his cap.


The movie can be described as a marvelous poetic rendition of Yann Martel’s novel. If there was an award for the best aesthetic movie then I am sure Pi would have won. But best movie? Hmm I’ll save my doubt until the actual Oscar night. Ang Lee has dished out a pie that is visually very appealing but fails to stir the soul! My rating - 3/5.











Tuesday, January 15, 2013

CC Manual Speech # 3 : The festival of Kites


Fellow Rhetoracles and guests. New Year has started and so have the Indian festivals. Yesterday we celebrated the first Indian festival in the New Year which is called Makar Sankrant. I miss my family and folks back home on such occasions. So, I thought the best way to celebrate it would be by sharing with you all about this Indian tradition!
So, tonight I am going to talk to you about the significance of Makar Sankrant, the variations of this festival all across India and how it is celebrated in my home state of Maharashtra.

There are 2 important reasons why we celebrate this day. Sankrant literally means transition. Makar means Capricorn. 14th Jan is the day when Sun transitions from Sagittarius to Capricorn! So you would ask what is so special about it. If we trace the origins of this festival it was started to observe the Winter Solstice and fell on the 21st of Dec. Due to the earth’s axis tilt at 23.5 deg the original event has now moved to 14th Jan and falls on the 15th  Jan in a leap year. What is interesting is that it is probably the only Indian festival that follows a Gregorian calendar as it is a solar event. Most Indian festivals follow the lunar calendar and therefore do not have a fixed date each year.
The second reason originates from the fact that India is predominantly an agricultural society. Sankrant also marks the end of northeast monsoon season and is celebrated as a harvest festival in most of the southern India.

India is a potpourri of cultures and we celebrate a lot of festivals throughout the year with equal fervor. Similarly Sankrant also finds its way into different states of India in its own way. The festivities mostly begin on the eve of Sankrant. The northern and most fertile state of Punjab calls it Lohri and they celebrate with great enthusiasm. Dressed up in the brightest clothes Punjabis light a bonfire and express their joy through singing and dancing around the Lohri fire.

In the southernmost state of Tamil Nadu it is called Pongal and is celebrated by boiling rice with fresh milk and jaggery in new pots, early in the morning and allowing it to boil over the vessel. This new rice is then offered to Mother Nature during Sunrise to express gratitude for the harvest and pray for continued prosperity.

In the western state of Gujarat this is called Uttarayan and is also popular as the festival of Kites. Sun is considered to be the supreme God. With Sun’s northward movement days start becoming longer and it is the beginning of a warm season. All these are considered auspicious signs .To salute the son God beautiful colorful kites are seen touching the blue skies. Children enjoy this day by participating in various kite flying competitions. It’s a completely charged atmosphere.

And now moving to my state Maharashtra. Our tradition too worships the Sun God. Since it still mid-winter season it is a custom to wear black clothes – the color that absorbs the warmth. Again an exception – as wearing black otherwise is considered a bad omen. Black is a color of mourning but not on this day. Women organize a cultural gathering and exchange gifts. We also share the love of kite flying with our neighboring state of Gujarat.

So much for the rituals but what about food! Of course food forms the most important part of any festival and Sankrant is no exception. Though the rituals vary and the dishes vary the ingredients stay similar – mix of freshly harvested vegetables called bhogi or undhiyu and sweets made of sesame and jaggery – both help retain heat in the winter season and provide high energy.

In Marathi, my mother tongue it is called ‘til-gul’. On the night of Sankrant we distribute this sweet delicacy and there is an interesting greeting as we do this . It goes like ‘til gul ghya ani goad bola’
It literally asks the recipient to speak as sweet as the candy. The underlying concept is to forget any ill-wishes in the past and to maintain cordial relations. Now that you all know the significance of this tradition I offer you this tilgul and say ‘tilgul ghya ani god bola’

Call it Bihu or Sugi or Pongal or Lohri, Uttarayan or Makar Sankrant – the underlying concept is same and the zeal of those celebrating unmatched all over India. Just another wonderful example of India’s unity in diversity.

Friday, January 11, 2013

CC Manual Speech #2 : Embracing Differences


Fellow Rhetoracles and guests, good evening! The splendid Seattle summer is officially over and we are left with limited indoor options for recreation. As the raindrops create music against my window pane, I like to cozy up with a book and a steaming cup of tea. I’m sure a lot of you would agree with me that there is no greater pleasure than reading a good book and those of you who have not discovered this magic yet would at least be tempted to read one of my recommendations today!

15 year old Christopher Boone knows all countries in the world along with their capital cities; he also knows every prime number! Genius isn’t he?
He finds his neighbor’s dog killed and lying in the garden one night and runs to hug the dog fondly when get arrested on suspicion for murdering the dog. Poor child – gets released soon as the cops realize their mistake. But his love for the dog doesn’t let him sit quiet. This young Sherlock Holmes fan decides to investigate the case himself. And from there begins a roller coaster ride! What does he discover about his mother’s death? How does he travel alone to London? Does he really find out the dog-killer? Wait let there is one more trouble here – Christopher is a special child – he suffers from Asperger’s syndrome a form of autism. Now aren’t you all curious to know what happened? Then you must read this novel “A curious incident of the dog in the night time” written by Mark Haddon as Christopher would have narrated himself!

If you thought such adventures existed only in fiction then you have to meet Marjane Satrapi or Marji as she is fondly known. Marji grew in as Iran was going through a political turmoil when at war with Iraq. She was fortunate to be part of a well-to-do educated household with parents protesting against the government and Uncle Anoosh an actual revolutionary. Seeds of revolutions were sown in her mind at a young age.
As Iran went through political transformation teenager Marji’s mind also went through an ideological transformation. Her idols changed from the Shah of Iran to legendary revolutionists like Fidel Castro and Che Guevera Her discussion with friends revolved around socio-political reforms and led to her believing that revolutions are like bicycles – if they are not in motion they will stop. She could not see her dream of being a scientist fade away under the tyranny of the Shah. How did she achieve her dream? How her life changed when she went to Vienna for her education? How Iran had changed when she returned? All this is illustrated literally in this one-of a kind graphic novel – yes you heard it graphic novel just like a comic book called Persepolis

Our adventurous ride is just about to get more adventurous
Young Sabriye Tenberken’s contribution to the world is unmatched to say the least. She is a German scholar. She was 26 year old when she was drawn to the absolute neglected condition of the blind children in the far away eastern land of Tibet. In this Holy land of the Buddha, these kids were not only deprived of education but treated as cursed and segregated from the society as lepers and untouchables. Sabriye was courageous and selfless to single handedly go to remote areas in Tibet, convince the parents of these kids to send them to a school that she established, taught them Braille in Tibetan that she invented and successfully opened the gates of knowledge. She truly lit up their otherwise dark world. She had numerous challenges – geographical, social, financial, and cultural and above all- physical – Sabriye is herself blind!!! She narrates her inspirational story
In ‘My Path leads to Tibet’

3 books – 3 lives – 1 common thread – being different, being challenged.
Christopher from ‘the curious incident of the dog in the night time’ was mentally challenged. Marji from Persepolis was socially challenged and Sabriye from ‘My Path leads to Tibet’ was physically challenged’. We interpret the world based on our circumstances and to the best of our capacities. We all just have different points of views. None right, none wrong. People say these books are inspirational, adventurous, thrilling. For me above everything else these books are about ‘embracing differences’


CC Manual Speech #1 - What feeds my soul?



Fellow Rhetoracles and guests! Good evening! Finally the day for my first speech has arrived – after 4 months of joining the organization and about a couple of months after joining our elite club. Believe me I had to push myself for this one – I was still thinking of making some excuse to escape from this herculean task today and push it out to some other Tuesday! But here I am and we’ll see pretty soon if I really manage to break the ice!
As the requirement of the ice breaker goes, I’ll definitely introduce myself as to who I am, where I come from and my work. But beyond that I am going to tell you a little more about my interests and what drives me each day, each moment in life!
So, I am Ketaki Kulkarni and as most of you must have guessed it I come from India. I was born and raised in Nasik – a small town in the western state of Maharashtra. I completed my engineering in Instrumentation and control in Pune – the education hub of India. After that I tried my hand at software development for a couple of years at Tata Consultancy Services in India. Soon, I decided to pursue a career in management and landed here in the US for my Masters. I graduated with MS in Engineering Management last summer and started working with Ericsson as a business analyst in Dallas, TX. In the meanwhile in January this year I got married to Anubhav who was here for our meeting in the park . Since he is based here, I too relocated and now am part of this heavenly place Seattle!
I can go on and on about academic achievements and career but I don’t need a speech for that. I can email my resume if I have to do that! I think what makes my life interesting is my hobbies and passions. At the risk of sounding too boastful, I am a person with varied interests. I enjoy reading, dancing, traveling, cooking, acting, watching movies, learning new languages and so on. But today I plan to talk about the 3 things that I feel most passionate about in the order of the time in life that I encountered these.
There is an idiom in my native language Marathi that roughly translates like this – a baby’s talents are noticeable in the cradle itself! My mom truly recognized my ‘moves’ in the cradle and enrolled me with a Kathak academy at the young age of 7. Kathak is one of the many beautiful forms of classical Indian dance. I enjoyed other forms like folk dance equally well and loved participating in every cultural show in school and college. Having formally trained in this art for about 5-6 years dance is now my best workout, my best way to unwind and relax as well as my spirituality. It’s actually a remedy to any of my problems!  I’ll consider myself a dance student for life – although there has been a long gap in my training now, I tried to keep in touch by performing at my grad school, dancing in family events and just by attending concerts! The plan is to learn some form of western dancing – ballroom or Latin American may be! Dance is and always will be the first love of my life!
While I was discovering the joy of dancing my feet also liked the idea of exploring new places and new environments as my family started this ritual of an annual vacation as soon as I completed elementary school. I enjoyed the idea of meeting different people, uncovering new geographies, new cultures, relishing variety of cuisines and learning through traveling all across India. There are some challenges in fulfilling this hobby though. Someone has said - to plan your travel lay out all your clothes and all your money and take half the clothes and twice the money! – Yes money was a limiting factor in the student phase and so this hobby had to wait until a few months back till I found a job. And although I have resumed my hobby in full swing exploring different parts of the vast US, I also realized how much the notion has changed since my childhood! No offence to anyone here but there is an unstated peer pressure to upload your travel photos on Facebook and secure more likes than your friends/colleagues. I prefer not to jump into that and capture as much as I can in my eyes and my mind more than in my camera for I really enjoy the journey.
A more recently developed passion came more out of circumstances than out of pleasant discovery! Cooking and we all have enjoyed Naser’s wonderful narration of his cooking adventures last week! Being a vegetarian, I did not have a lot of choice outside in the small mid western university town in Missouri and being a student I chose not to spend on eating out! So, we roommates decided to have cooking turns and prepare homemade Indian food. There were the typical disasters that a first time cook encounters on my way too – curdling of the curry after adding yogurt, putting in salt instead of sugar, burning the veggies or leaving it half cooked and so on! But there wasn’t much room for mistakes for we had to cook for all the roommates when it was our turn and the law of reciprocity worked here as well! In fact more! Soon I overcame the initial hurdles and started experimenting with food – seeing that my friends loved my experiments I was motivated to try more. I’ve realized cooking to be more like an art than just the mere science of making a meal. I can say that I am decent cook now and have found the way to my husband’s heart by preparing delicacies for him! Or at least he says so – well, does he really have a choice!
Jokes apart I’ve found that these hobbies have helped me enjoy life better and I’ve made new friends and acquaintances through these. Dancing, Traveling and Cooking are the three things that feed my soul. I hope this tried and tested mantra has also helped me connect with you all today.

Thank you!