Dreams!

Here’s a thing about... “moral values” – if I may! Well, foremost, Moral values are not easy to define. They are indeed a matter of discretion. Moral values are not what the aunt next door imposes on you. Moral values are what you trust, where your intuition talks, what your conscience leads you to. They are about your very own ways of living life, your personal belief systems, and your self-imposed principles. Moral values can only be inspired, not preached. And talking of it, well then, can moral values also not be to hope, to imagine, to reach out?

Right, Dreams!

Of Birds and Bees

It was my mum’s idea! My daughter’s first birthday was, well, not exactly round the corner… there were whole three months left to it. And yet, our daily hone bills were soaring sky high with every passing day over the same discussion in a constant loop – as to, what they’d give her for a gift!

Bangladesh War!

Cross-published at Launchora...


White locks of hair pulled into a tiny bun, often covered with a pallu. A toothless smile. White saree. That is how Dida has always looked ever since I can remember. Dida - the common grandmother – in our small but complete world of the neighbourhood, where I was born and brought up at.

A car on the road!

This post has also been cross published at The Speaking Tree, World of Moms, YouthKiAwaaz and My City 4 Kids.

This is a news bite from New York Times from 20 years back. The time was April, the year, 1996. A few of the possessions of President John F Kennedy were up on auction. His arm chair and his coffee table, for example. One of the last items up on auction was his tape measure. And guess what price it commanded? It sold for a whopping 42,000 USD, not allowing for commission and procedural charges. Yes, 42000 USD, back in the year 1996.

A historical event? Hypatia.

“Woman suspected of witch-powers, gang raped and killed by mob” – not a very uncommon headline, isn’t it? In fact it is not too shocking either, even in this twenty first century. No, it does not make for any big breaking news, such reports. They don’t even feature on the front page, which are preserved for politicians. This kind of news barely find a place in a small corner of page 6 or 7 of our daily papers, and we get over them by the time we have finished our cup of morning tea, concentrating on the sports page, or better still, the page 3 celebrities.

However, today we are going to listen to a story. A story of a witch. A story from history. A story of suppression. And a story of a revolution. As I just said, a story of a witch. A witch, named Hypatia.

A story of a dream, a dream of a story!

What are the qualities of a good story? I know some people would find it easy to answer. They may say that like a speech, a story should have an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Some may say, well, not really. A story should have a backdrop, a climax and a resolution. And some may say, a story must have its characters! Well if you ask me, I do not find it easy to define what a story should be. Well, a story may never have a beginning or an end, a problem or a solution. So, without breaking heads over what it should be, let us just sit back and listen to it. If we like it, well, let’s call it a story.

Folktales

(For all of you who either know me or had listened to my CC2 speech which was on the problems of gender discrimination, you’d know that I’m not the least of an advocate of the regular Disney fairytale in which there will be a typical damsel in distress princess who’ll be in danger, and there will be a prince charming on horseback who’ll save and protect, and then there will be a happily ever after. No, my dear friend, I’m sure you’d agree that girls are meant to be much stronger than that, and much wiser! Today, I am going to, however, tell you a Disney fairytale.)

Mindfulness

Let’s do something different today, shall we? Well, today, I am going to start with taking your class attendance! Yes, you heard me right! Today, I am going to start with taking some class attendance. So, let me start.

(Name?

Present.

Name?

Present.)

Present! Present… of course. Present… are you sure?

Back to Basics

I recently made a power-point presentation with the topic as "Back to Basics" in which I argued, with humour and with help of the pictures below, how we are making a fool of ourselves in the process and how, therefore, we must seriously consider going "back to basics". It was a speech marathon and this one got me a best speaker :D :D !! So, here you go... back to basics!!

Guest Post: A never-ending journey!

This is by a Toastmasters friend, Faizan. Not only did he bag the best speaker, he left behind many a teary eyes by the time he had ended. So, without much ado, here we go!

I was on my knees, with a ring in my hand and she was preparing breakfast. My 27^th Birthday. “I love you”, “I am sorry for troubling you all the time but I promise to keep this smile on your face till the day I am alive”. It was just happy tears trickling down her beautiful face. A tight hug. Oh! I wish I could just pause that moment forever. Just to make her happy made my day. My only mission was to make my only day of the year a day for her to remember forever. That is the best gift I could give her at that time. Even then it feels like I want to do much more for her.

Love: A myth and a mystery!

I wish you lovely morning, dear Toastmasters.

Today, I am going to talk about love. And no, I am not going to talk about love. I am not going to talk about how we should also love our parents and our families, I am not going to talk about how we much love nature and how we love our pets. Do the students of JNU love the country… no, I am not going to talk about that either! And I am not going to talk about how we must first love ourselves. Come on! This is February, a beautiful February, and I am going to talk about unabashed, unapologetic romantic love.

What is love? Surely, it is not about the red balloons at the traffic signals or about the Archie’s greeting cards. It is profound, much more profound than that, of course. It is perhaps the strongest emotion we human beings are capable of. It is often larger than life itself. It can change the life that you lead, and it can change the person that you are. It is important to know how every love stories is immortal in its own way even if it does not result into a forever. You are never the same person before and after it. Think of it - shall we ever be able to love as innocently, as entirely as we had loved in our first crush?

Can you see me?

Today was otherwise just a normal day, you see! I woke up in the morning as usual. I went to the wash-basin right after I woke up, picked my toothbrush and laid a layer of paste on the bristles. I must have looked up at the mirror expecting my puffy eyes to show up. Did they? I hardly noticed. If I did, it should have struck me right then.

But it was later, much later. It was when I was out of the shower, and that was when I generally don't dare even glancing at the clock as I would always run too late everyday around that time. I made my way to my dressing space and faced the life-size mirror on the wall as I combed my hair furiously so that strands tore out. And then, suddenly, my hand froze.

I could not see myself in the mirror. 

Winter and Water!!

I know what you did last summer. Well, you know what? I still know what you did last summer!

Fair enough! Let me talk about… Winters, then!

Of December and other good things in life!

“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before its afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness, how the time has flown! How did it get so late so soon?” – had said Dr. Seuss!

A very good morning, dear Toastmasters! Today I am going to talk about the time of the times, the month of the months. I am going to talk about – The Delights of December!

December brings with it sights, sounds and sumptuous tastes that are unique to its nature.

I cannot get to the point!!

The project objective said: “Get to the point”. Well, let’s be honest here. I tried. I insist, I tried, and tried and tried very hard. But yet, as you have it, I could not do it. I could not “get to the point.”

Often, when I am desperate, logic leaves me and philosophy takes over. It happened the same way this time too. After spending a clumsy confused hour in despair - thinking about how to, if at all, get to the point - I was very close to giving up. And then, just at that very moment, philosophy struck me. And I cried – Eureka! No, I assure you, I was not in my bathtub at that time!

And bingo!! I got my answer!

What? That, there is not, perhaps, any much point in the objective to get to the point.

About Gender Neutral Parenting

(This one, in terms of its contents, is particularly close to my heart as I had written it our a while back before Toastmasters happened to me, and also this was published in quite a few web-magazines. You can find my original article HERE!)

Dear Toastmasters and Guests –

Gender discrimination forms one of the most gruesome crises in our lives. While gender crimes are more objectively defined, they are only but the tip of the iceberg. Gender discrimination, which is the root-cause of this social evil, is however much common. We are so accustomed to gender disparities in our society that it often becomes a challenge to even identify them as a problem, leave alone combating them in a constructive manner.

Today I am going to talk about a specific area in parenting. I will talk about gender discrimination among children. I will argue that socio-cultural conditioning at young, formative ages form the foundation stone of gender discrimination. And, as a call to action, I’d offer a few handy tips which can help us develop a progressive parenting approach, to raise more gender neutral kids for the future.

The Ice Breaker!

Here is what I presented for my very first speech in the Competent Communications journey!

Who am I!!! Now, that does not really sound like an easy question to me. Am I an Actuary first, or a mother; a wife, or a daughter? Maybe I want to become a writer someday, or do I want to become a painter? Do I even know what I am or what I want to become?

However, for now, let me leave these introspections behind, and put in front of you a brief overview of myself.