Farewell to Redmond Toastmasters

Farewell Speech - December 15, 2007 (Black Bear Restaurant, Bellevue, WA)

Good evening fellow toastmasters,

Today will be my last day of attending the club meetings. I will be moving back to India next week. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you all how much I am indebted to this club and to all of you.

I vividly remember the first day that I came to this club. The diversity of the members and the friendly atmosphere attracted me. I remember Paul calling me by name and that too enunciating my name properly! Then there were the speeches. They captivated my heart. I did not check out any other club. I knew I have come to the right one.

There have been many memorable speeches and instances. It would be an injustice if I select only a few of them. However, I would like to mention a few.

I remember trying to control my tears listening to John Stilz's speech on volunteering. Katherine inspired us by taking us through the Yellow brick road with Dorothy and her friends. Dennis tried to educate us on the Faults that were not his. Ferrin and Phil Jensen gave insight into their political views. Paul and Dale Hauer taught us how to be good toastmasters. John Spaith kept us grinning from ear to ear. Jeranice entertained us with her impromptu and vivid speeches. Stuti told many stories.

I can just go on and on... Every meeting had its own diversity and there are always something to carry back home – something inspirational, something to chew up on, or something to laugh on. One common aspect of every meeting is that it involves learning and fun.

I looked forward to attending every meeting, except of course, when I had to speak:) I still have butterflies in my stomach when I think of speaking. But once I complete the speech, it is a great relief – the day is made for me.

I treasure the autographs that you all gave in the form of feedback notes. Some of you took the extra effort to provide me elaborate feedback over and above the normal evaluation. Everyone was ready to give feedback and suggestions. And I felt free to approach anyone asking for help. A special thanks to all of you.

It feels great when seasoned speakers in the pack give you a pat on the back. I shall always cherish the memory of these instances. It means a lot for a novice like me. The concept of giving feedback and evaluations helped me appreciate their importance in daily life. I started putting more conscious effort into giving positive and constructive feedback at work and at home.

The roles of timer, grammarian and wizard of ahs also taught me lessons. One of the major lessons is the art of listening. I had noticed that sometimes, I used to be so involved in framing what I had to say, that I missed listening to what the other person was saying. I have become more conscious of this defect now.

I also started looking for good and creative uses of the language everywhere. One day while attending a meeting, I started taking the role of wizard of uhs, noting down the ums and uhs of each speaker. It was more interesting than the meeting itself. See, I even found a new way to enjoy the otherwise dull meetings through Toastmasters!

I was introduced to many writers, books and movies through Toastmasters, either while looking for speech material or while listening to speeches. I read at least 5 books this year after hearing about them in our meetings. The speeches also help you learn more about different cultures. We have a good diversity in this group. We got opportunities to learn about life in China, South America, India, Iran, South Africa and so on.

And then there is fun. Every meeting has its share of memorable fun. John Spaith had introduced us to Cicero, whose one hand was immobilized, struggling to hold his single piece robe from falling off, while giving a rabble rousing speech. He also introduced me to the concept of planting questions and answers in the audience to enhance the message. Leo's humor has also kept us rolling in laughter.

I found Toastmasters not only as a club for helping you perfect your speech, but also a great place for learning and practicing valuable lessons for life and career. I have recommended Toastmasters to all my colleagues and friends.

All in all, I had a great time with this club. I am indebted to each and every one of you for giving me this opportunity of a lifetime. Thank you for making me feel at home and encouraging me. You have encouraged me to commit myself to attaining my goals in Toastmasters. I will surely miss you all.

Zen And The Art Of Moustache Maintenance

The dictionary defines a moustache as the facial hair grown on the upper lip. But for me, it is not just “facial hair”, the moustache is an artistic or a symbolic representation of the personality of a man.

Moustache maintenance is not an easy task. It needs a lot of dedication and perseverance. My efforts to maintain my moustache in proper shape and size over the past 15 or so years have taught me a lot about life. My zen meditations and reflections on the aspect of moustache maintenance showed me that you can learn a lot about someone by just looking at their moustache.

Today I shall share with you some of my techniques to know about a person based on their moustache or the lack of it. You may find plenty of practical application for this knowledge like while choosing boy friends, life partners, or even while interviewing someone for a job. I shall discuss the four types of personalities here.

1. Those who painstakingly maintain their moustache

I admire these people. They embody the quest for perfection. They struggle to ensure that every hair is where it should be, have the right bend, right flexibility and the right length. They spend hours in front of the mirror, twisting their upper lips in all possible directions to make sure their moustache is picture perfect. More hairy and thicker the moustache – more the perfection.

In my endeavor to emulate these perfectionists, I also spend time in front of the mirror everyday trying to figure out how to get a symmetrical design below my nose. If I accidentally trim a bit more on the right, the left will also have to be trimmed to keep it in sync. This dance between left and right goes on… until finally it is already late for work – so leave it as it is, and move on… so much for my commitment to perfection… Perfect symmetry still remains a dream for me.

I can fully understand how many painstaking hours Hitler must have spent to get his symmetrical moustache – it just happened that he could achieve it only as he moved closer to his nose.

2. Those who hand over the maintenance to professionals

These are people who like to take the shortcut to perfection by leaving it to professionals rather that doing it themselves. Just as Robert Pirsig called those who were afraid to maintain their motor cycle themselves as “technologically challenged”, I call these people – “Groomingly challenged”. They do not understand the pleasure and pain of maintaining a moustache themselves. These are people who prefer branded stuff and costlier luxury items.

3. Those who do not maintain their moustache

How nice it would be if moustache did not need maintenance. You let them grow naturally. But due to the cultural and professional etiquettes and rigidities, you are forced to maintain them – keep them within limits. But there are people who do not like to live as slaves to the cultural and religious dogmas. They let their moustaches grow natural and wild. I like o brand these people as revolutionaries, extremists or anti-establishmentarian idealists. Leo Tolstoy, Karl Marx, Osama Bin Laden are good examples of this kind. These are usually unusual geniuses - either good or bad.

4. Those who do not keep a moustache

Now these are people who I would call – “Slackers”. They do not want to take the responsibility of maintaining a moustache. A clean shave of the upper lips and there you go! You do not have to worry anymore! I equate this to the logic of people not marrying so that you do not have to take the burden of maintaining a relationship. Unfortunately in many countries and societies, moustaches are frowned upon and more and more people are choosing this easy way out. They do not understand that they are in fact shirking their responsibilities.

I have a confession to make. There was many an occasion when I was also tempted to get a clean shave to join the ranks of these easy goers. However when I simulated my would-be appearance by putting my finger across my moustache and saw myself on the mirror, I could not convince myself to accept that image as mine. Once I even dared to do the heinous act, but for couple of weeks, I did not dare look at myself in the mirror.

I hope that my brief presentation here gave you some pointers towards analyzing people based on their moustache as Perfectionists, Groomingly challenged, Unusual geniuses and Slackers. I hope that you are also convinced of the importance of maintaining a moustache. A perfect moustache is a journey, not a destination. You may never achieve it, but the diligence and perseverance that you put into the effort of maintaining a moustache will help you in your day-to-day life. 

Running with the Abnormals

December 1, 2007 - Redmond 2828 Toastmasters

There is an ever-growing community of abnormal human beings called runners.

For them 401K has nothing to do with retirement, it only means 250 miles. They go outdoors on chilly mornings wearing shorts and half sleeves. For them "dirt" is heaven, a bath with icy water is the way of cooling down and they eat breakfast twice before their family wakes up. Their friends and family consider them crazy.

You can see them running on freezing mornings with ice on their faces and small colored water bottles lining their waists. You see them crowded at coffee joints at unearthly hours in their strange attires. They belong to all age groups.

This summer, I decided to check out this community of abnormals. I committed to running the Seattle Half marathon for Asha, a charity organization and joined the training program.

As the first step, on a pleasantly sunny Saturday in July, I was asked by the coach to run 2 miles. I was happy. I have been doing 2 miles on treadmill. So this should be easy. I started running fast without warming up.

After couple of hundred metres, I started huffing and puffing. My legs told me that I was running too fast and my head finally understood.. I slowed down. One mile done… one more to go… but it was not easy as I thought. I somehow slowly made it back to the starting point - all sweating and puffing. That showed me where I was and made me respect what I was going to do.

Slowly I started increasing the miles over the next weeks. 3, 4 , 5 and so on. I started scouring the neighborhood for good running trails and hills. I saw more of Redmond and Bellevue in this time than I had done over the last couple of years, living here. The runners do really get to see a lot. No wonder, an ad for Pearl Izumi shoes says that it is always the runners who find bodies of victims.

My knowledge of Anatomy also improved. I started getting to know more and more muscles in my body. One day there is pain in the knees, the next day it is in the calf muscles and so on. Good thing is that there is a standard prescription for all pains if you ask any runner - ice. Any pain ? "Ice it up and it will disappear". The best prescription – the ice bath... It is as simple as that.

As weeks progressed, the distance increased and the pains started disappearing. The coach told me that my muscles have got "adjusted" - whatever that means. By mid October I was running 10 miles at a fairly steady pace. I started watching movies with running themes and reading running magazines to keep myself acquainted with the ways of this world. I started looking forward to the race day.

The race day came - I was excited. It was strangely a non-rainy day. Everyone seemed to be happy with it. They kept saying that this was the best weather in three years. I was however trying hard to keep myself warm, waiting for the race to start.

Finally the race started. I had to wait for 5 minutes to cross the start line. I started feeling the thrill of being part of this giant sea of humanity winding its way through the streets of downtown. There were crowds waiting on the road sides to cheer us all through the way. Sea gulls serenaded the runners through the downtown.

I ran fairly comfortably at a steady pace till mile 7. After that was the notorious Galer-Madison-Interlaken hills section. They proved their worth as far as I was concerned. I slowed down and walked a part of the hills.

After the 10th mile, it was down hill most of the way. I felt excited as the finish line drew near. It was a great feeling running into the Key Arena finish line. I did it in about 2 hours 30 minutes. Based on my time trials I should have completed in 2 hours and 15 mins. I did not feel disappointed. I was feeling great having run the longest in my life and having completed a half marathon. May be this is after all, the “Runners' High”.

All in all it feels good to be part of this strange set of people. I found something that I love to do. They may be abnormal, but they have captured my heart and I look forward to becoming a better and long lasting member of this society.