This
happened on December 2010. I was planning to visit my brother, he was in
Banglore then. At those times it was Banglore and not Bengaluru. I was with my
dad and mon. We took a bus from Calicut and reached Bandlore, took rest the
same day. Next day we went to wonderla, water theme park.
I was
standing in front of a ride- vertical fall. The height of it was almost equal to
a six storied building, except in case if a storey has an exceptional height. I
was looking at the people, taking a keen observation. I saw a girl, almost my
age. She came in front of the entrance with a double mind, stood there for
almost five minutes and then she decided to climb up the stairs. I can see the
same dilemma in her when she reached the top as well. She was having second
thoughts there also. Finally she decided, any ways this won’t kill u. She sat
on the ride and she started to skid through a tunnel. It was all fast and she
reached the pool in no time. Now I can see her face clearly and she was very
happy. She broke the ice. Believe me on this, she went through this same ride
almost ten times. This gave me confidence to do the same. All I remember is me
breaking the ice, the rest all was a consecutive twelve time ride in vertical
fall.
This
was the same case for between me and Toastmasters. People asked me to join, the
told me that I can do it, they tried to convince me that I am good in it. Guess
what I didn’t believe in me. Believe me, two important people, who I care the most,
forced me to at least attend a meeting as a guest. Finally I agreed after three
months.
I
attended a meeting and I saw pros in action. I became afraid, I cant do this.
How can we say one thing is not possible unless we don’t even take a first
step. So as a first step I joined Toastmasters. I booked a slot for my first
speech. Two days before the speech, I have speech ready and I was all set to
go. Still I had second thoughts and procrastinate it to next week. What if I do
something wrong? Then I reviewed it with y mentor and was in a good shot to go.
“TM
Rohith, My first icebreaker, My first icebreaker, TM Rohith ”
My
heart was pumping at it double rate, but I started…..
"His
palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater
already, mom's spaghetti
But he keeps on forgetting what
he wrote down,
The whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the
words won't come out
He's choking how, everybody's
joking now
The clock's run out, time's up
over, bloah!"
Exactly…… Exactly this is my
situation, But, I said “I was in the same situation when I was in college”.
I broke the ice, and to my
greatest astonishment, I was the best speaker. See…. you don’t know what you
can do unless you attempt to do it. This was just like my first ride in vertical
fall. Then my ride in Toastmaster was faster than which I had in vertical fall.
In three months of my journey, I gave three speeches with three best speaker
awards and completed six projects in CL manual.
Now I quit TCS and I can’t
attend the meeting any more. I miss it really hard. If I was there in TCS for
another one year, they would be calling me DTM Rohith.
This is for all the would-be
Toastmasters:
Unless you take your first ride,
you don’t know the thrill of it.
This is for all the Champions
Toastmasters:
My envy will be with you all the
time, during your dreams as well.
When wonderla closed at 7:30PM,
I missed vertical fall. Even I asked the manager whether this ride is for sale.
TM Murali, this one is for you,
I am ready to spend a Million on your club and figures are negotiable. Call me
if you change your mind.
