I thought of sharing my second speech at Toasmasters. Hope you like it....Here it goes....
OPENING
Wife: Darling today is our anniversary, what should we do?
Husband: Sure darling, let us stand in silence for 2 minutes.
Toastmaster of the day, fellow toastmasters, distinguished guests…..Good evening….
BODY
That may perhaps sound like a joke but in sad reality it reflects the state of the institution of marriage today. Divorce statistics from around the world reveal that divorce is on the rise. And, India is no exception. A few years back, a divorce court in India looked like a haunted building. Now, it is one of the busiest buildings in any Indian city. Thanks to our modern India for having become the Outsourcing Hub of the world. There has been tremendous pressure on marriages in past few decades due to globalization that has induced foreign ideas across conservative cultures. Exposure to western culture triggers the human desire to explore the materialistic world. This leads to deterioration of value systems and cultures that were followed for thousands of years. And, then, the problem starts. In a nutshell, the environment that we live in creates those pressures and we gladly carry those bad energies with us home.
So, what do we do in such situations? Have we taken a moment to think about corrective steps when we lose our temper at home? Fellow Toastmasters, I would like to share a story with you today that made a radical impact on my perception of this troubled world. The name of the story is “The Law of the Garbage Truck”.
One day a man hopped in a taxi to get to the airport. The driver was driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of the taxi. The taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the black car whipped his head around and started yelling at the taxi driver. The man was infuriated. But the taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And, I mean, he was really friendly. The man was perplexed and asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!' This is when the taxi driver taught him a valuable lesson, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.
CONCLUSION
Fellow Toastmasters, today, people start the day by pointing a majestic finger….using the French vocabulary ….honking as an act of road rage…..ignoring you as you wave at them bombarding you with venomous email or morphed mms ….
If that sounds like a morning routine around the world, how much of a culprit are we in this? Actually, most of us are no less competitive. Even if it is our own fault, we have our own set of defensive-vocabulary-kits and tactics to pay such punks back. We would find an excuse for the day to be grumpy and generously share the irritation to anyone who dares to come in our way. And, nothing makes us happier than seeing those punks getting annoyed. And when we get married, we allow this to percolate into our married lives.
MESSAGE
Fellow Toastmasters, let us change……let us be like the TAXI DRIVER….let us be wise and say, “No”, to garbage. Let us not be like the Garbage truck and make sure that we don’t carry garbage and spread it to other people because successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.
Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,
So ... Love the people who treat you right.
Pray for the ones who don't.
Life is ten percent “what you make it” and ninety percent “how you take it! “
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Japanese, the quintessential symbol of compassion and resilience
Hurricane Katrina that ravaged eastern North America in 2005 was the deadliest hurricane since 1928 and the costliest natural disaster in US history. The impact: 1,836 died, USD 81.2 billion in damage, five years later thousands of displaced residents of Mississippi and Louisiana are still living in temporary accommodation. Shortly after the hurricane moved away, there were reports of carjacking, murders, thefts and rapes. Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said, “They have M16s and are locked and loaded. These troops know how to shoot and kill and I expect they will“. To be fair, the US government did it's best in helping the affected people, considering the economic situation of the country at that time.
Hurricane Katrina seems like child-play compared to twin natural disasters and the resulting nuclear crisis that brought the entire Japan to a standstill. Two million Japanese were without electricity, and another 1.5 million were without running water. Up to 140,000 people living within 30 kilometres of the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi plant were under instruction to remain indoors, while 70,000 had already been forced to abandon their homes closer to the plant. Officials estimated the death toll will ultimately exceed 10,000.
But in spite of the overwhelming catastrophe, the Japanese reacted with a calm and positive attitude that is unusual to most of the cultures around the world. One of my friend’s friend who is living in Japan, gave a firsthand account of the grace, compassion, preparedness, planning and resilience that the Japanese demonstrated even during one of the darkest moments in Japanese history. Here it goes:
THE CALM
Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow has been elevated.
THE DIGNITY
Disciplined queues for water and groceries.Not a rough word or a crude gesture.
THE ABILITY
The incredible architects, for instance, Buildings swayed but did not fall.
THE GRACE
People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.
THE ORDER
No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.
THE SACRIFICE
Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid.
THE TENDERNESS
Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.
THE TRAINING
The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.
THE MEDIA
They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.
THE CONSCIENCE
When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly.
That’s incredible!!
Studies show that there is a logical reason behind the concerted resilience demonstrated by the Japanese. The sense of community is very powerful in Japan. The sense of individuality is never in the forefront of the Japanese culture. The Japanese culture is identified with a "cruise ship" more than a "ferry ride". A cruise ship is where the co-passengers are interacting and caring for each other where as it is more of business-as-usual in a ferry ride.
Most of the developed countries are founded on the basis of compassion for humanity. In comparison to an underdeveloped or a developing country, the developed countries definitely demonstrate more compassion for humanity with in and across its borders. However, the compassion and resilience that the Japanese have demonstrated over the past centuries stands out of any other culture in this world.
In 1923, earthquake in Tokyo killed 142,800 and then in 1995, earthquake in Kobe killed 6,400. The Japanese moved on with more energy.
Following their crushing defeat during the Second World War, sealed by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the same dominating spirit was redirected to rebuilding the shattered country. Addressing the nation in 1945, Emperor Hirohito famously said that, "we have resolved to endure the unendurable and suffer what is insufferable". And indeed, that is exactly what happened as the Japanese sprung back to become a world-leading industrial powerhouse.
One might argue that most of the cultures are becoming melting-pots that dilutes the togetherness of a culture. We could give thousands of excuses, but there is something mysterious (apart from the logical reasoning) about the Japanese that helps them hold their heads high with dignity even duirng the darkest moments.
"Compassion" is just a word in many constitutions around the world, but the Japanese have proved that they eat, drink and breath "Compassion" as part of their daily lives and how powerful of a force that can be when the latest and the greatest bleeding-edged technologies are shattered by the mighty force of mother nature.
Hurricane Katrina seems like child-play compared to twin natural disasters and the resulting nuclear crisis that brought the entire Japan to a standstill. Two million Japanese were without electricity, and another 1.5 million were without running water. Up to 140,000 people living within 30 kilometres of the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi plant were under instruction to remain indoors, while 70,000 had already been forced to abandon their homes closer to the plant. Officials estimated the death toll will ultimately exceed 10,000.
But in spite of the overwhelming catastrophe, the Japanese reacted with a calm and positive attitude that is unusual to most of the cultures around the world. One of my friend’s friend who is living in Japan, gave a firsthand account of the grace, compassion, preparedness, planning and resilience that the Japanese demonstrated even during one of the darkest moments in Japanese history. Here it goes:
THE CALM
Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow has been elevated.
THE DIGNITY
Disciplined queues for water and groceries.Not a rough word or a crude gesture.
THE ABILITY
The incredible architects, for instance, Buildings swayed but did not fall.
THE GRACE
People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.
THE ORDER
No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.
THE SACRIFICE
Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid.
THE TENDERNESS
Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.
THE TRAINING
The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.
THE MEDIA
They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.
THE CONSCIENCE
When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly.
That’s incredible!!
Studies show that there is a logical reason behind the concerted resilience demonstrated by the Japanese. The sense of community is very powerful in Japan. The sense of individuality is never in the forefront of the Japanese culture. The Japanese culture is identified with a "cruise ship" more than a "ferry ride". A cruise ship is where the co-passengers are interacting and caring for each other where as it is more of business-as-usual in a ferry ride.
Most of the developed countries are founded on the basis of compassion for humanity. In comparison to an underdeveloped or a developing country, the developed countries definitely demonstrate more compassion for humanity with in and across its borders. However, the compassion and resilience that the Japanese have demonstrated over the past centuries stands out of any other culture in this world.
In 1923, earthquake in Tokyo killed 142,800 and then in 1995, earthquake in Kobe killed 6,400. The Japanese moved on with more energy.
Following their crushing defeat during the Second World War, sealed by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the same dominating spirit was redirected to rebuilding the shattered country. Addressing the nation in 1945, Emperor Hirohito famously said that, "we have resolved to endure the unendurable and suffer what is insufferable". And indeed, that is exactly what happened as the Japanese sprung back to become a world-leading industrial powerhouse.
One might argue that most of the cultures are becoming melting-pots that dilutes the togetherness of a culture. We could give thousands of excuses, but there is something mysterious (apart from the logical reasoning) about the Japanese that helps them hold their heads high with dignity even duirng the darkest moments.
"Compassion" is just a word in many constitutions around the world, but the Japanese have proved that they eat, drink and breath "Compassion" as part of their daily lives and how powerful of a force that can be when the latest and the greatest bleeding-edged technologies are shattered by the mighty force of mother nature.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
What on earth is going on?!
Science fiction has always captured our imagination through Hollywood in screening the wildest phenomenons from Star Wars to 2012. Thanks to the animation technology, it seems more real than "virtual reality".
What has been going on around the world lately is incredible, incomprehensible and, at times, seems like a science fiction movie. The series of social waves that have swept through Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Bahrain seems to continue without much hope for future. Just when the world witnessed the social waves with awe and reeled back into the normal life, earth quake of magnitude 9.0 strikes Japan, followed by tsunami and nuclear radiation. The Japanese Prime Minister Kan Naoto acknowledged that Japan is facing the worst crisis since World War II.
Only a few months back North Korea and Iran were hot topics across the world press. And, all of a sudden, there are no where in the vicinity of the Hot-Spots radar.
The world recession created the mad Gold rush and within a couple of days, the Gold prices nosedived to a three week low. Markets tumble as nuke crisis in Japan sparks risk aversion. Crude prices decline sharply. Companies like BMW are making statements like, "No one knows how the situation will further develop. It is extraordinarily difficult to shift to everday business after the shocking events in Japan." Japan is pumping billions of dollars into market to stabilize their economoy.
But the world chugs along. Indian fans are worried about India's World Cup aspirations. Manchester United is struggling with its losing spree. Irish fans are overjoyed by defeating the English in cricket.
The NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) have their own tactical plans already laid out to face the uncertainity. NRIs are busy discussing the stability of their foreign land and the possibilities of hedging against the potential of currency-depreciation, by converting the loaned amount from foreign currency to Indian Rupees. Hold on, wow!!, Indian Rupees is something that we do count on!! For now, at least.
During these uncertain times, blessed are those people who live in countries - both underdeveloped and developed - that were nurtured to be totally ignorant of the outside world. While most of the world is worried about their future, some of these people don't even know where Japan or Middle East is located on the map. Isolation does happen to be a virtue, sometimes!! But, disconnect with the outside world has cost the world - in terms of war and invasions - beyond human comprehension.
As the world witnesses incredible scenes of disasters and uncertainity, there are intriguing facts that come to light. How did all these disasters occur on the 26th?!
1 Gujarat India earthquake 26 Jan 2001
2 The Rhodes earthquake 26 June 1926
3 Taiwan earthquake 26 April 2010
4 Japan earthquake 26 Feb 2010
5 NE Japan earthquake 26 May 2003
6 NE Japan earthquake 26 July 2003
7 North America earthquake 26 Jan 1700
8 Yugoslav earthquake 26 July 1963
9 Aceh Tsunami 26 Dec 2004
10 Jogjakarta earthquake 26 May 2006
11 Tasik earthquake 26 June 2010
12 Mentawai Tsunami 26 Oct 2010
13 Merapi volcanic eruption 26 Oct 2010
14 Krakatau volcanic eruption 26 Aug 1883 ( 36,000 dead )
15 China earthquake 26 July 1976 ( 255,000 dead )
16 Portugal earthquake 26 Jan 1951 ( 30,000 dead )
17 Kansu, China earthquake 26 Dec 1932 ( 70,000 dead )
18 Turkey earthquake 26 Dec 1939 ( 41,000 dead )
19 Sabah Tidal waves 26 Dec 1996 ( 1,000 dead )
20 Bam, Iran earthquake 26 Dec 2003 ( 60,000 dead )
What on earth is going on?! Only God knows!
But, as long as you are alive, be thankful and stay the course.
What has been going on around the world lately is incredible, incomprehensible and, at times, seems like a science fiction movie. The series of social waves that have swept through Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Bahrain seems to continue without much hope for future. Just when the world witnessed the social waves with awe and reeled back into the normal life, earth quake of magnitude 9.0 strikes Japan, followed by tsunami and nuclear radiation. The Japanese Prime Minister Kan Naoto acknowledged that Japan is facing the worst crisis since World War II.
Only a few months back North Korea and Iran were hot topics across the world press. And, all of a sudden, there are no where in the vicinity of the Hot-Spots radar.
The world recession created the mad Gold rush and within a couple of days, the Gold prices nosedived to a three week low. Markets tumble as nuke crisis in Japan sparks risk aversion. Crude prices decline sharply. Companies like BMW are making statements like, "No one knows how the situation will further develop. It is extraordinarily difficult to shift to everday business after the shocking events in Japan." Japan is pumping billions of dollars into market to stabilize their economoy.
But the world chugs along. Indian fans are worried about India's World Cup aspirations. Manchester United is struggling with its losing spree. Irish fans are overjoyed by defeating the English in cricket.
The NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) have their own tactical plans already laid out to face the uncertainity. NRIs are busy discussing the stability of their foreign land and the possibilities of hedging against the potential of currency-depreciation, by converting the loaned amount from foreign currency to Indian Rupees. Hold on, wow!!, Indian Rupees is something that we do count on!! For now, at least.
During these uncertain times, blessed are those people who live in countries - both underdeveloped and developed - that were nurtured to be totally ignorant of the outside world. While most of the world is worried about their future, some of these people don't even know where Japan or Middle East is located on the map. Isolation does happen to be a virtue, sometimes!! But, disconnect with the outside world has cost the world - in terms of war and invasions - beyond human comprehension.
As the world witnesses incredible scenes of disasters and uncertainity, there are intriguing facts that come to light. How did all these disasters occur on the 26th?!
1 Gujarat India earthquake 26 Jan 2001
2 The Rhodes earthquake 26 June 1926
3 Taiwan earthquake 26 April 2010
4 Japan earthquake 26 Feb 2010
5 NE Japan earthquake 26 May 2003
6 NE Japan earthquake 26 July 2003
7 North America earthquake 26 Jan 1700
8 Yugoslav earthquake 26 July 1963
9 Aceh Tsunami 26 Dec 2004
10 Jogjakarta earthquake 26 May 2006
11 Tasik earthquake 26 June 2010
12 Mentawai Tsunami 26 Oct 2010
13 Merapi volcanic eruption 26 Oct 2010
14 Krakatau volcanic eruption 26 Aug 1883 ( 36,000 dead )
15 China earthquake 26 July 1976 ( 255,000 dead )
16 Portugal earthquake 26 Jan 1951 ( 30,000 dead )
17 Kansu, China earthquake 26 Dec 1932 ( 70,000 dead )
18 Turkey earthquake 26 Dec 1939 ( 41,000 dead )
19 Sabah Tidal waves 26 Dec 1996 ( 1,000 dead )
20 Bam, Iran earthquake 26 Dec 2003 ( 60,000 dead )
What on earth is going on?! Only God knows!
But, as long as you are alive, be thankful and stay the course.
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