Toastmasters Speech CC2- History of Rama Krishna Venkatsubbaih

The Poster

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The Delivery

The Script

How many of you love Peace?

Wow!

And, how many of you love War?

Fair enough, let me describe a war scene that changed the course of Indian History.

Dated May 326 BC, on the banks of River Jhelam, on North-eastern boarder of India, in the wee hours there was a mass attack against King Porus's left flank by the Great Alexander's army. The heavy armor-piercing bows of Indian unarmored soldiers were proving inaccurate on slippery ground. The 200 elephants were busy in guarding the frontal attack.  Alexander's horse archers were showering the Indian right cavalry wing. And his armored Companion cavalry was overwhelming the Indian left cavalry with Alexander leading the charge.

While the rest of the Indian soldiers were struggling in the battle, one man was guarding his king with his full vigor- The mahout of the king. He saved his king’s life before getting slain.

The bravery, war skills and princely attitude of King Porus’s mahout led the genesis of my Today’s central character- Rama Krishna Venkatsubbaiah.

Fellow toastmasters and dear guests, good evening!

We as science practitioners often slumber in comprehending history, as our glorious past misses links to our present and it mostly eulogizes the ruling class. The following speech tries to organize History of India from Ancient to Modern era from a common man perspective. It’s an honest attempt to put the facts in its canonical form and it is a sincere request from the audience not to take any historical lesson from this re-organized history.

Meet a Karorpati clerk in Bruhat Bangalore Municipal Corporation, Rama Krishna Venkatasubbaiah. Rama, a fan of actor Shiva Rajkumar (smile), is a jovial, down to earth, highly ethical, multi-lingual man who sometimes misses his Brahmanical worships but never misses under the table offerings (smile).

1.  Rama’s impeccable command of Hindi came from his mother Laxmi who eloped with his father (smile), a bloodline of great Rajendra Chola, during posting in Tata Steel, Jamshedpur, leaving behind her land lord family that had lost their fortune
2. Rama’s 2^nd level ancestor, i.e, grandfather was an active contributor to Congress during freedom struggle
3. His 3^rd level ancestor was a great grand princess of Maharaja Amar Singh of Mewar who fought bravely with the joint Mughal army
4.  His 11^th level ancestor was cousin of Jahangir’s 20^th wife Nurjahan’s first daughter
5.  Rama’s 15^th level ancestors had served in royal kitchen of Qutubuddin Aibak who used to be chefs in Prithviraj Chauhan’s palace
6. His 30^th level ancestors were mathematicians in Royal kingdom of Gupta king Vikramaditya
7.   His 50^th level ancestor was the royal bodyguard of Chandragupta Maurya’s mentor and the great economist Chanakya whose father was a mahout in King Porus’s army, who halted Alexander’s march towards east
8.   His 80^th level ancestors were farmers in Rig Vedic era
9. His 90^th level ancestors were manual scavengers in Mohenjo-Daro who survived Aryan invasion in 2000 BC
10. Rama’s 100^th level ancestors were true relatives of Mowgli (smile), roaming in their natural states to get leftover meats in the deep jungles of Vindhyanchals (Vindhya Mountains)

Rama’s 5000 years old, 100 levels family tree tells us that his ancestors had been everywhere, done everything and seen everything. In logical sense, he is a true descendant of an Indian gene. In true sense, we all are different but one. On the contrary, we civilized animals have divided ourselves amongst nonsensical castes, regions and religions, and each division vouches for its superiority over others.

Rama's historically unparalleled genealogy gifted him with the most special skills ever discovered by mankind. As in - He got Sanitation and Purity from Harappa, Valor from Magadha and Mewar, Ingenuity from the Delhi Sultanate, Patriotism from the Freedom movement.  

He is also carrying with him the early human deadly sins - Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride.

In spite of having 5000 years old illustrious past we are still lagging behind all the major economies of present time – America, Australia, Canada, Singapore who don’t have even 300 years old history.

In the past, our rulers often lost their ways by dividing us in the narrow confinement of caste and race, as a result we were defeated several times from the likes of Alexander to the British.  At present, we 1.3 billion human survivors, are still fighting with each other for regions, religions, castes and caste based reservations and being played by the ruling class.

It is us who will create our history not our past or the lineage. So, dear friends, let us stop judging people based on name, place and identity and start respecting ability, quality and diversity.

On this note, let me close the history of Rama Krishna Venkatasubbaiah.

Over to you Mr. Toastmaster!