When cause is big, preparation is apt and time is ripe you hit the bull's eye. Today, I finally completed my maiden full marathon with a timing of 4hrs 23mins.
GoldRunners - Club Level Glitterati Contest Presentation
Club level Glitterati presentation held at Infosys Toastmasters Bangalore on 3rd Oct.
As per rule, the presentation should be auto timed 5min total time and 20 slides max of 15 sec per slide. Following is my team presentation:
AT THE CROSSROADS
He was standing at the crossroads, thinking on the feet. He fell down on his knees and murmured in the betwixt and between.
“Will the ‘rising sun going down’ rise again?”
“Will the ‘rising sun going down’ rise again?”
HM at Spirit of Wipro 2017
Today in Spirit of Wipro 2017, I raced in HM(21k) with a slight improvement of a minute in PB timings. Though, I didn't maintain my beginning pace throughout the course. This demands more strength and that's hard to accrue.
Awesome run on 'Nice' road. Drizzling on the concrete road was bliss.
Nice to see sea of happy new faces in 5k and 10k tracks. As they said, there were around 13 thousands participants who ran today. This running clan is expanding exponentially.
As usual I have no complain from #SOW2017 organizers and Wipro Ltd.except medal and breakfast which was not there. 
😊
😊Mysuru Marathon 2017 - HM
In your expatriate life, you learn to appreciate 'Go your own way alone' ( Ekla Chalo Re) philosophy. However, today I found a better contradiction to this philosophy when my dad joined me in the one of my competitive races. He specifically travelled to Mysuru from Patna to cheer me up. As far as I remembered, he joined me last time in my engineering counselling some 12 years back.
Today, I participated in the 7th edition of Celebration Mysuru Half Marathon 2017. My first attempt in the royal city helped me get my PB in Half Marathon. However, 1:56hr/21.2k pace is much slower than the target. Pace was dampen by under recovery ankle injury, unexpected 6k lake side slippery trail, and
unknown Mysuru elevated routes.
unknown Mysuru elevated routes.
Toastmasters Value Coin
Thank you DTM Raj Kumar Bansal for hounring me with this value coin, brought directly from the World Convention of Toastmasters International 2017, Vancouver. It will inspire me to become a great leader like you are today.
#Toastmasters #worldchampionshipofpublicspeaking#WhereLeadersAreMade #respect #service #integrity #excellence
Infosys Toastmasters Bangalore
#Toastmasters #worldchampionshipofpublicspeaking#WhereLeadersAreMade #respect #service #integrity #excellence
Infosys Toastmasters Bangalore
SPBM Training Run Nandi Hills - 20k
As they say the higher you go the cooler you feel. Similarly, an arduous uphill offers easy downhill. However, you need more power to contain yourself while you run downhill.
SPBM training run 3 brought us the tough Nandi hills. Thanks to NEB sports, one of my travel bucket lists got checked today. That too in sweats in the cold Nandi hills' foggy winding roads.😊
😊
Not to surprize, the ultra cool challenging track helped me achieve a PB for me in 20k distance.
Total time: 1:52:36, 20k.
Yes, and the many hairpin bends confused my smart Tomtom that measured only 19k.
It was a good practice run for the next week's Mysore marathon. It posed a good challenge, enabling me to prepare better and be ready for the royal city.
Happy Challenging!
First Title - InfyRun Team Relay 2017
Then, I focused on academics for career reasons, I went places. Now, I'm focusing on sports for health reasons, I'm running over places.
Ladies and gentlemen, today my team comprising Asha, Abhay, Premkhumarand myself secured second place in 2500 × 4 Team Relay in Infosys Run 2017.
Excitement apart, this was my first podium finish in a corporate running event.
I asked my photographer to get me a matrimonial pic and the result is this. 
😂😂
😂😂
Total time: 10k, 45:50min
Personal pace: 4:27m/k
Personal pace: 4:27m/k
An exhilarating start of a copacetic corporate life - all credit goes to our captains Sampath and Aakriti for breaking our shells of inhibitions.
#BeMore #Infosys #InfosysRun2017 #TeamRelay #InfyDiaries #InfyRun #BeMoreBangalore #HappyFeet
2nd Daughter Taru Born
It's baby girl again!
I tried to study, I did reasonably well.
I tried to acquire entrepreneurial way of life, I ran some miles.
I got married and I superseded all the expectations.
Two kids, after two years of marriage.
😁😁😁
I tried to acquire entrepreneurial way of life, I ran some miles.
I got married and I superseded all the expectations.
Two kids, after two years of marriage.
😁😁😁
Sarcasm apart, both the mother and baby are good and comfortably breathing new life. The star angel is very pretty and giving tough competition to her elder sister in all super girl characteristics.
Now, I finished my race early to give them long track ahead. Wish them luck. Very long they may go. 😊😊😊
🙏🙏🙏
😊😊😊🙏🙏🙏
Trust and verification
Madam Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and dear guests, Good
evening!
Today my speech contains 3 acts. These acts may resemble
some situations you might have experienced in your lives. I would like to have
your attention for next 10 minutes.
Act 1
A century back, on the North Eastern shore of India, there
was a concert (Satsang) organized in the honor of a holy man of that time. Just
before the ceremony, the main singer backed out due to some personal reasons. A
local boy, Narendra, with good vocals was put in as a replacement. The program
was a huge success despite having a novice singer. At the end of the program
the priest approached the boy and asked him, “Oh dear boy! For me you are an
avatar of Lord Vishnu! You have got a heavenly voice, please come to my temple.”
The priest was a very well-known holy man while the boy was
an atheist. When the boy was with his friends, he made fun of the holy man.
The Holy man went
back to his Temple and asked the Goddess, Kali, “O Mother! Please send Narendra
to me! When are you sending him? Please
send him soon!!”
While the boy kept on refuting the madness of the priest, the
priest kept on requesting his Goddess to send his disciple, the same way, every
day for several days.
One fine day, the boy approached the priest, questioning him,
“Who are you? Why am I getting pulled towards you?”
“I knew you would come. My mother listens late but she does
listen to my prayers.”
From that day onward, the boy never left his master.
The boy was none other than Swami Vivekananda and the master
Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
Act 2
Two people - one boy and one girl were truly, madly and
deeply in love. One fine day, the boy asked the girl, “If something happens to
me, will you still love me and be there for me?”
The girl said, “What kind of question is this? Of course, I
will be there for you.”
The Boy said the same thing to the girl.
Seeing how deep their relationship was, their parents
started putting pressure on them to leave each other and focus on their careers.
One day, the girl approached the boy and cried, “My parents have found a match for
me and they are putting pressure on me to get married.”
The boy said, “Don’t break, I am there for you.”
Soon, the boy started getting serious towards his career and
got an admission call from one of the most prestigious colleges in the world.
However, he refused the admission as his priority at the moment was his love.
He didn’t tell his decision to the girl and waited for an opportune time. On
the other hand, the girl had also made up her own mind about the current
situation.
Later that day, the girl finally told him, “You know, last
night I didn’t sleep properly. Both my parents were crying.”
“I love you very much. I can do anything for you. I want you
to remain happy in life. But you know, last night, I thought a lot. I realized,
we may have been together for a year, but my parents have been with me all my
life. They have made me what I am today.”
The boy asked, “What have you decided?”
The girl said, “I love you very much. You are my life. But I
also love my parents. I don’t want to lose them because of you. So, I will
marry the boy my parents choose. “
“What have you decided?” the girl asked the boy.
The boy said, “I also wanted the same for you.”
The boy didn’t tell the girl that he had said “No” to his
dream university - just because he wanted her to be happy.
Act 3
As most of you know, I live in E-City. But before that, I lived
in JP Nagar, where the house owner seemed like a trustworthy fellow. But his
true intentions came out the day I vacated his flat. That day the owner returned
my deposit by paying 62000 in cash and 38000 as a cheque. I vacated happily.
Next week, I got a call from bank that the following cheque had been bounced
due to insufficient funds. I followed the flat owner for 4 months, applied
personal and police threat. Then I got my many back. That two in 3
installments.
Ladies and gentlemen, in all three acts, the situations
unfolded due to the trust of the protagonists.
In the first act, I discussed trust in the divine. We call it
faith - the trust that we have in our kith and kin, where you never doubt them.
However today, we hardly find anyone who can qualify for our faith. You should
trust but verify. We don’t have anything or anyone to have faith in. This is
what the world has become today.
Ramakrishna Paramhansa’s faith in Maa Kaali and faith in Narendra
joining him is rare today. It’s purely emotional.
In the second act, the boy trusted his girlfriend and said
no to a life changing career opportunity. He was at a loss because he trusted
her feeling for him without verifying her situation. Trust cannot be given in
the absence of logic. Emotion drives away logic. Trust is an emotion but
verification is logic.
In the third act, the subject had to incur losses due to professional
courtesy. Here, I gave him my trust as I lived on his property for over three
years.
Believe me, you can trust a flat or a flat owner, but you
should not trust owner who keeps your deposits.
Trust but verify.
Now, I would like to conclude by modifying what I just said.
Trust but … ??? when you can. Thank you
Toastmaster!Toastmasters Club level Associate President Election Pitch
"What you do has far greater impact than what you say.” Steven Covey says.
Respected Election
committee, fellow Toastmasters and dear guests, Good Evening!
I have been a Toastmaster for last
one and half years. I always think Big, but this doesn’t give me a certificate
to lead from the front. However, my past
work experience gives me authority to keep dreaming Big.
I have a vast industrial and
entrepreneurial experience. In my past roles as the AVP and VP of Membership, I
have helped add 77 new members with more than 80% retention rate. I have tried
to build a healthy, competitive learning experience through my iEvolve
initiative that has helped us grow together.
My active participation in
speeches, contests and visits to other clubs have given me better understanding
of club functioning.
As a Club Associate President, my
focus will be member, office and club.
For
members, theirs dreams will by my dream. I have already developed a meaningful
connection and trust with members, and I intend to continue the rapport.
For
office, the officers’ tasks will be my tasks. I intend to lead the team by
example.
For
club, the club’s growth will be my growth. I intend to see my club as the TOP club
in District 92.
Vote
for Surety, Sustainability and Supremacy.
Vote
for me.
Result: I won the club level Assoc. President Election by 33-11.
Toastmasters is a place where you learn to Influence without Authority
Based on numerous feedback from evaluators, I hired one personal Tutor for my Accent and Grammar improvisation. The Tutor has more than 10 years of experience and he is always in demand. I told my reasons for signing up for courses. He was impressed with my sincerity. However, he was not so impressed with the idea of Toastmasters. As he assumed it as less productive forum.
The course went smoothly, I learnt and re-learnt many basics. Now, I'm at the conclusion of the course where I am realizing that I'm still making the same mistake with 'Sh' sound and other tough phonetics. My weakness with 'Articles', 'Genders' and other 'Determinants' are still there but I'm able to find my mistakes easily. I think, learning is life long process. So, I am evolving. I am satisfied with my Tutor.
Coming towards the 'Influence' part, I believe I'm highly influenced by my tutor. So does he. In the beginning, my tutor was apprehensive about the idea of Toastmasters. Now, in the end, he is joining Toastmasters. He visited Mecon Club and Dhavani club. He is joining Dhavani this week. He is giving his CC1 on coming Saturday and wants to complete his communication manual soon.
Ladies and gentlemen this the real testimony of 'Influence without Authority' which I can only learn in Toastmasters. Where a non-Toastmaster becomes a Toastmaster after meeting a Toastmaster. 😄
What's your story?
The course went smoothly, I learnt and re-learnt many basics. Now, I'm at the conclusion of the course where I am realizing that I'm still making the same mistake with 'Sh' sound and other tough phonetics. My weakness with 'Articles', 'Genders' and other 'Determinants' are still there but I'm able to find my mistakes easily. I think, learning is life long process. So, I am evolving. I am satisfied with my Tutor.
Coming towards the 'Influence' part, I believe I'm highly influenced by my tutor. So does he. In the beginning, my tutor was apprehensive about the idea of Toastmasters. Now, in the end, he is joining Toastmasters. He visited Mecon Club and Dhavani club. He is joining Dhavani this week. He is giving his CC1 on coming Saturday and wants to complete his communication manual soon.
Ladies and gentlemen this the real testimony of 'Influence without Authority' which I can only learn in Toastmasters. Where a non-Toastmaster becomes a Toastmaster after meeting a Toastmaster. 😄
What's your story?
Power of Toastmasters - an anecdote
I have a friend on facebook. I hardly have ever talked to him like 70% of my social friends. He is my friend from long, i think from the time of Orkut. Like, I migrated to facebook, our friendship too was migrated to facebook.
During all this years, he never liked, shared my thought of fb feed. I maintained the same benevolence to him and to most of other social friends. However, I believe we keep peeping into each other's lives through our popular posts.
Last night all of sudden, he pinged me to ask if I know any Toastmasters club in Navi Mumbai. And, I gave him huge list. And, he thanked me first time.
The moral of the story is whatever you do, wherever you may go, people are least bothered. But, when you're in Toastmasters, people will come back to you, as you add values to others' lives including yours.
More reasons to continue being in Toastmasters. 👍
