Ice Breaker Speech

NUMBER 6

                Good morning fellow toastmasters and respected guests. It was the 24^th of May (2+4=6) , no it is not the day I was born. It is also not the birth date of anyone I know. As a matter of fact it was a very sad day for many people. It was the day my 10^th standard board exam marks were released. Even though I got a 100/100 in math and 96/100 in science it was a very sad day for me. Why ? To know this we will go a few weeks back in time. It was the time I was fanatic about cell phones. I used to keep asking my parents to buy me one. One day my dad came to me and told that he would buy me a nokia 3110C camera phone, if I got 450/500 in my 10^th board exam. I managed to get only 444/500. So I had lost my all-time favorite phone for 6 marks and settled down for this rubbish motorola. My total had dipped mainly because I got only 73/100 in English. That’s when my bad luck with number 6 started.

                In my 11^th standard I joined IIT coaching hoping that someday I would study in IIT. I dropped out of the classes in 6 months’ time as I could not cope with the pressure. My dreams of getting into IIT were also shattered due to the number 6.

                Two years flew by and it was time for my 12^th standard board results to be announced. This time my dad had offered to gift me a phone worth 15K if I got good marks in my board exams. But this time he allowed me to set the bar above which I would get the phone. I cleverly excluded English this time and told my dad to get me the phone if I get 375/400 in all the subjects except English.

                This time also the results were released on the 24^th of May, the same unlucky day my 10^th standard marks were released. I got 369/400 in all the subjects except English. Overall I got 460/500. So for the second time I lost a dream phone for 6 marks.

                As I involved myself too much in studying for the 12^th board exams for the cell phone and admission into NUS, I did not study properly for the engineering entrance tests. Hence I did not fare well in the entrance exams like JEE,AIEEE,VITEEE,BITSAT etc.

                I was depressed, flabbergasted and in absolute jeopardy. My board marks were not good enough for admission in any good anna university affiliated college nor in any foreign colleges like NUS and NTU and also I was not eligible for admissions in NITs, IITs etc. as I did not do my entrance exams well. Hence I landed in the ECE department of SASTRA University, thanjavur.

                My parents the felt that 460/500 is a very good total and told me that he will buy me the 15k phone that he had promised to buy me if I got above 375/400. By this time I was quite depressed and had lost interest in cell phones. But as both my parents insisted that I buy the phone I agreed. But this small happiness was also short lived as a bombshell came in the form of the rules booklet of SASTRA which said that used of camera mobile phones was prohibited in the campus. Hence I was forced to buy a basic color phone for 2000 rupees. Hence my cell phone ambition was absolutely squashed because of SASTRA which coincidentally has 6 letters. But when I went to college I realized that that rule was meant to be broken and found myself the only person having a basic phone. I was absolutely frustrated and decided that I will never aim or dream of buying a high end phone.

                It was then that I realized that life is not a 100 meter dash where in you run with your eyes open but a 1000 meter hurdles race where you run with your eyes closed.

                It was the time when I was uncertain about my future that I did an one month internship which happened to be the only productive act which I did in my life so far. One day during the internship, my boss came to me and said “ Pranav, you are a very hard worker and a good innovator and inventor. But an innovation is only 50% completed even if is fully developed. The other 50% is how well you communicate and convince the clients that your innovation is unique and better than other similar innovations “ .

                These very words made me realize that there is a lot more in life than grades and marks. These very words made me a new person who views things with a different perspective. These very words made me join toastmasters and stand in front of you all today.

                I don’t know whether my speech was good or bad, but the odds of me getting being the best        speaker today are not in my favor because of this impressive lineup and because today is the 15^th and 1 plus 5 is “  “.