Sharing with you the full transcript of my Ice breaker speech at Zensar Toastmasters Club, Pune.
Speech Title: Dear Vishnu
Fellow Toastmasters, my name is Vishnu.
Last Sunday I got this letter in my mail. I thought I should read this for you all.
It says,
Dear Vishnu,
I write this letter to you today not because you "wanted" me to, but because deep within you know you "needed" me to. I write this letter not to tell the world who you are, but to tell YOU who you are.
I hope you do remember, dear Vishnu, that you were born some 40 yrs ago, no sorry 30 yrs ago, in a middle class south Indian family who already had a rock-star ideal son and were expecting a girl child. It took you time to realize, but I knew that you were born the same day as Dimple Kapadia and Shilpa Shetty. Maybe that's where you get your dimples and that figure. It may have been some consolation for your parents, dear Vishnu, but you were a lot more than just Shilpa Shetty.
You grew up in a town in central India amongst friends who knew not a single word of your mother tongue Malayalam. In fact, it took you 15 yrs to figure out how to write your own name in Malayalam and about half to know how to do it in Marathi. You do remember don't you, That you grew up only to be confused later whether you're a bad Malayalee or a bad Marathi. Nevertheless, whether you're a bad Malayalee or a bad Marathi doesn't matter because you do know, Vishnu, that you are one awesome hybrid Indian.
Although you went to a not so great school, got not so great grades yet successfully got into a not so great college. Although you got placed in a not so great company at a not so great package and in 2 yrs left it for obviously a not so great reason, you learnt the essential skill of how to learn what you want to learn. Always remember, dear Vishnu, it is that skill that helped you become a better than ever coder, a better than ever manager, a better than ever data scientist, the best possible son, although a not so great husband.
You've been through a lot dear Vishnu, you've shutdown Moody's Corporation's International network for an hour by not adding a semi colon to the end of a piece of code. You've recited squares of numbers from 1 to 61 correctly while you were drunk the first time. You've married the girl you fell in love with, you've designed the one and only machine learning based lender for rural farmers in India and you've also been through the sorrow of losing your first child to a rare genetic disorder. You've seen a lot Vishnu as you've grown from an annoying younger sibling who stole pocket money to being an independent earner for your family. You've seen the world change around you Vishnu. But both you and I know deep within that you're still that child who ran a razor blade across random scooters seats just to see how well it tore them, you're still that child who set a paper plane on fire to see it fly, the child who cried to get out of trouble and the same child who shamelessly blamed his brother for his mistakes. Remember, dear Vishnu, that no matter what you go through or see, you are who you are and not what the world wants you to be.
As I run out of space on this piece of paper let me conclude my dearest friend. I know you better than anyone ever can. I've known you so well that I know you'd be reading this out in front of an audience in Pune. But that's not why I wrote this letter to you, isn't it? I wrote this letter to you so that you know who you are. I reminded you of your past not because it affects you, but because you are a result of all your experiences. You are who you are because of all the good that happened to you in spite of all the bad that you went through. You are who you are right now. Not what the past crashed you into.
And I think you've already understood that, because you may have realized it well by now that this letter, from Vishnu to Vishnu. This letter that Vishnu has written to his earnest self, this letter which is showing you your true self in front of the world...
...is, in fact....
.... just a BLANK piece of paper.
Speech Title: Dear Vishnu
Fellow Toastmasters, my name is Vishnu.
Last Sunday I got this letter in my mail. I thought I should read this for you all.
It says,
Dear Vishnu,
I write this letter to you today not because you "wanted" me to, but because deep within you know you "needed" me to. I write this letter not to tell the world who you are, but to tell YOU who you are.
I hope you do remember, dear Vishnu, that you were born some 40 yrs ago, no sorry 30 yrs ago, in a middle class south Indian family who already had a rock-star ideal son and were expecting a girl child. It took you time to realize, but I knew that you were born the same day as Dimple Kapadia and Shilpa Shetty. Maybe that's where you get your dimples and that figure. It may have been some consolation for your parents, dear Vishnu, but you were a lot more than just Shilpa Shetty.
You grew up in a town in central India amongst friends who knew not a single word of your mother tongue Malayalam. In fact, it took you 15 yrs to figure out how to write your own name in Malayalam and about half to know how to do it in Marathi. You do remember don't you, That you grew up only to be confused later whether you're a bad Malayalee or a bad Marathi. Nevertheless, whether you're a bad Malayalee or a bad Marathi doesn't matter because you do know, Vishnu, that you are one awesome hybrid Indian.
Although you went to a not so great school, got not so great grades yet successfully got into a not so great college. Although you got placed in a not so great company at a not so great package and in 2 yrs left it for obviously a not so great reason, you learnt the essential skill of how to learn what you want to learn. Always remember, dear Vishnu, it is that skill that helped you become a better than ever coder, a better than ever manager, a better than ever data scientist, the best possible son, although a not so great husband.
You've been through a lot dear Vishnu, you've shutdown Moody's Corporation's International network for an hour by not adding a semi colon to the end of a piece of code. You've recited squares of numbers from 1 to 61 correctly while you were drunk the first time. You've married the girl you fell in love with, you've designed the one and only machine learning based lender for rural farmers in India and you've also been through the sorrow of losing your first child to a rare genetic disorder. You've seen a lot Vishnu as you've grown from an annoying younger sibling who stole pocket money to being an independent earner for your family. You've seen the world change around you Vishnu. But both you and I know deep within that you're still that child who ran a razor blade across random scooters seats just to see how well it tore them, you're still that child who set a paper plane on fire to see it fly, the child who cried to get out of trouble and the same child who shamelessly blamed his brother for his mistakes. Remember, dear Vishnu, that no matter what you go through or see, you are who you are and not what the world wants you to be.
As I run out of space on this piece of paper let me conclude my dearest friend. I know you better than anyone ever can. I've known you so well that I know you'd be reading this out in front of an audience in Pune. But that's not why I wrote this letter to you, isn't it? I wrote this letter to you so that you know who you are. I reminded you of your past not because it affects you, but because you are a result of all your experiences. You are who you are because of all the good that happened to you in spite of all the bad that you went through. You are who you are right now. Not what the past crashed you into.
And I think you've already understood that, because you may have realized it well by now that this letter, from Vishnu to Vishnu. This letter that Vishnu has written to his earnest self, this letter which is showing you your true self in front of the world...
...is, in fact....
.... just a BLANK piece of paper.
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