All are Human

This is a small recollection of my journey as an orator. With 15th Aug around the corner; I remember my first appearance on stage as a speaker.

I was studying in second grade, when one day early in the morning, I was overwhelmed with patriotism. The day was Indian Independence Day. I felt like pouring all my nationalism into a speech (just 1 page scripted in my big bold handwriting).

I quickly wrote all my feelings and gratitude for the freedom fighters and conveyed my mother about the "Eureka" feeling. As supportive as ever, she allowed me to take that piece of writing to my Principal and request him to allow me to speak.

I was bubbling with enthusiasm and I did not care about the audience or anybody else. Till this day, I am amazed, how my Principal allowed me to speak on the writing, I had. I don't remember the applause, I got, but I was satisfied that I could vent out my feelings for "My Country".

Things changed; as I grew up. By standard fourth, I started feeling shy and steadily developed a fear for public - speaking. The audience, who were never visualised as scary people, had gained a lot of emphasis as bad critics.

On one of the D days, I goofed up the show. There was a face in the crowd that continuously mimed my gestures; and that was enough for me to forget everything.

It was hard for me to come back. I used to start the speech and come back mostly messing it all up. My mother, who had been preparing my speeches for various competitions, gave up on me. She left me to do an introspection.

The guilt of losing to my instincts was killing me and so I decided to take a leap on my own. In one of the debate competitions, I prepared myself very harshly and took the note along with me. This time I had to hit the front in any case. After trying once or twice, I was back with a bang.

As a teacher, trainer, participant, I have come a long way and have exercised my oration in vivid ways. There is no assurance (from within or outside) that my continuity may never break, but now I remain prepared for the "losing grounds".

Some are born orators and some delve deep to become one. A good public speaker needs the grit and guts to face the crowd. A lot of preparation on the material, to be expressed, has to be done beforehand. Sometimes a bit of nervousness keeps one up-to-date.

All of these are achieved only when we consider ourselves and the other as "only human". We are born with some inhibitions which can present itself in various ways. But this life and its journey, throughout, provide many opportunities to overcome them. The dialogue of one of the Hindi movies (Sholey) -"Jo dar gaya wo mar gaya (The cowards can never survive)", holds very true for all our fears.

Note, there is always a face in the crowd that can scare us any time. But if we reflect on the lost battle, it is always we, who had yielded to the face. This is again a human weakness.

The habit of yielding to anyone else's attitude/thought/expression can take all the happiness from ones life if they are considered beyond a limit. Let us be free from all weaknesses of human mind.

All are human, and so the best you can do is to keep forgiving people and liberate every soul from malice by putting on a good face on the march of adversity.

Move Ahead and Show the World What You Are. Happy Independence Day!