My Toastmaster Speech # 4

Objective: Use vivid imagery to describe the situation that appeals to the audience’s emotions and senses

“Cuckoo Cuckoo” chirruped the birds outside the window; as the golden rays of sunlight and the cold morning breeze together tickled the eyelids to open to the glory of the beautiful morning!

As the eyelids lift the heavy drapes of eyelashes, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee lovingly teases the nostrils and the melody of the morning raga from the radio flows like honey into the ears.

Toast master of the day, fellow toastmasters and guests – a very good afternoon.

Imagine starting a day like that,

Imagine waking up refreshed and looking forward to a relaxed day that stretches ahead of you,

Imagine the luxury of getting the coffee right in the bed and the food served hot in the table soon after stepping out of the bath,

Imagine spending the day lazing around the lush green fields, chatting up with the farmers and having sumptuous meal right under the beautiful banyan tree.

Imagine the evenings spent reading a lovely novel in the balcony enjoying the pleasant weather,

Imagine dozing off soon after the lights are turned out and enjoying an uninterrupted sleep filled with wonderful dreams.

Just the very imagination makes my heart go warm and makes me so alive

“Cuckoo Cuckoo”

“Cuckoo Cuckoo the time is 6:00 am” “Cuckoo Cuckoo the time is 6:00 am”

Ironically the very thought of my normal routine makes me feel dead- especially the way it starts!

Waking up to the blaring alarm clock;

Eating rushed cold breakfast;

Suffering through the traffic jams honking our way out;

The never ending pile of work;

The cardboard like pizzas for dinner;

Hours spent online trying to feign happiness to the social media world;

The late night client calls;

The sleep that never comes even long after the head hits the pillow.

And to top it all off, the nightmares of missed deliverables disturbing our precious little sleep , waking us up groggy eyed and unready for yet another terrible routine I want to break out of.

I want to break out of the blaring noise of the city and go to the place where the nature envelopes me with its sweet whispers.

I want to go somewhere where I can spend the day not worried about any responsibilities.

I want to go back to the time where I had no worries clogging up my mind.

I want to go to those days where all the games I played involved hopping, running and skipping and not scratching and flipping a tablet.

I want to get back to such days I used to spend in my Grandmother’s village during summers.

The blissful days spent at the countryside with all the tiny tots gathered around Granny listening to the fantasy stories savoring the ball of delicious rice that was just dropped onto our palms!

The tasty blend of sambhar, vegetable curry and rice all mixed and mashed together in a big cauldron by Granny’s skillful hands and produced as big round balls – balls bigger than what the little palms could hold!

The stories invariably about a handsome king killing an ugly demon to rescue a beautiful princess – stories that never bored us despite its innumerable repetitions!

The beautiful ponds with the fishes and snakes;

The deep well;

The haunted bungalow;

The lovely fireflies;

The beautiful temples;

The nerve wracking rides in the village fare;

The loving shopkeepers – all in one place – one tiny little place that the state map refused to identify but one which was identified by many a heart and soul!

The time spent together in farms;

Together in gardens playing under the trees;

Together watching movies in the single movie hall;

Together running by the meadows;

And finally dozing off together in the terrace under the canopy of the stars but always waking up in the bed magically.

The togetherness that created a beautiful bonding between the cousins that made us look forward to the summers year after year!

The bonding so strong yet so weak, the bonding with which we grew up but which ceased to exist when the little children entered the forbidden world of adulthood one after the other and became,

The adults who preferred their city friends

The adults who got enchanted by holidays abroad

The adults who got busy with the studies

The adults who got enticed to the Facebooks and PS3s

The adults who started to run after money

The adults who now work so hard that they don’t have time for themselves

The adults who now look back with deep regret for all the times lost

The adults who ponder that:

Sometimes we wish we were children again;

But you know, in life there is no such bargain;

Childhood was laughter; adulthood is pain;

Which we now realize in vain!