The Journey of a Teacher

Let me tell you a story about someone very close to my heart.  Many of you know her well, but I’ll leave you to figure it out who it is..

From a young age, she dreamed of becoming a teacher inspired by her own teachers. As a child, she would play games pretending to be a teacher and always had a deep love for both learning and sharing that love with others. She worked hard, excelled in academics and soon became a teacher in the same school she studied. For four years, she taught with passion and inspired her students. As a young teacher, many of her students saw her as a friend and looked up to her for guidance outside just academics. Parents trusted her because their children listened to her more than anyone else. She made a real difference. 

But life had other plans. She got married and moved to the United States, carrying her dreams with her. As a dependent visa holder, she couldn’t work..

Still, her love for teaching didn’t fade..She found other ways to keep her interest alive. She volunteered at Balagokulam, teaching children about Dharma and cultural values. She even started classes in her apartment community teaching young kids shlokas. While this kept her joy of teaching alive, she was ready to take the next step.

After several years, things changed—she got her work permit. Excited, she decided to start as a substitute teacher since her qualifications from her home country didn’t fully meet the U.S. requirements for a full-time teacher.

She applied, got the offer, and was overjoyed. She completed the fingerprinting process, looking forward to her first day. The night before her first day, she was buzzing with excitement, preparing everything to make the best impression

That morning, she woke up early, dressed with care, and was ready to drive to the school. Just as she was about to leave, her phone rang. It was HR from CMS.

“We’re sorry, but you can’t start today,” they said.

Confused and alarmed, she asked why. Their answer left her stunned: “You failed the drug test.”

She couldn’t understand what had gone wrong. After countless calls and inquiries, she uncovered the issue. She had misunderstood the process. The fingerprinting and drug test were separate steps, and both needed to be completed on the same day. Since she hadn’t completed the drug test, the system automatically marked her as “failed.”

She tried to explain the misunderstanding to HR, but the rules were strict: “Rules are rules,” they said. Her appeals to the superintendent and the school board didn’t help. They told her she couldn’t work in the district anymore. She felt crushed, but she wasn’t ready to give up.

The very next day, she walked into her daughter’s school as a volunteer. If she couldn’t officially teach, she would still volunteer and immerse herself in what she loved most.  For eight months, she dedicated herself to helping children and supporting teachers. Many advised her to take the easy way and find an IT job like most others around her, but she was stubborn in doing it her own way.

Her passion didn’t go unnoticed. The principal and teachers admired her work and encouraged her to apply for a teacher assistant position.

Initially, she hesitated. The pain of her previous rejection still lingered. But the principal and staff believed in her. Their encouragement gave her the courage to try again. But she didn’t tell her previous experience with Principle.

During the application process, the principal discovered her earlier dismissal. Instead of judging her, he asked her to explain. She shared her story—

The principal listened carefully.. He didn’t act like a mere Manager who saw everyone as just a piece of paper,  but a true leader who saw the person. 

Determined to help, the principal took her case to the district. He vouched for her character, her dedication, and he knew the impact she had made in their school community. 

His efforts paid off. She was allowed to retake the drug test. This time, she completed everything perfectly. She passed and was offered the position.

Starting as a teacher assistant was just the beginning. As you guys would know by anyone, she was not someone who settled and got too comfortable. She enrolled in a Master’s program in Education to meet U.S. qualifications and reclaim her dream fully. She managed to balance all her commitments while getting her master’s degree with flying colors. 

Eventually, she achieved her goal. She became a full-time teacher once again with her own classrooms. 

We have a lot of stories in our life. This story isn’t just about rules and setbacks. It’s about someone who never gave up on her dream, no matter the obstacles.

By now, many of you may have figured out who this story is about.I hope her journey inspires you as much as it has inspired me.

My four stages of Sangh

Growing up, my family had no connection with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). My father, influenced by the Dravidian movement, was openly against it. But life has a way of leading us to unexpected paths.

I was in the sixth grade when my brother introduced me to something interesting. “There’s a place where we can play cricket with free bats and balls,” he said. Like every other millennial indian boy, I had always loved cricket but had only played with my makeshift equipment so this offer was enough to get me interested. The place he spoke of was a Shakha, an RSS gathering held in a local temple.

Our Shakha Karyavah, Soundarajan Ji, was a bank manager and the epitome of a true swayamsevak. At first, the games drew me in, but soon, I began to appreciate the structured activities. Every Sunday morning, we met at the temple, and the discipline instilled in me became a cherished part of my routine. Even when no one else came, I saw how Soundarajan Ji would dutifully perform each step and continue to show up each and every week. Seeing this motivated me to come as often as possible. 

This was during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, which the shakhas in Kumbakonam participated with full energy.  One day, there was a march, and without fully understanding its significance, I found myself participating. I was just 12 years old.  The Mahamaham festival, during which the then Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, had imposed restrictions on taking a dip in the sacred tank. RSS opposed this, and I also joined their demonstration. When my father found out about my involvement in these events,  he was furious. That was the day he strictly forbade me from attending the Shakha. This was the end of my first stint in RSS but some things will always find a way back to us. 

The next stage happened via  Samskrita Bharati, an organization dedicated to promoting Sanskrit. I attended a 10-day camp to learn the language, and I was surprised how the immersion in those 10 days truly changed me.  This is where I met Padmaja Ji, whose story left a profound impact on me.

She had been pursuing her BSc when she attended a Samskrita Bharati session. Inspired by its mission, she made a life-altering decision: she would dedicate five years as a Pracharak before considering marriage. Not only did she fulfill this promise to her parents, but she also completed her MCA through correspondence. Her dedication made me realize the power of commitment.

After college, my connection with RSS continued through IT Milan, a special Shakha for IT professionals in Bangalore and Chennai. I was involved in several initiatives, including an open-source Linux project and cleaning abandoned temples. I realized the importance of sewa in RSS and my own life. 

One of the most unforgettable moments of my life was assisting K.S. Sudarshan Ji, the then Sarsanghchalak of RSS, during his visit to Chennai. I still don’t know why I was chosen to spend time with him but I am truly grateful for the experience. In the beginning, the hype surrounding his arrival felt excessive, but it was only when I met him that I truly understood the depth of his discipline and meticulous nature.

For four days, I observed his unwavering routine. He woke up at 5 AM, went for a walk, performed Surya Namaskar and Pranayama, and maintained a disciplined schedule. His commitment to Swadeshi was remarkable.

Sudarshan Ji met intellectuals like S. Gurumurthy, a well-known columnist for The Indian Express. If you’ve seen the movie Guru, Gurumurthy’s character is portrayed by Madhavan. Witnessing their thought-provoking discussions was an honor.

He was also deeply passionate about environmental conservation, and this truly reflected in his actions, not just his words. He believed water should never be wasted, and in RSS offices, he ensured that only as much water as needed was used. Few people know that Sudarshan Ji was a gifted singer and played a key role in developing ‘Niyudh’, the mixed martial arts training in RSS. His dedication to physical training shaped the RSS’s Sharirik Vibhag to this day.

I soon found myself on the other side of the world in the United States as part of my professional journey. My fourth stage to RSS then happened unexpectedly through social media. While browsing Orkut, I liked a post related to RSS. The next day, I immediately received a call from Santosh Prabhu Ji, who encouraged me to attend the local Shakha. Santosh ji had managed to cultivate a shakha and find karyakartas without even meeting them face to face. 

Initially, I attended sporadically, without taking responsibility. But things changed when our Shakha Karyavah had to leave for India due to visa issues. In his absence, the responsibility of managing the Shakha fell upon me. It was a turning point in my journey—I took on shaka daayitwa. 

By this time, I had attended all SSV camps. When we attended our first SSV, my elder daughter Roshini was just five years old, and my younger daughter Dharshini was barely one. 

Looking back, my journey with RSS has been nothing short of transformative. From playing cricket as a child to assisting the Sarsanghchalak, each experience has deepened my understanding of its values and philosophy.

My father once opposed RSS, yet he later asked me to take my younger brother to an RSS camp and he also attended guru puja when I moved to the US. My mother knew that whenever I went to Shakha, I would bring home a guest and she happily served food. Even though they had reluctance to this organization, even they couldn’t ignore the truly positive and life-changing effect it had on me as a person. 

It all started as a simple curiosity to play cricket that turned into a lifelong commitment, shaping the person I am today.

The Next big Thing

Mr, Toastmaster, fellow members and guests,

 

Internet Of Thinks
For past 10 years, whether my earning was increasing or not, my hip size was keep on increasing. Almost every year I have to buy new pants. This year also I bought but smaller size.. First time in my lifetime my size gets reduced to 32 from 36.
Thanks to this device. This device name is fit bit.. It measures my daily footsteps, calories burned, sleeping pattern and hours and send to internet via Bluetooth. From February, I am wearing this and I know exactly how many steps I walked and together I walked around 1500 miles.
It started when my company started initiative called Commit2Fit and gave this device for 100 participants and they have also start giving some gift who ever come top in walking. Over 23 weeks, we all collectively walked 100,214 miles! Essentially, yes together we walk around the world 4 times. During this journey, we all collectively lost 1,426 pounds!
Now I feel very active. My wife used to complain that I was not doing any exercise. But now she is complaining I became addict on walking..
If we use the technology properly, I will help to improve our life style. What is the feature of technology.. Where are we heading.. The feature belongs to wearable device and internet of things.. What is wearable device..
Internet of things.
Internet of things is something where day today device get connected and get advantage of internet resources. Let me tell one example, We all have sprinkler system in our home. It works in simple formula where house is connected with manual clock and based on the time, it open the hose and get water..
Think about the scenario, if it was already raining or if it is going to be rain in 1 hour.. The modern sprinkler which is connected to internet check soils level and get the data from weather.com and switch on sprinkler based on the data.. Sound interesting.. yes.. Everything in the world can be re-invented.. some of thing seem to unnecessary or funny but. like the toaster..
WHO created? Google, Apple, Amazon. Most of the product created by common man.. After internet came in , there is a emerging pattern is sharing the knowledge as free.. There is no cost attached for knowledge and everything is free.
The innovation also followed some pattern.. Some people post the blog of his idea.. People start responding and some body created prototype. Then if you want to make big things.. Create a nice video and post it in crowdfunding site..like kickstarter.. Where you can pledge that you create device and deliver in 1 year..if all people ready, they buy it for u, you will get money and custome .. then start build stuff.
There is no pattern involveed , No venture capitalize.. So get funding may not be the big probem.. then how to make actual product.. There is a solution.You no need to buy all equipment you want.. You can go to the techshop there is one in Chandler where they have all equipment to make everything. 3d PRINTER, cnc, laser cut, water jet ..name what you want.. you just need to pay $70 per month to use all the equipment.. Sound interested.. They also teach lession and give certificate to use that equipment.
We know there emerging pattern, where we can build everything locally. There is lot of room for new innovation.. Now what we want .. we need to know how to make makers? how to raise our children to make something..

if you have idea , you can make it rellity.. 3d printers are available form $300..
I do suggest to start with hackerclub in library.. Most of the library has free accesst to 3d printer…
There are many maker club available. Once u lear basic, you can also join techshop and start making actual stuff.
Everything can be re-invented. We are designed to not just use things.. but to design and make things.. Never in the history we have knowledge in reosur to do things in home..
The future is belog to desinger, story teller, and maker..
Happy making..
Now I can answer your question related to maker moveme,wearable device, internet of things or techshop. Thanks

 

 

Moral of the story- Try again

Have you seen a kid that was successful when trying to stand for the first time? Kids fall several times when learning to stand. But, they never give up … they try again & again … and finally, succeed one day. When we were kids, we never gave up. But, as we grew, we indent to give up so soon.

Today, I’m going to share a real story… the story of the person who succeeded in his life just because “He tried once more and didn’t give up”.

 

There was a boy and his mother lived in small village. They had one cow and their lives depend upon the milk from the cow. His father passed away when he was doing school.  it was his mother who run the family by selling cow’s milk. Every day both mom and son get up early in the morning and go to near by street to sell milk. Their lives were going on peacefully.  One day, there was decease spread and their only cow died. Their only source of income was gone. They were so sad but not disappointed. but he couldn’t continue schooling.  he joined in tea shop as a tea boy.. Tea boy is a person who get tea from tea shop for deliver near by grocery shop..

All his friends joined collage near to his shop. When he go out if he suppose to see any of his friends .. He use to hide and come out only after they crossed the road. He wanted to study .. But his financial circumstance not allowed.. Night time, he joined type writing class and passed all exam… One day, he saw his friends coming, as usual he hide near by and waited till they cross the street. It took much time and the tea get cold.. As it cold the grocery shop people returned the tea.. the tea shop owner get angry and fired him. He was so sad..

As he stopped going to his type writing class, his type instate teacher asker his whether his is willing to work in his training institute. He accepted offer since the instate is 5 miles in his place. He applied bank loan and buy a new bicycle.. he was so happy as he could buy cycle in his salary. One day after  he came back, his cycle was missing someone stolen the cycle. He cried.. By seeing this the teacher gave his cycle to him..

 

He got a temporary leave vacancy post as a typewriter. He was very happy but that job was only 2months. He was writing all the exam and finally go selected state government job… finally he got the job before all his friends. he   married to women and got 2 kids. He wanted  his sons to achieve what he can’t.  He sold his wife’s jewels and used all his savings.. He spend money to make his sons degree

 

I have known this milkman for “many many” years. He is a person that I respect. He is my inspiration. I have the privilege of calling this grocer my “Dad”. Yes, the milkman is none other than my father.

If my father had given up after his failures, I may not be standing in front of you today delivering this speech. I may be cleaning empty coffee cups in a restaurant.
I am grateful and thankful to my father for the valuable lesson he taught me.

So, ladies & gentlemen, whenever you face failures in life, “Don’t give up… Try again”.

Think about some of your greatest achievements in life. You achieved them because you worked hard; you continuously fought against failures & you never gave up.

Now, I want you all to repeat what I say, “I’ll never give up … no matter what… I’ll try again and again, until I succeed”.

 

Everything happens for the good

Do you remember that long weekend drive? You were driving a rental vehicle. No matter how hard you press the gas pedal, the speedometer doesn’t cross the 65 mph mark. A dude in his early 20s, zooms in front of you in his convertible and vanishes from your eyes, in no time. You feel bad about your inability to drive fast. You cross a few miles. You see the same convertible pulled over to the roadside. There is also a cop vehicle with glazing lights standing next to the convertible. Yes. The dude got a speeding ticket. You are happy that you weren’t able to drive fast.

We get frustrated when things do not happen the way we expect. We loose hope. But, everything in this world happens for the good. Today, I’m going to share a story from my personal life.

It was 1996, I have done 10th standard, I had 2 options After 10th standard, we had two option either continue schooling or join vocational training and get the job as soon as possible. I wanted to earn money soon.. I wanted to join vocational training in electronic ..

for timing being, have joined 11th standard,  I had a dream to became electronics engineer so wanted to pursue diploma in electronics..I was keep on applying all the government colleage… The reason is, we no need to pay anything in got the call from government collage. I was very happy.. I told my school and gave farebell party .. I was so happy that I am going to me.

I was called to interview.. me and my Father went inside..They are very happy and gave form to fill.. In th from, my father read it is “ diplamo in civil enginer” .. But I wanted to do electrical or Mechanical… I lost the hope.. I got afraid how I am going to look all my frinds. I was so disappointed. Because I missed chance to became elecirican..

So we decided to not to join.. .. I compeltd physics and joined master in computer application..

Finally I got the job which I liked now.. but never though I can do this .If i think about that incident, It was very good for my .. If i had joined there, I would have been working in Mechanical shop in India daily wages.. I would have missed the chance of exploring the world and interact witht he peple with other cutlre..

So, Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

The next time you miss a flight, the next time you loose a job  or loose your girld frined. or boy friend.-

. Be patient and don’t loose your hope. There is something better that waits for you in the future. “Everything happens for the good”.

 

Whose fault was it?

Whose fault was it?

 

Toastmaster, fellow member and guests,

We would be punished, if we act against the Law. What would be the punishment if we act against the moral? As per Hindu religion, All Good and bad deeds are recorded and will be punished or awarded after death. There is a book named” Karuda Puran” which list the punishment for each moral crime.

Whether it is true or false, whether there is going to happen anything after death, these were created for good to make people afraid to not commit any mistakes morally.

I was very lucky grown up in Joint family and stayed with my grand parents.. My grand mother used to tell stories daily. In my school days, i always fight with my brother and often put all blame on him and complain about him to my parents and grand parents. One day I complained to my grandparent that my brother broke my pencil box. Thought I was not sure how it was broken.. My Grandma asked… How do you know about that? I said I guessed… that time my grandma told the story…

Once upon a time there lived a rich man who was very generous .He was so generous and he was donating all his wealth to poor people. People all over the world travel to him to get help. Seeing his popularity his  neighbor was very jealous about him.

One day 4 poor priest came to the person home from very distance. The rich man happily donated whatever things he can. Those priests were very very happy…  In those days, priest doesn’t eat food from other and they started preparing food. They were so tired and slept after preparing food. In that time a poisonous snake was passed. A hungry eagle saw the snake.. Immediately he flew very fast and cached the snake and flew again.. The poor Snake was trying to escape but could it.. Eagle was flying on top the ground where priest were sleeping. Suddenly, the poison from snake came and felt to the ground and directly into the food. The entire priest got up and without knowing this fact the priest eating food happily and after some time they all died. Believe me I literally cried after hearing this story. Let us stop the story now and give some brief introduction.

As per Hindu tradition.. We have thousands of Gods and Godess.. YAMA is the God of death. He is in charge of get back the man to hell or heave after death.It is believed that he has the record of all our good and bad things and person would be punished after death. His assistance name is ChitraGupth.  He is the incharge or recording all the Good and bad. Even we celebrate Chitra Gutha birthday to please him so that he write good about us. Citraguth was analyzing the killing of priest. Killing of priest is big sin and he is looking whose fault was that..  Do you know whose fault was that? Was it rich man fault, Snake fault or eagle fault?  He was so confused and he couldn’t come up with any decision and he asked his master YAMA.. Yama also didn’t’ know the answer. It seems they can’t close the case saying ‘no evidence’.. They have to find who is responsible of that sin.  Then Yama, the God of death said, ok we will decide later. Next day, another 3 poor people going to see rich man. aand they stoped and asked rich person address in his neighbour home. .The lady said showed the address after they passed she laughted amd  whispering to her husband

He killed 4 people yesterday and goingto kill another 2 today and they laughed. By seeing this God YAMA called his assistance ChitraGutha.. Chitraguth, Put all  the blance/sin on that lady account who incorrectly blame good person without knowing what was happened..

She deserved that punishment… After her death she was punished for this sin. That was the story and my grandma said don’t just guess and put blame anyone without knowing the fact. Believe me ,  I really got afraid after this story.. Everything when I was trying point someone, this story came to my mind

This tale provides a valuable lession – “Don’t blame anyone without knowing the fact”. Though these kind of fault is not punishable here but will be punished after death.

 

A pocket laboratory

Madam Toastmaster ,fellow members and guests,

Do you want to build your own computer in 2 minutes?

I am a computer programmer. My life  got  changed after i got introduced with computer. I love what I am doing in my work…Let me tell when I first touched computer..

I first touched computer when I joined my master in computer application. Till then, I didn’t get chance to touch computer. In my collage  we had single computer lab where all the student  should use. We hardly get 1 or 2 hours per week. I practiced programming in paper where I only get time to type and run in front of computer. There were no enough time to think in front of computer..I was thinking that time, how it would be if computer was cheap which I could afford. But it was not happened on that time.. Now it became reality my daughter..

I am going to introduce $35 , small wonder, little pocket laboratory . The name of this device is Raspberry Pi .. It is designed and manufacturer by RaspberryPI foundation , UK.  It is not something you can eat .. it is credit card size computer that can be used for what your desktop and laptop do such as word processing, spreadsheet  playing game, listening music and playing high definition video.. The Raspberry Pi is deliciously simple, but it’s still a tasty – and cheap

This little wonder can do many things, it also help advance in technology.

what can you do using this..The Raspberry Pi is a complete system—connect a USB keyboard/mouse and a DVI/HDMI monitor to it and you are ready to go! The Linux operating system kernel and the root file system have to be present on the SD card. It support various version of linux operating system..There are predinfed software installed using that you cna create your own game…etc..You can also use play video.. browse etc..

If you are not computer geek, still you can use this as Xbox Media Center”. You can connect into your TV and watch video, listing song, display photos, browse.. You can also control the operation using free smart phone remote..You just need to change the SD card to cover this into media center. If you want to try other operation system. You just need to spend 2/3 $ where you can install .. I have 10 different SD card for different OS…

You can convert this into video streamer and lively telecast the what your DOG and CAT doing to the world 24/7.  So the opportunity is limitless.

The main important  is , it helps children to learn programming and it cost is less even schools children can buy with their pocket money.. There is a program pre-installed is scratch which is designed for children. It is very easy to create game using that.. you just need to know who to solve the puzzles.

Why children need to learn early? Are they going to make money out of it?

I bought book on Java programming 15 years before, the name of the book is ” Mastering Java in 21 days”.. But i am still reading and not master at all.. So it should take at least 10 years or 10000 hours to master in any subject. So our kids should start learning from school so that they can do something productive when the go to job.

Some people think, they can’t learn or create programming.. but you may not know what you are good at until you tried once..

Unfortintley , computer literacy means just knowing how to use..but it should be how to do something creative with computer..

I want my Kids should be technology creator not just consumer.. I can’t give my $1000 laptop and screw driver to my daughter to do research.. but i can give this $35 chip to my daughter and she can do whatever she wants.. She can do something creative.. Even after some research if she burned this , i would be happy that she learned something and buy new one..

So are you ready to buy this small wonder?

I do believe, this is the best gift you can give for your loved ones.. Please feel free to contact me if you need moredetials.

 

Universal peace through Dharma and Yoga

Mr Toastmaster , fellow members guests..

Great Alexander tried to conqueror world to establish peace..He couldn’t do that..What is the way to establish piece through out the world.. I am sure , it can’t be done by force..I am going to give a recipe for piece from  eastern philosophical book known ad Vedas.

 Peace through Dharma and Yoga.

 What is Yoga and What is Dharma?

 Let me take a Yoga first,

 I believe, this word is most misinterpreted and became commercialized.What is commonly referred to as “yoga” can be more accurately described by the Sanskrit word asana/posture,

 Yoga is from Sanksrit language word and it is generic term for physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines which originated in ancient India

Yoga is a tool for internal peace…

There are 4 types of Yoga for physical memntal and spritual discipleins..

Karma Yoga/ Selfless work or Service to the People

Bakthi Yoga/ Unconditional love to the God and other people

Jyana Yoga/ path of knowledge to get selfcontrol and piece.

Raja Yoga/ Getting Physcal and Mental strength

Karma Yoga:

It says, selfless work or service without expecting outcome..The first step to get internal satification or piece . It says, we should help some one whom we don’t know and we don’t expecting anything from them.  We start doing this kind of activities more and more …It give more internal piece for us. Helping without expect anything.

Bhakthi Yoga:

Bhakthi Yoga means unconditional love, Love without expecting any retun ..

In today love, we love others only if other people love us.. Most of the problem start when we  start thinkingwhether other people really love me orr not..But if I stop thinks whether othr people love me or not, i am going to love uncondtionally.. We should also have same kind of love to God.. Whatever bad happen we should love god unconditionally. Some people stop worshiping god if there is problem..

ghana Yoga:

ghana Yoga:  It is a path of Knowedge to get piece. By acquiring deep knowledge about God/Universal or any subject once can build confident and self piece.It is lack of knowledge about the universal we start thinking we are big. if we start thinking how big the uiverse and our part of universe we realize how small we are..

Raja Yoga.    Raja yoga  means, it says, by having strong mind and body once can attain peace… For Strong body, There are prescried Asanas/postured which we generally call Yoga.. and Strong midn medication and Breathing teqniue are prescriped.

There are the types of yoga..

Now what is Dharma?

Dharma is for external peace.  Dharma is Way of Life.

Let say, There is Student Therma.. Student dharma says to study and gaining knowldge,  respect parents and teachers.

We have highway Dharma..  follow rules… Be on right if we are going bit slow.

Indian philasophy descried Dharma for each profession.. There is soldure Dharma.. It says, fight with enimies.. , Stop fighting if  your enemiy is weapon less or surrendered.  Don’t fight during night time.. Don’t kill your enimes from backside ..etc.. We should define our Dharma and follow at any cause in our life.

Why Dharma and Yoga is needed?

In this world, most problem are due lack of physical ,mental and spritual descipline. There are so many Gun shoooting happened.. Everytime, we are all talking about Gun Control.. But it is not Gun which is doing Mass distruction.. it is people who uses Gun.. if we control gun , they find other way to do mass distruction.. So it is not Gun Control, it is self control and physical, mental and spritual descipline required. and there is one way to get self control as per Indian philosophy.  Madam toastmaster.

 

The Last Train

About 60 years ago, in 1947, August 14th, thousands of people were waiting in the Railway station in Lahore, Pakistan. They are crying and screaming. They all look so afraid.. The situations there were really so wired.. They all were waiting for the last train. Who were they? Why are they waiting for the train?

Mr. Toastmaster, fellow members and Guests,

It was the day my country split into two parts and two countries were founded on the basis of religion. Pakistan as an Islamic state and India as secular one. The next day would be the freedom of my country from 350 years of British presence. It should be the happy moment.. But it became very tragic moment in the history of India. Everything in my country split into two parts. Even 8 times Olympic gold winning hockey team split into two parts and 5 people went to Pakistan. Government provided support for Elite people to move to the region of the country where they wanted.  But they ignored 15 million common people. Initially they all decided to stay wherever they born and brought up. But someone has started killing minority religion in some part of the country and the chain reaction started. In both parts of the country people were started killing minority religion. With in a day, 15 million people became refugees in their own country a started crossing border to the region which is unknown to them. They are the people waiting in the railway station to move other parts of the country.

A Whistling sound…The most expected train came..  But the train already filled with 10 times of capacity. But there is no way. It was the last train of united India. if they miss the  train, they might have been killed or need to live with fear always.. People in the train decided to throw out all the luggage so there would be some place for other people. Finally somehow all the people get into to the train.

The train was about to started.  From the distance, a pregnant lady was screaming.. She was almost 9th month pregnancy… She couldn’t walk. She was crying “Help me…I lost my husband and parents during the religious riot. I wanted my child to be safe Pls help me” she was crying… Some Youngster in the train helped her to get in the train. The train started.  The train was crossed the river. It was very beautiful place. But no one in the mood to enjoy the beauty.. Everyone was so sad as they are leaving the place where they born and brought up.. They were in the place for 100s of generation. About a week ago, they were were business man who owned a shop, some of the school children and some of them were students  but  now they all are refugees .. The country where they born  became enemy country and the neighbors who were very close to them became enemy..

When they train crossed Lahore…There was a huge sound.. The pregnant lady got labor pain..She was wailing.. Some people came and helped her. Finally after an hour of pain, she delivered twins. But unfortunately, one of them had born dead.

She hugged her stillborn baby and began to wail. Other people suggested to throw the dead child as the journey take another day. But that poor mother refused to do so..  She atlest wanted to do last rites.. . She got afraid whether the people might have thrown the dead child.. So she hugged her dead child… She was so tired after delivering the baby and she slept..Another set of people started getting into the  train..  Now people there decided that would be the right time to throw the dead child as mother was sleeping. But mistakenly, they thought the sleeping child which was lay down in the train was dead child and trowed out the train.. Without knowing this mother was sleeping..

Train reached to Delhi. It was August 15th 1947, Independence day of my country. There was a huge celebration. Everyone was sharing sweets and hailing Gandhi..The mother woke up and looking for her son. She asked everyone in the station… She wailed and her last hope also gone … No one was heard her wailing as everyone was busy in celebration Independence day..

It is the story of one family out of 1 million people got killed during those days. The newly formed Government was completely unequipped to deal with large scale migration and massive violence and slaughter occurs in both side of the borders. At lest 1 million people got killed and 15 million people were forced to leave their home as refugees. It was one of bloodiest even in the History. The partition of India and the creation of Pakistan in 1947 was a terrific mistake. Unfortunately, we can’t rewind history..

Eureka Moment

Madam Toastmaster, fellow members and guest,
What is your very first creative moment, aha moment, eureka moment you remember?Tonight I am going to talk about my first eureka moment in my life which I felt I achieved something..

When I was 12 year old, i was studying 7th grade, during my summer vacation, one of my friend joined 1 month crash course where they thought ‘how to repair Radio’. I was very much interested to join that course.. When I asked my father, he denied saying that he can’t pay the fees.  Then somehow I convinced him and joined that course. I learned the basic electronics for a Month.  After that, I decided to build my own radio as we didn’t have radio in our home. My grandmother sponsor money and I bought all the small things required to build radio. It cam be around 150 rupees which is around $3. I almost worked for month in soldering and assembling each part. Finally,  After a month of great struggle, when i heard the first voice came from the radio which I built, I was so happy and didn’t have the words to tell how much happy i was.. .. That was the first Eureka moment i felt first time in my life.. Not only me, my entire family very happy. My grand mother called almost all the neighbors to show the radio… Though I was not invented anything new and i just follow the instruction and build the Radio. Somehow I felt I have done something worthwhile and I showed all my friends.
I spent enormous amount of time and as much money required to buy new radio in shop. But i felt something special about that .and I used to listen Radio more. Still my parents are using the Radio which I created.

After that, I was quit popular in my school as “Radio Mechanic”. My friends and relatives asked me to built radio for them .Every time when I built something .. I felt very happy and felt Aha moment..

Believe me the Smartphone which i have purchased never gave the happy than the less than $3 worth Radio which I created.When my 5 year old dauguther wanted to use computer to play game. I want to give some tool which she can use and do something creatilvy.  As a electronics geek, I bought a this mini computer chip, Name of this chip is Raspberry PI. It is just $25. .  I installed Linux operating system  in the card and insert the card in this chip. We connected connect monitor, keyboard, mouse and power cable and it works perfectly. I connected internet and installed some games and gave it to my daughter.. It is not as much powerful as apple or windows laptop and it gave the  happiness of building my own computer and I started using this more than my powerful laptop..

I want to my daughter use this half packed product and use her skill and give better result. Yes,, When I though how to use computer to my daughter  and I said computer is in every field and doing all the work.. Without thinking further, she asked. Dad, do this computer feed my cat and fish. :).  I didn’t expect that question.. Then, I said yes. it will if we guide how to do that.. We started project…

By using this Cardboard, ultrasonic sensor to find distance between object and this small motor we built a pet feeder which open close when the cat came close by..

My daughter is very happy as her computer can feed her Cat. She started showing this to all her friend and she was very happy because this was her idea to feed cat.. I saw she exited lot and see the eureka moment in her eyes.. We also did change to feed fish daily and we don’t need to worry about the fish if we were out for vacation.

We need to create things, When we don’t create things just using things created by other, we become defined by out tastes rather than ability.. I strongly believe, ability is much more important than taste…

Finally this my 10th speech, Never in my life I imaged i can come up with something original in writing.. In last 10 speeches, whenever i complete writing speeches, I felt the eureka moment and had a feeling I achieved something. So create something new, hack something, write something   and feel the Eureka moment…