Shrenik Shah survived advanced vocal cord cancer in 1997 with a nine-and-a-half-hour surgery and 25 rounds of radiotherapy that took his natural voice. An implanted speaking device let him talk again, and he became the world's first vocal cord cancer survivor turned professional speaker, delivering over 5,000 talks worldwide.
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Hello once again. Abundant Harish Mehta with the great Shrenik Shah, Sound of Silence talks, the hero who is living his life to his full. And I must share with you, he has been invited to speak at a conference by the Malaysian Speakers Association in May. And here today, he will be sharing his during and after story during the process of You remember during the process of that, those feelings which he went through and how he won those moments in his mind. And today, as he shares, you will observe His greatness and his will and desire to come out and share with you today the joy of living again, the joy of living the life he deserves, and the joy of living the life he He was born to live, notwithstanding that few years when he went through that. And God tested him beautifully. And today, as he speaks, you will see he has the power within him to share The joy of going through this, and now today, the joy of sharing with all of you. So, Shrenik, let's have a detailed peek into your sharing, caring, so that people will listen, learn. And imagine, if Shrenik can do it, I can do it too. Over to you, my friend. Go ahead.
Thank you. Thank you, Paliji, for as always wonderful introduction, and I am Delighted being a part of your life chapter as a professional speaker, and, uh, let's rock the world, friends. From me, the mentor of the 1997, that is before 25 years. It was a life of touch and go, life of a survivor, and I was really not aware what is supposed to be tomorrow morning. That was the situation in August 1997. As a matter of fact, I was feeling, I was feeling like I am drowning in the water at the bottom of swimming pool because The opening of my windpipe or trachea that was getting blocked by vocal cord tumor, a big-sized vocal cord tumor. I must share with the dear that I had no habit of smoking, never touched of a growing and evolved non-alcoholic and strict vegetarian. But I feel that, you know, God has planned something unusual, very critical situation for me. And like we appear in many jobs, In your, in your 3 exams, this was the exam of the life. And I must tell you that throughout my this exam, Lord Krishna was all around me. Trust me, Lord Krishna was all around me. And he himself motivated me for what I am today as a professional speaker, leadership coach, and mentor. Coming to my journey of August 1997, in the last week of August I started bleeding and I was advised to consult the cancer surgeon here in Ahmedabad, a young gentleman. And I, along with my wife Neelam, went there. He examined me during that 1-month period. I lost my weight by more than 7 to 8 kilos. I was literally in a breathless condition. To be honest, I was dying for survival. Yes, I was dying for survival. Doctor examined me. And he said, you are into advanced stage of vocal cord cancer, and unfortunately you really don't have much of the time unless you undergo massive surgery, and we may— we need to remove your vocal cord. That means You will be without an extra voice forever. And if you don't, that when you know what is going to be outcome. The situation was so terribly bad that in less than 10 seconds, I agreed for undergoing massive surgery along with my wife. My wife did support me that let's go because we really don't have a choice. And next day I was admitted. Now I must share a very sensitive issue or sensitive matter. Perhaps you may like, perhaps you may not like, but I prefer not to hide anything. So when a surgery of vocal cord is to be made, A stoma, or in a plain word, hole. W-H-O-L-E. No, it is H-O-L-E. One inch diameter hole is to be made in the middle of the throat and the breathing But thought-breathing plane is closed from thoughts to this trauma, and that's the reality forever. But at many, at many times I have mentioned in my lectures that instead of breathing from thoughts When I am breathing from stoma, I feel like I am having a safe lane. I wait safe lane so much press highway in my throat. Yes, of course, I need to be careful that water doesn't go inside. Otherwise, I am booked for going to the heaven. But well, that is. Not important at the moment. And so it was 9 and a half hours long surgery and followed by 25 rounds of radiotherapy. That every single radiotherapy dawned my head Skin like a charcoal. It was as similar as a charcoal, as a coal, or not this hair but black hair. And I was literally without natural voice. One more thing I would like to add here, friends. When we have some specific organ, for example, eyes, ear, etc., without that we really realize the importance of some organs because, you know, things are going in a usual manner. But when you lose something, Then and then we realize what is a particular importance of that organ. And my dear friends, I lost my natural speaking ability, the ability for verbal communication forever, and I was into इंटरनेट बिजनेस मार्केटिंग एंड इन दोस्ते दैट वाज़ नो इंटरनेट, नो डिजिटल फ़ोन, नथिंग एंड वी प्रेडिबल नो फ्रॉम तू मेनी इंडिविजुअल्स लाइक वो दिस आर अमिताभ बच्चन जो बोलता है वही बिकता है एंड आई लास्ट दैट बोलता है जो From my body, but that was not the end of the journey. It was a beginning of the new chapter, jumping from one to the other. For three months, I managed communication through pen and paper. But dear friends, tell me who was more tired. Don't read your note. To respond to you verbally, and then you again keep on writing. But as I said earlier, God was evidently kind to me, and I was advised to use this embedded device.
And friends, the divine intervention came through this device.
Exactly, exactly.
And that's your life today.
Yes, yes, absolutely. And that divine intervention went back in me He is a Himalayan miracle in my life. A businessman and a family man who was totally introvert turned extrovert. And I must say, God was too kind to change the game of my life as a speaker.
Imagine.
The loss of natural voice, and now that loss itself innovated and leveraged as a— Exceptional opportunity as a professional speaker. And my dear friends, don't be surprised I am 1,000% fortunate that I am the world's first vocal cord cancer survivor turned into professional speaker and can fortunately deliver more than 5,000 talks as such all over the world. My journey featured everywhere— podcasts, interviews, medical colleges, and so on. And yes, few weeks, few days back, or rather in the week before last, I was invited to speak at India's number one business school, IIM Ahmedabad. So You know, when there is a will, there is a way.
When there is a will, even God participates. And it is a blessing that you are in a position to serve the world. It is a blessing that you are in a position to conquer that fear and share this today with the world, that you have greatness within you. And this greatness is what you need to speak about— how you went through it, what you became. And today you are inspiring hundreds and thousands of people across the country and globally live the life without fear. And I'm so happy that I happened to meet you, know you, and now know you so well that we are doing these 13 episodes. And today, as we record the 13th 7th episode out of the 13. I feel overwhelmed that so much of you was left and so much of you now you are sharing with the world. You were supposed to give it to the people. You could not die. This message Had to come out, and the divine intervention was required. You felt death and came back from there, re-alive as a new avatar, as Shrenik Shah, the man who talks about Sound of Silence. Talks. So friends, this was another episode, and now we look forward to the next one, which we shall bring it to you very soon. Till then, enjoy listening to the last six and the new one which we are going to. Share with you in the next couple of days. So thank you very much, everybody, and looking forward to have your blessings and encouragement to keep this sharing, caring, listening, learning, growing together to become better in this life together. So thank you very much. See you soon, everybody. Bless you all. Bye-bye for now.
