Speech 8: ‘Dimag Ki Batti Jala De’ | Mumbai Toastmasters | Engaging Humor | Level 2 Project 4

I have a question. Who is the most luckiest person in the world? Jeevan. Tanay. Any guesses? Tanay. Me. The most luckiest person in the world, I think, are the people who have parents. But an even more luckier kind of people are the ones who find parents in strangers. Yeah. I remember the day very vividly. I was sitting across a table with my mother waiting for my 9th grade first semester report card. My mom was super anxious, not knowing what this kid has done again. And I, on the other hand, was so confident that I killed my papers. I was just chilling. Then the teacher came and showed the result, and it had two numbers which I've never seen before in my life, and I've till date never seen it again either. Can you guess? 100. 0 and 1. 99. I scored 59. It was the lowest marks I had ever scored in my life. Suddenly, instead of just chilling, I was chilling with fear and confusion and anxiety and not knowing what to do. And my mom, on the other hand, was convinced that her worst fear came true. The girl sitting next to me has played her charms on me. But I got my reality check that night when I went back home and my dad saw the result. And immediately he said, "Chal, let's go for a ride." I was petrified. Going on a ride with your parents is like watching an adult film. Yeah, you require parental guidance for that. But something different definitely did happen that day. As soon as we sat in the car, he handed me a Mentos. I chewed it and it was so bad I just spit it out of the window. And don't worry, swachh bharat abhiyan didn't start. So I asked my dad, why is this Mentos so bad? And he told me, it's expired. Then why did you give it to me? You need to understand that your life is just like this Mentos right now. Your good days are past, it's expiry date. Your overconfidence has gotten the best of you and you need to start working more hard. So the next day I did two things. I stuffed my car with non-expired mentoses. And second, my mom took me to tuition classes. Tuition classes, something I prided to— something I prided myself not going to for 9 long years. You see, I was not used to someone telling me how to study. I was very comfortable picking up a book, reading, perhaps asking a few questions to teachers, but still doing it on my own. And it worked very well for 9 years. I had another reason of not doing it. You see, I had this preconceived notion about how tuition teachers are. I used to think they come in two flavors. The first kind of teacher are those oily hair guys with onion breath, and they are least interested in teaching you except for the little money that you give them. And the second kind of teacher, I thought, would be Sushmita Sen in a red saree teaching me chemistry with violins playing behind. One of them was ugly, one of them was unrealistic, so I didn't want to go to tuition. But who knew what life had in store? She walked in the class and the entire room fell silent. All eyes were on this one not-so-tall person with a rather squeaky voice but a very powerful aura. Falguni ma'am was a hardworking family person who started teaching her kids in her house as a hobby. Over the course of a few short years, she came a long way, establishing her classes, eKids, across the entire region. She never needed to repeat herself twice. That was her quality. That was her UPI, basically. No, sorry, the best thing about her— USB. That was the USP of Pankhini Ma'am. She never needed to repeat herself. She was that good and also that scary. Yeah, we were all terrified of her. No one ever dared to ask her a single question. Single question, including the teachers in our school who had never met her. Her aura was that powerful. But I was afraid of her the most, more than any other student, and I had my reasons for it. You see, once I joined the class, a few months into it, uh, Swaguni Ma'am had given us some homework to do, and like the good student that I was, I didn't do it, and I forgot to tell her. Actually, I lied. So I told one teacher one reason and another teacher another reason, both of which were true, but Still a lie. So when I was called on upon by Phaiguni ma'am, when she found out about it, I thought at the most she's going to scold me, maybe yell at me in front of my friends, but what's the worst that could happen? In front of the entire class, she called my mother on speakerphone and told that your son has lied of not doing the homework. And then I was kicked out. Yeah, I went back home in absolute disbelief. My legs were not working. I even fell, but I somehow found my way back up. A few days passed and I took another expired Mentos. I gathered the courage to go back to her and just explain my story, despite expecting nothing more than an "it's okay" from her. I explained my story and to my belief— to my surprise, she just held my hand. With a beautiful smile, she said, 'Come back to me.' Although she punished me like a— in the most brutal way possible, she forgave me like a mother would. And that's what made her great. And that is why she's responsible for everything that I am today. And after spending 2 years there studying, revising, and the resonance that existed between the two of us, that took us to the next level. And I scored 86.86 in my 10th grade. 10th in my school, 16th in my class, but first in her eyes. And that's what mattered to me. So when I shared this result with her, with almost tears in her eyes, she told me how proud of— how proud she was of me. And not just because of the marks, but because of the person that I became, because of the qualities I instilled in myself because of her. In fact, she told me that the tragic day that she kicked me out was staged, with my mom in the planning. Just to teach me the lesson of integrity, never lying and living up to your words. Although I was running away from tuition teachers, she ended up being the best teacher I could find, a mother, a mentor. She really, in every sense, is the first mentor I ever had in my life without even knowing it. And because of this, because of this entire experience, it gave me the confidence to go out there for much more difficult challenges. So after completing my 10th, I started to pursue IIT JEE entrance exam, the toughest exam out there. For those of you who've given it, you know it. I had the confidence to listen to Taylor Swift's album whole night long in 2015, something I take pride and regret both in. I had the confidence to choose engineering, and above all, I had the confidence to come face to face with my frailties and join Toastmasters. Sometimes in life, we forget to see the possibilities that exist. Our laser-sharp focus on a reliable method ends up being a liability. It is important in such times to stop, look around, and see what other possibilities exist out there to take you to the same place. Perhaps a better one, perhaps a worse one, but you will never know it unless you try it. And because of all of this, I also know what kind of a mentor I would like to be if I get a chance. If I ever became a mentor, then I don't want to be someone who tells what's good and bad. I want to be someone who shows you the possibilities that exist, gives you the tools to think, and the freedom to make the choice, no matter how ugly they might be. So fear not, ladies and gentlemen. If you ever find yourself eating an expired Mentos, picture Abhi Baki hai mere dost. Thank you so much.