A very powerful and speculative ending from ‘Gone With The Wind’
by Margaret Mitchell. To me it meant another chance, to learn, to grow, to make
mistakes, to learn from them and to grow some more. One place where we do this
on a regular basis is a forum called Toastmasters.
Have you ever seen a toddler learn how to walk? Spreading
both the arms across, with one wobbly step after another, a child falls down,
gets up wobbles a little more, falls again, gets up… and the process is
repeated till the toddler is finally walking and eventually running.
Resonance 2014 was one such experience. To the trained eye,
we probably made a lot of mistakes, but it made me very proud of those people
who took on responsibilities for the first time and performed so well. In the
true toddler style, the minute I stepped up on stage, I tripped and fell and got
up again. All good things begin with a mistake.
My mind reeled back to August 2014 International Convention
at Kuala Lampur, when I heard Chris Woo. This man, sweet, unassuming was a
finalist at the World Champion of Public Speaking. He came to the stage and
started speaking on how he didn’t have a speech, but he was there because he
wanted to live up to the expectations of people who wanted him to be there.
Chris inspired me, not because he had an exceptional speech, but because he
taught me a very important lesson… that it’s okay to fail. It’s okay to be
imperfect, it’s okay even if you don’t do well today, because tomorrow…
You don’t have to be a superhero, throughout our lives we
keep hoping for superheroes to come and save us, or help us out of our
jeopardizing situations. I personally grew up on stories where the girl falls,
and a handsome hunk is there to catch her before she touches the ground. Most
of our movies and TV soaps are based on the same theme. In real life, nobody
turns up. When you fall, you have to get back up, dust yourself and start
walking again. Falling down and making mistakes are a part of life, are a part
of walking, are a part of growing up. Hrithik Roshan didn’t turn up to catch
me, and don’t even get me started on Abhishek Bachchan. Not even a side-hero!
Like they say in Kannada, “Every dosa has holes, it’s how
well you cover them up that matters.” So make mistakes today, learn from them,
and start afresh tomorrow, because tomorrow is another day!
