An Orator par Excellence !

I am sure all of you might be interested to know the one whom I would call 'The Orator par Excellence'. The world has seen many eminent speakers, all of whom are spectacular in their own way. I do not intend to compare them all. Instead, this post is meant to jot down just a few thoughts about one great orator-Mark Anthony.

Anyone who is interested in public speaking or attracted by the way the eloquent greats deliver their speeches, would not have missed out on Mark Anthony's famous speech, delivered after the death of Julius Caesar. Caesar was a close friend of Mark Anthony. 

Why do we consider Mark Anthony's speech with high respect ? What is special about it ? Yes, Mark Anthony is too good an orator, though he says 'I am no orator'. For me, the most striking aspect is the context of his speech. Before Mark Anthony started speaking, the whole crowd was against Caesar. Brutus and co had made the public believe that Caesar was ambitious. And everyone knew that Mark Anthony was a close friend of Caesar. The mob wouldn't listen to Mark Anthony either !

To speak out the truth and to make the public realise the truth is a tough job. He had to grab the attention of people. And then he had to frame his words in such a way that the public doesn't turn against him and Caesar. And he did that in style. That is the skill of Mark Anthony, the orator. That is why, we all respect Mark Anthony and his speech. Undoubtedly, he is too good an orator.

A TWIST IN THE TALE

The elections to decide the representatives of our hostel were held day before yesterday and the results of the same were declared yesterday. I thought I would share with you a ‘tale’ that happened during the election.

Let me start the story. The central character here is Mr.A (not to disclose his name). Mr.A is a very good friend of mine. He is also a keralite like me. He decided to contest for the post of Social and Cultural representative. I was pleased to hear this because in my perspective, he is someone who has the calibre to come forward and work for others. I say this because many a time, I have seen him paying attention to those around him and helping them as and when needed.

He became a part of one of the panels (there were two panels in total).

To counter any unforeseen circumstances, a dummy contestant also filed the candidature for the same post. The ‘dummy’ would withdraw at the last moment if everything is fine with Mr.A’s candidature. Meanwhile, the onam celebrations organised by the association of keralites happened to be at the same time. The onam celebrations made us all very busy and was very entertaining. But, this took away some important time and Mr.A could not do a proper campaigning. By the way, Is campaigning important ? Yes, because it gives an opportunity to present the candidate’s credentials to others, especially to the new faces, to whom all the contestants are strangers. Well, Mr.A lost that chance to some extent.

However, we were all optimistic. The day of counting came and it started in the evening. Not much information was available in the initial phases of counting. At about 10pm, at almost half way mark, we came to know that Mr.A’s opponent was having a slight lead. Anyway, the lead wasn’t strong and hopes were still alive. I came to know that it would be late when the results come out. As I was feeling sleepy, I went to sleep. At around 12, I heard a noise realising that the results of election has been declared. I had opened my eyes, but was still sleepy. I thought I would sleep now and that I shall check the results the next day morning.

The next day morning, as I woke up, I was very curious to know the results. I went downstairs, towards the notice board and there I saw the results displayed. And guess what-Mr.A had lost. Another talented contestant bows out of the race !. But more surprise was in store..Mr.A’s opponent hasn’t won either !..Yes, you guessed it right, the ‘dummy’ stole the show by winning the post by a narrow margin. Everyone was stunned. The ‘dummy’ himself was taken aback. The ‘dummy’ could not withdraw his candidature in time as he too was busy with onam celebrations, about which I had already told you. But he had let everyone know about this and had asked everyone not to vote for him !.

At the end of the day, it is all the same for us. Another talented good friend of ours is going to be at the helm of social and cultural affairs of our hostel. Had the ‘dummy’ withdrawn earlier, both of our friends, both of whom have good calibre, would have gone out of race. So, the twist in the tale wasn’t bad for us, but for the disappointment of Mr.A.

The Fun Filled Weekend

I enjoyed the last weekend to the brim. Probably, the best I had till now. There were an array of activities following one after another, starting with the freshers day on friday to the elocution competition on monday. Let us peep into it...

The freshers party which we hosted was held on Friday (7 September 2012) evening. An evening meant to welcome our juniors. When I talk about freshers party, my mind goes to the farewell party that we had hosted. That was the evening, when I was back on stage after a long gap. That was the evening which saw my anchoring debut. Though I had public speaking experience, I knew that anchoring was a different ball game. To add to it, we-the anchors-decided to recite a poem ! My prejudiced mind told me  'Poetry is not my cup of tea'. However, I was impressed with the poem and so we decided to go with it  (The poem was 'Waqt' by Javed Akthar. The hindi part was dealt by the co-anchor and I was doing the English translation part). By God's grace, both of them (anchoring and the poem) worked out well. And that gave me loads of confidence. And guess what, this Friday evening for freshers party, I am there on stage-yes, you guessed it right, I was one of the anchors ! The effort that we, had put in and the success that followed filled our hearts.

Saturday and Sunday were the days of onam celebrations. I am a student of IIT Kharagpur and we have an association of keralites here- Tech Keralites. The onam program was organised by tech keralites. The first day was meant for games and the second day for cultural activities and the much awaited onasadya (the feast). This time, I was more involved in the background work than last time. And it was fun. The whole program happened to be thoroughly entertaining. This was probably the best of onams celebrated at kharagpur till now. Well, Is it true that these days Onam-the traditional festival of Kerala-is celebrated more outside Kerala than in Kerala ? I leave it to you to figure out. But, now I understand that, once I leave kharagpur, I am going to miss the association and the celebrations.

Monday evening was also special. It was not as flamboyant as the ones mentioned above. But it is definitely close to my heart. Guess what-I did my debut as a judge ! As a part of the intra hall english elocution competition (held in another hostel), I was told to be one of the judges. And I grabbed the opportunity with both hands because I knew that to be a part of a judging panel is a rare opportunity. I knew that it brings with it lots of responsibilities. Being on a judging debut, I was a bit tensed.  But I found that I was not too bad a judge for this program. The co-judge was a friend of mine and was very cooperative as well. At the end of the program, we have positive deliberations. At the end of it all, I believe we gave the correct judgement. A moral boost for a judge on debut.

All these together made the weekend a memorable one for me.
There are many things-small or big-that make us happy.
There are many opportunities-small or big-that polish our skills.
And most of them find a place amongst the best moments of our life....