Trip to Switzerland - Plan It All By Yourself. - By Arun Rajamani

Hi,

Another good speech and a very informative one from Arun, a fellow toastmaster.

How many of you are not married in this group? All the unmarried people in the group after marriage hope you would go to honeymoon? What better place than Switzerland.

Good evening Toastmasters I am Arun Rajamani and would like to give you information on how you can plan a 7 day Switzerland trip yourself and not depend on travel agencies. For those who have not been to Switzerland I would like to share my experience with you and those already been there just sit back and relive the moments.

1^st thing when we plan a try we do is Google 5 days 6 nights trip to Switzerland and you would get 50 links only to realize you can cover so less in huge cost . I would like to give you tips how you can plan your own trip.

In any trip 3 things are key .

1    Travel ( Flight + local Travel)

2       Places to Visit

3       Hotels.

Let me talk about 1^st and most important thing Travel. Plan your trip 3 or 4 months in advance to get cheap flight tickets. Check for some flexible tentative dates and search for tickets. Once you get a dates where flight tickets are cheaper, next day go to your manager and apply leave and get a confirmation letter (this is very important). One Tip here checks for tickets from Mumbai or Delhi as well as you might get good rates from there.

Switzerland is one country which is very well intra connected. All you have to do is get an 8 day Swizz Euro Pass; you can use this for all kind of local transportation be it train, bus or Ferry.

Once you have booked your Too and Fro Tickets next important step is identify places to visit. Switzerland is too big to be covered in 5 or 6 days hence you will have to choose your cities to visit and what you want to explore. I would briefly go though the places I visited and would recommend you to see as well.

We landed in Zurich and took a train to Interlaken and enjoyed paragliding over here. We stayed in Interlaken for 3 days and covered places around it. If you are in Switzerland you have to see Jungfrau Europe highest altitude and Mt Titils where you would see world’s first rotating cable car. And visit beautiful city of Lucerne. You could also take world’s slowest express train Glacier Express to reach Switzerland southernmost City St.Moriz. On the way back to Zurich you could hop around to see Switzerland’s oldest City Chur. Do not miss our Commercial part of Zurich and Rhine Falls near Zurich.

By now you would have decided where you can halt, hence try to find out good hotels which fits in your budget. Here trip advisor to check out hotels review and booking.com using which you can block your hotels and get a confirmation, we halted at Interlaken, St Mortiz and Zurich. You would need Hotel Confirmation, Confirmed Air Tickets, and Leave Confirmation letter with other documents to get your visa stamping done. Do plan to get visa a month before to avoid last moment hassles.

This is in brief I wanted to tell you how you can plan for your trip , by planning yourself you can save min 30 K unless you shop more there , and visit lot of places . Since you travel on your own and not hurry to catch a guided tour bus have the freedom to explore on your own. Do plan a honeymoon trip if you are not married or just a trip to Switzerland with your family or friends.

Finally “If Wife is Happy, Life is happy “ 

Toastmasters Speech 6 ( Repeat ) - 10.5 Billion Minutes Per Day

10.5 Billion Minutes Per Day

10.5 Billion Minutes per day. What am I talking about?

Am I really making sense.

Is that a meaningful number ?

You are right, these were the questions that flashed my mind, when I read the data. Yes, the data is right. This time is equivalent to killing 333 new borns, who were supposed to live till 60 years of age, on the day of birth.

This statistics was later replaced by “How many things people share on Facebook?” Facebook later came up with a very nice and an honest quote which told, “Birthday cakes are made for people to be together. They give friends a place to gather and celebrate. But too much cake probably isn’t healthy. So birthday cake is a lot like Facebook”

Facebook realized this, but most of its users have failed to do, even after two years of the quote.

Let me share a few stories of what Facebook has done to this generation.

First one is a classic example. A girl’s status on FB, “I’m bored”.  You will have a 100 comments, “Oh, baby- what happened”, “Shall we go out”, “How come?” and so on and so forth. Weren’t we all bored at some time or the other. What’s so big about it? Why should it be a big issue? Then another post “Eating Idly”, “Going to temple” and so on and so forth. An addiction, which has gone from bad to worse by the years passed. A lack of Wi-fi or internet is considered worse than not having food. We just do not care, how much of it is enough.

Second story is that of ego boost. Facebook has become an ego booster. Have you seen the recent Myntra ad near Koramangala junction from St. John’s to Forum. It says “Live for Likes”. The first time I read it, it just read it again. Live for Likes, isn’t there any other purpose for life. And trust me this is happening.

The third and the last story from my speech today. It Is about my favorite quote on face book, with a young kid punching his hand. “ If you have a problem, face it. Don’t Facebook it”. Seriously, who ever created this deserves a big round of applause. Very true isn’t it. Probably most of you around here are matured enough and have grown up  before the facebook generation. But, the generation that is growing with Facebook does not think enough and you get weird statuses on face book. Starts from “This day is the worst day of my life” and can go up to abuses, F words and even “I could not think of a day without you. Now I live a dead man walking”.

Failure and depression is a part of everyone’s life. There are ways to deal with it. Putting it up for 100’s of people to see it is definitely not going to help. There are going to be a few who will sympathize, others will be happy that you are not happy and most don’t care. Why? Make a joke of yourself by letting people know things that are best left to be private. Sad is it not.

To summarize:  Let’s use face book like having a piece of birthday cake and not to eat the entire cake and have a bad stomach at the end of it.

Let’s have a Face to show the world, of having lived a life worthwhile and not a facebook page that shared the moments of weakness and addiction to the world. 

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Another Best Speaker of The Day !!!! Enjoyed presenting this topic

ToastMasters Speech 6 - Time Is Not Yours Forever !!!

Time Is Not Yours Forever    

       

A good house of around 2000 sq., with a small garden and a sitting area. On the seating area are a son and a father. Son has a laptop in his hand and father a old stick and a pair of thick glasses over his thin frame.  Father is around 80 years of age and son is around 35 years. A small sparrow is seen and the father asks his son “What is that?”

Son- “It is a sparrow, Dad.”

Father after sometime “What is that”

Son – “It is a sparrow Dad, you just asked”

Father after a few minutes seeing the bird at another spot in the garden, “Son, What is that?”

Son, very agitated the third time, “Dad, I already told you it is a sparrow. S-P-A-R-R-O-W”

Father gets up and goes into the house. Son is agitated, calls out “Dad, Dad, come back. Where are you going?”

After this goes back to his laptop and is busy with his work. Father comes back after a few minutes and hands the son a diary, with a certain page open. He gestured to him, “Read Loud”

The son reads out, “ Today, I have had the best day of my life. No big thing. Not a promotion, not a big ticket purchase. A very small happy event, my son asked me 31 times, “What is that”. It was a sparrow. I answered him several times, but the child in him was still inquisitive. I once told him it was a bird. Once it flew. Once it was a cute one and so on. After every time, I hugged him to see my child being so inquisitive and wanting to know”.

As he read the last line, son had moist eyes and father sat there unmoved. He simply hugged his father and they sat there for a long time, just shaken up.

Good Evening Friends and fellow toastmasters. Time if Not Ours Forever.

We are dependent on our parents for the first twenty five and on our kids for the last twenty five. In the first twenty five for money and guidance and in the last twenty five probably for love and care. It is the middle phase when we are probably all by our self.  Life does not last forever, none of the achievements or power does not either. So let’s let go of some steam and relax to enjoy those smiles and care. Finally we are here to be happy too.

Three things our generation lacks:

1.       Patience

2.       Empathy

3.       Satisfaction

We do not care to listen to someone until and unless there is a take away for us or a future benefit. Most times we do not have the time to just sit with our elders. We are bent upon reaching some point in life and we hardly relax. We have a pumped up life, where in the blood pressure is always high and we are worried of increasing our pay check at all times. This was not the case a few decades back. Our parents worked during the day and relaxed during the evenings. They stayed healthier. We have scientists from DRDO, who have done a lot for this country, who have lived this way. We might not do any better than them running the race for money. We do not realize “How much is enough?”

Do we have empathy for the old and disabled? We do not. Few might and that’s really great of them. The reason I say this is the increasing number of old age homes. Parents who have sacrificed for their child’s future have a say to see them grow and be happy. Because of lack of empathy, today we say they crib and keep them away. Din’t we crib for that elusive remote car. For which our father’s might have let go a few breaks in their offices to save money and get us one. Today we do the same for our kids. We do sacrifice a lot and get them all they want. We do not want them to face hardships. Tomorrow we might face worse consequences, if we do not care our elders.

Satisfaction. We were happy with one movie a month on a scooter, with popcorn. Today, a movie with nachos, a family tub popcorn and even a dinner after that is not satisfactory. The media/marketing is responsible for this too. They would advertise all kinds of offers. Offers are forced on you through your mobile phones. Don’t cook Wednesdays by Pizza Hut. By not cooking on an average you spend 1000/- rupees and also add a lot of trans fat to your tummy. A Sunday afternoon new dish trial at home is far more healthier. The trend to save is going out of the window. Everything is EMI today.

Lastly to summarise. Be patient to elders – they are becoming children by the growing day.

Be empathetic – They have done a lot for you, beyond your imagination.

Be Satisfied – It is One Life, We are here to be happy and not crib to the tomb.

Time is Not Yours Forever. So Live Life, don’t be a Machine, that will once be dumped after depreciation. 

This was my P6 Speech, I messed it because of lack of practice, I will be presenting another one in my next blog. 

A Girl Who Demanded Education - Speech by Sneha Maria Dominic

Hi,

Sharing a speech that my friend recently gave in our toastmaster's meet. We won the best speaker for the day together. This is her speech excerpts. I share this as I got to know of another personality, who has contributed something to this world :)

Let me start with a question: do you think Malala Yousafazi deserved Nobel Prize?

Mixed opinions ha? I’m not going to comment over that question today. But I’m here to introduce you to another woman who has set her entire life as an example for the cause Malala represents – education of girls in developing countries.

Fellow toast masters, esteemed guests,

Kakaenya Ntaiya – she is the protagonist of my story. She is a woman who has defied local tradition, got an education, and now crusades to bring the same opportunities to the girls of her homeland.

Kakaneya was born into Massai Tribe in Western Kenya. At the age of just five, Kakenya's life was mapped out for her by her Maasai community. A marriage had been arranged and when she becomes a teenager, she would be circumcised and then married. From then on she was supposed to learn all things that could make her a perfect wife – raise cattle and corn, collect fire wood, cook food for her siblings and fetch water from rivers. An experience common for all girls in rural Kenya. Meanwhile she focused on her education.

Kakenya dreamed of becoming a teacher but as she reached age 13, she came to a crossroads. If she followed the traditional Maasai path and went through with the circumcision – which by the way is performed by a rusty knife and no anesthetic or antibiotic - then she would have to forget all about continuing her education. That’s the tradition.

She did something which most girls would not have done- she tried to negotiate with her father – she would undergo the ceremony only if he agrees to send her back to school. A girl not undergoing circumcision brings shame to her family. Finally he agreed.

Life went on. At high school, she got the chance to take her education even further, with a scholarship to study in the US at the Randolph-Macon Women's College in Virginia. But to get there, she needed the permission of the men in the village.

"They said: 'What a lost opportunity. This should have been given to a boy. We can't do this,'" she recalls.

Kakenya refused to give up and took her case to the village elders. She went to each of their homes every day morning and pleaded. She triumphed and left to study in the US. Being in America was an incredible experience and opened her eyes to some elements of her upbringing in Enoosaen. 

She learned that the ceremony she went through when she was 13 years old was called female genital mutilation and that it was against the law in Kenya. She learned that she did not have to trade part of her body to get an education and that there are three million girls in Africa at risk of undergoing this mutilation. Those things made her angry. She decided to do something. 

 The speech is inspired from a TED talk.

https://www.ted.com/talks/kakenya_ntaiya_a_girl_who_demanded_school .