Snigda - The Inspirer

As it is I was late. (as usual) As I entered the room, she gave me an understanding smile but with a question on her face like a professional and looked at the co-ordinator if I can be allowed to get into the class or not. Mathew (a friend – we are all in the same team) nodded his head approvingly with a smile. I pulled a chair quietly and sat with that sheepish grin - like always. By then the other team members had introduced themselves. And she, I was making my own assessments of her. I told myself, that she would win 10/10 in toastmasters club. She had good presentation skills, has good command over her language and most importantly she does not look a day older than 30. That’s all and I started concentrating on what was going on in the class.

In a little while I got to know the Trainer’s name is Snigda and she is a trained RJ. With a raised eyebrow I told myself no wonder she is modulating her voice so well. In the lunch break, we all got talking. Luckily it was “girls only” and we were free to express all that we felt. Snigda got talking like she would do with her friends if she met them for casual lunch. A very unusual sight for me considering she is visiting us, our campus for the first time. There was no need to break ice. What stunned me was she is not 30 and is nowhere closer to that number but has gone past that for quiet sometime now. Unlike other women, she was not a bit hesitant of sharing any of that info. She was not in the preaching mode but so friendly as if she knows this bunch of 4 girls from ages.

I was so impressed and inspired. Snigda has it all. Like most of us, she has worked her way up but she stands out because she did not allow anything stand her way. An early marriage (around the age of 21), Husband - an army officer who was getting tranferred every 5 years, 2 kids and other usual things to attend to. Her priority even today is family. However, career too plays a great role in shaping her life. That’s when she worked around to make things work for her. A veteran, who has 12+ years of work experience in her kitty, is a certified RJ, ex sales manager with Taj Hotels and comperes shows or events and is a softskills trainer. She is so passionate about all the above and it just shows in her eyes. She radiates positive energy.

I’m a big fan of soft skills and keep attending trainings, seminars or anything of that sort whenever I get an opportunity. Most of them would last untill I leave the hall. But the “planning and organising” methodologies that Snigda shared were so simple, practical and realistic I have put a lot of tips to use. She just leads by example. Some of the tips that she shared in the class, the way she was motivating each one of us and also handling a crowd of such diversity (we were from different business units doing various activities right from sales to HR to development to support) She did it all with ease.

In my research “women @ work”, I’ve been talking to a lot of women professionals from different walks of life. One of the key result that was derived from a random sample survey that I did, a lot of women give up/quit their careers the moment they enter their family way. And here, what do I see? Somebody who began her career life after having two kids!! She broke the myth, which is doing rounds that one can’t have both in your life – a great personal life and equally successful career life as a woman. If you don’t agree, meet Snigda once and you will know.

Toastmasters

Toastmasters happened to me for a reason. Words fail to describe how passionate I feel about this great organisation. The following is what I wrote for one of the egroups sometime in 2003. I still feel the same way about Toastmasters.

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Now that the New Year has come a long way – almost 2 months to be
precise, all of us would have made some resolutions - kept few, broke
few and going on with few. I even remember having had some healthy
discussions on how we got to celebrate the 1st day of the year too.
This reminds me of exchanging gifts. We are so busy choosing gifts
for others, have we ever thought of a gift for "ourselves"?

Now that I have your undivided attention, let me tell you about an
interesting organisation - "toastmasters". For those who know
what "toastmasters" is all about, you can happily skip the following
three paragraphs.

A "toastmasters" is a non-profit international organisation that
helps its members to enhance their communication skills, leadership
skills and also public speaking skills. Here, at the first level the
members are encouraged to take up 10 projects that have guidelines in
making an individual a very efficient and confident speaker. Nothing
much! 10 scientifically arranged speeches based on 10 themes/topics,
which are entirely left to the speaker's discretion. And at the end
of every speech one can surely sense the achievement. End of 10
projects… there you are… so proud, smiling and happy for yourself.
This is the magic "toastmaster" does to all its members. Does it
sound like "cakewalk"? That's the fun.

When a member is joined new, the other senior members play
responsible roles in moulding his/her personality. They also assign
a mentor and evaluate member's performance. The best part is here.
The mentor is a friendly teacher – who takes the member through this
journey into the garden of speeches. Not only this every time the
member presents a speech, another friendly member also evaluates the
speaker objectively. The mentor brings to the speaker's notice the
positive aspects of the speech and suggests some points for
improvement if any. Where else can one find a mirror to reflect your
real self?

Another interesting thing about "toastmaster" is while preparing the
speech. "Say what you do and do what you say" becomes the "mantra"
here. The content members prepare is so much from their self that
he/she may start wondering if this was their real self. When
speaking out or while giving the speech, it comes out with so much of
feelings that one gets lost with all other members. Doesn't this
sound like a solitude moment?

Hope I've said more than required. In case you would like to
explore, virtually you can take a journey into www.toastmasters.org
or if you want to see all this happening for real, you are most
welcome in any of the clubs that are spread all over the world.
There are 9000 clubs all over the world and 19 clubs in Bangalore
alone. The Taj Gateway on Residency Road has a club called LA1924
that meets every Wednesday at 7 pm. Just drop in. There are no
obligations as to who you are, where you are from or what you are :)

I'm sure this is a gift each one of us have to give – of course – to
ourselves!

"loneliness" in Kodai

Anu shared this pic just few hours ago. This pic she took when we did our “adventurous” trip sometime in April last year. When a friend asked me what I mean by adventurous, I had told her with a grin we did not take pictures of ourselves. Anu proved me wrong. She had taken this and I was not even aware!!!

I got to know something like this had happened few days back when Anu told me she has sent a picture for a contest. Today she shared this link http://panachallenge.com/challenge/show_entry.php?challenge=59&sortby=chlg&srch=&cam=&favs=&entry=4073

She had posted this pic under the theme “loneliness”. I don’t know if I really look that lonely. J All that I know is, Anu and me were talking endlessly early morning and later she took her camera to take some pics and I was sitting by this big window in that Swedish home – lazily curling up in that thick blanket. I can’t even recollect what I was thinking.

However the theme “loneliness” really intrigued me. If this picture communicates loneliness of the person in the frame, look closely. There is light the other side of the window. Come to think of it, it’s the person in question who is even creating that feeling for her. There is light out there and all that requires is a little bit of effort to just move towards light and let go of the feeling of alone. This so much making it evident how we create barriers for ourselves.

I’m super thrilled with this picture and the thought that it induced in me. Here goes a zillion thanks to Anu for capturing this moment for me.