My Ice-Breaker

When I was young life for me was eat, play and merry; Mr. Toastmaster, fellow Toastmasters and guests; born 47 years ago in downtown Mumbai, I was a happy go lucky guy. However, this lackadaisical attitude proved fatal when I was in VJTI,Mumbai’s premier engineering institution; and I had to give up engineering in 2nd semester only.

I took up Arts and did B. A. In Economics first and then in Psychology; Ten years later I did M.A. in Sociology and Masters in Investment Management followed by M.Phil in Futurology & Environment Management.

In the meantime I worked in Air-India for a brief period and then 5 years in State Bank before I joined Customs as Preventive Officer.

My job in Customs involves meeting a lot of people from all walks of life. But I would always cherish the memories of my selection as a part of Indian delegate for studying Container Scanners in USA & UK. This pilot project of Ministry Of Finance, directly monitored by PMO was a pleasurable experience working along with the US & UK team. The pilot project was successful one and is frequently visited by foreign delegates. This project gave me something intangible: direct contacts with many other Govt. & non-govt. authorities bypassing usual protocol.

Exactly 22 years and a day ago Sandhya, a college lecturer, became my better half. Our marriage probably might have killed her plans to do Ph.D; but this merger & acquisition gave us two concrete products, Pranav and Anupa. Son Pranav is 20 and a final year engineering student in Pune. Anupa is in Std.8th and enjoys painting.My extended family includes my four younger brothers.

Even though I switched over from engineering to arts & finance, my tryst with technology continued in the form of getting associated with by=products now as hobby. Ham Radio, Computers, High-end Audio became my objects of indulgence.

I am a qualified radio amateur operator, popularly known as Ham. Hams have been pursuing their hobby of speaking over a wireless set, even before the advent of the Internet. They also help in emergencies like disasters, earthquakes by providing communication support when normal channels of communication are down.

I like reading non-fiction & general interest books. In music Barbara Streisand & Harry Belafonte are my favourite singers.

This techno buff and gadget freak later on was intrigued by impact of technology on society; with fast changing technologies and ever pouring new gadgets I gave up my fascination for gadgets. I got fascinated by society, its study and took to social research when I realised that I was more interested in ‘human’ aspect of technology than technology itself. Trend watching & networking- social and real F2F (not exactly business) through various forums, groups, organisations, and social media became my new obsession.

Life starts at 40 as they say. It is the time when you start to find the purpose of life. Friends, I believe that by early or mid forties one should take up to societal causes. I can’t forget that my mother was a social worker and rose to become a vice-chairperson of Uran Municipal Corporation in Raigad district. I think the same ‘genes’ in me do not allow me to remain socially inactive either!

In the future I look forward to travelling all over the world ,meeting people from diverse culture, supporting social & ecological, environmental causes, starting various help / support groups e.g. for cancer/diabetes, entering media and above all becoming a catalyst in making India a great nation.

Friends, orality is the base of all human experience; we evolved with speech and not writing. It’s an ancient instinct to communicate and there lies my fascination for real Face to Face communication.

That's how I am here, amongst the toastmasters and I am sure that in your company I will be able to hone my skills in becoming a better speaker & effective leader.