ToastMasters P1 speech

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"Life is just a series of moments. If you miss the moments, you miss your life."
Fellow Toastmasters and guests. I, Leena Sharma, am going to talk about my life and some moments of my life today. Surprised, why I am calling myself 'Leena Sharma'.  Yes, I was Leena Sharma till Jan 25, 2008 - the day I got married. Being a Sindhi, it's a custom to change bride's first name on the day of marriage. So, first I will take you through my life as Leena and later as Mahek.
I was born and brought up in Mumbai. I am first kid of my parents; my dad still keeps telling me about how he felt when I was born and I was so small. I have a younger brother, who is currently based in Australia. My parents used to work, so it was my grandmother who used to take care of us for most of the day. I don't have any complaints with my parents; they have brought me and my brother really well. But the positive side of that is me and my brother were really close to my grandmother. My dad is Advocate and tax consultant; and my mom used to work in Union Bank of India, but she took VRS few years back and now she is a housewife. I am quite close to my parents and I think after marriage this bond has increased even more. My dad says - a girl is closer to her father before marriage and becomes closer to her mother after marriage. But that's not the case with me, I am equally close to both my father and mother, and I still carry and shall always carry values taught to me by them.
Regarding my qualifications, I must say, I was not a brilliant student in school. After 10th, I did diploma in IT and later B.E in computers. My father used to tell me that now everyone knows you as my daughter; but when you grow up I want others to know me as your father. This one statement was enough for to keep me inspired during studies. College life was really fun. It is that phase of life where you have maximum number of friends. I was an extrovert person and quite enthusiastic to participate in all events organized. And I didn't take life so seriously during college time. As I knew, I just have to study; score good marks and finally get a job in good IT Company. So all went as planned, completed my studies and got placed in Patni as a fresher.
In Nov 2006, I lost my grandmother. Till date, it has been the toughest phase of my life. And that incidence has changed me as a person. I have become more humble. And I have realized that life is totally unpredictable and we have to live life as if there is no tomorrow. And be thankful to God for whatever he has blessed you with and take care of your loved ones.
I got married to my old college friend of 8 years Kamlesh in 2008. And here starts phase of my life as Mahek. Needless to say, he is a software engineer too, working currently in Amdocs. Marriage life is really good with Kamlesh and his family. As they say, opposite attract. Kamlesh and I are totally opposites. If he says black, I say white. But I thinks that's the case with every couple, be it love marriage or arrange marriage. With time, we have learned to respect each other. And now I think it's good to be opposite, your positives are his negatives and your negatives are his positives. So you can complement each other better and who can better help you overcome your weaknesses than your partner. And I must say my In-laws are very good as a person. I have something to learn from each of them. My Mother in law is such a loving person; she has so much love and respect for each and every member in her life from her family to her friends to even her maid. She is a very easy going person and she doesn't take a while to become a good friend of any one. And she has helped me and is continuously helping me become a better wife, a better daughter in law. My father in law is a very intellectual person. He has a mini library at our home; he is the editor of one Sindhi magazine. His general knowledge is just awesome, undoubtedly better than us and I wish someday I can be as intellectual as him.
About my hobbies, I love reading books, they are my best friends; I read inspirational and fiction books. Robin Sharma is my favorite author. I believe, exercising is the best way to beat stress and lead a healthy life. So, my day starts with working out at gym. I am always keen to learn new things and I think learning should never stop. Currently I am learning to swim and many plans are in pipeline for learning. As they say, secret to happiness is finding out what you love and then just doing it. I have found out I love music and would love to learn it. Currently I don’t play any instrument but I am very keen to learn guitar and I should join guitar class soon.
So, this is it about my small world. And I would like to end my speech with this beautiful quote by my favorite author 'Robin Sharma' –
"Your days are your life in miniature. As you live your days you create your hours, so you create your years. As you live your days, so you craft your life."
Thank you.

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