A meaningful life

 

This time, it was my turn to press the HELP button.

I was really in a soup.

I took a chance and dialed Sara’s number, even though it was late in the night.

After 10 rings, she picked up the phone.

“Who’s this?” she asked, quite sleepily

It’s me (I said, relieved to hear her voice).

“Do you know there is such a thing as sleep? Sometimes, even college students need it”

I know. I am sorry. Pleeeeease wake up. I need to talk

“Ok.ok. give me a sec”.

(She came back on the line, a few minutes later)

“Ok. Shoot.”

 

I received a letter from your college today.

“What!!?”

Yeah. It said tomorrow is graduation day for your senior class.

“huh…yeah. So?”

Well, they invited me to deliver the convocation address tomorrow, as a guest speaker

“You??? Now which moron could have done that?”

(Well…this is definitely not doing my confidence any good)

I don’t know. That’s why I am trying to figure out what to do.

(She thought about it for a few minutes and then apparently, a light bulb went off)

“It must have been Lakshmi, of course. She’s my senior and the coordinator for graduation day. You remember her, don’t you? You met her
the other day. She wanted to know more about you and I told her.”

Oh…ok. Makes sense now. She was impressed with my professional achievements?

“Er…actually, no…She just said she found you fat and funny”

Nice! That helps.

“Anyway, what’s your problem? It is just a speech to a bunch of college kids and some old alumni”

My problem? I am not a professional public speaker. The mere thought of doing something like that is terrifying. Secondly, I don’t have any time to prepare. What would they want to hear from a guest speaker, anyway?

“Whoa! Slow down. First things first” (She was starting to sound like the Urban Monk now)

OK. (I caught my breath)

“What do you think my seniors want to hear from a public speaker on graduation day? Obviously, some speech on what the state of the industry is, what opportunities are out there, how their job prospects will be, how they should prepare for a competitive world.. blah –blah”

Whew. That is a relief. At least, it’s a familiar topic. Industry trends and all that! I’ll give a talk on “The emerging industry landscape and competing for the future“. I have some notes on that already.

“That sounds very informative…and no doubt very boring too. Just what public speaking is all about. I have attended tons of them at college. So, trust me. It is just a formality.

I can see the future clearly. No one will disturb you. No one’s going to move from their chairs. There won’t be any cameras and flashbulbs flashing in your face.”

Ok. I ‘ll go with your advice. At least, I can speak confidently on this topic, without any stage fright.

“Good. Now let me go back to sleep”

Yeah, you do that. I’ll meet you at the college tomorrow evening at 6:00″

 

The next evening, I approached the college gate, feeling quite relaxed. But then, I took one look at the entire setup and my knees turned to jelly. There was a huge billboard inviting guests and it had my name on it as the guest speaker. My legs were about to buckle under me, when Sara appeared and caught my arm.

“Woow..steady!”

Huh…thanks. Can you please tell me, why there are so many people around?

“I heard there are about 2000 in attendance today. It is the 100^th graduation batch of our college and so, all my friends and seniors have brought their parents and family along with them.”

2000???? 100^th batch??? I never knew your college was this big and had so much history to it.

“Yeah. There have been many cool people who graduated from this Uni, from earlier generations”. She rattled out many names, from all walks of life –founders of companies, social workers, scientists, politicians, industry leaders, sportswomen..

Wow. Impressive.

“Many of them arrived in town today and will be attending too. It is a special occasion, you see”

(My legs buckled again!)

She caught my arm again. “This is not helping. I better leave you in peace. You go join the other dignitaries on stage. I’ll be seated somewhere in the 10^th row from the rear. Good luck.”

The next hour was a blur. I found myself being introduced by Lakshmi to the Dean, the administrators, her batch mates and to the distinguished alumni.

 

The ceremony started at 7:30pm, and I was seated on stage, next to the dean and senior members of the faculty, facing a packed hall of 2000 people. I nervously skimmed through my speaker notes

After what seemed like an eternity of felicitations and speeches, Lakshmi came on stage, nodded at me and then went to the speaker’s podium.

“Dear faculty, friends and distinguished alumni of this institution. On the day this glorious institution delivers its 100^th batch of students to the world, we heard from some of my peers and alumni as they shared their experiences.

Many generations of great men and women graduated from this college and have gone on to lead meaningful lives – for themselves and society. They have all done us proud. (applause)

Now it is our turn. (applause)

What I’d like to do now is to pose a question to all of my friends. How can we lead a meaningful life, and set the benchmark for students who will grace this hall for the next 100 years?

I’m happy to call upon our guest speaker to share his thoughts on ‘Living a Meaningful life‘.” (She beckoned to me to come to the podium.) (Applause).

 

WHAT the heck!!!!!

I nearly fell off the chair.

So much for the speaker notes on “Emerging industry landscape….”. I left them at the table, stood up and walked to the podium.

Shaken by this sudden turn of events, I stood there in the glaring lights, took a deep breath and looked at the audience. But as I stood there, the cloud in my mind dissolved and I saw clearly.

There is nothing called public speaking
You can’t speak to something called ‘public’
There are just people    
You either connect with all of them or you don’t
It’s that simple.

My eyes scanned the large auditorium and took in everything- the portraits of distinguished alumni looking at me from the walls, the 85-year old Chairman of a Board seated in the front row, the 20-year old freshman seated at the doorway, Sara, trying to hide herself with her head buried in her hands… and all the others.

The connection was made.

The transmission began.

And the words followed.

 

Hi everyone,

When I graduated, I too, wanted to live a meaningful life, and so did all the others before me.

Today, as you leave these gates and enter the world of business, politics, investments, law, international diplomacy, arts, science, relationships and social networks, our search for meaning continues through you.

And your work will, in turn, touch the lives of everyone who comes in contact with it, now and in the future, thereby creating meaning for them.

So,

What have I found so far, in the search for meaning?

I will say this slowly, pausing after every sentence, so that we can each reflect on its meaning in our own way.

 

Wrong doesn’t mean stupid

Stupid doesn’t mean uneducated

Educated doesn’t mean practical

Practical doesn’t mean intelligent

Intelligent doesn’t mean employable

Employed doesn’t mean busy

Busy doesn’t mean productive

Productive doesn’t mean valuable

Valuable doesn’t mean desirable

Desirable doesn’t mean useful

Useful doesn’t mean powerful

Powerful doesn’t mean successful

Successful doesn’t mean more money

Money doesn’t mean wealth

Wealthy doesn’t mean worthy

Worthy doesn’t mean Unique

Unique doesn’t mean different

Different doesn’t mean wrong

 

This is what I have found so far, as I watched myself and others try to live a meaningful life.

But, then again, I could be wrong.

Whether you choose to relive old meanings or renew them is up to you

Either way, to live a meaningful life, we must be aware of the meaning we attach to things in life.

Good luck and enjoy the journey.

 

(I made a short bow to the audience and walked back to the chair.)

As I sat down, I realized that Sara’s vision of the future had indeed come true.

No one moved from their chairs.

Not the 85-year old seated in front;

nor the 20-year old seated at the doorway;

nor the professors seated on stage with me….

…and all the cameras and flashbulbs were silent.

 

So, I guess it met her criteria of good public speaking too.