Monday, May 19, 2025

Club-ISC - Feb 2025 - When life hands over a lemon…

One day I went for a walking in a nearby park. My attention was grabbed by. Waoh! Waoh! Waoh! Waoh! (Barking) .

The dog enthusiastically jumped like a bouncing ball, twirled like a twister and played with the fellow dogs. It played enthusiastically with the owner.

Suddenly I found something odd with that dog. I watched him closely and astonished to find that he has only three legs. It seems that the dog has lost a leg due to some accident. The dog showed no sign of handicap or remorse. I got awe inspired.

Good evening contest master, fellow toastmasters and guests.

On a warm Sunday morning, I got a call from my cousin.

He said “Next week … our Singapore uncle is coming for his house warming ceremony”.

I got very excited on hearing that our Singapore uncle Mohan is coming.

Immediately I started to think about my Singapore uncle Mohan. He was born and brought up in a middle class family. He finished his schooling and was very much interested in doing engineering. But, due to his financial situation he joined polytechnic. After that he worked in a mechanical lathe in Chennai. Seeking a better livelihood he went to Bangalore. When he reached Bangalore he didn’t have any money. He even slept in the railway station for 3 days with limited food like a pauper. Then he got a job in a company and worked like a bumble bee to become the top performer in his job.

After a couple of years working in Bangalore, he found an opportunity to work in Singapore and moved to Singapore. He was the top performer in that job also. After a brief stint in that job, he switched over to sales in another company. During the course of the job he frequently travelled all around the globe and he was regarded as the best sales person in the entire sales community in his field. In the meantime, he started his own venture in Chennai. Within five years the company progressed northwards and now at the age of 60, he is a multi-millionaire owning assets in both Singapore and India.

On the other day, I met him in an event. I wished him and asked ,

Me: Uncle, What is the major reason behind your success? Didn’t you ever worry when life handed you just a diploma?

Uncle: Thani, I was worried when I had just a diploma. At many times I thought how I am going to have a good life with the meager salary and with a diploma education. All my worries vanished and I was reincarnated after reading a story by Dale Carnegie.

Me: Oh! Can you please share with me the story uncle?

Uncle: Definitely!

Once upon a time a man lived in Chicago and had five sons. One day he called his five sons to a meeting and handed over a share of his father land to all his sons. The next day all his sons eagerly visited the land and shocked to find, that the land is present near the forest and is fully occupied by the most venomous rattle snakes. Four out of the five sons consider the land as barren and left. But one son thought he can do something with it. After couple of years, he started exporting the poison of rattle snakes across the globe to all the pharmacy companies manufacturing antitoxins. He also exported the canned rattle snake flesh.

When life handed him the most venomous poison in the world, he accepted it graciously and become a successful person. “Be the best in your job, everything will be taken care”.

When life handed him a small lemon - a diploma, he accepted it and went on to become a successful entrepreneur.

Nelson Mandela says, “It is what we make out of what we have … not what we are given, that differentiates one person from another”

Dear Fellow toastmasters, what is the thing that life handed over to you?  Are you worrying that the thing you received in life is worthless or very small?

When I introspect my life so far, Am I not given fairly by life? I really agree that life has given me far beyond when compared to my uncle.

My parents gave me a wonderful start to me by which I had done my master’s in computer applications, 18 years later I had done my MBA, through the course I got professional certifications. This month, I got my Japanese language certification N2. Though my lemons may not be comparable like other achievers, but I am trying my best to make it a lemonade.

Don’t worry about the lemon handed by the life; strive hard until you make lemonade.

What is your lemon?

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