What Next?

As dawn breaks a bird flies. The bird has the desire, freedom and ability to steer towards the infinite sky. On the way, the bird briefly takes rest on the branch of a tree. 
The stability of the branch satisfies the bird. It gets to enjoy what it had once craved for.
The bird falls prey to the enticements which force it to stay there for long.
The infatuation grows and after experiencing a series of dawn and dusks.
The bird now thinks that nowhere in the boundless sky can it find a better place than the prosperous branch.
As time passes, the wings of the bird turn into gold.
Happy and content with its conditions it forgets the real sky and the motive of its flight.

The bird settled for a reality that was self evident.

The desire it had to fly high each day was no more a dream.

Do you have a dream? Is the dream big enough? Have you already achieved it?

Give it a thought!

We have times when we set our hearts on something.
School Exams,Interviews,Commitments ,Relationships to name a few.

We are determined and dedicated to achieve our goals. We toil for 24 hours a day and wish we had more.
We go that extra mile to prove ourselves that we can do it.
But things do not go right. Anything that we fear could happen ,happens
And we reach a place in life where everything is beyond repair.

To put it in a single word we FAIL and we surrender ourselves to our fate

On the other hand we have memories when we ventured out into the blizzard and attained success

We learn to Swim,To play guitar, To play our favourite sport ,To Get a job, To buy a car are some of those wishes that turn into reality.

We achieve everything what we had dreamt of and more.
We make ourselves and people around us happy and proud.

We are in a position in life, when we can look at the mirror and say “Yes! I did it. I am a hero.
To put it in simple words” We succeed and our satisfied.

At some point in life we are either cribbing on our failure while on the others we are celebrating our success

In both the cases we dwell on our past.

What Next?

The point I am trying to make here is
Do we have the capacity to not let the success or failure overshadow our dreams ,our vision?

Can we look beyond them and ask What Next?

There is a quick test:

When is the last time you learned something new?
Are you habituated with the monotonous work life?
Do you order Paneer Butter Masala even when you have 10 other options on the menu?

Is monotony our new master?

Ponder upon it!

Today ,I urge everyone of you to keep moving towards your dream. If you think you have already made it there, Dream More. Don’t Stop dreaming.
Be happy but never satisfied when it comes to achieving more in life.

Life will comprise of mundane events too. Take pleasure in those and try to make them interesting. Try everything that can be done. Be experimental, Be spontaneous. Be thoughtful ,Be impulsive.
When the world around you tells you that you are a superstar, tell yourself you still have a long way to go.

Scientist say that the confidence to take risks diminishes with age.
I say age is just a mental state.
My grandfather is 86 and he still has the enthusiasm that he had 70 years ago when he started his own business.
It is inspiring to watch him experiment with his ideas and create great products.
On asking him the secret to his zest
He always says”Jo phirega wohi charega”-The one who keeps moving, grazes.

On the global front too successful people have set an example of how greatness comes when you keep evolving and amplifying your vision.

Steve Jobs: Apple->Macintosh ->Thrown out of his own company->Animation studio Next->Itouch->Iphone and a world full of technological wonders.

Evan Williams ->Left Google->Odeo-his first innovation failed->created Blogger(first web log of its kind)and then Twitter(The most famous micro blogging platform)  and now a project called Medium

These people revolutionised the world with their vision and the magic still continues.

Just imagine if they would have settled down basking in their glory?
We would be living in a world without # and Apple.

We tend to limit ourselves when it comes to expanding our abilities.

10 seconds was considered to be the physical and psychological barrier for completing the 100 meters sprint for long
This was till Jim Hines proved that limits are those that we set for our self.
9.95 was the new limit.

Believe me “There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. A man must constantly exceed his level.”
Take every new day as a challenge and the thing you must remember when you wake up is

Neither  Success Nor failure.
Neither  pride nor pain,
Neither adulation nor anger

Only the learning, the learning  from the past.

Be like the water that flows through mountains and experiences new paths and not that stagnant water that is foul

Strive to be better each day.
If you are good find a way to become great.

Life is just like those mobile or computer games that we play.
Each milestone is one level and the learning’s are the bonus points.

We cross a level and only then reach the next level.
Don’t we aim to crack the maximum of number of levels there?

So from tomorrow when the dawn breaks, ask yourself

Am I satisfied with the branch I am sitting on?
Are my wings turning into gold?

Is my vision fading by the failures and glories of the past?

The answer should always be a No .
Only then you will witness the power of your dreams .

Only then can you fly high each day and reach that ultimate sky and still say
 What Next?

 Song->My inspiration for this speech

P4:Notes of Life!

You hear me when you pray to God, You hear me when someone calls You hear me when the birds sing,You hear me in the stormy winds. You hear me when you clap your hands,You  hear me anywhere you travel on this land. 

Who am I?  

Good morning fellow toastmasters and dear guest.

A form of art that dates back to 7000 BC . A form of art which always was a reflection of present times.  A form of art through which you can easily communicate your feeling and thoughts.  Let me introduce to you all the love of my life :Music. The Magical Music, mention of which itself brings enormous melodies to our mind.  Let me guess when I say 'MUSIC'  (hum the tunes) ** 

Some might hear"hum honge kamyab"** while some" tujhe dekha toh yeh jaana sanam"**  a few might also hear"Summer of 69"**  and if I am guessing it right ...some might also hear "Batameez dil"**  That is the magic Music creates around us.

 It’s like a memory. It will stay forever in your heart, and no one can take it away from you. 

  I met music for the first time during my  first session of the piano class... 
  or was it before that when my mother put me to sleep with her lullaby’s?? 
nah! I guess it was my Singing and Dancing Barbie that introduced me to music.
 Of how much I remember about my life, Music has always been there with me. 

 Like a loving mother, who selflessly gives without expecting anything in return.
 Like a guiding father, who motivates me when I give up  before reaching my goals.
 Like a patient companion who manages all my mood swings.
 Like a Secret lover who lets me escape to places I never new existed before.
 Like my long lost friend that when coming back gives  so much of joy ,it makes me want to cry and laugh at the same time. 
Like a effective medicine that heals my pain and
 Like my dear grandmother who tells me endless versions of the same story over and over again.  
Sometimes listening to Music gives such a  serene experience , it feels as though I have attained Nirvana!

Music has been influencing us in numerous ways,ways we cannot even imagine.  
When combined with beautiful thoughts or words.Music gifts us with Songs. 

Songs help us to connect to the society .
There is a song  for every moment,  ever feeling ,every situation.
There is a sweet music  for your ears ,a song or two to soothe our fears. There is that special song for special someone and that song for the person you hate. 
There is that song that describes exactly how you feel and a song for the way you have felt before.
Sometimes  you hear a song and it makes you so happy that you get up and dance. Sometimes you  hear a song and can’t help but cry. 
Some songs make you want to start over.Some make you want to make things right.
 Some encourage you to make a move in life, while some even convince you to move on in life. 

 A lot of people might consider it  insane but I constantly have some or the other song running in my head.I have a small musical world out there. 
(Sing the song)**
 At present it is "Frustiyon nahi Moora"** 
When  I am extremely happy about something-"Yahoo!!!"**  
When I see  a smart guy cross my way "Saamne yeh kaun aya dil mein hui hulchul”** 
When I miss my friends “I will be there for you..coz u r there for me too"** 
When I am stuck with a problem…"and I will try to fix you"**  
When it rains “Chak dhoom dhoom”** 

and if I am still sounding crazy...I already have ''haan haan mein crazy hoon"** playing there. 
 Music gives me the freedom to create. 
 As they say "Take a piano: keys begin, keys end. You know there are 88 of them. Nobody can tell you any different. They are not infinite. You're infinite... And on those keys, the music that you can make.. is infinite." 

I truly believe if something has to change for better in todays world,Music will definitely be at our rescue as it has always been. 
 Together with music, we can create good, We have what it takes and we definitely should. 

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination  and life to everything.” 

To conclude I would like to say   “Life is much like a song. In the beginning there is mystery, in the end there is confirmation, but it's in the middle where all the emotion resides to make the whole thing worthwhile.” 

                                                                            So Let the Music play !