PRELUDE: FROM A GUEST TO A DTM

At the terminus the train is completely vacant, few moments later before it starts off, it gets sparingly populated, the compartments are almost empty. Slowly and slowly  as the train commences, passes-by station after station, the influx of passengers is on the rise. The vacant seats get occupied; and you have someone sitting beside you, may be a man not relevant to your profession, not in line with your likes, a man not belonging to your state or a man with a different dialect. Every man has something to share and something to say. The journey of the person sitting beside you may end up in between. and then you have someone else occupying the sit beside you. He may have something different to say and share. It is this difference, it is this diversity that adds to your enrichment of knowledge base, experience and storehouse of stories. The suburban trains of Mumbai are breeding grounds of numerous story. It is said Mumbai is a city always on the move. It is also said Mumbai is a city which never sleeps. It is estimated that everyday around twenty five families come to Mumbai in search of livelihood, they settle down, make Mumbai their home and never go back.

Once a person came to Bombay totally unknown to its citizens, unknown to the place and unknown to the pace. A stranger in a strange land. He was on the look for an easy-to-catch job and without any delay he found one. The job of shoe polishing; shoe polishing of train commuters. He was good at multi-tasking. Along with shoe polishing he was focused on building public relations. It is with public relations that he managed to climb the ladder of progression. He knew where he was heading for. He was a man from remote area, an area far away from the city. Having managed a family accommodation, his wife joined him. She was amazed and astonished at first by the traffic, by the rush, by the language the people spoke. She was an alien in this strange world. This world did not relate to her world in any way. As the man managed to climb to the position of a CEO in a paints company his wife too took lessons in Spoken English, she took lesson in driving and completely adapted herself to the city. Position did not matter much, he did not forget to travel in the suburban train. 

The Label “FROM A GUEST TO A DTM” is a similar non-fictional journey starting from a scratch on May 10, 2009 and finishing on June 30, 2013. In particular it is the journey of Toastmastering; a journey which starts from being nobody and culminating into being somebody, a journey which starts from being a guest and finishing into being a Distinguished Toastmasters. The hidden emphasis is on the importance of public relations. The journey kicks off with a story of a story teller and is subsequently followed by stories of few eminent personalities whom I met on this journey. It ends with a conclusion. I hope you will enjoy and enrich from it. The very purpose of putting before you this series “FROM A GUEST TO A DTM” is to raise curiosity, to raise questions, to generate impetus and seek solution. Wishing you all the best on your journey to reach the coveted DTM status.

Next time see you with “STORY OF A STORY TELLER”