It was way back in 2001 . My 1st year in boarding school; it had been 3 months enjoying, learning and having a cross cultural experience as an individual with many people from different states of India. It was during our entire school gathering in the morning that I got to see many students from different ages speaking on the stage with ease and enthusiasm. This entire episode of 45 mins caught my attention. There was so much drive, energy and intensity from within that said “Srinivas whatever it takes; you have to try giving a speech on the stage“.

Just thinking about that raised my heart beat and  I wondered “how will this happen; I have never ever done it before”. These were questions running in my mind –
– Addressing 800+ students, wow!!! how are they doing it with so must ease?
– Can I do it?
– What has to be done to speak on the stage?

I did not have a clue, how is this going to be a reality; but I perused my ways to identify how to get a slot during the morning event. IT took me 2 months, to get a slot for a short speech for 5 minutes. I was happy with the progress and was eagerly looking forward for the day.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗗𝗔𝗬 – On this day the world looked very different to me from 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡. Sensing the soft blaze of light and fresh breeze from the trees around me, I was getting very nervous as I was moving towards the stage. I was told that I would be going third after the first two speeches. On the stage and waiting for my speech to start in the next 15 min.
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 – Marching toward the mike , the view from the stage was entirely different ; 800 students are looking at you and as you start the speech your voice is highly amplified. Now, I am all alone in front of the mike – 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐤, 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 n𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 .My legs were shaking and hands were trembling so badly that I could not see my script paper well; it was very difficult for me to see and read as I was aware that I am not able to reduce my nervousness.

That 5 mins was “𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘”, what ever it is I had to keep going and complete my speech and handle the situation from 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡 . 
This biggest battle I had faced, not only gave me great relief and confidence to face 800 students but also opened doors for many speeches and performances on stage.
This #Littleme is always #Inspiring  #me saying that – “When your Heart is saying something from 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡, go all out to experience it; all that matters is the 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘”. I keep following my Heart – and it had always raised me up in life right from my childhood.