How (not) to do a presentation

Well, the topic does raise the question on whether I am qualified to make this post- however, having attended quite a lot of presentations, I have qualified at least as an attentive (read- attempts at attention, often futile) listener.
Some people are born endowed with the gift of word, they can hold audience spell bound even while talking on the most mundane of subjects. However, this is not for those elite few- this is for the ones who are moderately good and would have the attention of the audience on their brilliant days.
Unless you are presenting on a topic like 'how to make a million in an hour', there may be few among the audience who would gladly sleep while you babble. Let us ignore them for the moment and concentrate on the ones who would have lent a ear if things werent so boring.

Some key points:
1. Make sure everybody knows the intention of the presentation. There may be somebody who is in the room by mistake, so this is the cue for them to slap their head and move out.
2. Keep the heading simple and not head-whirling. You arent here to pose a tongue twister to the audience. Keep it short and simple, yet capturing the key idea of your talk
3. When you begin, it would be a good gesture to give an outline of the presentation so that people would at least know if you are close to the finish line. If you put the page number on your slides as 'page a of b', you may almost hear their brains working, doing the math to gauge the distance from the current slide to the end.
4. An introduction would be very good, giving the lesser enlightened folks an opportunity to get a grip of whats going on. However, keep it short, otherwise the enlightened may get bored. Try to avoid huge definitions and theorems - those can always be looked up in the internet. Give a broad picture, and a gist of the stuff as concisely as possible and put a reference where they can look up the actual words.
5. A brief word about the colour scheme- if you dont want the people to watch your presentation with teary eyes, go for mild colours like light blue, green or brown. However, if you want to watch them cry, go all out for the fluorescent colours.
6. It would be fatal to put all that you intend to say on the slides and then read out from it- people can very well read on their own, some even faster than you can. A slide full of text is bad enough without someone reading aloud from it. Just write the key points on the slide- they need to make sense only when you elaborate- otherwise you wouldnt be needed there at all.
7. Stick to the time frame. If you are allotted half an hour for the presentation, dont prepare a 100 slides (unless you are those fellows who warn about the license agreements being subject to market risks) - you would end up having to skip all those or run through them.
8. Plan your presentation in advance. Before preparing the slides, think of all the things you want to put across- that forms the body of your presentation. Add introduction and conclusion to augment what you are going to say. If you are presenting for half an hour, allot 5 mins for the outline and intro, 15-20 mins for the body, and 5 mins for the conclusion so that you have ample time to take a few questions. Even if there are no questions, no one will hate you for winding it up early.
9. Even the best of plans go wrong. If somebody keeps interrupting you with questions, or carries on a question for too long a time, tell him/her politely that the questions can be answered offline as time is of essence.
10. Encourage questions- if you stare down your nose at anyone asking a question, people will keep mum. Adopt a pleasant attitude while speaking. That doesnt mean that you have to act the clown or smile as if you are being photographed- just keep a pleasant face and smile at people occasionally
11. Maintain eye contact. Dont keep staring at your own slides. Look at the audience, let your eye run through them- look at all sections of the audience, not just at the front where people whom you deem  important sit. It is good to include all in your talk.
12. Humour is a good way to catch the attention, but go for it only if you are good at it and think it fail proof. No humour is better than a failed attempt at humour.
13. Talk slow- this isnt the place to show off your speed or accent. Speak in a way and speed such that it is understandable.
14. Dont get very excited and start shouting. Maintain a cool and calm attitude throughout. You may be nervous, but that shouldnt affect your voice modulation.
15. Try not to move all over the place. Some people have a habit of walking to and fro while speaking and people hurt their necks trying to follow the speaker with their gaze.

This is all that I could think of on the spur of the moment. Will keep adding. Have a nice time presenting.

Buried Treasures

“Treasure your relationships, not your possessions”

Prologue:

Many centuries ago…..

It was a busy time at the town of Sampath- the yearly harvest festival was a day away and there wasn’t much time left to do the preparations. The citizens of this wealthy town worked and celebrated together; wayside stalls selling artistic ware were thronged by females, picking up accessories to dress up for the festival day. Beads of different shapes and sizes, colourful bangles, chunky earrings- they were all there, waiting to be picked up. The children, too, had a wide range of toys to choose from- traditional wooden toys lined the racks while the coveted iron toys- the latest item in the market- were kept on display to entice the longing kids.

 Iron was indeed the craze of the day, for it wasn’t discovered until recently how to mould it and strengthen it. However, it was still out of reach for the common folk and only the palace and ministerial households could boast of ironware while the commoners had to make do with the low cost gold counterpart that got bent and dented easily.

Jwala was walking with her kid, cursorily glancing through the merchandise on display – her thoughts were away with her husband who had gone to a distant port to sell his products. He ought to have returned yesterday. It was not yet time to panic, as the sea was very unpredictable and there have been instances where merchants were delayed months. Still, she couldn’t get rid of the feeling that something was not right. She put aside the sensation, as the astronomer hadn’t spotted any bad omens. She stood aside with her daughter, standing a bit apart from the crowd and watching their preparations for the festival.

The astronomer, however, was oblivious to everything except for his current passion – that of preparing the longest time chart that would divide the time into cycles and map the celestial positions in each cycle; that would help to predict the events of any day in the distant future. While he was musing about the distant future, predicting dangers centuries away, he overlooked the imminent danger that threatened his town.

The people were thus involved in their independent pursuits when all of a sudden, the earth shook. Tremor after tremor rocked the town and soon the raised platform on which the town was built cracked. People scattered to all sides helplessly – they would have bravely fought an army of ten thousand, but they didn’t know what to do when the ground they stood on wasn’t steady. The display racks toppled onto each other, crushing the unfortunate ones who took refuge within them. Jwala ran, clutching and dragging her daughter along but she wasn’t fast enough to escape from the pile of gold plates that came down on them. The astronomer, too, died in the process of noting down a natural catastrophe that was to occur on a date in the very distant future– his dream chart left unfinished. There were wails of despair all around, while the cruel nature swallowed up the town into its deep interiors.

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Chapter 1

It was a great day at the dig. The previous days were spent in fruitless toil, rewarding nothing but some broken bits of pottery, rusted iron ware and worn beads. Today, however, was different; they seem to have struck gold- literally. They had been digging in this site for some days- it appeared to be some mass burial ground, skeletons in awkward poses piled on top of each other, surrounded by a jumbled assortment of stuff- toys, pots, jewellery and what not. They had gone further ahead and found a different grave. By all appearances, it was a double grave, and a royal one at that, judging by the amount of valuable stuff that had been cramped in the limited recess to accompany the dead to the other world. The two skeletons lay beneath a pile of gold and the workers delicately brushed off the dust and unearthed them. The custodians of the grave were raised respectfully- they would soon be put on display, after a round of analysis.

The chief archeologist ran around happily –this was the first time he had spotted actual gold, that too in a royal grave. Images of the Egyptian tombs passed through his mind and he hoped that his royal skeletons too would some day gain similar popularity and notoriety. A stir among the workers roused him from his thoughts and he rushed to behold what the new discovery was.

A huge stone tablet lay buried, a portion of it visible where it had recently been dusted and cleaned. There were curious markings etched on to the tablet. The seal expert was called and he immediately recognised it as an ancient astronomical chart.

“Similar charts have been found in other digs too, but none are this big. This is something that would make our excavation famous!”

The archeologist, whose only aim in life was fame, jumped at the word.

“How do we make out what the markings say? Will there be any instructions to a treasure?”

“I don’t think so. However, I know an astronomer who can decipher this for us”

By the time the astronomer arrived, the entire chart was visible and he set to work enthusiastically. He pored over the chart, passing over some sections quickly and scrutinizing some portions, until he reached the end of the chart. He made some calculations, repeated them over and over again and then raised an unhappy face.

“This is a unique chart that sets down every day in the life of earth. Even though this chart is centuries old, it has mentions of incidents that had happened in recent times. A great astronomer should have prepared this for he has accurately predicted the events so far into the future.”

“My concern is something else. This chart mentions about a natural catastrophe that will affect life in this part of the world and abruptly ends there. I think, that the date he had noted is”, here he lowered his voice until he was barely audible, “Doomsday”.

A set of perplexed faces welcomed his announcement.

“Doomsday refers to the end of the earth or of life as we know it”!

The faces took on a skeptical look until the astronomer explained that he wouldn’t have believed it himself if he hadn’t seen this chart. Since its creator could predict other events that happen now, there would be a grain of truth in this prediction too.  

“When is it?”

“Ten days from today!” He sighed- this was the one finding of his that he wished was proved wrong.

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Chapter 2

The ten days that followed had seen heated debate on the issue of doomsday- experts, scientists, astronomers, astrologers- everyone had their say and it could be said that the world- the believers and the skeptical ones- waited with bated breath as the day dawned.

Susan was alone with her daughter as her husband had gone to town for some urgent business. He should have returned yesterday, but the incessant rain and associated landslides had made it difficult to traverse the rocky terrain to reach their village. George had called and assured that he would be back today. She still had a lingering feeling of something wrong, but she shook it off and went out- there was work to do.

She was outside her home, when the earth shook. The hill on which their village stood, already weakened by the rapid run offs, couldn’t hold out much against the tremors. Susan ran inside, fetched her daughter and scurried down the hillside, but she was lifted off the cracking ground and came sliding down as part of the hill crashed down into a huge mound of mud, stone and doomed lives.

George came home to find that his family was wiped off the face of the earth- there was nothing he could do but gape at the slow and persistent work of the rescue personnel, hoping each time that a body is lifted out that it shouldn’t be his wife or daughter.

After a whole day of waiting, he started hoping that at least their bodies be found, so that he could give them a decent burial. The rain had continued and there were minor landslides in nearby areas too, dampening the efforts of the rescue personnel.

The rain grew heavier until it was difficult to see a few feet ahead. George saw that the rescue team was winding up their operations. He rushed to them and begged,

 “Sir, my family lies buried there and I have a feeling that they will be alive. Please don’t wind up the search, in fact there may be many lives waiting to be rescued”.

“I am sorry for your family. However, we have orders to suspend the search operations as the rain makes it difficult to progress and it wouldn’t be worthwhile digging up the mound as the chances of finding a live person are almost zero now.”

George, though tired by the lack of food and rest, couldn’t go to sleep as every time he closed his eyes, he saw images of his wife and daughter lying trapped in a mound of earth, banging their fists and wailing to be let out- a sight that would haunt him for days and years to come.

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The dig was a site of buzzing activity ever since the royal grave was found. The rain beating down on their faces and blocking their visibility did not deter the workmen form their work and the work progressed at a fast pace. The entire grave was uncovered and had turned out to be a treasure trove of gold. Doomsday had come and gone, and apart for a few quakes and landslides, nothing much had happened. The astronomical chart was ridiculed and the error put down to the lack of intelligence of a ‘barbaric and ancient ‘culture.

The archeologist was blissfully unaware of everything and everyone around him- lost lives, lost livelihoods, crushed dreams and bruised hopes. He could only think of what more the site could give…….

Epilogue

This is life…

Times change, people change, values change but the human emotions of love, hatred, jealousy, angst and sympathy remain the same. Like iron and gold, the materials we value change over time but the value of relationships lasts forever.

Just because things are different doesn’t mean they are wrong, it just means that our understanding of them is incomplete. We often tend to ridicule the past and worry over the future- ignore our ancestors and fret over what the future holds in store, but like the astrological chart, life in itself is a cycle and it goes on continuously.

What of Susan and her daughter?

They still lie buried, in their natural graves, waiting for a time, when their bones would also be buried treasures for someone. Only then, will they be worthwhile digging up.

The End

Treading on

The dark landscape, ahead loom
warning me of the impending doom
I pause, unsure, fearing the fall
and tread lightly, in steps small.

The moon, behind rainclouds hid
casting shadows onto the mid
of the black expanse that lay before
like the sea in some alien shore

my feet on a search  for firm ground
my ears strain for the slightest sound
my eyes try to pierce through the dark
while I, on this journey, embark

I move on, oblivious to the time
through paths filled with dust and grime
till red shot through the sky's mien
like blood from a severed vein

and soon the sun rose, spilling its charm
on a new day, serene and calm
and  I behold the beauty ahead
that was hidden by the night dead

the stream, like silver, winding along
sprawling green meadows, wide and long
green trees and flowers in full bloom
raise my mind from fear and gloom

I tread on, my face in smiles
journeying through sunlit miles
drinking in the beauties blend
happy, till my journey's end

Whats in a name

I was recently clearing up some clutter in my house when i came across an old toy of mine. it was blue with a spongy feel. though it had accumulated a lot of dirt over the years of hibernation it was forced into, it still retained its blue colour and i remembered in a flash what we had called it back then - bluean..simple and concise. memories of my other toys- reddan, joker , all named according to appearance flooded back and i wondered how i had gone from the simplicity of youth to the arrogance of teenage and now,to the sophistication of youth and how it had been reflected in something so silly as the naming of a toy.
from the association of colours and looks into names we had grown into giving better suitable names to our toys and thus were born pooja, kalyani, deepika, betty and so on. the older ones still remained close at heart and continued in their prominent positions in our toy racks.
growing further up, the arrogance of teenage rushed in and playing with toys was no longer "the" thing. so the toys we got in that period still remain orphaned and anonymous. and once the days of teenage gave way to youth, that inner longing for childhood expressed itself and i was back into the wonder land of toys. but now, i had to take the sophistication of a "wise" youth back into childhood , so the books i read influenced the names i gave. and now i have a puppy named louis john gresham, a teddy named micheal william fitzgerald and two dolls named elizabeth jane montgomery and richard frederick montgomery .the latest addition to this royal entourage is elinor merlin montgomery whose naming ceremony racked many a brain.
and now as i see my old toy sitting beside these royal namesakes, i understand that whatever i call them , they remain lifeless, uttering nothing in response and sigh at the futility of many an hour spent in searching for that perfect name!

First Year

we did have a peek of our seniors when we went to complete the admission formalities. the first day came and i began the day on a high note. i took the college bus where i didn't get much ragging because i was soon pronounced a "paavam". the half hour journey by bus, standing in the din interiors of the battered yet crowded ksrtc bus was a first time for me and this had gone on to become a part of my life in the coming years. the bus drove into bus bay and i felt like i had landed on moon. the only time i came to college, i came by the front gate. i hardly knew where i was and the only thing i knew about my destination was that it was at some place called room no 108. a senior(my sisters friend) took me to class and thus began the best days of my life!. the class was almost filled as i walked in. i hardly looked at anyone but noticed that there were very few girls. i procured a seat in second bench which was safe as you are neither too close to the hot area neither are you too far away. the first class was taken by navas sir. he began the class by elaborating his "different" style of teaching and went on to speak about clipping and clamping circuits when one hardly knew what a diode was. i wondered if everyone else in class knew all this and the boy who kept telling all the answers provided little comfort.the first hour was over and then they came. they asked the girls to sit near the window and made us all stand up and wish good morning. by that time the area outside our class had become a hot spot as the information about the beauty of a particular classmate spread through the various higher semesters. we were shivering like leaves by then and i wondered why i haven't feared anyone else in my life so much. then things were pure sailing as teachers took care of our protection and stood guard outside our classes. i started a friendly relation with aswathy, our class rep, and it was her companionship that enabled me to know a good portion of students of our batch in the first year. the next day onwards we went for walks around college and though we were still afraid of ragging, the intensity of fear was decreasing every day. we even had the cheek to go to the mechanical department during the initial few weeks of class in our workshop uniform. the subsequent days were all enjoyable even with the ragging. i was asked to write an assignment for a senior and i made the mistake of showing some sincerity and gave back a neat assignment in beautiful handwriting. that mistake ensured the fact that i spent a good portion of my time writing assignments. i even became the default assignment writer to some seniors in my bus.
we had covered almost the entire college during our afternoon walks and our visits to the canteen grew frequent. we had a wonderful christmas celebration (without permission), when i got to knew many more people in class. then genesis came and we were all immersed in fighting for the much coveted top spot which the mechs took away from us with a lead of one point. my participation in jam and the subsequent experiences led me to decide not to speak in college ever and it was goodbye to old speaking days too.the spot dance and group song events were superb with good crowd turnout and huge amount of noise. and then series came and went. we went for our first tour to vegaland when i grew closer to my classmates.my skills in workshop led me to spending an entire day in fitting with a file in hand and at last i threw the tool in and quit. and then it was time for university exams and the first year soon got over.

Goodbye??

Four years in College getting over...so quick and yet so rich in experiences.school was over much before i wanted it to be and even in the sorrow of having to say goodbye to school days, having to shift from Ernakulam where every single friend of mine is, i couldn't wait to enter college, that place where everyone spends the most enjoyable and memorable time of their lives. I did have my apprehensions about joining college....
1.being the last rank admitted to EC in merit i was wondering whether i would fit in with my 'buji' classmates.
2. i knew next to nothing about electronics. i surprised my physics professor in 12th by failing to identify a capacitor. the capacitor had been my foe ever since.
3. i had no friends in this new place. there were hundreds of students here and i hardly knew three people.that was okay as that meant getting to meet so many new people.(but my first day into college and i knew that my wish of getting to know every person in college would never come true.)
4. those frightening species called seniors who allegedly lurked in corners and lay in ambush waiting to pounce upon you and rag you to pieces. the many stories of ragging which i heard had me in tenterhooks.
the stories of CET i heard from my cousin who passed out before i entered had me anxiously waiting for the commencement of the course. but the government decided to mess things up and i had to spend months without a tv, a computer or even a library membership. i went back to old times when man cared only about food and sleep.
and finally the day came when i stepped into CET

The road leads on

The road stretches far, before me , behind me
I walk alone, not seeking and not sought
People pass by stopping to smile
Some a glance, a word or a passing remark
While some walk along, pushing me on
holding me steady while I trip and fall
Then they tire , not catching up
and fade away , urging me to move on

People pass by laden with treasures
yet fatigued under their crunching weight
and leave them by the side of the road
to move on, free, fast and light.
Some others pick up these treasures
and move on looking for still more..
Oh, by the cruel twist of fate
those who have, wish to abandon
and those abandoned, wish to have...

The road stretches far, on and on
some ways tree lined, shady and cool
the pleasant fragrance of wayside flowers
and the melodious tunes of birds
some ways scorching, searing and hot
with the stench of stagnant life
and the melancholy wail of the birds..

yet we move on and on,not looking back
until we round a curve and behold
the orchard, the final destination
and recline to rest our tired souls...

Destiny

Is it my fate that the crystal holds?
or is what it holds my fate?

I look at the sun,breathing out fire,
so stern in its life, biding its time
and say ' it is destined'.

Then I look at the birds, free in their paths
not bound to the earth, flying in will,
and say 'it is we who destine'.

When things go wrong, luck deserts
I curse God for steering me so
when success shines, luck stays by
I praise myself for my deeds

Do we live out a life,crafted before
by some hand, mighty and strong.
or do we live out our life, do our deeds
and the hands of time take it down so.

poem: Alone

disclaimer: 'I' referred to in the poem is not me.

Even when the world around
carry on their noisy chatter
I feel alone in the crowd that surround
my mind shuts out, my senses scatter.

while I speak well and always smile
to the faces I pass, all day I glance
my mind feels void all the while
amidst its purposeful happy stance.

To live in a world where I am loved
where happiness broods ,comforts choke
but no more free to speak out aloud
my mind is hidden beneath its locks

I am a stranger to my own thoughts
I dare not think for fear of sorrow
while around me , my life clots
where every day is like the morrow.

I'm off again

Maybe due to the proximity or due to the peaceful stay it affords, kanyakumari has become a retreat of sorts for my family. everytime we get three days we drive off to kanyakumari and sink in the serenity of the place.The vivekananda ashram is the best place to stay if you are looking for a quiet holiday. Covering hundreds of acres,it houses numerous tree lined walks , and if you are lucky you might chance on a peacock that has decided to show off its beautiful feathers. The last time we were there we took a superficial view of the area making sure that the next time we go there we know where to head to...... the sunrise at kanyakumari is famous but lucky as i am i coudnt glimpse it. the last time, i woke up early for the express purpose of catching the sun first and walked all the way to the sea side.....there was a slight drizzle and a breeze playing along and the place was very beautiful in the early morning glow.....the blue hue of dawn along with the overcast sky and the tune of the sea playing in my ears gave a dream like experience.......the sun decided not to turn up that day and left a dejected lot at the shore staring haplessly at the skies....silly as it seems the sun didnt rise that day...it just appeared at some place above the horizon.....but i wasnt let down ...i really loved the early morning walk and the dream like quality of the entire image etched an everlasting impression on me.....that evening we went to kanyakumari and again the thunderous clouds and grey sky showcased the sea in all its fury.....that night we had the annual day celebrations of the vivekananda school....all were invited...since there wasnt anything constructive to do my mother sis and i went ......the kids were really good and the simplicity of the programmes struck me.....there was a set of unsophisticated programmes...simple songs ,dances......but the brightly dressed kids doing them made it all the more beautiful.....there were instances when we stared dumbfounded at the stage while a tamil skit progressed......i tried translating the tamil for the first few minutes but it got faster by the minute so i gave up and just stared.....the next day we went for yet another walk and saw peacocks,deers, and heard all kinds of birds signalling their welcome from hidden retreats...... couldnt visit the library but intend to do so this time.....as we depart tomorrow yet another time there are things i want to do which i coudnt do the last time
1.visit meditation centre
2. visit the rock
3.visit the temple
4.visit the library
4.catch the sunrise....(hopefully....its raining again)
5. walk,walk,walk.
bubye!

The Lost Reins

If only I could gain control
of the horse of time ,that surges ahead,
I ride on its back ,blindly taken forward
like a rider who has lost his reins

Sun shines,decking me with jewels
rain washes them away,leaving me drained
there are paths I wanted to take
but the horse was its own master.
I lost things as I stumbled ahead
but couldnt stop to pick them up.

First I didnt mind the awry ride
I enjoyed the sights that bordered the path
the smell of flowers,the feel of the sun
and the wind whipping at my face.

Then I thought of the way ahead
guessing the paths,anxious of its falls,
iI ve seen danger looming ahead
but the horse had steered me clear.

Then I thought of the things I lost
and looked at them to mourne their loss
with every loss the horse sped up
as I moved ,my tears were wiped dry.

Later I lost all my thoughts on the way
only the journey's end seemed to matter
and when atlast I reached the end
the horse stopped and I found the whip.