Project 1: Ice Breaker: Analysis Paralysis

Good Morning everyone!
When I finally sat last night to prepare this speech I opened two bio-data’s I have.
#The first which is written by me to find my ideal job and

#The second which is written by my parents to find the ideal son in law.

I thought I would use the Microsoft most widely used Cut Copy Paste technology and quickly get done with my speech,but then I thought of you’ll my dear audience for the day and realized that you are not potential recruiters (at least not for now!) and neither is the potential “son- in- law’s” that my parents are looking for is likely to be sitting among you’ll today; So what is it that I should I tell you about myself….!!??!!

Oh god……I was so stressed and CONFUSED!

And that’s when I realized: “Confused” has been the theme of my life all these years!!!
Not many people here would know that I am a physiotherapist by qualification : “Dr Shilpa Sehgal” is what I used to be called till I got confused and did not know if treating “pains in the neck” was the true calling of my life…I wanted to do something different; something better; something bigger; I thought I wanted to be in the ‘business’ of healthcare

So how could I do that ’Confusion’ crept in again and that’s when the great Tata Legend came to my rescue in the form of Tata Institute of Social Sciences and I went on and did an MBA in Hospital and healthcare Management

At the end of the course I had a nice cushy pre- placement offer in a hospital in Mumbai when the recruitment team from TCS came to campus and “confused“me with a attractive hefty package lured me into believing that the corporate world is the place to be in and healthcare IT is the way to change the world! TCS is the place to be in…

TCS did change the world at least for me…..They picked me up from Mumbai and dumped me to Hyderbad ; believe me the world does sound very different when everyone around you talks in Telgu! Now I have been in TCS for over 3 years and even today both me and my poor bosses are confused on what my role is in this company full of techies!

Confusion!….Confusion!...Confusion…! Confusion has prevailed not only in my professional life but also my personal life!

I love to learn new things there are so many things I want to learn I cant decide what I want to learn first! What should I do over the weekend??? Learn to play the casio….or to learn to dance ? To learn reki or pranic healing ? play badminton or table tennis?

I love to read everything and anything fiction, non- fiction, business, psychology, spirituality…..every night I have at least 3 books by the side of my bed and normally I got to sleep just looking at them…

I cannot decide if I should Toastmasters club…..or Rotaract club or the Lions’s club……they are all so nice!

Should I be a part of the Teach India initiative or be a part of the TCS Maitri Sion school initiative to teach kids……? Oh god so many things to decide…

There are small things….relatively not much at stake… and I eventually will end up doing all of them but when it comes to major potentially irreversible decisions ; Like who I should get married to….God Save me and all those people around me!

I am so thoroughly confused… Who would be the right choice….? The cute boy next door…dad’s friends son….my best friend…..my younger brothers best friend…..none of the above….all of the above…any of the above….either of the above!!!???!!!!

And when there are big confusing decisions to make in life you turn to divine sources who can help you see the future and decide … But…. lo behold!! There are so many choices there!!!Who should you listen to……the astrologer……the palmist……the numerologist….the taro card reader…all of the above…none of the above…either of the above….neither of the above…OH MY GOD……can someone anyone save me from this confusion!!!

So what am I doing with all these choice I need to make…..Currently “Absolutely Nothing!”Analysis Paralysis…. is what I am suffering from at this point of time. My life is in pause mode. There are so many things I want to do, but currently all I am doing is “analyzing” what is the best thing to do!When you don’t have a choices Life is stressful when you have too many choices in life is equally stressful…..What is better of the two…..honestly I don’t know…I am confused! Over to Mr Toastmaster of the day.

(This was the ice breaker speech I gave at the toastmasters club in TCS Empire Plaza on July 16th 2008…The content is partly true…but exaggerated : An attempt to make it an interesting and humorous!)

Objectives of Speach 1 (Time :4-6 minutes)

Begin speaking before an audience

Use of opening, body and conclusion

To introduce oneself to Club members