“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
Toastmaster of the day, fellow toastmasters and distinguished guests. Good evening!
My name is Ashfaque Deshmukh, Born and brought up in a middle class family in one of the smallest villages, in Konkan region, a coastal plain of Maharashtra state, in western India. Married, and I have two sons, Ateeb and Shakaib. My wife is a home maker. Our family consists of 7 members, my parents, three elder sisters and my elder brother and me.
My father, a primary school teacher retired in the year 1986. My mother is a housewife. All three sisters are married and are settled with their families.
I have completed my primary Education in an Urdu medium school, located in my village. For secondary education I had to go to another school, around 7 to 8 KM away from my village. With no option available, we had to walk everyday almost 15 KM to and fro. To reach 7 O Clock in the school we had to start 5 O Clock in the morning.
Surprisingly we would not carry any torch to avoid the darkness while walking through the narrow ways of the forest and also we were not afraid of any harmful wild animals. The reason, we would discuss the instances of the previous day on the playground or in the school so loudly that all the animals would be afraid of hearing our voices.
Yes, while going to school, some of my friends would pretend to be bitten by a snake and return home just to avoid the punishment from the teacher for not completing their home work.
After returning back to home there were no tiredness, instead, we would throw the school bags, change the school uniform and run to play cricket, one of my favorite games.
After passing SSC, I was looking for further studies in the nearby college “Dr.Baba Saheb Ambedkar College”. I did not want to go for the toughest and also did not want to touch the bottom line and so I selected Commerce stream for my further studies. But I did not know the actual scope of the Commerce faculty which I had selected. My college life was exactly like the life of a bride in her in-laws house after her forceful arranged marriage. I had to compromise with everything and accept everything. My father use to say “Son, Accept the things which you cannot change”
When my elder brother finished his graduation, he was eager to go to Mumbai for further studies in Computer Science. Due to financial crisis he could not go for his further studies. In a couple of month’s time he left to Saudi Arabia as a Sales Executive. When I finished my graduation my brother asked me to go to Mumbai for Studies in Computer Science. Perhaps it was his dream which he wanted me to fulfill.
This was my first experience of studying in Mumbai. I was frightened when I saw the teacher and all students speaking only in English. I used to avoid people, so my poor English would not be noticed. But this did not work for long. Nervousness was seen on my face by my uncle, I explained to him everything. He encouraged me to speak English. I successfully completed the computer course.
My hunt for a job was rather quick, in 4-5 days I was employed as a teacher in computer applications. I enjoyed teaching for 6 years.
As I was in search of a better job, in the year 1998, I met Mr.M.I. Farid and he offered me a position of an “Accounts Assistant” for KEMCO; certainly it was not my active profession but being a commerce graduate I accepted the offer. My interest and experience in IT paid off, when the Management of KEMCO gave me the responsibility as “System Controller” of their IT.
Now you know why I joined the Toastmasters? Of course to improve my English language, my speaking ability and a chance to speak non-stop for 6 minutes. This opportunity I do not get either at my home or in my office!
Finally I would like to say that Struggle is the most important factor of life. Because life is a continuous battle, one’s success, failure, happiness or unhappiness depends upon one’s knowledge of this battle. Whatever be one’s occupation in life, whatever be one’s knowledge, if one lacks the knowledge of the battle of life, one lacks the most important knowledge of all!
Over to the Toastmaster of the day!
