"Build-up" - by Lohit Gupta
(This is intended to be my opening speech for my Toastmasters membership, which is meant to be a self-introduction)
tam-tam-tam tan-tan-tan.... X 2
And now - presenting....
Do you know what's common between a comedian, a real-estate broker and a sales pitch?
They all have a Build-up.
Do you know what's common between a failed joke, an unsold flat and an over-age unwed baniya offspring?
ALL they have is a Build-up.
Everything you are doing in life is as good as a build-up.
Education or Experience, Good Karma or Inherited Dharma, Worshiping your parents or your Boss - all of it is just a build-up.
A Build-up hoping you will end up as something. A Build-up to what the Hijra on the signal promises - Teri jodi bane rahein, teri naukri mein barkat ho, ya tere bachhey tera khoon piye, teri aurat poora din ghar par hi rahe (depending on your karma equations with the Hijra's P&L).
And me - I am good at build-ups.
The endless novels abandoned after the first 2 chapters, countless first or second dates left awkwardly in the middle of nowhere, loooong sales pipelines that don't result in closures and funny anecdotes that nobody remembers after the first 2 lines.
Well, even my most successful side (unpaid) career is that of an on-stage anchor : I ANNOUNCE other people's entries. I am THAT good at build-ups.
Hrithik-Kangana, USA-North Korea, Arnab vs Arnab and.... Rahul Gandhi - ALL they have is a Build-up. You keep waiting for them to deliver.
However build-ups are not all that bad. Some spend their entire lives doing it. And they have LIVED well. Elon Musk is an example - for the real impact of some of the technologies he is developing will be seen only after his lifetime. Ram Gopal Verma is one too - for some day people will finally understand his movies. And Rahul Gandhi as well - although I don't know what his build up is for...
That's the end of my build-up though. To deliver this:
(Sing this along in your head)
A moment that leads,
Without the shadow of a doubt.
A memory that leaves,
You either In or Out -
For all my life has been,
For all those dreams that I have seen,
Have all been for this single episode -
For only this tale, if truth be told.
And if you ask me what's up -
I would still say - that it's just the Build-up.
The point is - I'm sure most of us know what their build-up is for. A legacy in marketing, finance, trade, "AI". Being the best dad, the best teacher, someone's best friend, the best Bathroom Singer (I do all this writing on the pot) - the best Road Rage maniac, the best rickshaw-waala-bhaiya negotiator - we have it all sorted.
Hume pata hain yehi banna hain - fir jeevan safal aur hum - cheque encash karke - kya karengey? Fir naya build-up banayenge. Aur haan - havan bhi karengey.
So that's my philosophy - I live in the build-up. It's the journey that matters, no lies there. I achieved my peak moment of happiness and success yesterday. Last month was my best month yet, last year was my best one yet.
The build-up is what I use to add in more stories everyday to my life - stories that are not mine - and yet I am an integral part of them. I keep adding people to this build up - people that I never knew before - yet can't forget now.
I felt only a small incremental pleasure on climbing 18,000 feet : because I was still high from the build-up. And this is where I leave you to be - enjoy the build-up while it lasts. Because once you finish your script, you don't know what's at the end of it - a grateful applause that you have finished or a thunderous applause that you have just begun.
tam-tam-tam tan-tan-tan.... X 2
And now - presenting....
Do you know what's common between a comedian, a real-estate broker and a sales pitch?
They all have a Build-up.
Do you know what's common between a failed joke, an unsold flat and an over-age unwed baniya offspring?
ALL they have is a Build-up.
Everything you are doing in life is as good as a build-up.
Education or Experience, Good Karma or Inherited Dharma, Worshiping your parents or your Boss - all of it is just a build-up.
A Build-up hoping you will end up as something. A Build-up to what the Hijra on the signal promises - Teri jodi bane rahein, teri naukri mein barkat ho, ya tere bachhey tera khoon piye, teri aurat poora din ghar par hi rahe (depending on your karma equations with the Hijra's P&L).
And me - I am good at build-ups.
The endless novels abandoned after the first 2 chapters, countless first or second dates left awkwardly in the middle of nowhere, loooong sales pipelines that don't result in closures and funny anecdotes that nobody remembers after the first 2 lines.
Well, even my most successful side (unpaid) career is that of an on-stage anchor : I ANNOUNCE other people's entries. I am THAT good at build-ups.
Hrithik-Kangana, USA-North Korea, Arnab vs Arnab and.... Rahul Gandhi - ALL they have is a Build-up. You keep waiting for them to deliver.
However build-ups are not all that bad. Some spend their entire lives doing it. And they have LIVED well. Elon Musk is an example - for the real impact of some of the technologies he is developing will be seen only after his lifetime. Ram Gopal Verma is one too - for some day people will finally understand his movies. And Rahul Gandhi as well - although I don't know what his build up is for...
That's the end of my build-up though. To deliver this:
(Sing this along in your head)
A moment that leads,
Without the shadow of a doubt.
A memory that leaves,
You either In or Out -
For all my life has been,
For all those dreams that I have seen,
Have all been for this single episode -
For only this tale, if truth be told.
And if you ask me what's up -
I would still say - that it's just the Build-up.
The point is - I'm sure most of us know what their build-up is for. A legacy in marketing, finance, trade, "AI". Being the best dad, the best teacher, someone's best friend, the best Bathroom Singer (I do all this writing on the pot) - the best Road Rage maniac, the best rickshaw-waala-bhaiya negotiator - we have it all sorted.
Hume pata hain yehi banna hain - fir jeevan safal aur hum - cheque encash karke - kya karengey? Fir naya build-up banayenge. Aur haan - havan bhi karengey.
So that's my philosophy - I live in the build-up. It's the journey that matters, no lies there. I achieved my peak moment of happiness and success yesterday. Last month was my best month yet, last year was my best one yet.
The build-up is what I use to add in more stories everyday to my life - stories that are not mine - and yet I am an integral part of them. I keep adding people to this build up - people that I never knew before - yet can't forget now.
I felt only a small incremental pleasure on climbing 18,000 feet : because I was still high from the build-up. And this is where I leave you to be - enjoy the build-up while it lasts. Because once you finish your script, you don't know what's at the end of it - a grateful applause that you have finished or a thunderous applause that you have just begun.
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