My Winning Speech in The Independence Day Speech Competition at School

Firstly, I'd like to thank the readers of this blog for being so patient (that's a joke, I hardly have any). Independence Day was 15 days ago and I've been busy, lazy, restless, whatever you can call it and have been oblivious to the fact that I have a platform for self-expression.

 

 

  

 

I'll be sharing the audio, granted I get the time to but this speech is remarkable because I must have spent an hour writing it without caffeine. 

This is going to sound hilarious but the evening the speech competition was held (14th) aside from me, there was literally only one other participant.

And I an amateur whose spoken maybe twice before the competition, was baffled, I can say? The first rule of debates, public speaking, panel interviews, etc, is to NOT go first. I learnt it the hard way. You observe other speakers before you go ahead, you take notes, you analyse their mistakes and their brilliance and go after you're ready and 100% confident that you'll slay it. The second rule is to speak as if you're speaking to yourself and imagine that there's no one listening. We tend to get anxious and therefore make more mistakes and stutter if we look at people and see their reactions. Forget that they exist at that moment and you'll rock in your speech.

Note: You'll certainly get anxious but remember that no one's going to shoot you. 

(Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States got shot on his way to deliver a speech in Wisconsin in 1912. Despite that, he spoke for 84 minutes while the blood was seeping through his shirt. Be like Teddy Roosevelt. The 'teddy bear' that kids play with was named after him because he saved a grizzly from animal abuse)

Okay, I'm going to cut to the chase, here is the speech that I wrote:

Good evening and Jai Jagat to everyone. 

My name is Pranati Pathak. 

I'm in 11-E and the topic is

'The Mentality of the people before 1947'

I'd like to start my speech with a quote, that is,

“Life without liberty is like a body without spirit.” 

Throughout history, India has been but, a fruit bearer of life and treasures.

Treasures were discovered, and treasures were made through the great sagacity of the four Vedas, the sacred yet scientific rituals, the literature, the architecture and the wise men that bestowed these fantastic elements. When I say India, I mean 'Akhand Bharat' that is, undivided India. 

The glory that shielded India lay in its unity. 

The same unity that was crushed by the clash of our provinces.

Our enemy was never the British or the French, the Turks or the Portuguese but our misconceptions and the absence of unity.

Today, we may be free but this freedom is not a treasure that was discovered or was easy, it is because through every drop of blood shed by our freedom fighters that we can breathe, speak, think and grow.

The people were long oppressed, humiliated, and made to feel inferior because of the language we spoke, the rituals we followed, the colour of our skin and even the prayers we performed for our own peace of mind.

The Indian soul was slaved enough to not know the true meaning of freedom.

The state of the people was made to feel limited in every aspect we could imagine. Indeed, were some men lucky enough to have attained the wisdom and know the real meaning of freedom. They were inspired by the french ideals, they were inspired by Vedantism, they were but lastly inspired by the real historical wonder of India and there grew patriotism.

The fight for freedom evolved from violence to non-violence.

The hopes of the people faced its ups and downs but the newfound patriotism brought themes of unity. 

This unification was the strength that weakened that of the oppressors. 

In the end, the glory was won at the dire cost of India's partition by the cunning mind of Lord Mountbatten. It was the inevitable victory of the people and their mindset that grew with time and power was achieved. 

And with this power and freedom in mind I would like to quote Pandit Nehru:

"A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new; when an age ends; and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance."

Thank you and Jai Jagat.

This won 1st prize just because there were only two. I'm still proud though.

This was just the start of my future victories. I'm glad I said yes to the opportunity. I want to tell you that if any opportunity like this comes your way, just do it. You might be hesitant to say 'Yes' because of your busy schedule and you might not know how to do it. Just say 'Yes' and learn how to do it later, you'll be amazed by your creativity. The human mind truly is amazing.

PRANATI PATHAK

21:10

30.08.2022