I think, therefore I am
<adapted from my Toastmasters ice breaker speech>
Who am I? - Am I my body? Am I my name or title? Am I my degree? Am I my occupation? Or am I my social media profile?; Who am I? Well, it is a seemingly simple but deceptively difficult question. As we peel the layers of what we think we are, finally we know who we really are. Neither do I have to patience to peel nor do I have the luxury of time to take you on this introspective sojourn. So, I decided to cut myself some slack and ask the experts to answer the question who am I.
French philosopher Rene Descartes struggled with the same predicament — He wanted to answer the question “Who am I?”. He could not trust his senses to make a judgement as they were not reliable. He saw that the earth was flat but it was spherical in reality, he smelt and thought something was a flower but it was just perfume, he had dreams but they were indistinguishable from reality. He could not rely on anything, not even himself. So, he had a strong suspicion that he lived in an elaborate illusion orchestrated by an evil demon. Now, the evil demon does not have a corner office, so be assured I’m not talking about the corporate world. Anyways, he mulled over this for a while and finally realized that what he is, is a “thinking thing”. He can be sure that he exists only because he can think. No matter how unreliable his thinking is, he can be sure, that if he thinks, he exists. So, he answered the question “who am I ? ” with “I am a thinking thing” and he coined the Latin phrase — “Corigus Ergo Sum”, translated to English means — “I think therefore I am”.
I’m no Descartes, I am just but an armchair thinker. But when I retrospect, I feel that our thinking shapes us as individuals. I hail from a family of teachers — my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, my sister all are teachers. I still vividly remember my toddler days when I used to accompany my grand-parents to school. My grandfather was a head master, I used to sit on his chair and play passing orders! No wonder I can never shut my mouth. I am the collateral damage of my family’s upbringing. Incessant speaking is my blood, it runs down my genes. Anyway, it was in during my schooling in Trichy when I discovered my passion for speaking and leadership. I was the Captain of my school which continued in my college as well, where I was the Chairman of my department. In my school and college, I participated in umpteen public speaking and creative writing contests. I was the de-facto Master of ceremonies wherever I went, and I loved it thoroughly. Post engineering, I was working with Qualcomm in Bangalore, while the work was good, I felt tech was not my calling. So, I quit after I got a call for pursuing MBA from IIM Bangalore. Post my MBA I got placed in Tata Administrative Services and got deputed here in TCS. That’s my story in a nutshell — a ponderous pursuit for the love of spoken word and ruling sword.
Concluding with the words of the iron lady Margaret Thatcher:
Our thoughts shape our actions, Our actions forge our character and our character defines our Destiny.
I think therefore I am.