This time, last year, we all found eggs

It was around 6 PM in the evening. I was sitting in a park near my apartment, fully indulged in my phone. That park was special. Not because of it had a lot of greenery, birds and kids happily chirping away and playing, so many smiling people strolling-and-chit-chatting along their way to good health (who has time to see all that?), but where I was sitting, it had 2 PokéStops, equidistant. It was really fun… after every 5 minutes, I could use one of the stops and refill my PokéBalls and earn major XP without even walking. And then use another. On top of that, one could find many Pokémons there. And even better, within 50 m away, there was a Gym where I could battle with others.

Few more people like me, immersed into their phone screens, kept on walking around these Pokéstops to get as much as they could. But since I had grasped that middle seat, I could do all that just by sitting, and they had to keep walking. Mostly all strangers, but occasionally one would ask, so are you also playing ‘Pokémon GO’? Smiling, I would say, yeah, what all you have got till now?

This time, last year, in 2016, the middle part of July was really different. It was like a temporary cultural revolution of sorts. Whoever got to know about this game, downloaded apk files (where it wasn’t available yet) and jumped on to the roads and started playing. I had downloaded it, because that time I was living alone and since the monsoon-y weather was quite good to go around and walk. And also because I wanted to give my 2nd Speech in Toastmasters. Otherwise I had no interest in Pokémons at all. I didn’t watch their cartoons, as I though all of those Japanese cartoons look the same. 🙂

But for this game, I not only walked around kilometers during evening, but even in Night. Everytime I went out, I could notice people playing. Herds of youngsters, all looking into their phones and walking slowly and funnily. There was another Pokéstop near my place where I went to fetch some collectibles at 1.30 AM in the night. Only to return disappointed to see a group of girls, sitting under the tree there and guarding the place, figuratively, if not literally.

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When so much was nearby, how could one stay at home?

I even walked around in office campus during lunch time (and sometimes just for a break, you know!) to get as many new Pokémons I could catch. And, as I was using a bike to go to office, I used all my time in the jams and traffic to collect many more Pokémons and refill my bag with Pokémon collectibles on the way.

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When you could go no where, you could still catch some Pokémons

Best part about this was, that not everyone got it. But if you saw someone looking at their phones walking, and then suddenly stopping and doing incessant clicking, you could know that they were playing Pokémon GO!

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Augmented Reality should have really taken off then. But probably, it would take some more time.

And these were the scenes all over the world. People played this in cemeteries, walked into other people’s properties and sometimes almost got them killed trespassing, just to get a rare Pokémon. They used bikes where they didn’t want to walk. They stayed hours near water bodies because there they could find, some Pokémons which were available only near lakes and ponds. It was indeed a fun time, last year in July.

This could have become a thing. Unfortunately, their servers kept crashing down due to huge surge in popularity in so little time. Hence, they disallowed people, at least in southern part of India, to play. So my pastime from July 14 – July 21 was short-lived. It was released later but then the enthusiasm had worn off and I got involved in other life related activities that I gave up.

When you think about it, rarely few things happen, which grab attention of everyone in the world. Games are like that. It had become a rage. In park, the roads, small town, big cities, every where, everyone who was playing that, had a sense of common aim and a feeling of family like animosity. Indeed a rare feat (apart from everyone throwing ice-bucket over each other). With this technology of augmented reality, surely, in future, we would do more such stuff when people would be more ready. The thing with games is that it connects everyone alike and makes them do things normally they won’t even team up for.

Watch this video about how can gamers help us to do bigger things:

I downloaded Pokémon GO today again. I can see few stops, gyms and available raids nearby. But then, who will walk now?

So I recently read: Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath

There’s an advertisement running on the Television. A bright and happy family of five, are getting ready for a picnic. A young boy, followed by 2 younger sisters joyously enter the minivan. The Husband and the wife follow them soon after and they start. A scene many of us relate to easily. The voice-over introduces us to the minivan now. It tells us about the features like remote-controlled sliding rear doors, ample space for big family, temperature controlled cup holders, six-point navigation system and what not. The voice says, “It’s a minivan to the max. It’s the minivan for families on the go.”

Everyone inside the van is smiling and enjoying the ride.

And then, it happens.

A speeding car overspeeding from the intersection hits the minivan. There’s a huge explosion and ear-shattering noise of glass breaking and metal bending.

There’s now just the sound of a permanently pressed horn and then screen fades into blank and goes silent.

The voice over now says: “Buckle up… Always.”

Unexpected. Right?

Unexpected is one of the 6 principles of making a thought stick in the reader’s mind or a viewer or the audience mind. The above advertisement about necessity of putting on a seat belt is so powerful that one won’t be able to forget it so easily.

The principles of making any idea sticky are:

  • Simple
  • Unexpected
  • Concrete
  • Credible
  • Emotional
  • Stories

or SUCCESs. An acronym, which would stick to your mind now, when you think of drafting an idea which you want to be sticky in other’s minds.

So I recently read:

Made to Stick: Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck or ‘Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die’ is a book by brothers Chip and Dan Heath.

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made to stick

This book is easily one of the most easy to read, witty and highly useful piece of text that I have ever read. It has plethora of anecdotes, stories, ideas and case studies of various incidents in the history where ideas housed themselves in people’s mind for a longer time.

The easy language with which Heath brothers have communicated the idea of making our thoughts get etched in and stay longer and relevant is exemplary. For anyone who is learning to write, fiction or non-fiction, or who is learning public speaking, writing an advertisement, or making a campaign, this could be of great use. Anyone actually who deals with communication would find this really enriching.

I found the recommendation for this book by Douglas Kruger in one of his videos. And this has actually helped me realize, why some of my own speeches and writings worked and why most failed. But after reading this, it would help me shape the flow and the content in a better way.

I recommend this book strongly, to anyone who wants to put forward their thoughts in a better way.

You may buy this book here:
Made to Stick: Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck

How Can I Help?

So, by the sheer result of persisting with it, I have become the Club President of my Toastmasters Club, Trailblazers.

This is the speech I presented as an acceptance of the Club President’s Role:

Hello Trailblazers!

Good Afternoon!

I would like to thank all of you for putting your trust in me by choosing me as the President of the club. I would like to assure you that I will continue to work hard in making our club one of the best places to spend 1.5 hours every week. I would also like to specially thank Toastmaster Narayanan and all the past officers under whose leadership we grew into a Select Distinguished Club.

Whenever we go for an ‘inception’ or start something new, we all feel an uneasiness in our stomach. Do you know that there’s a term for this:

Collywobbles!

Have you heard it before?

On June 3rd, 2016, when I joined this club, Trailblazers were celebrating our 75th Meeting. I raised my hand to volunteer for the table topics. Our then VP-Education and past President Megha, the Table Topics master, gave me the word ‘Collywobbles’ to speak on. That’s all. Just the word. And as you may guess, I had no idea about that word, then. I couldn’t speak for more than 10 seconds. I realized that I need to improve a lot. I need to be more active, learn more, speak more and if I spend some more time here, I will surely improve. It was all about myself.

But soon I realized one more thing. That when we join Toastmasters, we all join it for selfish reason. Oh I want to be better at this. I want to learn this. I want this.. I want that..

Over the course of time, I understood that we can do good for ourselves, only if we help and support others in their journey. Instead of asking who can help me or what I can get from the club, the only thing we need to ask ourselves, is ‘How Can I Help?’.

I will remind you of the most clichéd but one of the best stories about ‘How can I help?’ attitude.

In the Cold War era, when US and USSR were involved in Cold War, both the nations were competing fiercely in the space wars. Each one trying to outdo another. So in 1960s, John F Kennedy, asked the citizens on the US, that we must all try to put a man on the moon before the end of this decade. The whole nation started working towards that cause.

In Mid 60s, JFK was visiting NASA. He met a Janitor there. JFK asked the janitor, what his job was? Janitor said, proudly, that he is there to help put a man on the moon.

It is easy to not realize that each of your effort, can help others a great deal. When you take up the role of an Ah-Counter, you are helping someone to get rid of their fillers. When you become a Grammarian, you help someone get good at grammar. When you become a Sergeant-at-Arms, you break ice and your energy can transcend into audience. When you give a speech, how your words can impact someone, you never know!

Every little thing done by you, helps others in a great manner!

Can I request you that from now on, every time there’s an ask, you will jump in pro actively?

Can we do that?

Now my second request, to the officers in particular and members in general. I wish to make this club, the most fun place to be where you can spend your 1.5 hours every week. Remember the words, the most fun place to spend your 1.5 hours every week. And bonus part: Learn skills on the way. We should all strive to make this club, a Cult.

So instead of making claims that as a President, I will do this and that, I have just 2 requests from all of you.

1. Ask yourself before each session: How can I help?
2. And once you jump in to help, ask yourself, that how can we make the meetings more interesting and fun to attend.

Now, we have a new set of officers, ready to provide services to the club. I am sure that, whatever achievements our past officers have brought us, we will try to improve on them. Also, don’t think that the officer’s alone will run this club. Everyone has to contribute. Everyone is an officer here.

With our mutual support for one another, I duly accept the position of the President. Please feel free to bother me with any question, clarification, help or support you may need. I wish you all the very best. Looking forward to see you in next meeting.

I would conclude with this proverb:

‘If you want one year of prosperity, grow seeds. If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want one hundred years of prosperity, grow people.’