# 5

INVINCIBLES!!

OK.. this blog post is dedicated to debates..

Well, In high school, I was really good at story telling and elocution. I generally managed to win a prize almost everytime I participated. But then somehow, through my 11th and 12th, I lost touch of public speaking.

When I entered GEC, I noticed my close friend Sagar Kamat as he took part in many debates and spoke really well. I used to wonder whether even I could be as good as him.

DEBATE 1

Ok sincere thanks to Prathamesh Shetty, a classmate of mine who asked me to be his partner for the debate competition @ ABHIVYAKTI, coz from there what started out is a legacy I am soo very proud of. :)

So the firs debate I ever argued was with Shetty and we were pitted against Achintya ( a pro himself, over aggressive though ) and Vaibhav ( milder ).

The topic was " Are world wars the only solution to attain World peace?". I chose to go against the motion and so we argued. The experience was scary.. I didnt know whether I would be confident. I was skeptical about making a fool of myself. But then we argued.. rather tried to argue .. coz Achinto was screaming on top of his voice, hardly making it possible for us to voice an opinion. Finally I feel our closing made an impact. There are these certain lines in every debate that i remember.. let me term them as the CHOPS

CHOPS: "World Wars have been tried in the past and culminated only in the signing of peace treaties to restore peace. Even though peace talks maybe a slow process, we can always try it coz we have been learning since KG.. Slow and steady does win the race in the end "  :)

RESULTS: qualifies from amongst 20 teams to the final 4 :)  :)  :)

DEBATE 2

This was the final round of the ABHIVYAKTI debate. Topic was "Should reservation for women in Parliament be increased?" I had to argue FOR the topic. Honestly I was personally against it. But still thats what you have to do in a debate.. argue whichever side u get irrespective of what you personally feel.
CHOPS: " For success, u need talent and the chance to use your potential. Reservation is jus this chance for potentially talented women to go out there and make a difference coz otherwise they would stand no chance against the powerful lobby of politicians."

RESULT: we lost.. yeah.. The judges called me and tol me that I was really good but was lacking adequate support from partner. I was happy and I din blame Prathamesh coz it was coz of him that my confidenhttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5082735763298232839ce in public speaking was restored. :)

DEBATE 3

This time it was a debate in Sanquelim.. I had read about it in the newspaper. The prize money of 1st place rs.5ooo cash lured me. I immediately called up Sagar Kamat ( a super duper pro debated and an awesome friend ) to ask if he was game. He agreed, I called up Ms. Lucy James, the organiser and enquired about further details. I needed a letter from Colg. Even one day before the debate, when I called up Sagar in the afternoon, he said he din really feel the best of health to go that far. But still int he evening we decided to go ahead. We finished preparing our speeches by 11pm.. after that i slept.. no time to by heart it  :) 

topic " Reality shows promote nothing much mediocrity and idiocy "

RESULT: Next day we went there and guess what??

Sagar won 1st place and I won 2nd!!

he got 5k cash and i got 3k!

plus we got trophies coz our colg was declared as the overall winner of the event!!

:)   :)   :)

plus we got a special mention by each of the jury members in their speeches.. The station head of radio Mirchi offered us to think about a carer in RJing..

This was the beginning of a super legacy which jus made its hat trick recently.!!

CHOPS: "If the president of a country can be chosen by votes of population, why not the winner of a reality TV show?"

DEBATE 4: This was during TECHNIX.. Preliminary debate. I somehow cant remember the topic that well.. But yeah i jus know that we won and qualified to the second round.

DEBATE 5: This was the semis at TECHNIX.

topic was "Should public exams be scrapped at high school level?"

We were against the motion and so we could argue easily..

CHOPS: "how long can you protect them?"

RESULT: Won and qualified to finals

DEBATE 6: This was the finals at TECHNIX

topic was " Is corruption a necessary evil?". We were against the motion and we argued

CHOPS: "corruption is for the incapable who cant get their work done straight or lack talent to win clean"

"how would u feel if this debate was unfairly won by us coz we bribed the judges, even when u know u deserved it?"

RESULT: We won.. rs.500 cash each!! wooo hooo

DEBATE 7: Prelims of TANDAV. i had teamed up with Isha Nadkarni, a senior of mine.

topic was " Should software piracy be banned?"

we argued as MBA's, the opposing team argued as IT professionals.. :)  :)  :) Myabe event he judges realised we had no clue about what software piracy was anyways!! :P

CHOPS: "Piracy v/s original  Same quality, more choice, more availability and CHEAPER"

RESULT: won and qualified to second round

DEBATE 8: Semis of TANDAV debate. This was a scary one. i was AGAINST sagar kamat. I was petrified. I consider him God and I was like.. gone now..  lost.. 

topic that they first picked up turned out to be "should referrals in sports be banned?".. We both had no idea about this topic and so we requested a change.. Sagar, the gentle man that he is.. obliged..
New topic: "Are we dependent on technology?" We had to argue against..

CHOPS: Sagar din die even though his cellphone stopped working. Audience remained seated, infact crowded up even though the lights went off. And I cant win a race against Schumacher even if I am given a super ferrari.

RESULTS: damn it!! believe it or not!! we won!! yes!! we won against THE sagar kamat!! shit!! it was the sweetest victory.. I finally could prove my mettle.. qualified to finals

DEBATE 9: Finals of TANDAV.. Against Navin pai of COMP.. Topic "do movies depicting only India's poverty make it to the oscars?" we were agisnt 

CHOPS" "no extra column giving 10 marks extra for India's poverty" "many more factors about technicalities of a film" "perspective: look at the poverty and village in peepli live or look at the media and political frenzy"

RESULT: WON the debate at tandav 3.0!!!

DEBATE 10: VISTARA round 1 .. again as a team with sagar Kamat..

topic 1: "India's diversity is the biggest threat to its untiy" .. 

RESULT: we won clean and qualified to nxt round

DEBATE 11: VISTARA semis .. topic: "Social networking is a sophisticated way of stalking people" 

RESULT: clean sweep... won easily again and qualified to finals..

DEBATE 12: VISTARA finals/.. topic"Mining a boon/bane for Goa" We were supposed to speak against mining.. We were pitted against the another very strong team.. Gavin Dsouza was the all stylish and no substance ( in the words of the Hon'ble jury ) opponent

CHOPS: "In search of copper and bronze metals, we are wasting land that can produce golden crops"

"utilization of a resource in one thing.. over utilization of anything is exploitation.. thats whats happening to mining" " Mining is painting the town red.. we all are united here to spread the word GO GREEN" " Govt promises are inadequate"

RESULT: we won!!!

and that my friends.. made it a hat trick for team invincible, i.e. Sagar Kamat and me !! :)  :)

here are a few things that i learnt as I argued

1) Debates get interesting when there is crowd support.. Nothing like the thunder of claps when u make a point!!

2) Making points is all that matters.. none of ur glorified english skills take u far

3) Catching points of your opponent and turning them over gives u super credit

4) Its always about the team effort.. you cant jus be good alone and win it.. u need a good partner

5) No prize money is upsetting

6)  By hearting or mugging up speeches makes us ound lame. Write down anything thats from your own mind and u are sure to win!!

7) Some of the notable people I have enjoyed winning against.. Sagar Kamat, Jossy George, Payton Perreira, Navin Pai, Gavin Dsouza

So this is the story of my debating interest!! hoping our winning streak continues!!

Thanks for reading this!!

tada!!