An unbelievable story

Once, there was a big flood in Texas, a huge flood of biblical proportions. A lot of ice in the mountains had melted, and water rushed down in large amounts. Giant trees and plants came floating down the river. People flocked to see the rising water, some even spotting large animals. Then, on a Sunday morning, I received a frantic call from my friend, owner of a restaurant named Delightful – “Come here right now, you won’t believe what is happening.” As soon as I arrived, he took me to the kitchen where I witnessed something I had never seen before – a lion and a mouse !. The lion was resting his head on a table, snoring, and the mouse was fast asleep at his side, slowly moving from side to side from the gush of air blowing out of the lion’s nose. I was bewildered. How did they enter? 

With Distinguished Toastmaster Scott Sheaffer , Artwork by Prachurya Baruah

Perhaps the lion, Mufasa, came floating by the river, and when he reached the riverbank, he saw a small mouse coming out of a hole. He thought, “Ah! Food” But as soon as the lion went to grab it, the little mouse, Minnie, raising its hand ( I mean raising its leg, how can animals have hands !) pleaded –“Wait, wait.  Oh, mighty Lion, oh King of the Jungle, why do you want to eat me? What will you gain by eating a tiny creature like me? If you want, I can take you to a nice place where you can eat to your heart’s content.” Minnie was street smart, a good speaker, or perhaps he learned the persuasive skills of a Toastmaster because when she finished, Mufasa, the mighty lion, readily agreed, “Alright, now hop on”. Minnie was quite pleased, climbing upon the ear of the lion, she guided him towards the marketplace.  Slowly, Mufasa started, before increasing in speed, and - boom! - he took a giant leap, one small step for a lion, one giant leap for a mouse; landing behind the restaurant.

It was late at night, and nobody was inside the restaurant. Minnie entered through a hole under the rear door. After watching carefully, she located the wire connecting to the alarms and cut it with his sharp teeth. Did I tell you – the mouse was street smart?  Satisfied, she pushed the remote to open the sliding door – “Oh, Lion King, welcome, come in!” Mufasa was bewildered; the kitchen was flooded with food. Different kinds of meat were kept hanging from hooks on the wall, some marinated in spices, some raw, some half-cooked, including mutton, chicken, liver, potatoes, onions, and peas. Drops of saliva started dripping from his mouth, and his hunger increased tenfold. He grabbed a piece of goat’s leg and was about to chew it when Minnie, again raising her feet, screamed, “Oh no, you can't eat like that here. I know you're very hungry, but you can't eat the way you do in the jungle. You must follow the rules and regulations of the place; we say, "Don't mess with Texas". Now, sit in this chair, I’ll serve you, so to speak, I will be your waiter today.” Mufasa obliged, and after a three-course meal and a stupendous dinner, both fell asleep.

The speech is inspired by Saurabh Kumar Chaliha, recipient of the prestigious Sahitya Academy Award

Friends, this is how I found them next morning, the lion resting his head on a table, snoring with a napkin tied round his neck, and the mouse by his side fast asleep, the table decorated with folded towels, the salt and pepper holders, a bottle of tomato sauce, and a flower vase. I was becoming increasingly amused by my explanation when a sudden commotion erupted. I saw firetrucks with emergency lights flashing. The hotel staff called 911! The cops arrived, and they were everywhere. Minnie heard the noise and hurriedly whispered into Mufasa’s ear,  “Oh, lion king, wake up, wake up, the cops have come to arrest you.” But before they could escape, the cops entered the kitchen; one drew his gun. Pointing to the lion, he said, “Hands up.”  Mufasa was clueless; he didn’t know - one must raise one’s hands up in the air immediately when a cop pulls a gun.  "Hands up, hands up!” the officer continued to shout. Mufasa was applauded. “Are you nuts? How can animals have hands?" 

The situation was rapidly going out of control as the cops loaded their guns. Everyone was panicking but to my utter surprise , Minnie remained calm and composed - she showed tremendous maturity by not reacting to the provocation . After surveying the room carefully she climbed upon the ear of the lion , “We must get out of here. Now listen carefully”, she whispered something into the lion’s ear. Mufasa nodded and took his position, immediately Minnie pushed the remote to the sliding door. Slowly, the door opened. Satisfied, the mouse motioned to Mufasa.

Five, four, three, two, one - jump !

Boom, the lion took a giant leap, they escaped!

It was …

Mr. Toastmaster.!

Toastmasters Speech Evaluation by Daisy Luong

Ankur gave a speech in the Tall Tale theme with the title "An Unbelievable Story." Ankur immediately engaged the audience right off the bat, looking directly into the camera and using facial expressions to complement his vocal variety. His energy level was a strong start to the speech. A key thing Ankur did this time that really added to the speech was the use of good positioning of his body. For example when describing the animals peering into the restaurant, he got close to the camera as if looking through a window. When personifying the restaurant host, greeting the lion, he turned his body sideways to the camera. This positioning was very effective at illustrating the action in the story and personifying the characters, especially the animals. Ankur is commended for working to memorize his speech. It's difficult enough to memorize any speech, but memorizing a story that must entertain presents additional challenges. In spite of this, Ankur gave his speech from memory with only micro breaks in the rhythm when he had to recall the words. Ankur consistently raises the bar for himself with each speech. To continue raising the bar, some things to consider in the speech. could include where to add gestures for further illustration. For example, when he's describing the cops surrounding the restaurant, he says they were everywhere. One might raise one's arms/hands to illustrate cops being everywhere. Another idea might be to toss up one's hands and shrug the shoulders to illustrate the lion not knowing that he was supposed to raise his hands when the cops said, "put them up." Another idea to consider is where to insert pauses or play with word or syllable emphasis. For example, at the end, Ankur states "it was unbelievable." Since it's the last statement in the speech, consider slowing down the statement or drawing out the word "unbelievable" for emphasis, or emphasizing the first syllable in "unbelievable." These are ideas that might help Ankur take the speech to the next level since he's already at an advanced level, and a Tall Tale is the type of speech that would be quite challenging for the average speaker. Overall, Ankur raises the bar for himself with each speech. Just writing a tall tale speech is difficult. Ankur came up with an imaginative, humorous story that was thoroughly entertaining. Excellent work, Ankur!