Mama bird's day out

This incident took place a couple of days back, to be precise, on the day of Eid (Bakrid). I was rushing out of my house to meet some of my relatives which I do every year, trying to finish my daily chores and come back home before evening. I was about to leave when something struck my eye. Something fell, not from the sky but from a tree which is next to our door. It fell on a car that was passing by, the driver was least bothered to figure out what it was and moreover I don’t think that he even realized that something fell. From where I was standing, I couldn’t figure out what it was and I had to move closer. It was a nestling (little bird/baby bird), not one but three who must have tumbled over their nest from the tree. 

When I realized that it was a li’I bird that had come down crashing a chill went down my spine. Is it alive ? If yes, then is it hurt or is it ok. Thankfully, they were fine, but could not fly. Me and my dad took them up into our lawn and placed them safely in a box, offered them some lunch and water. The birds were about 2 inches in size, very very small. The lawn and the tree are adjacent to each other, so the lawn is easily accessible to birds who wish to take a shower every morning, for a drinks break or some snacks. So we made sure that these nestlings were safe and secure from any external threat. Two recovered very quickly, but the third could not fly, not yet. But we could not leave it there for the night as it would get cold (winter is almost here) so we put the li’I one in a cage which was used to pet pigeons, put a little towel inside so that it stays warm and covered the cage with a cloth with enough room for air.

Early morning (around 6 am) on the next day, I checked the li’I one and it seemed to be fine now, better than what it was the other day. So the cloth covering the cage was removed. At around 8 am I heard lots and lots of chirping. It was a family reunion, four li’I birds with their mom, out on a quest to find the missing one. What happened for the next one hour made my day. Mama bird comes to the cage, has a little chat with her li’I one and flies away only to come back with some food. She feeds the li’I one and waits there for a while; the other four nestlings are still in the lawn, maybe to check for any danger. I was in my room looking at them from a window.

The first part of their mission was complete. Now comes the great escape. As it was a cage meant for a pigeon, the space between the grill was spacious enough to “pull out” the li’I one. Mama bird again had a chat- “Ok listen kiddo, I am going to break you out, stay close and follow me. Your brothers and sisters are out there in the lawn. We are going to check for any hostiles in and around the area and move very carefully”. I hope that was what she chirped. So, she pulled the little one out took it to safety in the lawn. Some more chirping, I guess everyone shared their experience with each other and told the li’I one how happy they were to see him/her once again. This mama bird comes to the lawn regularly, a regular visitor for water every morning and I was happy that we’ll get to see 5 more of their kind in the lawn every day.

TIPS FOR AN EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION

How would you feel if you missed a golden opportunity only because your presentation lacked that punch and you could not effectively deliver that critical and important message that you wanted to. Yes, presentations have become an important part of our professional life and people (but not all) prefer the use of visual aids as it helps them connect with the audience. Though there are various ways of presenting something (can be a report, project work, research) I would be focusing on the use of Microsoft PowerPoint. Projecting your precise and well constructed ideas had never been so easy, thanks to PowerPoint. In this post I would like to focus on some important points that might help you with your presentations.  

THE PROCESS:

The primary objective of any presentation is to ensure that your message or any other information that you would like to share during the course of your presentation is understood by the audience or the people whom you are presenting to. Therefore it is important that you define the purpose and the objective of your presentation first so that you can work on it. The next step is to know your audience and know the venue. Find out or try to understand what type of audience you will be presenting to, what is their level of understanding and what their intellect is. Also, take a look at the venue and make sure that the venue is technically prepared for the presentation (it also helps to set the font). Once the purpose/objective is finalized, gather relevant information and start drafting your presentation.

 THE STRUCTURE:

An abrupt beginning and end will only complicate things. A proper structure or flow is required to ensure that your audience follows you. Every presentation must have a proper introduction, main content and a crisp conclusion. Such segregation will help simplify things and will help you during your presentation. The best way is to explain as if it were a story by effectively connecting the dots. One of the best examples being the legendary Steve Jobs who was one of the best presenters. His keynote addresses are being used to teach presentation skills to students.

DESIGNING AN EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION:

a)     Less is always more :  A slide cluttered with lots of information is never appealing. Remember that it is you who the audience should be looking at and listening to most of the time. If you clutter your slides with tons of information, the audience would be busy reading the slide and majority would have missed what you were explaining. So use bullet points and prune your information.

b)    The 8 second rule: Adding a bullet point doesn’t mean that you can add as many lines as you wish to.  The audience must not take more than 8 seconds to read any bullet point. It means that for every new point displayed on the slide, the audience should shift their focus at the presentation for only 8 seconds.

c)     Fonts and colors: As I had mentioned earlier, knowing your venue helps you set the font size and you will be saved from the embarrassment from people who were seated in the last row and could not see your presentation. Use a font which is simple and attractive. Similarly, do not use awkward colors. Use colors which match the theme/template that you are using.

d)    Use of images, videos, flash, smart art: A presentation with text, text and only text can be boring most of the times. So pep up your presentation with some images and videos. When inserting a video, please hyperlink it carefully. 

These tips may be simple but they are effective. As a presenter you need to understand that your presentations i.e the theme/template you use can become monotonous and predictable over a period of time. So it is important that you come up with new templates, if possible design your templates. Think out of the box.

MOST COMMON MISTAKES

50 % of the mistakes happen before the presentation

50 % of the mistakes happen during the presentation

Some of the most common mistakes that we tend to commit are :

      a) No rehearsal – Don’t expect wonders when you are not prepared.
b) Lack of structure & clarity- A clear structure helps simplify things.
c) Being ‘Me’ focused – It is the audience whom you are presenting to, not the mirror.
d) Too much information- Lack of concentration, audience lose interest.
e) Not creative - Makes the presentation boring. 
f) Reading from the slide – It is only a visual aid, not supposed to read everything from the slide.
g) Fillers- Using Ehh..err..Umm. Rehearsals help overcome them.
h) Weak opening/closing – Ensure that you begin and end confidently.

It is quite common to get those butterflies when you are inexperience or sometimes when you address a huge gathering. The key is to be relaxed all the time, meditate for a couple of minutes if required before the presentation as it helps. 

Celebrating the Joy of Giving

 They say good things come in small packages, but I say that they come in jumbo packs too. It is that time of the year when we all celebrate the Joy of Giving. The Joy of Giving Week which started back in the year 2009 is India’s ‘festival of giving’ and brings together Indians from all walks of life. A part of this festival which is organized as a ‘mela’ here at Hyderabad is the Karamayog Sevamela, organized at the Zoroastrian Club, Secunderabad. The mela with a difference- the Sevamela is a platform wherein the purpose is to connect people with NGOs.  An opportunity for NGOs to showcase their services and the efforts put in by them.

Well this was not the first time that I have been to the sevamela. Having visited it last year, I made it a point that I shall not miss it and I was there once again. A total of 65 NGOs made their presence felt this year and the place was livelier than it had ever been before. Unfortunately I missed the inaugural session and joined the mela late in the afternoon. Charity begins at home and the students from Aurora’s Business School volunteered for a range of activities. While someone was busy stacking the donations, the other was glued to his laptop recording each item donated. As one encouraged others to donate blood, the other was donating his blood. Serving and sharing joy across every square inch of the club.

The evening session lit up the mood of the people and the cool weather added to it. The cultural programme saw students from Sri Vidya school and Aim for Seva performing on stage and received a thunderous applause and appreciation from the audience. Another tiny tot, Khushi left the audience in awe with her scintillating dance. There were others too, who came up to entertain (which includes me and my friends from Aurora’s Business School) but we were left high and dry as it was nothing compared to the energy and enthusiasm exhibited by those tiny tots who proved to the world –  “Hum kisi se kam nahi” . The cultural programme ended at 8 pm and we left with a smile on our faces.

So for those who do not know what the Karamayog Sevamela is and for those who missed it today, wear your boots and come along with your family tomorrow and yes of course, if you can donate something, please bring it along. That was day one of the sevamela. What awaits tomorrow is another day filled with excitement and the spirit and joy of giving.