Best speaker Magazine Issue 2 - December 2017 | Page 49

THOUGHTS ON GAVEL
GAVEL LIVES IN ME
“People might forget
what you said. They
might forget what you
did. But they would
never forget how you
made them feel.”
T
his beautiful quote by Maya
Angelou vividly explains the
true essence of Gavel. Gavel: is it
only about public speaking? Whenever
I heard the word “Gavel”, the only thing
which popped into my mind was “public
speaking”, which gave me goosebumps or
made me end up either sweating or frozen.
How could a person even go in front of
an audience to talk? To be precise, how
could a person go in front of an audience
to talk sensible things, which conveyed a
message in the end, within a given period
of time? Well, it took me some time to
realize the real meaning embedded with
the word “Gavel” which does not focus
only on public speaking.
Having been brought up in the careful
hands of two extremely affectionate
parents, I stepped into the University of
Kelaniya with lots of expectations and
dreams. My fantasy world slowly starts
to collapse with my parents’ decision of
“admitting me into a boarding house”.
Ever since I was a kid, I always dreamed
of my father dropping me off at the
university. Unfortunately, all dreams
do not come true. I could not imagine
staying away from home, my beloved
family and everything I loved about
home. The university did not serve me
with a pleasant experience, because it was
my first time being exposed to the outer
society. I always waited for the good things
to happen, when I realized that it was up
to me to make my life hell or heaven.
BEST SPEAKER MAGAZINE 2017
49