Krishna Devate was crowned as the Humorous Champion of District 92 during Jamboree 2016, for his laughter roller-coaster of a speech, “Your Love has spoilt this kid”. We asked him a few questions about his win.
How does it feel to be the district champion of Humorous speaking?
I have just one word for you in response to this, and it is one hell of a big word – supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Describe the moment to us…The winning moment?
If you do trust me, I was not expecting anything at that very moment. I had removed my blazer and I was standing with some friends to the left of the stage. The 3rd and 2nd place winners were announced, and the Contest chair asked the audience to guess who the winner was.. and a section of the audience took my name…and then he went to announce…”The humorous king of Jamboree 2016…the winner is “the spoilt kid”.” The club mates around me exploded in joy even before my name could be announced. I had gone numb at that moment, whilst drowning in a sea of hugs and pats and what not! But in that moment, all the noise drowned away! We did not realize that we had made the assembled gentry on stage wait for close to 2-3 minutes, there was such wildness in our celebrations! I composed myself, collected my blazer (it is important for a photo-op) and went my way!
How was the entire journey from the club contest to the district contest?
It has been a transitional journey through a trance, I feel. I was a casual storyteller when I began speaking in front of that audience of the club contest, but soon, I became an entertainer for a larger audience. It has been on my wishlist to be an entertainer, and it came true. It has gone from addressing an audience of 15 to an audience of more than 300 people. It has been a mixture of fun, excitement and nail-biting nervousness!
What has been your single biggest learning from this journey?
I think my single biggest learning would be that I started to understand and gauge audiences, and tailored my content according to them.
What has the role of your mentor and the club been in the journey?
My mentor, Mayank Kulshrestha, has played a big role in this win of mine. He constantly pushed me to my limits, helped me in improvising my speech at all times. This entire endeavor wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my club members. They always pumped me up for the stage and gave me many suggestions to help me improve.
The Pit Stop - District 92 