December 12, 2023 • 44 mins
This week's guest is Puneet Singhal.
Puneet is a stammerer and much of our discussion was about his work with this portion of the disabled community. Thinking back to our discussion, not once did he stammer. Not once.
Now, check out this video of a presentation Puneet gave as he talked about his life with stammering. He's calm, cool, and collected.
But he's more than this. See his LinkedIn profile (Link) and scan down the list. And then there is his work with the worldwide organization, Billion Strong (Link).
No, Puneet can't be tagged with a single label. Nor can he be labeled as wearing one hat -- he's a man of many.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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you
Being disabled or having a chronic illness canfeel like you're moving forward in reverse.
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I'm your host Scott Martin. Join me and my newfriends from this underrepresented community
as we talk about disrupting the status quo andcreating change within the world and within
ourselves. Hey, life's a road trip. Hop in,let's turn on some tunes and go.
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With me in the passenger seat and managing theradio for this road trip is Puneet Singh Hall.
I found the following under a tell us who youare and what you do opening of an interview
and it went like this. My name is Puneet SinghHall from New Delhi, India. I'm a person with
an undiagnosed learning disability and stammering.I see my life as the intersection of poverty,
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domestic violence, and multiple invisible disabilities.I am a disability activists advocating for
more inclusion and accessible society for peoplewith different and distinct visible and invisible
disabilities. I'm the founder of the nonprofitcalled Sysstart.org, working towards normalizing
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speech and communication disabilities. Hi Puneet,how are you doing today? Hi, Scott. Thank you
so much for having me. I'm fine. Yeah. And I'mreally excited for this road trip.
I came across you like I do with all of my guests.And I started seeing something that attracted
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me of interest that maybe you posted or youhad stated or something, and it got me digging
into you more. And therefore it led me to, ah,this guy has a lot to say. So let's get him
on the show so people can hear what he has tosay and we can work off of that. Right away
I want, listen. I'm looking forward to thisbecause there are some interesting things that,
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uh, as I did more digging that I came acrossyou and we want to be able to discover those
together. So right away I want listeners tobe aware that a link for this is a start org
is on the life's a road trip website and shouldbe available to find that wherever they're
listening. So, um, I had read the name of yournonprofit. I have to admit this. I had read
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the name of your nonprofit a few times and thenit didn't. hit me right away. I was wondering,
was that a typo? Because there's three S's ortwo S's before the word start, and then.org.
And then it finally hit me, oh, stammering.Sysysysstart.org. I think that's extremely
creative and it really gets to the point. Andyour purpose, I found, is normalizing speech
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and communication disabilities. What made youor what was the one moment where you came up
with that name and you knew that was it? Wasit right away or it took you a little while?
Yeah, yeah. I think Scott, I was thinking aboutthe name. I was about to start my new organization.
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And I knew it is going to be about stem ring.And I wanted to begin something new, some new
kind of conversation, some new kind of interactionbetween people. So start is the word that I
have finalized. But When I was trying to learnto swim, which I still cannot swim, but I was
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like I was in the lake. I was in the lake andyou know, I was just it was just a spark of
thought that no less let's say it like thatway because it is the way that sometimes I
stammer at this word like I stammer the wordthat begins with S. So I was literally pronouncing
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start and then
that moment that, ok let's call it start. Soit was very spontaneous but it required lot
of effort and thinking to reach to that pointof Serendipity.
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I just think that's outstanding that the namefits what you're doing and that's what people
are trying to do. Now I want to discuss whatI consider and I oftentimes find this in my
guests, a thread that runs through your lifethat I think I found and I think it goes back
to this point I'm going to mention in an interviewand that same interview you wrote, one day
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the whole class, this is talking about you asa child, one day the whole class started to
good morning and I realized that they were mockingme. My classmates and their parents even complained
to the principal that I could be a bad influenceand make them all stammerers. Could you get
into that more? Yeah, Scott, I think there isthis misconception that if you spend time with
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someone who stammeres, you will also catch upthis thing. So it was. It is still a misconception
in a lot of societies which is quite a humorousof its own because otherwise though you know
it's called it's like infectious like peopleare catching up on stammering just like COVID.
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So I think that was really interesting. So atthat time it was very I would say for a teenager
it was very traumatizing you know I was I wasyou know I was just. not able to think I was
just blank at this point of time because I wantedto hide because my own friends are like doing
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this with me and if you know while in your schoollike you are competing you know for your marks
for in sports you are competing so I was goodin sports I was good in academics as well but
if someone wants to pull my leg they will startstammering in front of me. and that is there
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like I used to think that that's my weaknessand they have caught my weakness now. What
should I do? So it really made me interact alot less than I used to because I do not have
problem with my stammering at all. Like as achild if someone is not reacting to your stammering,
it is fine. You know it's just you don't putto your notice or like you don't observe that.
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This is just a difference like this is how Icommunicate. But when people start mocking
me, then I started to think that it's my weakness.
Okay. Do you think that, you know, you reflectedon it a little bit earlier, but do you think
since the time you were a child to now thatsociety has changed a little bit, much at all,
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or is it, do you think people are still justas rude? Scott, I think stammering is a very
unique case. Because in terms of other disabilities,I would say the society is very sensitized
now. Lot of awareness is there. But stammeringis something where people don't even feel guilt
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when you mock someone. And still there is some,I would say some changes, very minute one,
but still people laugh on your face. Like that's...That's like you and they don't even know that
what they are doing know that it can be emotionallyvery draining and very exhausting for someone
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who are facing this kind of bullying. So I wouldsay stammering is a very I would say in this
criteria it is very different. Yeah, I don'tknow. The older I've gotten, it seems that
it becomes more clear to me that so many timeshumans just suck and why they can't open themselves
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up and understand other people's situations.They just don't want to look at their own,
I guess. And that just shows weakness in someone.What do you think it was? Was it a combination
of things that led you to... getting in andstarting sysysysstart.org and what you're doing
there. What led you to be doing that? Was thereanother job that you were doing that kind of
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gave you a different road to get on to go anddo this specifically? Uh, what was it, or was
it just a combination of your entire life thatpushed you into, uh, starting this? Yeah it
was always there in my mind. Like always I wasalways thinking about you know to do something
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about it but there are certain instances whichI would like to discuss which I would say was
the turning point in my life because you knowwhen I was in school I
tried to give a speech. I was contesting inan election for the position of head boy. I
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was in standard 11 and I was not able to finishmy speech. Like, yeah, I was about to make
promises that, you know, if I win, what I willdo. And you know that I was very exciting.
I prepared for it. Yeah, yeah, I was reallylike I'm really looking forward to this. uh,
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that's peace, but it couldn't happen. Like,uh, like, especially I was, uh, I, I went like
my, I faced brain fade when people were actuallylaughing, you know, otherwise I wouldn't have
done it because I'm, I'm not someone who, whojust gave up. Like I, I see myself as a, as
a very strong person, but, uh, when even likethe non-teaching stuff and you know, the teaching
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stuff, I will see some, uh, some teachers forgiggling. and that completely broke me, I was
not able to finish the speech. So I think thatwas a moment that I realized that I made a
promise that at one point of time, people willlisten to me, this world will listen to me
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the way I talk without overcoming I still heara lot of this that I have overcome my stammering.
I receive a lot of messages which I don't replybecause overcoming is something I find very
problematic. It is not a problem like we haveseveral scientific papers that it's not a problem
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just a diversity like for me like stammeringor any other kind of speech difference is just
a difference.
I think it reflected in and I've opened up thewebsite. I think this is a perfect segue, man.
Vision, here's right on the homepage. So it'sthe vision. We see a world where people listen
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and respect each other's differences and areconnected through direct, purposeful and profound
communication. I think what it totally followsup what you were just getting into, but also
I wanna read the mission. to create a bettereveryday life for anyone who faces challenges
during communicating and helping them to becomemore confident, empathetic, and patient human
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beings. We wish to nurture our teachers, parents,and elders to welcome candid dialogue in classrooms
and families by awareness campaigns that challengecultural norms like hierarchy, promote difficult
conversations, and ask critical questions. Thatto me as a teacher, and I've left the teaching
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profession, I'd like to get back, but I haveto tell you, I'll just do a quick thing. I've
applied for eight different jobs and I've hadone interview out of them and they keep passing
me by. Anyway, I would like to get back intothe classroom and do some of these things that
you're talking about here. Open dialogue. AndI can even do that when I go into a classroom
as a substitute. We talk about things. And Ishow respect and there's respect going both
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ways. What you're talking about, Hirpunit, inthe mission is what everything, I think, really
should boil down to, especially when it affectsthose or gets into the disability community.
Go on more about what made you write that mission.It's so clear and to the point. I guess, Scott,
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when we talk about open dialogue, when we talkabout asking... questions like you know when
we talk about listening you know all of thesethings are like I realized that it is very
general you know it not just apply to this timelearning community or just disability community
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most of our problems that our planet face likewe can actually address all these problems
with this approach. So it is very general andI was actually thinking that you know should
I make it that general or should I make it.Should I make it very specific to the stem
ring community only. So I decided to go withvery general because I do not want the organization
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or myself to be restricted. And the communitythat I am working with, even if they are not
stem ring, there is some kind of obstacles thatcomes when you communicate. The cultural shift
is there. Most of... the youngsters that I workhere either have suffered from poverty or even
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like they are domestic violence survivors allof these things so I think if they are open
like if they know of these challenges and theyknow like of certain things that can be addressed
in a more open way I think that would be a wholelot of difference in the society so it was
more about communication. and how to communicate,you know, it's not like how it's also about
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like what you are saying, what you are askinginstead of like how you are talking. So it's
more about what than how and also it is a veryidealistic approach to go about it. But I choose
to be very I would say utopian and very idealisticwhen it comes to my approach. So I make it
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very general. I really applaud that becauseit goes back to a statement I used to have
in my office, do not ask why, but rather whynot. Why not? Why not present it out there?
Why not put it out there? And let's talk aboutit, folks. And that's why I got into, while
I really later on got into how I'm doing thisshow now, is having people like you on that
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lay it out there and not afraid to lay it outthere. And maybe it just might spark some discussion.
We don't know what a spark. What sort of a fire?a spark could lead to. So that's what we're
doing. I want to go into another section ofyour website, Praneet, and that's under the
About Us. Tell us about your team. I do noticesome other individuals that are working with
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you on this. So tell us about your team. SoI'm really like, I would say I'm very fortunate
that I have such a dedicated team. I would saythe player really huge part in the operations
and in certainly like in deciding that how westick to our values and first of all we have
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Eva she is my mentor she is an amazing friendand she is basically from Ukraine and but when
she was in her teens she came to Germany withher mother. and we met through insta. So she
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messaged me that I really find your projectvery amazing and I would like to work with
you. And then we met through zoom and you knowwe it was an amazing introduction because I
came to know that she was always messaging peoplethat you know that I want to work with you.
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But no one ever replied. except me. So thisis like, this is why I say that communication
is very important because people were skepticallike why this lady is contacting us and want
to work voluntarily with us. And I find it thatyou know if someone wants to work, if someone
wants to volunteer like why not? You are likeyou are giving something to us. And so I think
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that. That makes me think that where we aregoing as a society, where we... Our reflex
action is that we are doubting someone. If someonewants to help us, we are not saying why...
As you said, we are not saying why not. Actually,we are thinking why this person is wanting
to give us something. Because in this world,no one wants to give something to someone for
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free. But this is how it started and I am veryhappy and satisfied that I actually... reply
to her and we had a very good relationship sincethen. And then we have some of the friends
from India. I think Chinmay is a lawyer whostammer and he has his own challenges when
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he presents his case in front of the judge.Sometimes the judge says that you are stammering,
maybe you are lying. All of these experiences.Oh. Yeah. And we have Sahil. Interesting. So,
yes, we have Sahil from Kashmir and Sahil hasa very interesting life. When he tried to do
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his MBA, he came to know that his universityis not is not acknowledged by the regulatory
bodies. So he dropped his MBA. So all of theseexperiences, all these youngsters are with
us. And we have we have a very good. team ofvolunteers as well who help us in our workshops,
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in our center, also in maintaining our socialmedia and website. So I'm very blessed to have
this wonderful team. That's fantastic. Underanother tab called services, there's something
that's listed as flash coaching. What is flashcoaching Puneet? So Scott like we have a lack
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of resources and sometimes we have lack of time.And also like I quite ironically I have also
said that you know that diversity, equity, inclusionor any kind of such initiatives is a long term
approach. Like we should give lot of time andyou know we should give a lot of consideration
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while going something worried.
with these flash coaching sessions we can actuallyhave some meetings where we decide on the broader
outline of things. So it's a very broad it'svery like I would say we are just talking on
the surface but actually it's giving like someidea of how I approach things or how our organization
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or how
our attitude or how our values can help yourorganization to become more inclusive. persons
with disability or when it comes to other expertsof accessibility. So it's just a surface level
activity or I would say service that we provide.Okay, now you live in New Delhi, India. Do
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you work with people or groups outside of yourregion? Yes, yes.
How far does that stretch? Do you work withanyone in other continents? Yeah, we have just
completed our first series of workshops whichis about simple and plain English with the
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women from Syria. And we will be soon launchingour ebook where we have our lessons, what we
learned and what outcomes we have faced. wehave observed during this series and how simple
and plain English can open up doors of opportunitiesto the youngsters and to the people who are
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not from the English speaking world becauseEnglish is a global language and it can change
your life if you know how to communicate evenlike very simply and very plain English. is
we will like can have a lot of impact on yourlife. So we just finished this in Syria. And
also we are working as the community managerfor global network for young persons with disability.
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I am working with projects in Kenya, in Cameroon,in Moldova, in India. So like it's pretty much
everywhere like especially in Asia and Africa.Okay. And one thing in particular, as an educator
myself, under the activities tab, you have collaborations.Tell me, tell us about the mentorship program.
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I think it's fantastic that you're doing thingsfor some of the younger ones. So go ahead,
Puneet, your mentorship program, how does thatwork? Scott, like I really enjoy to interact
with youngsters. Like, you know, it makes mefeel
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very hopeful of the future and through likecollaborating with the different local NGOs
we conduct weekly sessions with youngsters fromthe remote areas of India and thankfully we
have got a very good penetration of internetin India now so they have access to internet
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and that is a huge boost to actually communicateand you know to actually be connected to the
So I just share my experiences, I just tellthem like you know nudge them. Nudging would
be a very good word. There is like no direction,there is no I would say I just try to guide
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them you know how to polish their interest,how to look more inwards to find out that what
works for them. And and if they are interestedin somethings like we connect them to relevant
organizations so that they can volunteer ordo some internships to get some professional
experience and also learn English and to bemore assertive in life so I just share my experiences
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that how I started, how I was just emailingorganizations that I want to work with you
and you know I am not harming my self esteemIf they are not replying that's fine but you
have to keep on trying and within 5 years Igave them the framework of 5 years, 5 years
you give your time and then you will see yourlife changing, it's all trajectory and that
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is hopeful and one of our mentees is volunteeringfor us now. our website and I must say that
he comes from a remote village and he with limitedaccess to resources to internet and all of
these things like he is managing our websitequite wonderfully you can see that you know
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I believe the website is really good.
more collaboration the better. And the way itwould be so fantastic if more people in the
world believed in the same thing. As you getolder, you need to pass down information how
to do things to the younger. And then it goesto the next generation passing it down. And
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gosh, life was supposed to be as simple as that.I wish it were. But I want people, I want our
listeners now to pause and go watch a videothat they should have on whatever. source that
you're finding this on Amazon or YouTube orwhatever. But I want you to go watch that video
and don't forget to come back. So just takea pause for a second. Okay hopefully folks
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have gone and now they've come back. I reallylike that video. There's something there I
want to dig into and that's going to come uphere in a moment. But first of all, I want
you to tell the story on your initiation tothe Indian Stammer Association and your experience
when you attended your first ISA annual conference.those that watch have a decent idea, but let's
hear it from you again. And it seemed like thiswas another pivot point in your life when you
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first were became associated with Indian StammerAssociation. So go ahead, Puneet. Yes, Scott.
So, um, as like, um, when I got my first, uh,first smartphone, I, uh, and I got internet,
so I was really researching into, into stumbling,like, uh, what can be the reasons? What are
the. scientific papers, what are the organizationsthat are working for the stampede community
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and all of these things like I was generallyvery curious so I came to know that there is
this organization that works for the stampedecommunity and I was invited for their annual
conference that happened in Delhi so I tookmy off from the college and then I went there
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Before this conference, I know only one moreperson who stammered. So I used to think that
it's only me or that person. Like it's onlytwo people in the world who stammer. But when
I entered the conference hall, I see like allthe persons were actually stammering. And they
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have their own diversity. They have their ownstyles of stammering. They all were stammering
but in a very different way. Which was veryinteresting. They are all carrying their individuality
with them while stammering as well. And on theother side when we see stammering, people used
to think that it's just stammering. It's justone kind of stammering where you have certain
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blockages and all of these things. That wasvery interesting. That made me feel very liberated.
They are stammering and no one gives a damn.The first thing is that, can we have a world
where no one gives a damn in the way that weare, it's just the way. And then there was
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certain activities, we were talking about ourchallenges and then for the first time in 5-6
years I went to the stage and I explained myjourney, my stories around stammering and all
of that. some not so humorous, some very traumatizingstories as well were coming up. So it was interesting
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to hear that you know that people are actuallygoing through a lot and that that's give somehow
like it's a very I would say that that's a veryhuman thing that when you realize that you're
not alone and that really helps that you knowthat you are like you have you have a common
community to talk to you have certain very successfulpeople from across That also gives me a whole
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lot of confidence that while being a stammeryou can also become successful like no matter
what. All of these experiences were there andthen at the end of the conference they gave
us a task that you have to go on a metro railand you have to explain to the passengers that
this is what stammering is against the misconceptionthat were there about stammering. It was I
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would say very enlightening, very empowering,very liberating. But when I was talking about
stammering to the people, I would say, you know,I was, I was, it was some other kind of experience
when we, when the whole life I was running awayfrom the fact that I stammer and now I'm talking
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about, about stammering and I'm talking aboutowning this, this aspect of my personality.
and people were actually listening you know80-90% people were actually listening and they
gave a very positive response you know everyonewas saying that yeah one of my friend also
stammered and you know from now on we will bemore attentive more conscious about our choices
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how we react and so all of these things likethis conference this activity interacting with
certain people I think that was a game changerfor me. I've got to ask you the question, but
luckily I had been doing, oh gosh, I was probably90% done in my research on you. And therefore
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I had a feeling about what you were doing withthis, but during the video of you giving the
presentation, you walked off the stage. NowI think I know what that purpose was, but was
that to, did you really have a close off a littlebit? Or was that just staged in order to startle
the audience and really just pull him in becauseyou could hear there was some not gasping but
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kind of a concern. I hope he's okay. But goahead. Tell me about that. That was really
good, man. That was really good. Scott, it wasnot planned at all. Did you do that on purpose?
Yeah. I did it on purpose, but it was not planned.It just came to me. and it makes whole lot
of sense because
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I was actually not going to schools and collegeswhen I was about to present something. So that
so you know it is reflecting and representingthat part when I was actually not willing to
attend schools or college days when I was aboutto like give a speech or give a presentation
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on my project or anything, you know, I was justavoiding going on a stage and then for a while
like I'm going on the stage, people are listeningto me, there were around 2000 people that were
actually listening to it online as well. Solike it was a very pressurizing situation.
So I thought, you know, let's do this thingas well. So I was on the stage while I was
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talking about it, I planned this. So even likethe people who were actually helping me in
the planning of this piece, they don't know.They were actually very concerned about what
happened. Yeah. Because you could hear a littlebit in the background, like, yeah, you nailed
it. I mean, that was nine minutes and 26 seconds.You nailed that sucker. One of the things that
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you stated in there, I really picked out, wasself humor is the best way to gain confidence.
You said that exactly. Talk about that. Selfhumor.
How do you, what does that do in order to helpyou gain confidence? It is very tricky because
you know at the same time when I am talkingthat we should not bully, we should not do
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this and that and on the other side I am sayingthat let's use some self-humor as well. So
I think this is a very trickier thing what Iam trying to do through this organization is
to bring on self-acceptance as well. Becauseyou cannot. you cannot improve as a communicator.
I am not saying you will be overcoming yourstammering, but I am saying that we have to
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be a better communicator, be a good and effectivecommunication. So how we can do that? By accepting
ourselves. And if we are in harmony with ourselves,like if we have accepted our authentic selves,
then I think we can joke on ourselves as well,because then we have no problem with our identity.
Some people come, some random people can...can comment about your situation, can comment
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about anything because we cannot say, you know,people will say, but if we are in harmony,
if we are in acceptance, if we have that kindof approach towards life, I think then self-humor
is the perfect thing because now people willthink, okay, this is he's owning that thing,
you know, that he has no problem with the wayhe speaks. So that is something brilliant.
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But In the beginning that acceptance from denialto acceptance that journey is very tricky and
most of the youngsters who come who messagesme on social media every time they use some
words like you know that what can be the quickfixes what can be the you know do you know
any medicine because you speak so well I don'tthink that I think you have gone through some
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therapy and all of these things so I say thatI have never gone through any kind of therapy
it's just that I have accepted myself and Idon't give a damn about it. about my stumbling
anymore. So acceptance the key. Okay.
I really think that that's so important. Andthat's a lesson that took me quite a while
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to learn. I've got a good example for you aboutself humor that's easy for me because I'm a
bilateral hand amputee. So if someone says,you know, can I give you a hand, I'll take
two. I mean, that's an easy one for me to comeback with. I'll take two hands. So. in that
entire nine minutes and 26 seconds, unless itwas done purposefully, and there were times
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when you did it purposefully, you stammeredpurposefully, you never did it once. Yeah.
And I think, going back to hearing you talkabout all the other examples about when you
would speak in front of, or you would attemptto speak in front of, a group and things, what
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was the, was it just... growth, self-confidence,what was a combination of things that allowed
you to finally go up there and just you freakingnailed that thing. So what led you to or what
built up your ability to be able to go out andnail a presentation?
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It is a very good question Scott. I must saythat you have actually gone through all these
kind of things. Because when I was actuallytraining, when I was doing the rehearsals,
people were saying you know all my mentors weresaying that you should stammer and then while
saying this they also realized that how canwe say someone to stammer, he is a natural
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stammerer. If he stammer, he will stammer. Butyou know, it happened to me that, you know,
for the first time I was allowed to stammerand I was not stammering. And this is so beautiful.
So it's interesting. That's interesting. Yeah.So personal acceptance of maybe one's faults.
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Wow. I wish there was a pill for that. You know,that we just send around the disability community
because, you know, so many times that we suckat things. because we're so concerned about
how others view us. And therefore we get intothis out of control spiral. Well, I thought
that you thought that we thought that he thoughtthat I thought that you thought that, ay, yay,
(37:06):
yay. Hey, I wanna wrap this up with somethingI found on you. And I came across this early,
I think by one of the first things that cameacross you, yeah, man, I want this guy on the
show. I wanna read a quote that you listed someplace.It was a quote by George Eliot that you referred
to during an interview.
(37:30):
And lovely, it's fantastic. It is never toolate to be what you might have been. That's
fantastic. Is that something you think you mighthave come across that just shined a light towards
you on what Elliot stated that really hit homewith you? that finally it's never too late
(37:55):
to be what you might have banned. Yes, yes.Yes, Scott. I think these are one of the, I
would say, very hard hitting quote for me becauseone like when I wake up in the morning, I always
(38:15):
remind myself that these are some things, youknow, in all these everyday problems in life.
all these logistic problems that we face andall these admin problems and all these problems
that we face you know we have to just keep remindingourselves of our vision you know of what changes
(38:37):
we want to make to the world you know that it'swe are going to get some opportunity and especially
for advocates like us you know now after somuch of effort like people are listening to
me you know people are reading my post, peopleactually want to listen to me and all of these
things. So now I really wanted to have thisconversation, to set this narrative, to have
(39:02):
this story about me, to be out to people tolisten to. And that is very, very important
because we need to realize our responsibilitythat
we have a community, we have people who areactually listening to us. And I realized that
(39:23):
much later when people were actually messagingme that your post, I am always looking forward
to your post, you are simply amazing, your postare liberating and all of these things and
that made my day, that made my week, that mademy month and that is why I am trying to always
question the narrative around disability andGeorge Eliot quote was just around that.
(39:51):
Yeah. We all can learn so much from each other,but there's also so much that needs to be told
or shared with those that aren't members ofthe disability community. So I think you put
it right and I really like what you're doing.And we're going to take a bit of a turn here.
That sound means it's time to shift gears withthe Road Trip Roundup. Bonit, I've got five
(40:14):
questions for you here, bud. And they are relatedto your experience with road trips. Okay. When
road tripping, do you tend to do fast food orlocal diners or eateries? Local food every
time and anytime. Okay. Yeah. I mean, it's justkiller. The only time I think we have people
(40:37):
that say anything about fast food is when they'rehurting on time and they need to get from point
A to point B or something and they just needto cut it. All right, so next one. You guys
might be able to hear George barking upstairs.George is our big hound dog. Somebody must
be walking by that front of the house. What'syour dream car for a road trip? That could
be something, you know, your parents had orsomething you have, or you would rent in order
(41:02):
to do a really fun road trip. What's it, what'sa dream car for you, Vinny? I think George,
I just, just don't want to drive. I just wantto look, look by the side. So buses work really
well for me. I love, I love, I love buses andtrains. Interesting. Oh yeah, trains. We just,
(41:22):
we did the channel when we were in Europe lastyear and there's so much that can be seen.
You don't want to miss it. You're right. I justthought about it because when you're driving,
when you're the person driving, you know, I'mdriving all the time. Sue's, oh, look, I wish,
hey, did you see it? No, I'm sorry, babe. Iwas driving. You've got a good point there.
I think Sue is going to drive most of the timeon our next road trip. Okay. You're too young
(41:46):
for this, but I'll throw it to you anyway, man.last cassette or CD that played while you were
on a road trip. So it is Pratik Kuhad. You musthear him. I think he is amazing. He sings in
English as well. And I came to know about him.I have heard his name but I came to know about
(42:09):
him when Barack Obama posted about his playlistin 2020. So then I started to listen to this
Indian singer and he is amazing. So all of hissongs are great. Okay, cool. Thanks for sharing
(42:29):
that. There, there are times that we, uh, dovisit with people from outside the United States
that present us, uh, share something new tous that, you know, I've gone and look things
up myself. So, all right, direct question. Numberfour, straight forward Coke or Pepsi. Okay.
(42:50):
You are ending a streak of probably 20 interviewsin a row where it was always Coke. Oh my God,
thank you. You saved the question there, I think,Puneet. Because I tell you, I've been ready
to just pitch that question and try to comeup with something else. Everybody always says
Coke. Boom, it's staying. Pepsi, here's a Pepsilever, folks. All right, last one. It's up
(43:11):
to you on where you want to go with this, Puneet.What's your favorite road trip memory? Anything.
From Delhi to Kathmandu, Nepal, it was beautiful.And you know, during night, the moon was so
big. You know, I haven't seen this much biggerof a moon in my life. And in the mountains
(43:31):
of Nepal, it's beautiful. Yeah, yeah. Wow. Justnow I'm picturing it and I'm probably gonna
go Google up the mountains of Nepal. So thatwould be fantastic. Yeah, you should. We're
wrapping up. This has really been fun. I wannastay on after I hit stop so you and I could
talk for a little bit. Okay, bud. And I justwant to tell everybody a challenge, relax,
(43:52):
and keep listening to life's a road trip.
Thanks for listening. Check out previous episodeswith new ones dropping each Tuesday. If you
don't see a synopsis of this show where you'relistening, visit our website at life's a roadtrip.podbean.com
(44:13):
for more information on this week's guest. Thisis your host Scott Martin reminding you that
life's a road trip.
you
Being disabled or having a chronic illness canfeel like you're moving forward in reverse.
(00:21):
I'm your host Scott Martin. Join me and my newfriends from this underrepresented community
as we talk about disrupting the status quo andcreating change within the world and within
ourselves. Hey, life's a road trip. Hop in,let's turn on some tunes and go.
(00:56):
With me in the passenger seat and managing theradio for this road trip is Puneet Singh Hall.
I found the following under a tell us who youare and what you do opening of an interview
and it went like this. My name is Puneet SinghHall from New Delhi, India. I'm a person with
an undiagnosed learning disability and stammering.I see my life as the intersection of poverty,
(01:20):
domestic violence, and multiple invisible disabilities.I am a disability activists advocating for
more inclusion and accessible society for peoplewith different and distinct visible and invisible
disabilities. I'm the founder of the nonprofitcalled Sysstart.org, working towards normalizing
(01:41):
speech and communication disabilities. Hi Puneet,how are you doing today? Hi, Scott. Thank you
so much for having me. I'm fine. Yeah. And I'mreally excited for this road trip.
I came across you like I do with all of my guests.And I started seeing something that attracted
(02:02):
me of interest that maybe you posted or youhad stated or something, and it got me digging
into you more. And therefore it led me to, ah,this guy has a lot to say. So let's get him
on the show so people can hear what he has tosay and we can work off of that. Right away
I want, listen. I'm looking forward to thisbecause there are some interesting things that,
(02:26):
uh, as I did more digging that I came acrossyou and we want to be able to discover those
together. So right away I want listeners tobe aware that a link for this is a start org
is on the life's a road trip website and shouldbe available to find that wherever they're
listening. So, um, I had read the name of yournonprofit. I have to admit this. I had read
(02:47):
the name of your nonprofit a few times and thenit didn't. hit me right away. I was wondering,
was that a typo? Because there's three S's ortwo S's before the word start, and then.org.
And then it finally hit me, oh, stammering.Sysysysstart.org. I think that's extremely
creative and it really gets to the point. Andyour purpose, I found, is normalizing speech
(03:09):
and communication disabilities. What made youor what was the one moment where you came up
with that name and you knew that was it? Wasit right away or it took you a little while?
Yeah, yeah. I think Scott, I was thinking aboutthe name. I was about to start my new organization.
(03:30):
And I knew it is going to be about stem ring.And I wanted to begin something new, some new
kind of conversation, some new kind of interactionbetween people. So start is the word that I
have finalized. But When I was trying to learnto swim, which I still cannot swim, but I was
(03:52):
like I was in the lake. I was in the lake andyou know, I was just it was just a spark of
thought that no less let's say it like thatway because it is the way that sometimes I
stammer at this word like I stammer the wordthat begins with S. So I was literally pronouncing
(04:12):
start and then
that moment that, ok let's call it start. Soit was very spontaneous but it required lot
of effort and thinking to reach to that pointof Serendipity.
(04:32):
I just think that's outstanding that the namefits what you're doing and that's what people
are trying to do. Now I want to discuss whatI consider and I oftentimes find this in my
guests, a thread that runs through your lifethat I think I found and I think it goes back
to this point I'm going to mention in an interviewand that same interview you wrote, one day
(04:56):
the whole class, this is talking about you asa child, one day the whole class started to
good morning and I realized that they were mockingme. My classmates and their parents even complained
to the principal that I could be a bad influenceand make them all stammerers. Could you get
into that more? Yeah, Scott, I think there isthis misconception that if you spend time with
(05:22):
someone who stammeres, you will also catch upthis thing. So it was. It is still a misconception
in a lot of societies which is quite a humorousof its own because otherwise though you know
it's called it's like infectious like peopleare catching up on stammering just like COVID.
(05:43):
So I think that was really interesting. So atthat time it was very I would say for a teenager
it was very traumatizing you know I was I wasyou know I was just. not able to think I was
just blank at this point of time because I wantedto hide because my own friends are like doing
(06:06):
this with me and if you know while in your schoollike you are competing you know for your marks
for in sports you are competing so I was goodin sports I was good in academics as well but
if someone wants to pull my leg they will startstammering in front of me. and that is there
(06:26):
like I used to think that that's my weaknessand they have caught my weakness now. What
should I do? So it really made me interact alot less than I used to because I do not have
problem with my stammering at all. Like as achild if someone is not reacting to your stammering,
it is fine. You know it's just you don't putto your notice or like you don't observe that.
(06:52):
This is just a difference like this is how Icommunicate. But when people start mocking
me, then I started to think that it's my weakness.
Okay. Do you think that, you know, you reflectedon it a little bit earlier, but do you think
since the time you were a child to now thatsociety has changed a little bit, much at all,
(07:16):
or is it, do you think people are still justas rude? Scott, I think stammering is a very
unique case. Because in terms of other disabilities,I would say the society is very sensitized
now. Lot of awareness is there. But stammeringis something where people don't even feel guilt
(07:40):
when you mock someone. And still there is some,I would say some changes, very minute one,
but still people laugh on your face. Like that's...That's like you and they don't even know that
what they are doing know that it can be emotionallyvery draining and very exhausting for someone
(08:00):
who are facing this kind of bullying. So I wouldsay stammering is a very I would say in this
criteria it is very different. Yeah, I don'tknow. The older I've gotten, it seems that
it becomes more clear to me that so many timeshumans just suck and why they can't open themselves
(08:25):
up and understand other people's situations.They just don't want to look at their own,
I guess. And that just shows weakness in someone.What do you think it was? Was it a combination
of things that led you to... getting in andstarting sysysysstart.org and what you're doing
there. What led you to be doing that? Was thereanother job that you were doing that kind of
(08:52):
gave you a different road to get on to go anddo this specifically? Uh, what was it, or was
it just a combination of your entire life thatpushed you into, uh, starting this? Yeah it
was always there in my mind. Like always I wasalways thinking about you know to do something
(09:15):
about it but there are certain instances whichI would like to discuss which I would say was
the turning point in my life because you knowwhen I was in school I
tried to give a speech. I was contesting inan election for the position of head boy. I
(09:41):
was in standard 11 and I was not able to finishmy speech. Like, yeah, I was about to make
promises that, you know, if I win, what I willdo. And you know that I was very exciting.
I prepared for it. Yeah, yeah, I was reallylike I'm really looking forward to this. uh,
(10:03):
that's peace, but it couldn't happen. Like,uh, like, especially I was, uh, I, I went like
my, I faced brain fade when people were actuallylaughing, you know, otherwise I wouldn't have
done it because I'm, I'm not someone who, whojust gave up. Like I, I see myself as a, as
a very strong person, but, uh, when even likethe non-teaching stuff and you know, the teaching
(10:27):
stuff, I will see some, uh, some teachers forgiggling. and that completely broke me, I was
not able to finish the speech. So I think thatwas a moment that I realized that I made a
promise that at one point of time, people willlisten to me, this world will listen to me
(10:51):
the way I talk without overcoming I still heara lot of this that I have overcome my stammering.
I receive a lot of messages which I don't replybecause overcoming is something I find very
problematic. It is not a problem like we haveseveral scientific papers that it's not a problem
(11:11):
just a diversity like for me like stammeringor any other kind of speech difference is just
a difference.
I think it reflected in and I've opened up thewebsite. I think this is a perfect segue, man.
Vision, here's right on the homepage. So it'sthe vision. We see a world where people listen
(11:34):
and respect each other's differences and areconnected through direct, purposeful and profound
communication. I think what it totally followsup what you were just getting into, but also
I wanna read the mission. to create a bettereveryday life for anyone who faces challenges
during communicating and helping them to becomemore confident, empathetic, and patient human
(11:57):
beings. We wish to nurture our teachers, parents,and elders to welcome candid dialogue in classrooms
and families by awareness campaigns that challengecultural norms like hierarchy, promote difficult
conversations, and ask critical questions. Thatto me as a teacher, and I've left the teaching
(12:20):
profession, I'd like to get back, but I haveto tell you, I'll just do a quick thing. I've
applied for eight different jobs and I've hadone interview out of them and they keep passing
me by. Anyway, I would like to get back intothe classroom and do some of these things that
you're talking about here. Open dialogue. AndI can even do that when I go into a classroom
as a substitute. We talk about things. And Ishow respect and there's respect going both
(12:45):
ways. What you're talking about, Hirpunit, inthe mission is what everything, I think, really
should boil down to, especially when it affectsthose or gets into the disability community.
Go on more about what made you write that mission.It's so clear and to the point. I guess, Scott,
(13:08):
when we talk about open dialogue, when we talkabout asking... questions like you know when
we talk about listening you know all of thesethings are like I realized that it is very
general you know it not just apply to this timelearning community or just disability community
(13:29):
most of our problems that our planet face likewe can actually address all these problems
with this approach. So it is very general andI was actually thinking that you know should
I make it that general or should I make it.Should I make it very specific to the stem
ring community only. So I decided to go withvery general because I do not want the organization
(13:54):
or myself to be restricted. And the communitythat I am working with, even if they are not
stem ring, there is some kind of obstacles thatcomes when you communicate. The cultural shift
is there. Most of... the youngsters that I workhere either have suffered from poverty or even
(14:20):
like they are domestic violence survivors allof these things so I think if they are open
like if they know of these challenges and theyknow like of certain things that can be addressed
in a more open way I think that would be a wholelot of difference in the society so it was
more about communication. and how to communicate,you know, it's not like how it's also about
(14:48):
like what you are saying, what you are askinginstead of like how you are talking. So it's
more about what than how and also it is a veryidealistic approach to go about it. But I choose
to be very I would say utopian and very idealisticwhen it comes to my approach. So I make it
(15:10):
very general. I really applaud that becauseit goes back to a statement I used to have
in my office, do not ask why, but rather whynot. Why not? Why not present it out there?
Why not put it out there? And let's talk aboutit, folks. And that's why I got into, while
I really later on got into how I'm doing thisshow now, is having people like you on that
(15:34):
lay it out there and not afraid to lay it outthere. And maybe it just might spark some discussion.
We don't know what a spark. What sort of a fire?a spark could lead to. So that's what we're
doing. I want to go into another section ofyour website, Praneet, and that's under the
About Us. Tell us about your team. I do noticesome other individuals that are working with
(15:54):
you on this. So tell us about your team. SoI'm really like, I would say I'm very fortunate
that I have such a dedicated team. I would saythe player really huge part in the operations
and in certainly like in deciding that how westick to our values and first of all we have
(16:22):
Eva she is my mentor she is an amazing friendand she is basically from Ukraine and but when
she was in her teens she came to Germany withher mother. and we met through insta. So she
(16:44):
messaged me that I really find your projectvery amazing and I would like to work with
you. And then we met through zoom and you knowwe it was an amazing introduction because I
came to know that she was always messaging peoplethat you know that I want to work with you.
(17:07):
But no one ever replied. except me. So thisis like, this is why I say that communication
is very important because people were skepticallike why this lady is contacting us and want
to work voluntarily with us. And I find it thatyou know if someone wants to work, if someone
wants to volunteer like why not? You are likeyou are giving something to us. And so I think
(17:34):
that. That makes me think that where we aregoing as a society, where we... Our reflex
action is that we are doubting someone. If someonewants to help us, we are not saying why...
As you said, we are not saying why not. Actually,we are thinking why this person is wanting
to give us something. Because in this world,no one wants to give something to someone for
(17:56):
free. But this is how it started and I am veryhappy and satisfied that I actually... reply
to her and we had a very good relationship sincethen. And then we have some of the friends
from India. I think Chinmay is a lawyer whostammer and he has his own challenges when
(18:23):
he presents his case in front of the judge.Sometimes the judge says that you are stammering,
maybe you are lying. All of these experiences.Oh. Yeah. And we have Sahil. Interesting. So,
yes, we have Sahil from Kashmir and Sahil hasa very interesting life. When he tried to do
(18:46):
his MBA, he came to know that his universityis not is not acknowledged by the regulatory
bodies. So he dropped his MBA. So all of theseexperiences, all these youngsters are with
us. And we have we have a very good. team ofvolunteers as well who help us in our workshops,
(19:07):
in our center, also in maintaining our socialmedia and website. So I'm very blessed to have
this wonderful team. That's fantastic. Underanother tab called services, there's something
that's listed as flash coaching. What is flashcoaching Puneet? So Scott like we have a lack
(19:30):
of resources and sometimes we have lack of time.And also like I quite ironically I have also
said that you know that diversity, equity, inclusionor any kind of such initiatives is a long term
approach. Like we should give lot of time andyou know we should give a lot of consideration
(19:51):
while going something worried.
with these flash coaching sessions we can actuallyhave some meetings where we decide on the broader
outline of things. So it's a very broad it'svery like I would say we are just talking on
the surface but actually it's giving like someidea of how I approach things or how our organization
(20:17):
or how
our attitude or how our values can help yourorganization to become more inclusive. persons
with disability or when it comes to other expertsof accessibility. So it's just a surface level
activity or I would say service that we provide.Okay, now you live in New Delhi, India. Do
(20:45):
you work with people or groups outside of yourregion? Yes, yes.
How far does that stretch? Do you work withanyone in other continents? Yeah, we have just
completed our first series of workshops whichis about simple and plain English with the
(21:13):
women from Syria. And we will be soon launchingour ebook where we have our lessons, what we
learned and what outcomes we have faced. wehave observed during this series and how simple
and plain English can open up doors of opportunitiesto the youngsters and to the people who are
(21:37):
not from the English speaking world becauseEnglish is a global language and it can change
your life if you know how to communicate evenlike very simply and very plain English. is
we will like can have a lot of impact on yourlife. So we just finished this in Syria. And
also we are working as the community managerfor global network for young persons with disability.
(22:04):
I am working with projects in Kenya, in Cameroon,in Moldova, in India. So like it's pretty much
everywhere like especially in Asia and Africa.Okay. And one thing in particular, as an educator
myself, under the activities tab, you have collaborations.Tell me, tell us about the mentorship program.
(22:28):
I think it's fantastic that you're doing thingsfor some of the younger ones. So go ahead,
Puneet, your mentorship program, how does thatwork? Scott, like I really enjoy to interact
with youngsters. Like, you know, it makes mefeel
(22:50):
very hopeful of the future and through likecollaborating with the different local NGOs
we conduct weekly sessions with youngsters fromthe remote areas of India and thankfully we
have got a very good penetration of internetin India now so they have access to internet
(23:12):
and that is a huge boost to actually communicateand you know to actually be connected to the
So I just share my experiences, I just tellthem like you know nudge them. Nudging would
be a very good word. There is like no direction,there is no I would say I just try to guide
(23:38):
them you know how to polish their interest,how to look more inwards to find out that what
works for them. And and if they are interestedin somethings like we connect them to relevant
organizations so that they can volunteer ordo some internships to get some professional
experience and also learn English and to bemore assertive in life so I just share my experiences
(24:04):
that how I started, how I was just emailingorganizations that I want to work with you
and you know I am not harming my self esteemIf they are not replying that's fine but you
have to keep on trying and within 5 years Igave them the framework of 5 years, 5 years
you give your time and then you will see yourlife changing, it's all trajectory and that
(24:33):
is hopeful and one of our mentees is volunteeringfor us now. our website and I must say that
he comes from a remote village and he with limitedaccess to resources to internet and all of
these things like he is managing our websitequite wonderfully you can see that you know
(24:56):
I believe the website is really good.
more collaboration the better. And the way itwould be so fantastic if more people in the
world believed in the same thing. As you getolder, you need to pass down information how
to do things to the younger. And then it goesto the next generation passing it down. And
(25:16):
gosh, life was supposed to be as simple as that.I wish it were. But I want people, I want our
listeners now to pause and go watch a videothat they should have on whatever. source that
you're finding this on Amazon or YouTube orwhatever. But I want you to go watch that video
and don't forget to come back. So just takea pause for a second. Okay hopefully folks
(25:42):
have gone and now they've come back. I reallylike that video. There's something there I
want to dig into and that's going to come uphere in a moment. But first of all, I want
you to tell the story on your initiation tothe Indian Stammer Association and your experience
when you attended your first ISA annual conference.those that watch have a decent idea, but let's
hear it from you again. And it seemed like thiswas another pivot point in your life when you
(26:08):
first were became associated with Indian StammerAssociation. So go ahead, Puneet. Yes, Scott.
So, um, as like, um, when I got my first, uh,first smartphone, I, uh, and I got internet,
so I was really researching into, into stumbling,like, uh, what can be the reasons? What are
the. scientific papers, what are the organizationsthat are working for the stampede community
(26:33):
and all of these things like I was generallyvery curious so I came to know that there is
this organization that works for the stampedecommunity and I was invited for their annual
conference that happened in Delhi so I tookmy off from the college and then I went there
(26:57):
Before this conference, I know only one moreperson who stammered. So I used to think that
it's only me or that person. Like it's onlytwo people in the world who stammer. But when
I entered the conference hall, I see like allthe persons were actually stammering. And they
(27:23):
have their own diversity. They have their ownstyles of stammering. They all were stammering
but in a very different way. Which was veryinteresting. They are all carrying their individuality
with them while stammering as well. And on theother side when we see stammering, people used
to think that it's just stammering. It's justone kind of stammering where you have certain
(27:45):
blockages and all of these things. That wasvery interesting. That made me feel very liberated.
They are stammering and no one gives a damn.The first thing is that, can we have a world
where no one gives a damn in the way that weare, it's just the way. And then there was
(28:07):
certain activities, we were talking about ourchallenges and then for the first time in 5-6
years I went to the stage and I explained myjourney, my stories around stammering and all
of that. some not so humorous, some very traumatizingstories as well were coming up. So it was interesting
(28:31):
to hear that you know that people are actuallygoing through a lot and that that's give somehow
like it's a very I would say that that's a veryhuman thing that when you realize that you're
not alone and that really helps that you knowthat you are like you have you have a common
community to talk to you have certain very successfulpeople from across That also gives me a whole
(28:56):
lot of confidence that while being a stammeryou can also become successful like no matter
what. All of these experiences were there andthen at the end of the conference they gave
us a task that you have to go on a metro railand you have to explain to the passengers that
this is what stammering is against the misconceptionthat were there about stammering. It was I
(29:24):
would say very enlightening, very empowering,very liberating. But when I was talking about
stammering to the people, I would say, you know,I was, I was, it was some other kind of experience
when we, when the whole life I was running awayfrom the fact that I stammer and now I'm talking
(29:45):
about, about stammering and I'm talking aboutowning this, this aspect of my personality.
and people were actually listening you know80-90% people were actually listening and they
gave a very positive response you know everyonewas saying that yeah one of my friend also
stammered and you know from now on we will bemore attentive more conscious about our choices
(30:10):
how we react and so all of these things likethis conference this activity interacting with
certain people I think that was a game changerfor me. I've got to ask you the question, but
luckily I had been doing, oh gosh, I was probably90% done in my research on you. And therefore
(30:33):
I had a feeling about what you were doing withthis, but during the video of you giving the
presentation, you walked off the stage. NowI think I know what that purpose was, but was
that to, did you really have a close off a littlebit? Or was that just staged in order to startle
the audience and really just pull him in becauseyou could hear there was some not gasping but
(31:00):
kind of a concern. I hope he's okay. But goahead. Tell me about that. That was really
good, man. That was really good. Scott, it wasnot planned at all. Did you do that on purpose?
Yeah. I did it on purpose, but it was not planned.It just came to me. and it makes whole lot
of sense because
(31:23):
I was actually not going to schools and collegeswhen I was about to present something. So that
so you know it is reflecting and representingthat part when I was actually not willing to
attend schools or college days when I was aboutto like give a speech or give a presentation
(31:46):
on my project or anything, you know, I was justavoiding going on a stage and then for a while
like I'm going on the stage, people are listeningto me, there were around 2000 people that were
actually listening to it online as well. Solike it was a very pressurizing situation.
So I thought, you know, let's do this thingas well. So I was on the stage while I was
(32:07):
talking about it, I planned this. So even likethe people who were actually helping me in
the planning of this piece, they don't know.They were actually very concerned about what
happened. Yeah. Because you could hear a littlebit in the background, like, yeah, you nailed
it. I mean, that was nine minutes and 26 seconds.You nailed that sucker. One of the things that
(32:30):
you stated in there, I really picked out, wasself humor is the best way to gain confidence.
You said that exactly. Talk about that. Selfhumor.
How do you, what does that do in order to helpyou gain confidence? It is very tricky because
you know at the same time when I am talkingthat we should not bully, we should not do
(32:53):
this and that and on the other side I am sayingthat let's use some self-humor as well. So
I think this is a very trickier thing what Iam trying to do through this organization is
to bring on self-acceptance as well. Becauseyou cannot. you cannot improve as a communicator.
I am not saying you will be overcoming yourstammering, but I am saying that we have to
(33:17):
be a better communicator, be a good and effectivecommunication. So how we can do that? By accepting
ourselves. And if we are in harmony with ourselves,like if we have accepted our authentic selves,
then I think we can joke on ourselves as well,because then we have no problem with our identity.
Some people come, some random people can...can comment about your situation, can comment
(33:41):
about anything because we cannot say, you know,people will say, but if we are in harmony,
if we are in acceptance, if we have that kindof approach towards life, I think then self-humor
is the perfect thing because now people willthink, okay, this is he's owning that thing,
you know, that he has no problem with the wayhe speaks. So that is something brilliant.
(34:06):
But In the beginning that acceptance from denialto acceptance that journey is very tricky and
most of the youngsters who come who messagesme on social media every time they use some
words like you know that what can be the quickfixes what can be the you know do you know
any medicine because you speak so well I don'tthink that I think you have gone through some
(34:28):
therapy and all of these things so I say thatI have never gone through any kind of therapy
it's just that I have accepted myself and Idon't give a damn about it. about my stumbling
anymore. So acceptance the key. Okay.
I really think that that's so important. Andthat's a lesson that took me quite a while
(34:49):
to learn. I've got a good example for you aboutself humor that's easy for me because I'm a
bilateral hand amputee. So if someone says,you know, can I give you a hand, I'll take
two. I mean, that's an easy one for me to comeback with. I'll take two hands. So. in that
entire nine minutes and 26 seconds, unless itwas done purposefully, and there were times
(35:13):
when you did it purposefully, you stammeredpurposefully, you never did it once. Yeah.
And I think, going back to hearing you talkabout all the other examples about when you
would speak in front of, or you would attemptto speak in front of, a group and things, what
(35:35):
was the, was it just... growth, self-confidence,what was a combination of things that allowed
you to finally go up there and just you freakingnailed that thing. So what led you to or what
built up your ability to be able to go out andnail a presentation?
(35:56):
It is a very good question Scott. I must saythat you have actually gone through all these
kind of things. Because when I was actuallytraining, when I was doing the rehearsals,
people were saying you know all my mentors weresaying that you should stammer and then while
saying this they also realized that how canwe say someone to stammer, he is a natural
(36:22):
stammerer. If he stammer, he will stammer. Butyou know, it happened to me that, you know,
for the first time I was allowed to stammerand I was not stammering. And this is so beautiful.
So it's interesting. That's interesting. Yeah.So personal acceptance of maybe one's faults.
(36:46):
Wow. I wish there was a pill for that. You know,that we just send around the disability community
because, you know, so many times that we suckat things. because we're so concerned about
how others view us. And therefore we get intothis out of control spiral. Well, I thought
that you thought that we thought that he thoughtthat I thought that you thought that, ay, yay,
(37:06):
yay. Hey, I wanna wrap this up with somethingI found on you. And I came across this early,
I think by one of the first things that cameacross you, yeah, man, I want this guy on the
show. I wanna read a quote that you listed someplace.It was a quote by George Eliot that you referred
to during an interview.
(37:30):
And lovely, it's fantastic. It is never toolate to be what you might have been. That's
fantastic. Is that something you think you mighthave come across that just shined a light towards
you on what Elliot stated that really hit homewith you? that finally it's never too late
(37:55):
to be what you might have banned. Yes, yes.Yes, Scott. I think these are one of the, I
would say, very hard hitting quote for me becauseone like when I wake up in the morning, I always
(38:15):
remind myself that these are some things, youknow, in all these everyday problems in life.
all these logistic problems that we face andall these admin problems and all these problems
that we face you know we have to just keep remindingourselves of our vision you know of what changes
(38:37):
we want to make to the world you know that it'swe are going to get some opportunity and especially
for advocates like us you know now after somuch of effort like people are listening to
me you know people are reading my post, peopleactually want to listen to me and all of these
things. So now I really wanted to have thisconversation, to set this narrative, to have
(39:02):
this story about me, to be out to people tolisten to. And that is very, very important
because we need to realize our responsibilitythat
we have a community, we have people who areactually listening to us. And I realized that
(39:23):
much later when people were actually messagingme that your post, I am always looking forward
to your post, you are simply amazing, your postare liberating and all of these things and
that made my day, that made my week, that mademy month and that is why I am trying to always
question the narrative around disability andGeorge Eliot quote was just around that.
(39:51):
Yeah. We all can learn so much from each other,but there's also so much that needs to be told
or shared with those that aren't members ofthe disability community. So I think you put
it right and I really like what you're doing.And we're going to take a bit of a turn here.
That sound means it's time to shift gears withthe Road Trip Roundup. Bonit, I've got five
(40:14):
questions for you here, bud. And they are relatedto your experience with road trips. Okay. When
road tripping, do you tend to do fast food orlocal diners or eateries? Local food every
time and anytime. Okay. Yeah. I mean, it's justkiller. The only time I think we have people
(40:37):
that say anything about fast food is when they'rehurting on time and they need to get from point
A to point B or something and they just needto cut it. All right, so next one. You guys
might be able to hear George barking upstairs.George is our big hound dog. Somebody must
be walking by that front of the house. What'syour dream car for a road trip? That could
be something, you know, your parents had orsomething you have, or you would rent in order
(41:02):
to do a really fun road trip. What's it, what'sa dream car for you, Vinny? I think George,
I just, just don't want to drive. I just wantto look, look by the side. So buses work really
well for me. I love, I love, I love buses andtrains. Interesting. Oh yeah, trains. We just,
(41:22):
we did the channel when we were in Europe lastyear and there's so much that can be seen.
You don't want to miss it. You're right. I justthought about it because when you're driving,
when you're the person driving, you know, I'mdriving all the time. Sue's, oh, look, I wish,
hey, did you see it? No, I'm sorry, babe. Iwas driving. You've got a good point there.
I think Sue is going to drive most of the timeon our next road trip. Okay. You're too young
(41:46):
for this, but I'll throw it to you anyway, man.last cassette or CD that played while you were
on a road trip. So it is Pratik Kuhad. You musthear him. I think he is amazing. He sings in
English as well. And I came to know about him.I have heard his name but I came to know about
(42:09):
him when Barack Obama posted about his playlistin 2020. So then I started to listen to this
Indian singer and he is amazing. So all of hissongs are great. Okay, cool. Thanks for sharing
(42:29):
that. There, there are times that we, uh, dovisit with people from outside the United States
that present us, uh, share something new tous that, you know, I've gone and look things
up myself. So, all right, direct question. Numberfour, straight forward Coke or Pepsi. Okay.
(42:50):
You are ending a streak of probably 20 interviewsin a row where it was always Coke. Oh my God,
thank you. You saved the question there, I think,Puneet. Because I tell you, I've been ready
to just pitch that question and try to comeup with something else. Everybody always says
Coke. Boom, it's staying. Pepsi, here's a Pepsilever, folks. All right, last one. It's up
(43:11):
to you on where you want to go with this, Puneet.What's your favorite road trip memory? Anything.
From Delhi to Kathmandu, Nepal, it was beautiful.And you know, during night, the moon was so
big. You know, I haven't seen this much biggerof a moon in my life. And in the mountains
(43:31):
of Nepal, it's beautiful. Yeah, yeah. Wow. Justnow I'm picturing it and I'm probably gonna
go Google up the mountains of Nepal. So thatwould be fantastic. Yeah, you should. We're
wrapping up. This has really been fun. I wannastay on after I hit stop so you and I could
talk for a little bit. Okay, bud. And I justwant to tell everybody a challenge, relax,
(43:52):
and keep listening to life's a road trip.
Thanks for listening. Check out previous episodeswith new ones dropping each Tuesday. If you
don't see a synopsis of this show where you'relistening, visit our website at life's a roadtrip.podbean.com
(44:13):
for more information on this week's guest. Thisis your host Scott Martin reminding you that
life's a road trip.
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