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Summary
Sudha Murthy, a teacher and humanitarian, delivers her maiden speech in India's parliament, advocating for cervical cancer vaccination and promoting India's lesser-known heritage sites.
Present perfect for lasting experience — used to emphasize work done over time: "I have given only five minutes" and "I have worked in my last 30 years with Infosys foundation on this particular area." Shows completed actions with relevance to now.
Conditional structures for proposals — "if the girls take that it can be avoided" and "if the government intervenes and negotiates it can be… brought to 800 rupees." Common in persuasive speech to frame possibilities.
Relative clauses with 'which' for explanation — "the cervical vaccination which can if the girls take" and "the natural roots bridge in Mizoram which is God's gift to us." Adds detail and context naturally within sentences.
About this video
This video captures Sudha Murthy's powerful debut speech in India's Rajya Sabha (parliament). As a first-time speaker with only five minutes allocated, she tackles two crucial issues: cervical cancer prevention through vaccination programs for girls aged 9–14, and the urgent need to recognize India's 57 pending world heritage sites. Throughout the speech, she references specific monuments—the Bahubali statue in Karnataka, caves in Badami, temples in Mandu, and natural bridges in Mizoram—to illustrate how India's hidden cultural treasures are overlooked. She draws on her 30 years of work with Infosys Foundation and her background as a daughter of a doctor to establish credibility, concluding with an ancient Sanskrit proverb about single-minded devotion to duty.
The video is excellent for shadowing because Murthy speaks at a measured, deliberate pace, enunciates clearly in English, and uses accessible vocabulary without losing eloquence. Her speech blends formal parliamentary language with personal anecdotes and emotional moments—"a mother is lost forever"—making it engaging and emotionally resonant rather than robotic. The mix of professional register, philosophical reflection, and specific examples keeps learners attentive.
This material suits B1–B2 learners who want to hear authentic, purposeful English from an educated non-native speaker. Listeners will absorb lexicon around public health, cultural heritage, and parliamentary discourse, plus natural speech patterns of someone speaking thoughtfully in a second language: hesitations, self-corrections ("maybe my spelling may be wrong"), and use of analogies to clarify ideas.
Idioms & expressions
put/do something with your mind and buddhi — to do something with full mental focus and wisdom; "Whatever work you do better do it with your mind with buddhi and with 100% concentration."
prevention is better than cure — it is easier to stop a problem before it starts than to fix it once it exists; "prevention is better than cure," she says about vaccination.
a mother is lost forever — emphasizes the permanence of maternal loss; "for the family a mother is lost forever. Maybe a man can get another wife but children will never get another mother."
we have diamond in the hand, we search for broken glass pieces — metaphor meaning we ignore our own valuable assets and pursue less worthy things; "we have diamond in the hand. We search for the broken glass pieces."
single-minded with concentration — focused devotion to one goal; "I want to serve in my tenure Rajya Sabha with one single motoridd… with a single-minded with my mind with my concentration."
