We met after skipping a session on the 9th, so we were all quite elated, rather skippy in fact, at meeting each other again. The attendance of members was low as many were away on holidays, but the presence of six guests more than made up the deficit. The group photo was as full as usual.
TM Ramalingam kicked off with an admonishment not to fear, and gently introduced the President, sharp at 3.15 pm.
President Aji Bhaskar, in an approach that has become legend in Ruwi Toastmasters, started off with a small story. A bartender, who had once helped a destitute lady with a well-timed meal, was in turn rescued from roadside begging by the same lady who had now become an owner of a company. Moral of the story: never lose an opportunity to help someone as you never know when you will need help in turn. Nice message Aji, as we really do take our own life for granted and pass by less unfortunates with polite indifference.
TMOD Ananth was feeling lucky, so he had chosen ASTROLOGY as his theme. He related amazing personal experiences with an astrologer in his youth which left us all thoughtful. He would be introducing every role-player with his or her sun sign, its characteristics and which celebrities share the same sign. Interesting intro, although he did stretch it a bit by saying Pisces sign people eat fish and Capricorns eat corn. People's faith in astrology might be shaken by such utterances, Ananth !
Timekeeper MTM Swati was introduced and she has almost become a pro at this split-second game. We gladly left this difficult task in her safe hands.
Wordmaster was TM Pramod, who introduced the word PANACEA to us. People readily related the theme Astrology to be the panacea of all ill-fortune, so the round-robin had many references to this connection. A good word, very succinct, and rarely used by us.
Jokemaster was played out by TM Vignesh. Some people are so natural at this that we start smiling as soon as the jokemaster starts speaking. Vignesh is one of them. People may not remember the jokes but they will all tell each other that they were bloody good!
There were three project speeches today - P2, P3 and P4. An excellent variety, like appetizer, main course and dessert. P2 was by MTM Rita (ev TM Chaitanya), P3 by TM Nagesh (ev TM Varma) and P4 by TM Rajat (ev TM Kaushik).
All speech criteria were ably explained by the evaluators.
P2 speech by MTM Rita was titled "Miracle Cure". She spoke about fitness being the panacea of most of the ills and diseases in life. She shared her personal journey in developing physical fitness and appealed to everybody to incorporate this important aspect into our lives. A well-delivered P2 speech.
P3 speech by TM Nagesh was titled "Hunger Pangs". It had a lovely and sensitive subject of food wastage, before it reaches our dining table as well as after. Being a P3 speech he concluded with specific actions that we individually can take to reduce the wastage of food that passes through our hands every day. A great subject and a nice semi-humorous delivery. It was a pity that time was exceeded.
P4 speech by TM Rajat was titled "The Colour of Passion". It spoke about the conundrums parents face when trying to decide an apt career for their children, and shared what approach our ancient texts have recommended in this aspect. A serious speech, full of vedic wisdom, but relevant to our lives, nonetheless.
Table Topics were conducted by TM Saleem. His topics revolved around destiny and was obviously influenced by TMOD's theme. All the guests had a chance to ponder on the mysteries of destiny and free will, both of which are required if they are to become future TMs!
All the evaluators did justice to their roles. The tension in the air was palpable as TM Chaitanya evaluated MTM Rita on her P2 speech. But it went off without a hitch in the hall (and later also, we are sure). DTM Varma did his usual comprehensive job when evaluating the P3 speech of TM Nagesh. TM Kaushik also gave his likes and recos list of the P4 speech of TM Rajat.
TM Vignesh, playing a good-brother-bad-brother double role, now descended on the stage as the dreaded Ah counter and Grammarian. He pointed out a few valid grammatical issues and overall caught some 30 Ahs. You got a good ear, TM!
General Evaluation was done by TM Rajkamal, in great detail. For the record he asked -
- SAA to be more confident
- Timekeeper to remember to tell about the 30 sec grace.
- Wordmaster to mention part of speech and source of the word.
- Topicmaster to consider members without roles before guests, and to call on the speaker after announcing the topic.
- Evaluators to mention the time taken and to recommend lengthening or shortening the speech.
- Speakers to practice with timing.
Business session conducted by Aji Bhaskar saw next week's speeches and roles finalised. He recommended that the members refer to the master sheet prepared by VPE earlier so that speech preparation can start well in time.
Aji Bhaskar, now in the President's role, concluded the session. Everyone appreciated the revival of the final snacks and tea and the last round of friendly gossip before we all dispersed.
The day's winners were:
- Best Evaluator - DTM Varma
- Best Topic speaker - Shreya
- Best Speaker - TM Rajat
See you all on 23.7.16.
(Next blog will be posted by TM Chaitanya, so get ready for a different flavour !)
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