48th session

This was the 48th session and we wanted to crank it up!

Well, the engine caught after some misfiring. Misfiring because some of the project speech contenders bowed out, leaving only one P-5 speech standing. Recovery was on account of an unexpected Education Session conducted by MTM Meenakshi of MMTC club. So all in all, a successful evening.

The session was kicked off by SAA TM Ramalingam 2 minutes before time (no key-less situation this time) He took up his usual role with aplomb, shooting off a homily about the secret of success and introducing the Acting President with a barrage of accolades.

Acting President MTM Panna related another Presidential story with glee, about a mouse who, having seen a mousetrap bought by the farmer, sought for but found no help from his farmyard friends. However, by a strange turn of events, the farmyard friends were slaughtered one-by-one while the mouse stayed alive. Our lives are interwoven in a cosmic tapestry and when helping others, we are probably helping ourselves. She went on to identify with the said mouse and sought help from everybody in volunteering for project speeches and role plays. Nicely tied up madam. We will do our best to move the cheese your way...

TMOD Saleem had chosen as his theme CHARITY. A serious theme, but close to everyone's heart as all of us do realise the importance of charity and contribute in some way. TMOD gave us a small lecture on the different modes of charity and then went on to introduce every role player mentioning his or her particular views on charity and their form of involvement. A very noteworthy session, TM Saleem, seeing that you are only one speech old. Kudos!

Timekeeper TM Raja, who takes up any role with utmost sincerity, gave a copybook lecture on the rules of time-keeping.

Wordmaster TM Chaitanya had chosen as his word INCORRIGIBLE. His expose on the word was extremely well covered and the round robin was a hilarious litany of in how many ways humans could be incorrigible! He also made a first-of-its-kind request of making "meaningful" sentences, that would bring out the meaning of the word from the sheer sentence construction. Good point, TM.

Jokemaster MTM Swati, her own smile lighting up the room, took happy digs at men, women and marriage, an evergreen topic. Nice ones, MTM, and thanks for lightening our mood.

Coming to serious matters, there was a P-5 speech to be delivered by TM Rajat, whose goal is to make Your Body Speak. TM Kumar, as evaluator, first explained the goals of the speech and evaluation criteria to the audience.The focus of the speech was to be on stance, movement, gestures, facial expressions and eye contact.

Project speech 5, titled "Lust for Life" and delivered by TM Rajat, was based on his efforts at trying to learn oil painting. It was delivered in a humorous manner, and being based on his own experiences, carried conviction. The speech met most of the requirements of a P-5 speech. TM Kumar, in his evaluation later on, while appreciating stance, movements and gestures, suggested improvements in facial expressions and eye contact. Will be kept in mind, TM Kumar.

An Education Session was scheduled today, conducted by MTM Meenakshi of MMTC club. It gave a proper perspective of why the roles are there and how they are to be conducted, both in the club session and out of it. In fact, she drew from her own experience and gave us helpful tips as to how to enrich the club roles and make it more interesting for both the role player as well as the audience. The base message was, no role is insignificant, and there is always scope to play it to the hilt. Thanks you MTM Meenakshi for that session.

Table topics were played out by TM Viswanath and played out very smoothly, since his topics were almost proverbial and easy to speak on. I am sure you made everyone happy, TM Viswanath.

Harkmaster MTM Kavita caught us by the collar with her barrage of quick-fire questions, but the audience was ready for any challenge and answered them all in one way or another. It is a big relief to have answerable questions, MTM. Thank you.

Grammarian TM Venkat started his comments almost like a GE, then slipped into his grammarian gown, pointing out good English of MTM Panna and a few misdemeanors of other speakers, before wrapping up quickly, ready to duck the angry shoe. No tension, TM, we are all ready to know the worst about ourselves without resorting to violence!

General Evaluator MTM Rita surprised and impressed us with a very balanced and penetrating analysis of should and should not have beens. She also suggested that we look at adopting the practice of evaluators/timekeepers/grammarians being introduced by GE and so on, which is also an accepted practice. This change may be debated later.

Business session was conducted by MTM Panna. She reiterated the need to volunteer for roles and speeches. She also pointed out that if we are to gun for a club ribbon (10 points required), we have to complete 4 CCs (4 people who will complete all 10 speeches) and 2 CLs (2 peple who will complete all required roles). We have to examine whether this is feasible in the 14 sessions remaining.

Additional point: The CL manual has to be filled up. Members are requested to refer to the Role History table in the blog, note down when they did what role, and first fill up the LAST PAGE of the CL manual, preferably in pencil. You can keep in mind that in some cases only 2 out of 3 roles in a category need to be completed and fill accordingly. Please note that one role-play can be filled against only one entry. For example, if I have played Grammarian once on 4.8.16, I cannot mention it in all 3 places for the same date - I should have played it thrice. The corresponding sessions inside the book can then also be filled in, evaluated and authenticated by VPE or some other senior member.

MTM Panna continued as Acting President and closed the session, inviting all to tea and samosas.

The day's awards were:

• Best Speaker:      TM Rajat
• Best Evaluator :   TM Kumar
• Best Topic speaker:  MTM Kaviya

Please note that the 50th session celebrations will actually be held on the 51st session date (ie 15.10.16) - same time same place.

See you all again on 1.10.16. 

Please do not miss this because the 2nd RTC Debate Session is taking place that day.

47th session

A landmark session, in many ways.

Firstly, there had been no session last Saturday, as most of the group were way on holiday, so this session was eagerly looked forward to.

Secondly, we were standing around outside the venue for want of a key - a definite first! However, we quickly lost our vacant looks and regrouped to the house of VP-E to hold our session there, losing only 15 mins in the whole process. Thanks to all concerned for your co-operation.

Thirdly, we were holding our first debate session this evening and there was no way we were going to cancel it because of lack of venue. 

The session was kicked off by impromptu SAA TM Ananth, who mentioned that a day ago he was above Mount Everest in a small plane. Descending from the stratospheric heights is always tough, but he mustered courage to warn us about the taboos and handed over the stage to acting President MTM Panna.

MTM Panna, in true Aji style, launched into a story of two competitors, one naturally strong and confident and the other, initially weak, who practiced hard to rise to the pitch. The weaker person finally won the championship because of his dedication and practice. MTM Panna entreated all of us to sincerely put in efforts into the Toastmaster program and the recommended practices, so that we are able to prevail in any situation. We missed you Aji, but only a little!

TMOD Venkat had chosen as his theme FESTIVALS, a very vibrant theme for all of us, and he led us through the various festivals and their themes, before introducing each role-player.

Timekeeper MTM Kavita was introduced, who explained the timing rules immaculately.

The debate session was held right after this, with the topic "Laptops and tablets should replace textbooks in schools." There were two teams of 3 members each. Kumar (c), Nagesh and Venkat formed one team while Rajat (c), Viswanath and Raghuram  formed the second team. The first team was assigned to speak FOR the motion and the second team to speak AGAINST the motion. TM Ramki was the moderator.

It was a lively debate, given the fact that most of them were debating for the first time in their lives. Venkat was the first speaker for the motion and he fired heavy salvoes in favour of laptops and e-learning. Raghu, first speaker against, highlighted the health issues of computer usage, and demanded any proof that laptops helped learning better. Nagesh jumped into the fray, wondering why people should travel on bicycles when jet planes were available. Viswanath related his office incident of computer breakdowns and questioned how children would handle that. Kumar rebutted Raghu regarding pace of development and Viswanath regarding computer gliches and went on to conclude the For side session. Rajat rebutted Kumar on the apparent need to make kids tech-savvy from a young age, and went on to conclude from the Against side. 

It was quite a good show for a first debate of the club. I am sure those who were absent really missed an entertaining event. Another debate will soon follow with six other people.

TM Ramki gave a feedback on the debate session, lauding the preparation of the debators. In future debates, he suggested an increase in energy levels and more focus on rebuttals. We will definitely focus, TM Ramki.

TMOD returned us to the regular role-plays of the club. Wordmaster TM Karthik took the stage, promoting the word IMMACULATE. People used the word quite imaginatively in the round robin and the Wordmaster withdrew, satisfied.

Jokemaster TM Viswanath took the stage next and confused us slightly by asking answers to jokes. This was indeed a new format. Unfortunately the session ended just as we were getting a hang of it. But a good effort TM Viswanath.

There was a P5 speech scheduled today and TM Vignesh described the criteria quite comprehensively.

P5 Speech was delivered by MTM Panna, with the title "Ooh, Aah, Ouch", dealing with the travails of travelling, more with reference to a US travel undertaken recently. It was humorous and had lots of facial expressions and body movements and was a good P5 speech. 

Table topics were conducted by MTM Swati. She had chosen really good topics, which could be talked about based on the speaker's own life experiences. Everyone did justice to the topics and made the Topicmaster very happy.

TM Vignesh, in his evaluation of the P5 specch, commented that it satisfied all criteria from P2 to P5. Except for some word clarity issues, he praised the efforts of MTM Panna.

Grammarian TM Raghu was incisive but did not point out too many grammatical issues with the group. We must be getting better in our English usage, right? The count of Ah's were very high for some though (if we count the y'knows also). Let's work on that, shall we?

General Evaluator TM Rajat, in his super-mother-in-law role, went through the list of role players. He praised the Time-keeper, Word master, Evaluator, and Topic master for jobs immaculately done. Some suggestions were there for SAA, TMOD, and Joke master, Ensuring venue availability should be high on the agenda for committee members.

TM Kumar, in his final remarks, reminded members to pay their fees within 30th Sep at RO 30. 

MTM Panna, in the concluding address, reminded people that mentors have been reset. She also requested the new mentors to push their mentees and ensure they do their project speeches on schedule. New debate sessions will also be coming up and anybody could volunteer to be included. She thanked TM Ramki for his moderator role and his evaluation of the session.

The session closed with snacks and tea, as usual.

The day's awards were as follows:

• Best debate team :             Rajat's team (Against the motion)
• Best table topic speaker:   MTM Kavya
• No Best Speaker was awarded as there was only one project speech.

See you all on 24.9.16, at the usual venue.

46th session

What a session!

Apart from the usual rounds of project speech and table topics, we were educated and entertained by a demo session conducted by the Debate Club, meant to motivate us and catapult us into those rarefied heights.

But first things first.

In the absence of SAA TM Ramalingam, the session was kicked off by Ex-AD GK. Change is constant, he said, and tomorrow an SAA can be an Area Director as well. We live on hopes, GK, we live on hopes...

Our President Aji Bhaskar, the king of stories, took us to ancient China, where a tea master, wrongly dressed as a samurai, was challenged by another samurai. However, our tea master, on the advice of his warrior master, could exhibit such composure and confidence in his opening stance at the fight (borrowed from his tea-making), that the challenging samurai was out of countenance and conceded the fight without a fight. Victory comes from attitude, Aji advised us, not just from ability, and we as incipient leaders and influencers would do well to remember the same. Thank you Aji, for this lesson.

TMOD MTM Kavita had chosen as her theme MOVIES. A well-worn subject, one would have thought. But she provided imaginative connects between the roleplayers' favourite movie-star and the role-players' own characteristics, and we enjoyed the extravagant accolades that she heaped on the speakers, much to their delighted embarrassment.

Timekeeper TM Karthik was introduced and he in turn introduced the rules of the game to us. The only twist in the proceedings was that the coloured cards were not available and he had to invoke the imagination of the audience by writing Green in blue on a yellow sheet, writing Yellow in blue on a yellow sheet and writing Red in blue on a white sheet. Role players welcomed the challenge and paid proper heed to the scribbles.

Wordmaster TM Pramod introduced the word INCIPIENT to the group, a word not frequently used by any of us, so it was indeed a nice addition. The round robin showed varied applications. Many role-players included the word in their speeches and were duly applauded.

Joke master TM Nagesh tickled us with various marriage-related jokes.

Table topics were led by TM Mathen and he totally woke us up with five excellent topics, which could very well have been regular debate topics. Our guest debators were mainly called upon to respond and we saw a number of splendid 2-minute vignettes being delivered.

There was a P4 level speech scheduled today and TM Ananth spoke about the evaluation criteria, in his usual easy manner.

TM Venkat delivered his P4 speech next, in an even easier manner. The story of his travel over the western ghats in the rain was quite engrossing and he ended with some appropriate take-aways that always accompany a harrowing travel journey. 

We took a break from our regular program for a DEBATE SESSION, demonstrated by the Debate Club. We were honoured by 6 members of the club, who would be speaking For and Against a topic assigned earlier, in two teams of three each. GK acted as moderator. The topic given was "Reservation does little to empower and enable". Robin's team spoke For and Ramki's team spoke Against. Arguments ran rampant, from caste-based reservations, to reserved parking for disabled, to chocolates for the second child, to sports quota for Usain Bolt ... and so on. The audience were engrossed by the linear introductions supported by statistics, the specific rebuttals and the comprehensive conclusions carried out. It was educative and it was entertaining and it served the purpose of the demo, which was to get us interested in the debating process. I am sure many in Ruwi club would now start attending the fortnightly sessions (Thursdays at MMTC hall).

TM Ananth carried out his evaluation of TM Venkat's P4 speech. He appreciated TM Venkat's descriptive abilities and declared the purpose of the speech met.

Harkmaster TM Saleem introduced a new dimension by addressing his questions to specific rows or benches. He wanted to test the hypothesis that back-benchers are generally inattentive and ended up proving it.

Grammarian TM Rajat ran through minor misdemeanors conducted by various people, expressing happiness that major gaffs were on the wane, indicating increasing linguistic abilities of the team.

Ah-counter MTM Panna also was pretty happy with  verbal exactitude of the speakers. In very few instances did they hesitate or fumble or scratch their chins with an "Ummm..." Good going folks!

General Evaluator TM Chaitanya, who always calls a spade a spade, gave exact feedback on what he liked and did not like about each role-player. Great going TM Chaitanya, and we appreciate the candour and advise to team-members.

President Aji wrapped up the session with a big thank you to the Debate Club for their efforts. We are all grateful, in fact, and would surely dive in.

The day's awards were:

• Best Table Speaker:   DTM Robin/TM Ramki/TM Vignesh (it was that close)
• Best Debate Team:     Ramki Team (against)
• There were no awards for Project speech or evaluator as there was only one speech.

See you all on 10.9.16 (hopefully)