Ruwi Toastmasters Club: 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.