Ruwi Toastmasters Club: 52nd session

Every session has something special about it. Something that makes us go : Arre wah! This session was no exception. With three project speeches, one is bound to have excitement. And when one of those speeches is P-6, there is bound to be entertainment galore. But more of that later...

The SAA for the day MTM Kavita kicked off the meeting sharp at 3.15pm. Though she lacked the stentorian demands of an SAA, her normal sweet voice requesting members to adhere to the no-nos was well-heeded.

The acting President, MTM Panna, related the story of two friends, who, marooned on a desert island, pray for things from God. One person's wishes are immediately gratified while the other remains ungifted. Finally, when the abundant friend is about to sail away in a gifted ship, he finally learns that the poor friend was praying for the other's wishes to be fulfilled. So whose prayer was more powerful? More importantly, friends are usually selfless in their love, and in our friends' circle we must ensure that we always wish each other well. A nice story, VPE, and much shorter than Aji's stories, a fact much appreciated by the timekeeper.

TMOD TM Raja had chosen as his theme FRIENDS. He elaborated on all aspects of friendship in his initial speech as well as in his intros. He also introduced the role-player describing what was their closest friend like and what were the likeable and dislikeable things about him or her. Interestingly, dislikeable things were very mild and uttered with lots of indulgence. That's what true friendship is like. Thanks you TM Raja for this heart-warming theme.

Timekeeper TM Viswanath was introduced and went through his litany effortlessly. We were in no doubts about his timing rules.

Wordmaster was played by MTM Kaviya, who introduced the word HYSTERICAL to the audience. This was a sidewinder because the word has two meanings - distraught as well as amused - and MTM Kaviya innovated on the round-robin by having alternate people make sentences with alternate meanings. This deserved an Arre wah!

Jokemaster TM Dilip, in the true spirit of the theme, reeled off a series of jokes in the context of friendship. Till now, I do not think a Jokemaster has ever adopted a TMOD theme. This qualifies for another Arre wah! Hats off TM Dilip.

There were three project speeches coming up: P-2 speech by MTM Swati, with evaluation by TM Kamil; P-3 speech by TM Chaitanya with evaluation by TM Mathen; P-6 speech by TM Ramalingam with evaluation by TM Rajat.

All the three evaluators described the speech criteria with diligence and accuracy.

P-2 speech by MTM Swati, meant to Organize Your Speech, was titled "The Convention Experience", and focused on the visit of MTM Swati to the TMI Convention in USA in August'16. This was a long-cherished wish for her and she ended the speech by exhorting all members to make this trip next year. We will try, MTM Swati, we will try.

P-3 speech by TM Chaitanya, meant to Get to the Point, was titled "My Third Child", and talked about his struggles to become an independent entrepreneur and appealed to the audience to proceed on independent existence with confidence. We were both impressed and motivated, TM Chaitanya.

P-6 speech by TM Ramalingam, meant to showcase Vocal Variety, was titled "Inspired Push". What a different TM Ramalingam this was, my friends, with a laugh-riot of a speech! Not only did he fulfill the project objectives, he entertained the audience so much that we never realised that he had overshot his time limit. A totally different avatar and a definite Arre wah! for this session.

The Topicmaster TM Saleem had also chosen topics that connected to the theme of Friends. It was so nice to see the thread of this theme running through the various role-plays. Next thing, we will see the wordmaster introducing a word related to the theme (Well, why not?). All the speakers - six of them in fact, causing a mini Arre wah! - spoke comfortably on the topics and it was really difficult to choose the best speaker. Quality is improving constantly, friends.

The speech evaluators gave their feedback on the three project speeches. Evaluation quality is also improving day-by-day, is it not?

Grammarian MTM Shobha gave a series of very specific feedback in a truly humble manner, which made all comments thoroughly acceptable. Very good quality of observations, MTM Shobha. Pointing out good turns of phrase was especially Arre wah!

Harkmaster MTM Alma had a very enjoyable session, and so did the audience, who practically answered all her questions. Good job MTM Alma.

General Evaluator TM Nagesh ran through all the roles meticulously, giving specific suggestions.

Concluding remarks were imparted by MTM Panna as the acting President.

This was an unusually lively session, in spite of the fact that TM Aji and TM GK were both missing, which means that the club is truly coming of age with many members taking active interest in its success and enjoyment. VPE now has a queue for project speeches!! Kudos to you all.

For once we wrapped up the meeting within the projected time of 5.09 pm. Arre wah!