Ruwi Toastmasters Club: 57th session

We were very happy.

VP-E and Secretary, Panna and I, the Rays, were very very happy.

Due to force of circumstances, due to a confusion with keys, the usual hall was unavailable and we were once again lucky enough to host a session of toastmasters at our house. This was the second occasion, and the algorithm was already set. Ten minutes of pushing and shoving and we were set to welcome 18-20 people into our drawing room.

Today's SAA, TM Raja, called the meeting to order and introduced our president to the gathering.

Our President, TM Aji Baskar, looking charged up at the quick change of venue, introduced us to the "99 club". This club, unlike our TM club, is the set of unsatisfied souls, always hankering for that little extra that would make them feel complete and happy. It takes us grey hairs and heartbreaks to understand that there is no such perfection and we can never graduate out of this club if we join it. Thanks, Aji, for that piece of wisdom.

We had three guests today, not the least of whom was our beloved Iqbal Uncle, the architect of the SIYA group, who, having spent most of his sporting life at the pitch, now watched speakers play with rate, volume and quality as well. Hope you enjoyed, uncle.

TMOD Kamil had chosen as his theme FOOD AND FOOD HABITS. An interesting theme of common appeal, made more alluring by the off-the-kitchen shelf health tips churned out at regular intervals, the script guided us through various cuisines in the world, as well as the individual preferences of the role-players. The session, in fact, left us hungry for more. Great emceeing, TM Kamil.

Timekeeper role was played by MTM Swati, already an expert in this role, who showed her first red card at TMOD himself, even before she was called on stage!

Wordmaster TM Rajat introduced the word CONNOISSEUR to the group, which meant an expert or judge in matters of refined taste - in art, music, food and so on. The round robin provided much food for thought to the group.

Jokemaster MTM Shobha regaled us with a number of really nice ones, clean and tangy.

There was only one project speech scheduled today, a P-1 speech by MTM Alma. The evaluator's introduction was given efficiently by MTM Panna, which was followed by MTM Alma's sneak peek into her life, from her homeland in Phillipines to moderm Muscat, from protective parents to solo working, from independent living to the "hot porridge" of married life. We enjoyed the saga, MTM.

Table topics, conducted by TM Raja (who had doffed the SAA regalia), was also on the theme of food, but not directly about food items. They were indeed interesting and the speakers drew from personal experiences as well as from philosophical outlooks for putting together a double-minuter.

MTM Panna rendered her evaluation of the P-1 speech, with specific suggestions for improvement, though encouraging in tone.

Harkmaster MTM Vaishali quizzed the gathering in the style of fill-in-the-blank, which has become her trademark. Just as sleeping in a new room is not easy, a new venue had kept all TMs awake and they made short work of her queries.

There was an Education session on club contests conducted by TM Kumar, where he highlighted the 5 types of contests about to take place in the club - Table topic, Evaluation, Humorous, International and Tall tale - and compared their various requirements. He gave tips on what makes a difference to the judges and what are the do's and don'ts for impressing them. An illuminating session, TM Kumar, and thank you for the inputs.

Grammarian TM Afroz gave a glowing tribute to the members, having found very few hooks to hang his critical hat on. He probably got too carried away in the speeches to notice, which speaks volumes for our speech quality. Kudos, all.

General Evaluator TM Viswanath ran through the roles with mostly laudatory comments. The specific suggestions mentioned have been noted.

TMOD handed the stage back to the President who closed the session and invited people to partake snacks... and snacks. Today, by a quirk of fate and generosity, snacks had been arranged by both TM Kumar on behalf of the club and TMOD Kamil in recognition of the theme of the day. We ate our fill and what we couldn't, was carried away.