67th session

We were back to our normal sessions. It was a special session in a way, in a sad sort of way, in a way which we hope will not happen to us too often. But, what the hell, life is like that.

The SAA TM Vishwanath kicked off right on time with an energetic hand-over to the acting President.

Acting President TM Panna also waded into her role with ... a story of course ... about a poor kid who loved horses and dreamed horses and when asked to write about his dreams in school, wrote about owning a ranch, down to the smallest detail. When the teacher asked him to change his essay to something more useful, he, after a lot of deep thought, refused to compromise on his dreams. Don't stop believing in your dreams, exhorted TM Panna.

TMOD Ramalingam had chosen as his theme COMPLAINTS. Now, we had no beef with his choice. In fact, in his hands it became a subject of jest and revelry as he exposed the typical complaints of all the role-players as he introduced them.

Timekeeper TM Kaviya explained the timing rules with copybook accuracy.

Wordmaster TM Alma introduced the word EXEMPLARY to us, which was used in the round robin in a perfect and exemplary manner by all.

Jokemaster TM Kamil entertained us with a number of rib-tickling jokes.

There was a P-4 speech scheduled today, whose criteria were explained by TM Rajat. P-4 speech focusses on "How to say it", by using simpler words and sentences yet richer language, appealing to the sensory and using figures of speech.

P-4 speech was delivered by TM Chaitanya, titled "Deja vu" about the thrill of the second World Cup win by India in 2011 after the first win in 1983. TM Chaitanya did justice to the project with his mastery over the language and we were all happy to have relived the thrilling moments of the victory.

There was a Special Speech scheduled today, whose criteria were described my DTM Rajendra Varma. 

The Special Speech was a Speech of Appreciation delivered by TM Aji Baskar. The object of appreciation was TM Kumar and the audience nodded in agreement as TM Aji described the exemplary characteristics of TM Kumar and how he had helped in the progress of TM Aji at a personal level. With both people intimately known and well-admired by all of us, the speech touched everyone's heart.

Table topics were conducted by TM Rita. They were off-beat in the sense that she handed out situations to people to speak on and they had to use their imagination and come up with bizarre scenarios. It was good fun, so thank you TM Rita for the variation.

P-4 evaluation was given by TM Rajat and the Special speech evaluation by DTM Rajendra Varma.

Grammarian TM Raja gave feedback to most role players on good and bad usage of English.

General Evaluator TM Nagesh reviewed all roles and pointed out the lack of printed matter today - both the agenda and the word of the day had not been publicly available. Otherwise he was satisfied with the proceedings.

Concluding remarks were given by outgoing President Aji - yes, outgoing - because TM Aji suddenly announced, practically out of the blue, that he was relocating to Dubai for setting up his business and would be here only till 22nd Feb. That was a shock for all of us. We had come to know and love him as an enthusiastic and selfless leader, who had worked tirelessly for setting up Ruwi Toastmasters Club. We will miss you Aji.

The session closed with a tinge of sadness today.

The day's awards were:

• Best Table topic:       TM Rajat
• Best Evaluator:          TM Rajat
• Best Speaker:           TM Aji

Next session is contest day - Evaluation and Humorous. Don't miss it.

66th session - Mock evaluation

Contest fever was upon us. Today's session was not the fever itself, but a slight cough and cold. Which meant it was not the contest itself but a mock run for the evaluation contest. 13 future contestants took part in the run, which coupled with the normal session events, turned the run into a marathon.

SAA Ramalingam declared the session open at 3.16 pm and handed over the session to the President.

President Aji Bhaskar welcomed all of us with an inspiring speech as to how a good deed done without expectation of reward, propagates to others, much on the lines of the film "Pay it forward."

Master of Ceremonies TM Kaushik brought in the theme of St Valentine and his history as 14th Feb was a few days away.

TM Alma, as Timekeeper, declared the time norms. Ironically, she had been late in arriving today.

There was a P-5 speech scheduled today and TM Vignesh as evaluator explained the criteria. P-5 speech was about using body language effectively.

TM Nagesh delivered his P-5 speech "Disposal", based on his experience of a bomb scare at an Indian airport.

TM Aji conducted an education session on evaluation which was very useful to the contestants participating in the mock run today.

TM Vigesh delivered the evaluation of the P-5 speech.

Now it was time for the evaluation fest to begin. Test speaker TM Rajkamal delivered a speech titled "The Trap". Delivered as an international speech, this was the one all contestants would evaluate.

The 13 contestants were then taken to the segregated Green Room and then led back one by one for them to give their evaluation on the test speech.

TM Aji gave a detailed feedback to each speaker on their strengths and weaknesses, which benefited everyone individually.

After this TM Aji gave the concluding remarks which included a BIG TWIST. TM Aji was relocating to Dubai by 22nd Feb 2017. It would of course be an irreparable loss to RTC as Aji had been the guiding force since inception, being the founder president. We anyway wish him all the best in his venture.

The day's awards were:

• Best evaluator:       TM Vignesh
• Best speaker:         TM Nagesh

See you all on 18.2.17 in a normal session.

65th session - Table Topic Contest

The second contest season for RTC started with a bang. The invitation showed 12 knights gathered around a round table, locking swords. Indeed it would be an epic tournament when brothers-in-arms would exhibit their verbal swordsmanship and try to win the laurels. Topics on the table, folks!

Our SAA TM Raja and President Aji welcomed all the judges and tally counters who had come over from other clubs to ultimately select the winners.

SAA Raja then declared the session open and ceded the holy ground to the President.

President Aji Baskar was glowing with pride and anticipation. He also related the story of two brothers who shared their only possession, a cow, by assigning the front half to one and the rear half to another. Of course, the brother owning the front half fed the cow but got no milk. Ultimately he beat the head of the cow so that it kicked the brother at the rear. Moral is, teamwork is good for everybody. Contests require lots and lots of teamwork.

Today's contest chair was the ever cool and suave TM Kamil, who went over the rules of the contest and introduced the eleven contestants (one had withdrawn). The contestants were:

1. Alma
2. Kaviya
3. Kumar
4. Ananth
5. Viswanath
6. Rajat
7. Ramalingam
8. Saleem
9. Panna
10. Venkat
11. Nagesh

As per the rules, all contestants except the first one were led out to a secluded place, guarded diligently by TM Sabu. TM Alma, the first contestant who had stayed back, chose a topic that read: "Aging is automatic; maturity is a matter of choice."

SAA Raja assisted by TM Sabu managed the entry of all contestants excellently and there was hardly any point where the next contestant was not ready. Great co-ordination.

The topic was a good one, in the sense that all contestants could put in their two-pence worth of thought and opinion. By the nature of the contest, TM Alma could hear all contestants, while TM Nagesh could hear only himself. However, TM Raja, who had recorded every speech, diligently posted all the speeches in the fb site, to the delight of those who had missed some speeches.

DTM Varma and TM Aji also spoke on a couple of topics and enthralled all.

The officials were:

• Chief judge:       TM Ramki
• Judge 1:             TM Antony
• Judge 2:             TM Suryakanth
• Judge 3:             TM Pinto
• Judge 4:             TM Ashfaq
• Tally counter:      TM Anil
• Timers:               TMs Karthik and Kavita

Our heartfelt thanks to them for their enthusiastic involvement.

The winners were:

• Winner:             TM Rajat
• 1st Runner-up:   TM Kumar
• 2nd Runner-up:  MTM Kaviya

The winner and 1st Runner-up will be representing the club at the Area level. All the best to them.

See you all on a normal session on 11.2.17.