Area 60 contest

7/12

What could that be?

Nothing major, just the share of awards bagged by RTC in the Area 60 contest held last Saturday.

Having put that minor news out of the way, let us see what happened that evening.

For those who have been following this blog, this happens to be the first anniversary, since the first post was about last year's Area 60 contest that had been held at Ramee Guestline hotel on a windy and rainy Saturday. This time it was at Saud Bahwan Regency hall, on a day that threatened rain, which did not finally happen. But it was a well-populated venue and we saw familiar faces again, our fellow contestants from the other 3 clubs - SBG, Muscat Airport and Sur.

As is usual for Area and Division contests, all 4 contests would happen one after the other - Evaluation, Humorous, Table topics and International. RTC was fielding candidates as follows:

• Evaluation - TMs Rajat and Panna
• Humorous - TMs Rajat and Venkat
• Table topics - TMs Rajat and Kaviya
• International - TMs Panna and Rajat

With TM Panna sounding like an off-key wind instrument, surviving on ginger, honey and warm water, it was a moot point whether she would be able to deliver her speech at all. But the God of the gab was at her side and she went through her presentations without mishap.

The model speaker's speech "Forever Indebted", a tribute to her teachers, was evaluated upon by the contestants. It was a good speech for evaluation, with many points both For and Against for the contestants to elaborate on. Contest chair was TM Balachandran from Sur club.

Humorous speech is a speech that is on a class of its own. It is not necessarily about acting funny, nor about funny situations, nor about being a series of jokes, but about there being unexpected humour in the lines themselves. Different contestants amused the audience in different ways. And the contest chair, our own TM Ramalingam, was better than many contestants.

We had a break for 15 minutes with snacks and reconvened for the other contests.

Table topic picked by the first contestant was "Courage is not an absence of fear." It was really interesting to find different speakers take varying slants at this topic, depending on their interpretation of courage and fear, and on whether another factor like knowledge plays a part. Contest chair was TM Rajkamal from SBG club.

The International contest is always the most looked forward to and always an epic battle. Themes varied from having a dream, to zooming out, to dealing with depression, to giving a gift. Emotional charges, logical explanations and an appeal for commitment were par for the course. Contest chair was TM Subratesh from SBG club.

The vote of thanks by the Area Director was a tense affair and then he announced the awards:

Evaluation:

1. TM Rajat (RTC)

2. TM Vignesh (SBG)

3. TM Panna (RTC)

Humorous:

1. TM Sujith (SBG)

2. TM Mawali (MAC)

3. TM Rajat (RTC)

Table topics:

1. TM Mathew (Sur)

2. TM Kaviya (RTC)

3. TM Rajat (RTC)

International:

1. TM Rajat (RTC)

2. TM Panna (RTC)

3. TM Mathew (Sur)

The 1st and 2nd winner from each category will represent Area 60 in the Division D contest on 22.4.17. Mind you, the contestants will need your faces in the front seats on that day. So do come.

As I said earlier, 7/12. More than half the Area awards. Not a minor matter really, but a BIG DEAL.

Next session will be business as usual on 1.4.17 at our usual venue.

70th session - International speech contest

The big day had arrived, that of the International speech contest. This contest is a step above Table topics, Evaluation and Humorous contests, because it seeks to inspire, and a speech, in order to be truly inspirational, has to be cooked expertly, with all ingredients in place. It needs a special effort and deeper understanding of what works.

There were 4 participants today. The minimum criterion of having completed the P-6 project speech excluded a number of enthusiastic candidates, so ultimately TM Venkat, TM Nagesh, TM Panna and TM Rajat had picked up the gauntlet.

TM Kumar, acting as MC today, related a story about perspective and paradigm change - how a boy was commenting about clouds and trees in a moving train, much to the irritation of co-passengers, till they learnt that the boy had recovered his eyesight only a day ago. I am sure this happens to us also, and our judgmental opinion about others undergo a tectonic shift.

Contest chair TM Chaitanya took over the stage with his usual sophistry. He related the rules like a party whip and his introductions were clear and unhurried. An impressive personality on the podium you are, TM.

First speaker TM Venkat launched his speech "The Power of One", speaking about the importance of being united and the strength that synergises through unity. A strong subject, TM Venkat.

TM Nagesh delivered the second speech "The R-square Syndrome", which was a commentary on the educational system. Again a thought=provoking subject, apt for international speech.

TM Panna told us "Don't Let the Cookie Crumble", describing the depression that a mother goes through when children leave home and how to deal with it. It was powerfully delivered and many of the audience could relate well.

TM Rajat talked about "The Art of Giving", why our efforts at giving gifts fail and what to take care of in the process. A nice theme with personal stories.

The judges were about to heave a sigh of relief when TM Kumar, who was back on stage, declared that the members were keen to have a round of table topics! The members almost fell off their chairs at the allegation levelled at them. Anyway, TM Mathen came on stage to conduct the session, with his usual gentleness, and handed out topics like softie ice creams.

With all tallying over, the winners were announced for the International Speech Contest:

• Winner:        TM Panna
• Runner-up:   TM Rajat

Since there were only 4 participants, only two awards were given out. The above two people will represent the club in the Area contest on 25th March.

Please come and CHEER!