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.