90th session

True, attendance was lower than usual, but still we had a scintillating session. Two speeches, table topics and a cracking TMOD theme. What more can one ask for?

The session started bang on time at 3.15 pm. Today TM Mathen was playing the role of SAA and he flagged off with gusto.

As President Panna was playing TMOD today, the welcome address was delivered by TM Rajat. He spoke about the good experience of having seen the live streaming of the International Speech finals at Vancouver between 7.00-9.30 am, Muscat time. Ten world-class speakers one after another - what an experience! He also spoke about the concept of "ultra-learning" as shared by one speaker, where learning curves crash very sharply from years to months. He also exhorted the audience to always explore such new concepts and not ignore them thinking they were not for him or her.

TMOD Panna had selected "Dreams" as the theme for today, dreams in the sense of future goals as well as actual night dreams. Interestingly she introduced each role player by analysing the dreams they had shared, which exposed aspects of their character that even they were not aware of. Additionally, we came to know of larger than life characters like Henry Ford, who built empires on the sheer strength of their dreams. A very interesting session, TMOD.

Timekeeper role was played by TM Ramalingam, who, in the words of TMOD, effortlessly clubbed Timekeeper role with Jokemaster role. He explained all criteria simply and clearly.

Wordmaster MTM Kaviya introduced the word REVERIE to the members, meaning deep thought or day-dream. The effort at sentence-making put everyone into reveries.

There were two speeches slated today. The P-1 speech criteria were explained by evaluator MTM Swati.

P-1 speech was delivered by MTM Roman, titled "Who am I". It was a very fluent and mature speech in its presentation, covering various roles that she had played in her life and questioning in the end "Do these role define me? Who am I actually?" A confident speech TM Roan. Well done.

P-2 speech criteria, which requires speech organisation, was presented by evaluator TM Venkat.

P-2 speech was delivered by TM Sabu, entitled "Shimla adventure", describing his travails of travelling to Shimla on a winter holiday. We could indeed visualise the travel along with TM Sabu. He ended with some life lessons learnt from the travel, which nicely tied up the ending.

Table topics were conducted by TM Mathen and his choice of simple yet thoughtful topics based on dreams and their fulfilment was simply great. Everyone could present a point of view and for once there were people volunteering to speak. RTC has indeed come a long way.

MTM Swati evaluated the P-1 speech. While praising MTM Roman's confidence and eloquence, she suggested that the speaker could have included more details like her family and academics, which remained hazy. Well, we caught up with that part at tea-time!

TM Venkat evaluated the P-2 speech, appreciating the clear narrative of TM Sabu that took us on a trip as well. The speech was structured with a good opening and closing. However, he needs to work on stage movements and language.

TM Kamil played the role of Grammarian, pointing out subtle errors of language that need to be worked on. Thank you for the inputs, TM Kamil.

General Evaluator was played by TM Viswanath. He praised the performance of all the role players while suggesting that the players, especially evaluators, should utilise the full time allotted to them.

Business session was conducted by TM Mathen. There will be no session on 2nd Sep, being part of Eid holidays, so next session will be on 9th Sep. TMOD and speeches were blocked for that session.

The session was finally adjourned by TM Rajat, bang on time again.

The day's awards were:

• Best table topic:      TM Rajat
• Best evaluator:       TM Venkat
• Best speaker:         MTM Roman.

See you all again on 9th Sep 2017. Happy Eid holidays.

89th session

Division Director

Immediate Past Area Director

Current Area Director

Immediate Past President

Current President, of course ....

No, no, I am not describing the organisation structure of Toastmasters. Today we were privileged to welcome all these dignitaries, the doyens of RTC, who had severally and jointly handheld this club to its current level of excellence. A memorable session indeed.

The session was started off by SAA TM Ramalingam, helplessly late by 5 mins because tremendous preparations were being completed by the TMOD, who was putting up colourful fabric on the walls on the one hand and hooking up the laptop to the bluetooth speaker on the other. Everyone was quite agog.

The President had quietly given way to the Past President Aji Bhaskar for delivering the opening address. We were once again treated to the wide open arms, the sincere stentorian voice delivering an inspiring story about Usain Bolt, how he became a champion against the greatest odds. All of us are champions at heart, we just need to believe it. Thank you Aji for energising us once again.

TMOD Kaviya had picked a contemporary theme, demurely named "Home", that reminded us of India and the independence day celebrations conducted 4 days ago, by taking us through the journey of India's struggle for independence throughout her presentation. She also introduced each speaker by playing his or her favourite patriotic song and asking them about their memories of independence day. A great innovative effort MTM Kaviya.

Timekeeper TM Venkat described all timing rules clearly. We were surprised to know this was his first role play as timekeeper. We have suggested that he repeats it soon and frequently to keep up with the times.

Wordmaster MTM Roman (reappearing after a long gap) had chosen HUBRIS as the word of the day. Hubris, meaning pride, was a new word to most of us and the round robin was lively. Attendance was good, with 4 guests and many dignitaries, so there were many sentences, almost a paragraph.

Jokemaster TM Sabu entertained us well, with jokes borrowed from TM Mathen he said, though I am sure that it was a joke by itself.

There were three P-3 speeches scheduled today, a rich haul after a long time, and the criteria were well described by TM Kumar.

The first P-3 speech was delivered by TM Saleem titled "Health in the Head". He spoke about how health and diseases were misrepresented by the medical profession for commercial gain and how most of the health issues could be prevented by just maintaining a peaceful and stress free lifestyle. A good message TM Saleem and very relevant to all.

The second P-3 speech was delivered by TM Kamil titled "Opportunities Nowhere", where he spoke about the power of positive thinking and gave specific tips as to how to maintain a positive outlook. He delivered a clinching argument when it turned out that the title could also be seen as Opportunities Now Here. A great subject once again.

The third P-3 speech was delivered by TM Viswanath titled "Break the Chain". It was about corruption, specifically about the clerical level briberies that we all fall prey to in India in our anxiety to get our official work done quickly. TM Viswa exhorted us not to give in to this menace, bolstering our confidence with his own example where he could stand up against it and still get his work done. A good message.

Table topics were conducted by MTM Vaishali, who had brought various household items on which the speakers had to speak, depending on what they picked. It was a different type of round and the responses of the speakers were at various levels, which made it very interesting.

The three evaluators gave their feedback on the speeches. TM Kumar suggested that TM Saleem needed a little more clarity on the transitions of the speech and it would be a good idea to try it again, since the topic was good. TM Nagesh appreciated TM Kamil's choice of subject and clarity of delivery. MTM Panna also praised TM Viswa's speech content and delivery, suggesting however that he could have gotten to the point faster. Overall, good speeches all, kudos to all the speakers on the P-3, one the most tricky speeches to deliver.

Grammarian TM Rajat gave feedback on the usage of English - their good and bad usage in the session. He was in a humorous mood today, so none of the points really pricked anyone.

MTM Swati acted as the General Evaluator. She encouraged the session to start on time in future. The Timekeeper should be more alert. The Wordmaster should prepare the word stickers and bring them. There should be no cross-talk when the role plays are going on. All good points, MTM Swati, and we will keep them in mind.

MTM Kaviya stood in for VP-E in the Business session, where first TM Ramalingam was installed as the Treasurer by Area Director Babu Srinivasan. After that MTM Panna was conferred the CL certificate and the pin. Congratulations to both.

TM Aji gave the closing address and adjourned the session.

The group photograph may have looked like a flag as members had been asked to come dressed in saffron, white or green and had been seated in that order for the snap. A good idea indeed.

The day's awards were:

• Best Table speaker:       DTM Ramki
• Best Evaluator:             MTM Panna
• Best Speaker:                TM Viswanath

See you all once again on 26th August.

88th session - Installation

This session stood out because of two exemplary events.

One, VP-E stepped up with a speech because no speeches could be served up today through normal planning. A good example for senior members and office bearers who should be leading with such readiness.

Two, the new Ex-com members were "installed" or declared as having taken over their new duties.

What happened otherwise?

Well, SAA Venkat kicked off the session just one minute late, and with no jokes at all, much to our chagrin.

President Panna told the story of a sculptor who insisted on perfection in his own work. We  should all be like that and strive for perfection by continuously improving ourselves.

TMOD Nagesh had taken up "Journey" as his theme. As he explained, a journey involves experiences and learning, unlike a simple trip. He had visited Mansarobar and Kailash along with his family and he took us all on the trip with him, interspersed with life lessons that came to him as they toiled through the demanding trek and inhospitable surroundings. In a beautiful example he explained how they were forced to reduce their baggage - from 30 kg to 20 kg to 10 kg to 3 kg as they changed their means of transportation, ending with human legs alone. "Ultimately", he said "It was just the oxygen and us. Nothing else mattered." Could we shed our unnecessary baggage consciously in our life? We would benefit for sure. Thank you TMOD for a wonderful journey.

Timekeeper TM Sabu, explained all timing criteria efficiently.

MTM Vaishali introduced the word EMBELLISH to the group. The round robin went well as the meaning of the word was clear and it could be applied in a variety of situations. 

Jokemaster TM Kumar told two jokes. The first about life lesson about a man lost at sea. The second was a wife lesson about selling paintings. Those who were absent today can contact TM Kumar for full details.

There was a P-5 speech to be delivered today and TM Rajat described the criteria for this project: The Body Speaks.

P-5 speech "Spicy cucumber" was delivered by TM Mathen. His theme of Temptation, supported by a long personal experience of ingesting too much spicy cucumber on a train, was one to which all of us could relate. He made us literally drool as he acted out the boy preparing the spicy cucumber and we shook our heads in warning as he ordered a second round, with disastrous consequences, of course.

Table Topics was this time replaced by a Round Robin, an innovation by MTM Kaviya where a story initiated by MTM Panna had to be continued by the different speakers, each taking off from where the previous speaker left off the narrative. Time was just one minute but the speakers' imaginations were stretched to the limit in order to keep the ball rolling. An interesting change, MTM Kaviya. Congratulations.

P-5 evaluation was given by TM Rajat, appreciating the effort made by TM Mathen to make his body speak. What was particularly laudable was how a simple idea and a single experience was converted into a full-fledged project speech - a lesson for all of us who struggle to write project speeches.

Harkmaster TM Kamil asked some difficult questions, but the audience was up to it and kept hitting sixers.

Grammarian TM Chaitanya came up with some valid grammatical corrections, which we will try to remember and implement.

General Evaluator TM Saleem gave his feedback on the session. He suggested that we increase the decibel levels of our clapping in order to encourage the role players. He gave a few other small suggestions for improvement and praised the general conduct of the meeting.

The new set of Club Officers were "installed" by Area Director Babu Srinivasan. This involved first un-installing the earlier officers, then pinning the badges onto the new officers. Their respective roles were also read out, which they promised to execute to the best of their ability.

1. President - MTM Panna Rashmi Ray
2. VP-Education - TM Mathen KM
3. VP-Membership - TM Chaitanya Khimji
4. VP-Public relations - TM Rajat Ray
5. Secretary - TM Sri Nagesh
6. Treasurer - TM Ramalingam
7. Sargeant-at-arms - TM Raja Subramanian

VP-E conducted the Business session, booking 3 speeches for the next session, following the long-term calendar circulated by him earlier. Good job, VP-E.

The session was declared closed by President Panna after she shared her dream of the club excelling in all spheres in the coming year, for which we shall have to all work hard.

The day's awards were:

• Best Round Robin:      MTM Rita
• Best Evaluator:             TM Rajat (default)
• Best Speaker:                TM Mathen (default)

See you all on 19th August 2017.

87th session

It is August and the summer heat is relentless in Muscat. In Siberia, animals hibernate in winter. In Muscat, Toastmasters hibernate in summer. The school holidays are over, all are back in town, yet the attendance is slow to pick up. Come on TMs, wake up and turn up the heat in the hall as well!

SAA TM Raja started off the session 2 minutes late, a fact that was glossed over by GE in his comments since we were all waiting for him! 

President MTM Panna opened the session with a story from her teaching life, where she described how a small boy in her nursery could not stand loud human voices. Apparently he was not used to it since with both parents working, he was left alone more with TV and tablets. A sad state of affairs for a child, if not for us as well, as MTM Panna said, since we also do not make deliberate efforts to stay away from electronic media.

TMOD Ramalingam had chosen as his theme "Rhetorical devices". We did not know what we were letting ourselves in for, because what is usually taught in a full semester in a MA English was packaged by TM Ram into his TMOD session. A stupendous effort by him and very educative for us. We have asked him for the hard copy of his presentation.

Timekeeper MTM Vaishali explained the timing criteria very efficiently.

Wordmaster TM Mathen had chosen as word of the day AMELIORATE. This was a tongue-twister and  the round robin session was like a man throwing darts in a bar after four stiff pegs - some hits, some misses.

Jokemaster TM Venkat belted out a few funny ones. The best thing about TM Venkat is that he always laughs when relating his jokes. But the GE said that this spoils the punch, so TM Venkat has to now practice delivery with a straight face.

There was a P-5 speech scheduled today where the speaker's body also speaks. The criteria were very well explained by TM Chaitanya, the evaluator.

The P-5 speech was delivered by MTM Kaviya titled "Once upon a time". It was a heart-warming theme that talked about the storytellers in her life and the difference in her outlook and value system the stories had made. She exhorted each one of us to be a model storyteller for our children as well. A good speech, interspersed with body language as required by the project. Kudos!

Table topics were conducted by TM Raja. He introduced an innovation of choosing the speaker through a lottery, reducing his responsibility in dragging speakers to the stage. Thankfully, his topics were very soft ones and easy to speak on - not on relationships with wives and bosses, which is his specialty.

At the time of voting, TM Viswa suggested that the voting slips be incorporated in the agenda sheet as tear-off strips. A great idea that will probably be implemented soon.

TM Chaitanya evaluated the P-5 speech. While applauding the subject matter and the body movements, he pointed out that transitions needed a little more work. Surely, MTM Kaviya will remember, although the feedback was not in the form of a story!

Harkmaster role was played jointly by TM Saleem and TM Kumar (since TM Kumar had arrived slightly late). A competition was held between the first 2 rows of the audience and the rest - not sure who won.

Grammarian TM Rajat gave feedback on the usage of the language. Apart from a few specific feedback on the words and phrases used by speakers, he had two suggestions. To deal with an "Ah" rising in the throat, one has to deliberately keep quiet till the right word comes to mind, without worrying about the impatience of the audience. Secondly, fragmented sentences happen when our speech is trying to keep pace with our thought and we have to deliberately slow down and consciously complete sentences.

General Evaluator TM Nagesh gave serious detailed feedback, in spite of his twinkling eyes. A major point he suggested was that the speaker tests out the mike before starting to speak. 

TM Mathen conducted the business session as VP-E and locked up next week's speaker and TMOD. Good hunting, VP-E.

President MTM Panna announced the awards and declared the session closed. Tea and snacks were served, the latter having changed form from the perennial vadas and samosas to digestive biscuits and wafers - a healthier alternative. Hope our paunches change to punches soon.

The day's winners were:

• Best table speaker:     TM Vignesh
• Best evaluator:           TM Chaitanya
• Best speaker:             MTM Kaviya

See you all on 12th August, in force.