Session 151

This was a slim and stylish session, this session 151.

The session was kicked off before time by TM Raja, who was standing in for TM Viswa, with a lot of energy.

TM Chaitanya delivered the welcome address, relating the story of Tanaji, the military chief under Shivaji, who completed the commitment of conquering a fort against heavy odds because he had committed to his king and to his mother that he would do so. Therefore, members, do take inspiration from this and carry out a speech or a role once you have committed to it.

TMOD Swati, resplendent in red, soon put of a red cap to complete her enactment of Secret Santa, who came bearing gifts for everybody. Her theme “Surprise” was also a surprise. She introduced all role players conveying their answers to what was their biggest surprise and which surprise in their life turned into a shock. We were also treated to a host of revelation.

Timer TM Sumesh explained the timing criteria very efficiently for all the roles.

Wordmaster MTM Sandhya introduced the word CRISP to the audience, very relevant in the Toastmaster milieu, where our communications are expected to be succinct.

Jokemaster TM Bhaskaran related some real life funny situations from his childhood student days, which was a change from the litany of internet jokes.

There was an ACB level speech scheduled today: Interpretive reading of Poetry. MTM Vidya Rani from SAB Toastmasters Club described the criteria of this project, wherein the speaker was supposed to understand and analyse a poem and then read out the same in order to communicate effectively the poet’s thoughts and emotions.

TM Rajat delivered this project speech, by reading a poem titled “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noys, a romantic ballad. Being a narrative, it was an interesting story of love, adventure and betrayal, set in pleasing rhyme and rhythm.

Table topics were conducted by MTM Vaishali, who provided topics based on the theme of surprise.

Evaluator MTM Vidya Rani gave her feedback on the project speech, applauding the choice of poem, effective reading of the descriptions and conveying the free flow of narrative. She suggested enhancement of the drama further through vocal variety, given the scope of the poem.

Grammarian MTM Panna gave detailed feedback of word-of-the-day usage. Ah-counts, good and bad usage of English.

GE MTM Rita diligently gave crisp feedback on all role-players. She had the following suggestions:

•             Timer – To hold up card in addition to the lights, to aid visibility.
•              Jokemaster – To give a pause between the funny stories.
•       Table topics – To read out the topics himself/herself. Also, to put the pull-out slips in an envelope for easy handling.

TM Chaitanya conducted the business session, volunteering to be the next TMOD.

President Rajat wrapped up the session with the following announcements:

• With the last COT2, the club now had 7 points and has become a Select Distinguished Club.
• As Ruwi Club had sponsored a new club (Assyad), we have received a Founder’s Award ribbon, which went up on the banner.
• TMs Saleem, Bhaskaran and Sethuraman had been part of a cricket team (Manager was TM Raja) that had taken part in a cricket tournament last Friday and reached the Semifinals. TM Saleem showed a small video clip of the same while AD Murthy presented TM Raja with a small gift.

The day’s awards were as follows: 

• Best Speaker:             TM Rajat {default)
• Best Evaluator:           None (only evaluator disqualified on time)
• Best Table topic:        TM Yashpal and Guest Daya
• Best Role player:        MTM Panna (Grammarian)

See you all next session on 29.12.18.

Session 150

150.

100+50

15x10

Whichever way you look at it - an impressive number. It seemed only yesterday that we were celebrating our 100^th session at Mumtaz Mahal. Although we did not conduct festivities today, saving it for a later session when attendance was expected to be better, it was a joyous occasion nonetheless, celebrated by a marathon session of 4 speeches.

The session was kicked off on the dot by the SAA TM Viswanath, who stole the Wordmaster’s thunder by introducing the word "sesquicentennial", which means 150^th.

President TM Rajat related a story about a thirsty man who found a dry pump and a bottle of water and had the choice of drinking up the water or priming the pump, using it and leaving the bottle full of water again for the next traveller. Choices face us all the time and we make a right choice when that choice gives long term benefits for a greater number of people.

TMOD Venkat, the ever energetic and enthusiastic TM, took up the theme of “Comfort Zone”, giving us tips on getting out of it and introducing role players by asking them their take on handling comfort zones. A very well-run session, with energy and humour maintained throughout.

Timer role was played by MTM Shobha, who explained the criteria. Nowadays we have started using the Airtimer brought by DTM Varma from the US. Becoming quite tech savvy, we are.

Wordmaster TM Shanavas introduced the word EBULLIENT to the audience, who enjoyed using the word in the round robin, happily.

Jokemaster MTM Vaishali related a few excellent jokes, some of which we had not heard earlier at all.

That brought us to the beginning of the speech marathon. Evaluator TM Viswa first related the criteria of a Level 1 Project 2 speech for the first two speeches.

TM Sethuraman delivered the first speech titled “The Institution”, describing the broad functions of the leading financial institute in India, the RBI. It was extremely interesting and he threw in a question-and-answer session as well. Trust TM Sethuraman to do something different and free-flowing.

TM Sumesh delivered his speech titled “Jayanti-Janta Express”, describing a difficult train journey he undertook when he was 19, delivered in an endearing and humorous manner. You touched our hearts TM Sumesh.

TM Kumar, who was about to evaluate the next speech, a P4 from the old manual, described the criteria. Meant to showcase expressive language, we were all agog to hear some exquisite descriptive prose.

Nor were we disappointed. MTM Usha, the speaker, described to us “The Break” that she had undertaken, a picnic to a wadi in a group that provided ample opportunity for her to bring alive the scenery and sensual feels of nature and the barbecue. She played the scope to the hilt and the descriptions were a treat to hear.

TM Ramalingam, about to evaluate a P6 speech from the old manual, told us that the speech was about showcasing vocal variety and the speaker will probably choose a subject that helped him do that.

TM Raja, the singer, made full use of his opportunity. With the backdrop of Pattaya and Phuket, he enacted the hilarious scenes reproducing the thin voices of the Thai people as well as the anxious chatter of people about to miss a flight. His title was mysterious : “A=C+B”. I learnt later that it meant Achieving = Conceiving + Believing, which he did not get time to explain during the speech; so that’s my twopence added.

Just as we were about to draw breath after that large variety, in we went into Table Topics conducted by MTM Niral in her own style of picking up cards while flipping through a book. Three speakers attempted her topics, none of which were un-speakable, and the audience enjoyed 10 minutes of intellectual talk.

Evaluators gave their feedback to the four speakers, praising their efforts and suggesting points of improvement.

Grammarian MTM Swati gave very extensive feedback (4 pages of them) that were seriously noted by all. A sweet school-marm indeed.

TM Saleem as GE gave a glowing feedback on the session, only suggesting that long sessions like this can incorporate the break in between; otherwise people start popping out to visit the washroom, disturbing the proceedings. A good point indeed GE.

President Rajat, before giving his closing address, conducted the Business session too for the next session (TM Sethu as TMOD with speeches expected from MTM Swati, TM Lawrence and TM Viswa). He then declared the awards for the day:

·       Best Speaker:          TM Raja

·       Best Evaluator:       TM Kumar

·       Best Table topic:    TM Lawrence

·       Best Role player:    TM Swati (Grammarian)

See you all on 22.12.18. And do start preparing for the contests in Jan.

Session 147

This was one of those sessions where you leave the venue with a definite feel good factor.

Why?

Not because it was a full house. Of the 33 members, only 14 attended, which made the role-players feel they were performing in front of a mirror. Really guys, please make an effort to attend the sessions. The players would appreciate a bigger audience, and there will be a larger variety of people taking up roles. Someone will give you a call, as Godfather Don Corleoni used to say.

It was a joyous session because it was National Day tomorrow. It was enjoyable because there was a Talent Show. It was memorable because we listened to a great speech.

The SAA kicked off the session in time on a celebratory note, this being the 147th session for the club and the 48th year for the nation. Welcome back TM Viswa, after a gap.

President TM Rajat delivered a king's speech rather than a presidential speech, reading out the speech given by HM on 23rd July 1970, when he assumed power. Could there be a more suitable inspiring speech like today?

TMOD MTM Kiran had chosen as theme "Poetry", a subject obviously close to her heart as she took us through various samples of English and Urdu poetry penned by various famous poets. She also introduced role-players describing their favourite poets and, on occasion, asking them to recite a small portion of his poems. A great effort TMOD and we glimpsed a vista of world poetry through the ages.

Timer TM Muthu introduced timing criteria, throwing in a comparison of the R-Y-G norms used in manufacturing, A bit of interesting titbit that one.

Wordmaster TM Anil introduced the word DAUNTLESS to us, which the audience attacked fearlessly in the round robin. Unfortunately no one used it subsequently. Might be a good idea to improve visibility of the word somehow. Any ideas?

Jokemaster MTM Amaravani related jokes that were quite fresh and amusing.

Evaluation criteria for today's only speech, based on Effective Body Language,  was laid out by TM Rajat.

MTM Panna delivered her second project speech in Level 2 from her path Presentation Mastery, titled "Breaking Free", talking about the various circumstances that blocked her growth and freedom in her life and how she went about unblocking them. An inspiring speech with her own life as an example.

Table topics were conducted by TM Viswa, who gave topics of general interest that the speakers could do justice to.

There was an impromptu Talent Show, an open stage event, where TM Raja happily rendered a soulful Hindi song. On popular demand, TM Kumar sang a well-known Tamil oldie. Then Raja was again back on stage to the tune of Bade achchhe lagte hain.

Evaluation on the speech was conducted by TM Rajat, who, while appreciating speech structure, personal stories and body language, suggested simplifying the theme of the speech, restricting scope of example to personal life alone and enhancing dramatic possibilities further.

Grammarian TM Chaitanya gave a feedback on the good and bad usages of English during the session. His meticulousness and ear for detail is admirable.

GE TM Kumar gave an overall feedback on the session, praising in particular the TMOD's script and President's address. Among areas of improvement, he mentioned the following:

1. Timer can take a little more time to describe the criteria, for clarity
2. Jokemaster can improve eye contact, covering all parts of audience
3. Table topic master can mention the title twice - once for the speaker and once for the audience

TM Chaitanya conducted the Business session. There would be no session of 24th, being part of the National Day Holidays. On 1st Dec, we shall be having the Tall Tale Contest. Speeches lined up for 8th Dec were from MTM Kiran, MTM Sandhya, MTM Usha and TM Sumesh. TMOD would be TM Raja. Good going VP-E.

President TM Rajat gave his closing address and announced the following awards, before adjourning the meeting.

• Best Speaker:            MTM Panna (default)
• Best Evaluator:         TM Rajat (default)
• Best Table topic:       TM Raja
• Best Role Player:      MTM Amaravani (Jokemaster)

See you at the Tall Tales Contest on 1st Dec 2018.

Session 146

Our hall looked so colourful with members dressed up in ethnic wear. This was Diwali season after all.

Stand-in SAA TM Chaitanya flagged off the session at 3.15 pm on the dot.

President TM Rajat welcomed all to this Diwali session, a season of new beginnings. When we do not renew ourselves we die little by little. He read out a poem by Pablo Neruda that ended with the exhortation that we should, at least once a year, run from sensible advice. So let us do that this year, shall we?

Today's TMOD was a young member TM Lawrence who took up the gauntlet and set a theme of "Enlighten", quite a double-meaning since it is the festival of lights. He introduced each role player mentioning what learning enlightened him or her in that person's life. A great job TM Lawrence; you really managed time well.

Wordmaster MTM Kiran introduced the word TREPIDATION to the audience. It was a familiar word to most and the situations described in the round robin displayed a lot of variety.

Jokemaster MTM Niral, taking up this role for the second time, did good justice and the audience responded with mirthfulness.

There were three speeches scheduled today - two Icebreaker speeches and one HPL report speech.

MTM Sandhya described the evaluation criteria for the Icebreaker to be delivered by TM Yashpal.

TM Yashpal delivered a smooth and confident account of his life, mysteriously titled "P.S.F.", viz his growing up years and his life in Muscat, ending with musings on what he wanted to be remembered as, which was finally summarised as PSF - Plain Simple Folk. A good speech to listen to TM Yashpal.

MTM Swati delivered the evaluation criteria for the next Icebreaker speech (actually the earlier description of criteria would have worked for this speech as well).

TM Venkat, who has already completed his CC, was starting on Pathways with his Icebreaker speech titled "Second Innings". He took us through his years in his usual humorous manner that had us laughing with him at the vagaries of his life.

TM Chaitanya described the evaluation criteria for the HPL project final speech, wherein the speaker is supposed to share his or her experience of working on the project and the learnings gleaned therefrom.

MTM Panna delivered her speech titled "Talk the Walk", where she related her experience of having worked on organising a Skit Competition for Division D, a competition quite different from those held earlier. The intense planning, the directions from the Guidance Committee, the assistance from the Task Force in implementation, the learnings absorbed in the course of the project, all contributed to a successful project execution and enhancement of the traits of leadership. Good show MTM Panna!

Table topics were taken up by TM Shahnavas, who presented head-scratching topics to the members, some of which were attacked well by the members and some of which forced them to retreat. All in all a fair battle, I guess.

All three evaluators gave their respective feedbacks to the three speakers, with due praise to their accomplishments and suggestions for their areas of improvement.

TM Rajat acted as Ah-counter and Grammarian, giving feedback on Word-of-the-day usage, Ah usage, good usage of language and not-so-good usage of language.

We were given a treat by the General Evaluation conducted by TM G Kumar. Criticism with warmth is his specialisation and he did not disappoint. Among his suggestions were -

1. Have a fixed backup SAA
2. Memorise jokes for better delivery
3. TT master should repeat the timing criteria
4. TT topics can be such that speakers can take a For or Against stand
5. TMOD can relax and deliver - no rush
6. Evaluators need not repeat the speech - dissect the speech

TM Chaitanya conducted the Business Session, fixing up MTM Kiran as TMOD. Speakers to confirm. Members please give your nominations for Tall Tales Contest to be held on 24.11.18.

President Rajat ended the session by welcoming the late guest and presenting the Guest Welcome Kit. He also declared the awards for the day:

• Best Speaker:           MTM Panna
• Best Evaluator:        TM Chaitanya
• Best Table topic:      MTM Amaravani
• Best Role player:     MTM Niral (Jokemaster)

The session ended with a group photo, tea, snacks and LOTS of sweets and chocolates.

See you all on 17.11.18.

Session 145

An unusual session today, because we had 3 speeches that were on three totally different planes of existence. Well more about that later.

The session was clocked off at 3.17 pm by TM Shanavas after a major furniture rearrangement in the hall of Abeer Hospital, who were, till then, holding another big meeting in the same hall. 

Acting President TM Chaitanya related a story of a young boy with his hand stuck in a jar because he had closed his fist around a coin in the jar and could not extract his hand through the narrow neck after that. Do we miss big prizes in life because we close our fist on smaller gains? That's the question.

TMOD Rita had chosen as her theme "Coffee". She educated us on coffee throughout the session and interwove her presentation with introduction to the role-players with admirable skill. Good job there TMOD.

Timer TM Bhaskar described all the speech criteria with his usual gentle insistence.

Wordmaster TM Lawrence had taken up a role right off the bat, introducing the word PERCEPTION to the session. An easy word, presented on powerpoint with images (wow), it was enjoyed by all as the round robin required everybody to make sentences with the word.

Jokemaster MTM Swati related a few coffee related jokes before she changed beverage to petrol. She was on liquid fire today.

There were three speeches scheduled today, interestingly from three different project manuals - one from Pathways, one from Advanced Communicator Bronze and one from Advanced Communicator Silver. A treat indeed for the club.

TM Saleem, the first evaluator, described his expectations from the Pathways Icebreaker speech that we were about to hear.

MTM Vaishali delivered her Icebreaker speech (her second time around) titled "Go with the flow". We once again listened to her history but with one big difference - the confidence in her delivery.

Evaluator MTM Panna described her expectations for the ACB project Read a Story that was about to be delivered, where the speaker would be reading out a story or part of a story to the audience, making the characters and story come alive.

TM Rajat read out a story titled "Mammon and the Archer" by American author O'Henry, about the conflict of money with love and the relative importance of these in the life of the hero Richard Rockwall.

DTM Rajendra Varma, the thrid evaluator, described the criteria for the TV editorial in the style of a Straight Talk that was about to be delivered.

TM Kumar, sitting at a studio table and chair, flagged off to the studio count of 3-2-1-ON, with his program titled "Care and Carry", where he took up the issue of littering of the beautiful places in Oman, with an appeal to all of us to take away the litter that we ourselves produce at picnic spots.

Three different speeches, or rather, productions, elevated this particular session to another level altogether, where the members got a glimpse of the variety that TMI can bring to our sessions through their various advanced manuals.

Table Topics were conducted by MTM Kiran, who gave situations to the speakers rather than topics, with which the five speakers played around, bringing their own life experiences into the subjects in question.

Evaluation feed back was given by the three evaluators, TM Saleem praised the confidence of MTM Vaishali, while encouraging her to improve eye contact. MTM Panna praised the story narration of TM Rajat, while requesting him to raise the bar of drama in hia speech. DTM Varma praised the facial appeal of TM Kumar while advising him to expand more on the theme (and be more formally dressed as a news channel anchor!).

Ah Counter and Grammarian MTM Shobha, who declared that she had a hard time staying awake after a heavy Diwali lunch, nevertheless delivered a gentle and succinct report on the usage of the English language, as expected from the Grammarian.

GE role was played by TM Venkat, who suggested that Jokemaster memorise the jokes instead of reading, and that the Table Topics be more succinct.

Business session followed, conducted by the VP-E TM Chaitanya.  For the following session on 10th Nov, TMOD was finalised as TM Lawrence, with speeches from TM Saleem and MTM Panna. Tall Tales contest was rescheduled for 17th Nov and is hoped to be a resounding success.

President TM Rajat wound up the session after announcing the awards:

• Best Speaker:       MTM Vaishali
• Best Evaluator:     DTM Varma
• Best Table topic:   Mrs Laxmi (guest)
• Best Role player:  TM Lawrence (Wordmaster)

See you all on 10th Nov, same place, same time.

Session 144

144.

A mathematician would have been happy with that number, being a perfect square. But being a casual weekend club, we are definitely not squares, right?

The session was kicked off 1 minute before time by our acting SAA TM Chaitanya.

President TM Rajat this time spoke of inspirations available in our daily events, in yesterday's Skit Competition, for example. MTM Panna's hard work had been inspirational, as had been Ruwi club's dedication and commitment to rehearsing repeatedly till they got their act just right. Ultimately, the team had won third place while TM G Kumar had been awarded best actor. Kudos to Kumar.

TMOD role was played by TM Ramalingam, who had taken up as subject "Public Relations", taking us through the principles of brand management in the eyes of TMI as well as the aspects TMI expects every PR officer to maintain. It was an exhaustive exposition and well worth going through at leisure later on.

Timer role was played by MTM Rita, who explained the timing rules correctly to the audience.

Wordmaster TM Sumesh introduces the word ABUNDANT to the audience. Being a word easily understood the audience did fair justice to the round robin, including the sentence "The word abundant was abundantly used in the round robin." Nice.

Jokemaster TM Mehta delivered some very funny jokes based on obesity. I personally think theme-based jokes are a good idea. They are easier to compile and they keep the audience tuned to a particular frequency.

There were two speeches scheduled. Evaluation criteria for the first speech, which was a Pathways Icebreaker speech, was described by the evaluator TM Saleem.

TM Shanavas delivered his Icebreaker speech titled "Humiliation Acted as Motivation", taking us through his early years and career and talking about his future plans. Splashes of humour livened up his speech. Good job there TM Shanavas.

The second scheduled speech was a P-10 as per CC manual and the evaluation criteria of this inspirational speech were described by MTM Panna.

P-10 speech titled "Triumph over Adversity" was delivered by TM Pradeep Poojary from Oman Cables Club. Delivered with good body language and personal examples of overcoming adversity, the speech was received well. He also received a standing ovation at having completed his CC manual.

Table topics were handled today by MTM Vaishali, who produced pithy short sayings today, that were ideal for TT. The speakers also did fair justice to them. Nice topics, MTM Vaishali.

Evaluation for the Icebreaker speech was delivered by TM Saleem, who praised the speaker's topic coverage and delivery.

Evaluation of the P-10 speech was delivered by MTM Panna. While praising the speech's title, use of props and personal stories, she suggested a more powerful ending and the use of more pauses to punctuate his paragraphs. 

Ah Counter and Grammarian feedback was given by TM Rajat, who pointed out the number of filler words used by each speaker as well as their good use of the word ABUNDANT by the role-players, which actually was not abundant. He also pointed out wrong usages of English, as well as good usage and nice turns of phrase.

GE MTM Niral gave a short and positive role evaluation while pointing out that the sound system malfunction needs to be taken care before the start of session and the TMOD's role introductions needed to be more personalised.

In the Business Session, TM Chaitanya tentatively signed on MTM Rita as TMOD for the next session, with speeches from MTM Vaishali, MTM Panna and TM Kumar.

President closed the session with the announcing of awards.

• Best Speaker:        TM Shanavas
• Best Evaluator:     MTM Panna
• Best Table topic:   TM Venkat
• Best Role player:   TM Mehta (Jokemaster)

See you all again on 3.11.18.

Session 143

Good news for the day...

We added two more members to our club - TM Srinivas and TM Lawrence. Welcome. May all your goals be fulfilled.

SAA MTM Rita (stand-in for Viswa) kicked off the session on the dot at 3.15 pm.

TM Chaitanya gave the welcome address, relating the story of a lady who embarked on a share-maximization drive on a box of cookies against a stranger, thinking that it was her box whereas actually it was the stranger's. Think before you jump to conclusions is the takeaway message. Good story, acting President.

TMOD role was played by TM Rajat, who had chosen the theme of "Habits". He introduced every role-player, asking them what habit they wanted to stop, to start and to continue, which made for lively interviews.

Timer role was played by TM Shanavas, who explained the time criteria to all.

TM Muthu was the Wordmaster, introducing the word IMPECCABLE to the audience. Round robin was an easy challenge as the audience had had two days to prepare a sentence. A friendly word, easily applied in a variety of situations.

MTM Rita embarked again as Jokemaster, regaling us with a series of amusing situations.

MTM Swati who was the evaluator for the upcoming Icebreaker speech, explained her expectations to the audience.

TM Sumesh delivered his Icebreaker speech titled "Ëxplore, Dream, Discover", following the Pathways manual. He talked about his growing up through childhood and adult life, his challenges and victories. He talked about his hobbies and dreams, ending with a quote from Marco Polo. A lovely speech TM Sumesh, and may you go from strength to strength.

Table topics were conducted by TM Chaitanya, who gave topics related to the theme, as if the speakers were trying to deal with a habit. An imaginative approach, which made for interesting speeches.

MTM Swati gave a feedback on TM Sumesh's speech, praising his ease on stage and sharing of life details, while suggesting that he could have related small personal stories as well and used the stage a little more.

For the first time in the club, we attempted a feedback session for the Table Topic speakers. Veteran TM G Kumar had been roped in for the purpose and he gave tips on how to make TT more memorable. He also gave individual feedback to the speakers on their efforts. Good job TM Kumar.

Grammarian MTM Panna gave a knowledge-rich feedback on Ah-counts as well as the usage of English - both good and bad.

TM Chaitanya conducted the Business Session, tying up the main roles for the next session - TM Ram as TMOD and TM Shanavas as speaker. We hope to get another speaker too.

We had as guest a leadership coach and motivational speaker Mr Hiten Bhatt, CEO of BE GREAT training centre based in the UK. He is in Muscat to promote a couple of training programs. It was interesting listening to him, since he was a very good speaker as well.

President TM Rajat closed the session with the announcement of awards.

• Best Speaker:          TM Sumesh (default)
• Best Evaluator:        MTM Swati (default)
• Best Table Topic:     MTM Amarvani (guest)
• Best Supporting:      MTM Panna

Next session is on 27th Oct, Abeer.

Session 142

A great session once again, guys. Attendance was slightly on the lower side as the seasonal celebrations enticed the members to stay at home and prepare food. Really, those who are missing out...are missing out. Period.

SAA Viswanath started the session with a beautiful quote on challenges AND he started bang on time. That itself is often a challenge.

President Rajat, as usual, told a joke and continued with the homily that leaders, like car drivers, cannot afford to sleep

TMOD Panna had planned her session with the theme "Challenges". To her, every challenge is an opportunity. She introduced all role players by relating their answers to questioned she had posed, related to challenges in their roles. A good way to go about the business of TMOD-ing.

Timer TM Saleem, visiting after a long time, laid down the timing rules with panache.

Wordmaster TM Mehta, taking up a role for the first time, introduced the word BONANZA to the audience. Since the word had been published two days earlier, people came up with good usage during the round robin.

Jokemaster MTM Sandhya, also taking up a role for the first time, related some really freshly caught saltwater jokes, that had the audience in delighted laughter.

Evaluator TM Viswanath laid down the criteria for the upcoming Icebreaker speech.

TM Sethuraman delivered his Pathways Icebreaker titled "Myself - VSN". In a free-flowing and humorous speech, VSN took us through a quick bio and ended with the interests in his life. Could you imagine he had taken dance lessons from Shamak Davar? We are impressed VSN.

Evaluator TM Kumar described the criteria for the upcoming Level 1 speech on Research and Planning, which is supposed to be a speech that had been researched on a topic unfamiliar to the speaker.

TM Rajat delivered his Pathways Level 1 Research-based speech titled "Black". Talking about blindness, their types, their extent and their cures, he enlightened the audience on a subject not often talked about.

Table topics were conducted by MTM Usha, who we were happy to see after a gap. The topics related to the theme and brought out both brain and heart in the speakers. A good round of speeches indeed.

TM Viswa delivered his evaluation of TM Sethuraman's Icebreaker speech, praising in particular his ease on stage, something we had all seen in all the roles that he had played.

TM Kumar evaluated the speech of TM Rajat, appreciating in particular his smooth integration of powerpoint with his words. 

General Evaluator TM Bhaskar gave glowing feedback on all the role-players. However, to add on to his comments, it is suggested that the table topic master not hand over the written topic to the speaker, to improve his or her listening skills.

Business session was conducted by MTM Panna on behalf of VP-E and we noted the following plans for 20th Oct - TMOD by TM Viswa, Icebreaker speeches by TMs Shanavas and Sumesh. Mentors, do take note of this and help the speakers prepare.

President delivered the closing address. New member participation had been particularly good this session and that is always energising.

The following were the awards for the day.

• Best speaker:     TM Rajat/Sethuraman (joint)
• Best evaluator:   TM Kumar
• Best table topic:  TM Sumesh
• Best role player:  MTM Sandhya (Jokemaster)

See you all again on 20th October 2018.

Session 141

Today was a lovely day.

Any Saturday is a lovely day because a Toastmasters session happens that day. But today was lovelier than usual. If for nothing else but for the fact that we had 4 guests and they said they had enjoyed their time in the club.

SAA TM Venkat, who had suddenly been conscripted, kicked off the session 2 minutes BEFORE time.

President TM Rajat welcomed all guests and related a story of a battleship captain in a stand-off with another ship in a fog, till he realised that the other ship was actually a lighthouse. So are we lighthouses, fixed on our principles and standing firm on a bedrock of values, or are we battleships, proud of our abilities but with enough sense to change course when we meet an immovable object? We need to be a bit of both, right?

TMOD Niral, playing the role for the first time, had chosen as her theme "Human Revolution". She started the session with a nice audience interaction about our wish for changing a particular aspect in our lives. She expanded on the topic with stories, poems and quotations and introduced every role player with their background and some interesting tit-bits of their lives. Overall an enjoyable and tightly run session from this debutante.

Timer role was played by MTM Kiran who introduced the time parameters for the various speeches.

Wordmaster role was played by MTM Usha who introduced the word RESILIENT to the group. This was an interesting word and the round robin produced some good sentences.

Jokemaster TM Muthu also played his first role today and had all of us in splits with his fresh from the oven jokes. Good job TM Muthu.

TM Bhaskar laid down the evaluation criteria for a Pathways Level 1 Project 2 Speech 1 to be delivered next.

TM Viswa delivered his speech on the theme of corruption, titled "Break the Chain". Having been at the receiving end, he inspired the audience to stand up to corruption and stare it down. Good speech TM.

TM Rajat described the criteria of a Pathways Level 2 Project 1 speech on Understanding Communication Styles. to be delivered next.

MTM Panna delivered the speech titled "Talk, talk, talk & talk"as part of her Path on Presentation Mastery. She identified her style as initiating and described various situations in life where it had stood her in good stead. However, she ended with an apt advice to all to "Stop, think, analyse and then communicate."

Table topics were conducted by MTM Swati, who used the pack of topics gifted by DTM Robin Anand after he returned from the TMI convention in the US. The topics were slightly anglicised, but our speaker made strong attempts to wade through foreign waters. A good round.

Evaluation on TM Viswa's speech was delivered by TM Bhaskar. While appreciating the speaker's choice of subject, he suggested a few specific improvements.

Evaluation of MTM Panna's speech was delivered by TM Rajat. Project requirements had been met adequately. Additionally, he appreciated the speech's opening and ending message and her use of visual aids, he suggested that she could have kept some dialogues to demonstrate the communication styles.

The role of Grammarian was played by TM Chaitanya, who in his inimitable professorial style, appreciated the good usage of English as well as corrected bad usage wherever noticed. It is always a pleasure to listen to your expositions, TM Chaitanya.

General Evaluator role was taken up by MTM Rita, who was at once detailed and meticulous, covering every role thoroughly. She had looked for a little more energy from the SAA.

Business session was conducted by the VP-E.

President closed the session with the following activities:

• He handed over Guest Welcome Kits to the 4 first-timer guests.
• He highlighted the importance of assigning Mentors (done already) and the need for Mentees to take advantage of the same.
• He distributed the evening's awards, which were:
• Best Speaker:      MTM Panna
• Best Evaluator:    TM Rajat
• Best Table Topic:  TM Sethuraman
• Best Role player:  TM Muthu (Jokemaster)

See you all on 13.10.18, same place.

Session 140

This was the last session in September, with a new 6-month period starting from Oct 1. Renewals were the word of the season flying around all whatsapp groups. VP-Es and VP-Ms were politely reminding all members to loosen there purse strings and hand over the fees.

RTC did well in terms of renewals. Barring 3 members who were having difficulty attending sessions, all others renewed.

We also added 7 new members to the club, ending up with a strength of 30 members. That is the sign of a healthy club and we would be sure to have adequate participation in all the sessions.

The session kicked off almost on time with the energetic roar of the SAA TM Viswanath who did a countdown.

President TM Rajat produced the Select Distinguished Club ribbon for 2017-18 that had just been received and had it pinned to the banner. He then related an amusing story of a cab-driver, who had till the day earlier, been driving a hearse, now causing a major accident because the passenger patted his shoulder. TM Rajat continued, saying all of us were carrying the dead - the dead past - with us and living our life through these memories. We will be more alive only if we keep on trying something new.

TMOD Chaitanya was in his element today (also in T-shirt and shorts) as he took us through a journey of "Recreational flying", that of gliders and parasailing and skydiving and all scary things under the sun. Very professionally presented with small video clips, he introduced each role-player by asking them what geographical area they would like to fly over.

Timer was played by TM Swati with her own confident self.

Wordmaster was played by TM Vaishaly who introduced the word HILARITY. The sentences produced during the round robin also caused much hilarity.

Jokemaster TM Kumar today related only two jokes but, with his usual skill in telling stories in an engrossing manner, he played with everyone's sense of fun.

The criteria for today's P-10 speech were laid out by TM Rajat, today's evaluator.

A P-10 speech titled "Gratitude is Attitude" was delivered by TM Venkat. Focussing on the deterioration in gratitude in our times, he proposed to the audience a number of ways to keep up this sentiment. A good theme TM Venkat and congratulations on completing your CC Manual.

Table topics were conducted by TM Shanavas whose topics were difficult in a simple type of way, if you know what I mean. They were a real challenge to some of the speakers. Yet, RTC speakers are of a never-say-die variety and fought back bravely.

There was a special Education Session today on "Mentoring" conducted bt TM Panna. For the next 20 minutes, we were taken through the importance and benefits of proper mentoring in clubs, ending with an interview with past-masters at the game - PQD DTM Robin Anand and TM G Kumar.

Evaluator's feedback on the P-10 speech was given by TM Rajat who expressed happiness at the choice of topic, praised the speaker's use of stories and his energy level and suggested that he look at the development of the speech so that it is more linear and focussed.

Grammarian role was played by TM Niral who pointed out usage of Ah's as well as instances where English could be improved.

General Evaluator TM Saleem was all praise for most role-players but decried the cross-talk and movements that take place during role-plays. Seriously people, have a heart...

Business session was conducted by TM Chaitanya, who quickly fixed up TMOD for the next session as well as two speakers.

"Toasting the Talent" was a new item on the agenda where a member would display some talent he or she has. Today TM Swati rendered a beautiful Hindi song. Sometimes we should speak tunefully as well.

PQD Robin Anand was invited on stage for his special mission, which included presenting TM Panna with pins for Level 1 completion as well as for having become the Mentor for a club. PQD presented TM Kumar with a pin for having become a Club Coach and thus rendering a special service. TM Chaitanya was presented with a pin for outstanding service to the District in terms of venue arrangements for the major functions.

President TM Rajat closed the session with a President's Report. He announced that with this session, where TM Venkat completed his CC, TM Panna completed her ALB and the club gained at least 4 new members, RTC gained 3 more points to take the tally to 5 and laid claim to being a DISTINGUISHED CLUB. For having added 5 new members in Aug-Sep period, the club was now eligible for the Smedley Award as well. Great going, RTC!

The session closed with snacks and tea.

The day's awards were:

• Best Speaker:       TM Venkat (default)
• Best Table topic:  TM Viswa
• Best Role player:  TM Kumar.

See you all again on 6th October.