109th session

Dislocation.

No, not of a shoulder joint or anything painful like that, but simply a dislocation of our club meeting venue. The Zubair Hall was not available as the renewal process had run into rough weather. So who do you think came to the rescue? TM Chaitanya, of course, offering the use of the Tasnim Hall at his offices in Ghala, which is also the venue of the Tasnim Toastmasters Club.

Right-o, we said, and climbed into pool cars at Zubair building and sped off to the temporary premises.

It was indeed a very nice venue, used also as a corporate training hall, fully fitted with overhead projector, light-box, the works.

An attendance of 23 including guests was also pretty heartening.

SAA TM Viswa kicked off the session with renewed enthusiasm.

Acting President TM Mathen earnestly asked everybody "Who is packing your parachute?". The story he related revealed that we all have people in our lives who are continuously looking out for us and we should acknowledge and appreciate the same.

TMOD TM Raja then took the matter in hand and understandably, his theme was Palmistry. As it is, the subject is interesting to all, and as TM Raja gave glimpses into the hidden meaning of the lines on our hands, everyone was surreptitiously peering at their palms. Dinner menu was still a mystery, I am sure.

Timer MTM Swati, attending after a long time, reminded everyone including herself of the timing rules.

Wordmaster TM Somakumar had introduced the word COPACETIC to the group, somewhat to their consternation, but as the meaning was easy enough (well-arranged, fitting together), sentence-making was fast and furious.

TM Nagesh took on the Jokemaster's robes, a role he could practically do without much preparation, which he went on to demonstrate, drawing on incidents in his recent life and turning them into laughable anecdotes.

There was an ACB speech scheduled today, on story-telling, particularly a folk tale. DTM Robin Anand expounded on the evaluation criteria for the same, in that it should be based on a folk tale, should be narrated as a story with lots of vocal effects and acting. Looking forward to this, especially as this folk tale seemed to be meant for "Pre-primary" folks.

MTM Panna delivered her advanced speech "The Kalabash Kids" a folk tale from far-off Tanzania. We were all engrossed in the fairy-tale-like narrative of the story. It is fun to be a kid sometimes.

Table Topics was conducted by MTM Vaishali, who introduced a variation by having objects on a plate that had to be chosen by the speaker and spoken on. Nice round it was.

Evaluation on the folk tale was conducted by DTM Robin Anand. While appreciating the choice of story and the narration, DTM Robin advised the speaker to heighten the strength of the climax a bit more in order to render more drama into the closing.

Grammarian role played by TM Rajat was rather professorially done by a lecture on the various types of linguistic deviations that have petrified as maladies among speakers in general and Toastmasters in particular.

The highlight of the evening was the briefing given by DTM Robin and TM Bipin Kuriakose on the upcoming Pathways programme that TMI has launched, that will become live for us from March 20 2018. This was a totally different design from the conventional CC, CL, ACB, ACL etc and offered 10 different paths instead of the conventional two till now. Customisation, breadth of scope and reduction in paperwork would be the benefits. Eager to switch it on!

General Evaluator MTM Rita gave a succinct feedback on all role-players, including a suggestion to the Table topic master that when using props like she did, the prop chosen should also be loudly announced.

TM Mathen distributed the awards and declared the session closed.

The day's awards were:

• Best Speaker:           MTM Panna
• Best Table topic:      TM Venkat

Next Saturday is the Area 08 Quiz Competition. Do turn up in large numbers to support your favourite teams.

108th session - Tall Tale Contest

Telling tales? Making up stories? Never do that, we tell our kids. Yet, as grown-ups, we promote exactly that in a Tall Tale Contest. What is TMI up to?

A Tall Tale contest challenges our imagination, expands our limits of imagining things, encourages us to speak illogical and silly stuff, which is the precursor to creative freedom, the hallmark of left-brain activity. A Toastmaster not only has to communicate effectively, but also think creatively. Hence the opportunity, a Tall Tale contest.

It was the first time for Ruwi Club, this Tall Tale contest. Ten storytellers had registered but finally six lived to tell the tale. Our VP-E had made all arrangements to the cinch - five judges, two timers, two tally counters, trophies, gifts - all laid out in perfect order.

SAA TM Sabu called the meeting to order at 3.30 pm on the dot. He had important role to play today in assisting speakers with mikes and props, which he did efficiently.

MC TM Kamil welcomed all present to an interesting evening and could not prevent telling a story as well.

Today's Contest Chair was TM Nagesh, looking very dapper in formals. Those who missed today's session, missed a rare sight indeed. TM Nagesh, a past master as a TMOD already, introduced all six contestants, explained to rules and got the session going right away.

In order of speaking, the contestants were:

1. MTM Panna
2. TM Saleem
3. TM Venkat
4. TM Rajat
5. TM Raja
6. TM Chaitanya

All the speeches were imaginative and ranged from wishes coming true, to thoughts being projected through eyes onto a screen, to a 55-sim phone enabling talking to past and future, to a magic Rajnikant watch making the wearer see people as animals whose characteristics they possessed, to an unexpectedly prolific and proficient cricketer. All the stories were imaginative and engaging.

While the totals were being calculated, DTM Verma gave a short impromptu speech on Tall Tales and congratulated all speakers on being brave enough to think up these stories and presenting them to the public.

TM Mathen felicitated the judges for spoiling their Saturday nap and turning up to judge our competition.

The winners were:

• Winner:             MTM Panna
• 1st Runner-up:  TM Rajat
• 2nd Runner-up: TM Venkat

Congratulations to the winners! Tall Tale contest winners do not proceed beyond the club level, so it was like a warm-up to the contest season. Our next contest will be on 10th February - Humorous and Evaluation - so people, do start preparing and nominate yourselves in large numbers.

See you all on 20.1.18 - a normal session.

107th session

Happy New Year to all members, those who attended this session and those who didn't.

By the way, why don't all of us make a new resolution in 2018 to attend at least 3 sessions out of 4 in the month? We have 30 members in the club. Can you imagine how great the hall will look if all of us turned up? Celebration every single time.

Today's session was also a successful one.

SAA Raja kicked off the session at precisely 3.15 pm with a heartfelt wish for a successful 2018 and all the usual admonishments.

President Panna this time shared her personal resolution of contributing her time and effort towards helping stray dogs and cats in Muscat by working with NGOs. She urged everyone to pick their passion and devote some little time to serving society. A more inspiring story than usual, Prez.

TMOD Nagesh had chosen the theme of New Year and took us on a knowledge trip of the history of calendars, which was extremely interesting. Prepared in very short order too, as nobody was stepping in for the TMOD role. That is the hallmark of a true Toastmaster.

Timer MTM Khadija, playing any role for the first time, explained all criteria with full confidence.

Wordmaster TM Anand, also playing a role for the first time, had chosen SAGACIOUS as the word of the day. In an impressive departure from the norm, he played the role without any notes. Hats off to you.

Jokemaster role was taken up by TM Raja, in a dual role. TM Raja is one of the few TMs in our club from whom we expect constant humour, and he did not disappoint us. A number of jokes, narrated in the names of our club TMs, had everyone rolling in the aisles.

There was an ACS level speech scheduled today from the Humorous Speech manual, by an external speaker. The evaluation criteria for the same were described by MTM Panna, in that the speech should have a serious subject but begin and end on humorous notes, It would indeed be interesting to listen to.

The ACS speech, titled "Shhh..." was delivered by TM Natan of MMTC . Based on the theme of the growing seriousness of board exams in the lives of children and parents and the consequent need of silence in the house, his speech was peppered with humour and had us smiling all through. An excellent effort TM Natan.

Table Topics were conducted by MTM Sushma, who was playing her first role as well. Her topics were based on New Year and Resolutions and provided speakers good opportunities of expounding on them. Good job Topicmaster.

Evaluation on the ACS speech was given by MTM Panna. She praised the humorous content of the speech and the aptness of the theme. There were some areas of improvement suggested that were taken in the right spirit by the speaker.

Harkmaster MTM Vaishali took all to task by pitting two teams against one another. I think the audience passed with flying colours, didn't they?

Grammarian TM Chaitanya, a past master at this, gave everyone meticulous feedback on the usage of words and expressions. You are a linguistic asset to the club TM, mark my words!

TM Mathen had donned the mantle of GE today and gave smiling and laudatory feedback on all the roles. He only hoped that the attendance would improve. Members reading this please do not hide behind newspapers but do make sure to turn out in large numbers next session, which is the club contest date for TALL TALES, where we relate improbable and impossible stories.

Don't you want to let your imagination run wild? Where else would you find a bunch of serious people listening to such nonsense? Participate by giving your names to VP-E immediately.

The session was wrapped up by MTM Panna after distributing the day's awards:

• Best Speaker:            TM Natan
• Best Evaluator:         MTM Panna
• Best Table topic:       TM Rajat
• Best supporting:        TM Raja (Jokemaster)

See you all on the 13th Jan at the Tall Tale Contest in our club.