Once again, TM Chaitanya played host to us at his Al Turki office, while our search for new club premises continued. It is in any case a superb venue, perfectly suited for hosting contests. Many thanks TM Chaitanya.
While member strength had grown in RTC to 30, we still had not expected a contestant registration of 18, which was more than the number who usually attended club meetings. This is enthusiasm at its highest. Our VP-E had trouble finding role-players from within the club.
Since the numbers exceeded 10, we had to have 2 semi-finals and one final. The final tally was 15 contestants so SF1 had 7 participants and SF2 had 8 participants.
The programme was kicked off in time at 3.00 pm by TM Vignesh, who described the general rules from SAA's standpoint. Today he would be supported by TM Kaushik, also from SBTM club.
The first Contest Chair was TM Raja who took the contestants through their paces. The SF1 contestants were:
- TM Chaitanya
- TM Somakumar
- TM Viswanath
- TM Bhaskaran
- TM Kathija
- TM Sethuraman
- TM Rajat
They spoke on the topic "You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs".
The second Contest Chair was TM Sankara Subramanian. The SF2 contestants were:
- MTM Radha Simakumar
- TM Venkat
- MTM Usha Vijay
- MTM Panna
- TM Ramalingam
- MTM Rita
- MTM Vaishali
- TM Saleem
They spoke on the topic "Take a look at yourself, then make the change".
After these two sessions, the group broke for the some delicious snacks and tea arranged by TM Chaitanya.
Post-break, the people going on to the finals, 3 from each semifinal, were announced:
From SF1:
- TM Rajat
- TM Sethuraman
- TM Viswa
From SF2:
- MTM Radha
- TM Venkat
- MTM Usha
TM Raja was back again as contest chair for the Finals, where the above 6 speakers had their say.
The topic spoken on was "You say it best when you say nothing at all".
While the results were being compiled, TM Mathen felicitated the judges and asked DTM Ramki and TM John Thomas to deliver some impromptu comments on the contest.
The final results were as follows:
- Winner: MTM Radha Somakumar
- 1st runner up: TM Venkat
- 2nd runner up: TM Rajat
The Winner and 1st runner up would be representing the club in the forthcoming area contest.
It was a very well-organised programme that ran without a hitch and finished before time. Kudos to VP-E TM Mathen for the arrangements.
See you all again at the regular session on 17.2.18 - venue to be notified.
It was truly an amazing experience and was a great learning experience. Reading your blog after the session provide immense pleasure in reliving the moments.
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