Session 127

The summer heat is drying up attendance, but we still had 10 members present and a full family of 5 guests. DTM Ramki and TM KSN Murthy also graced the occasion, so we were off to a decent gathering.

The session was kicked off by TM Raja at 3.20 pm, with due diligence shown at introducing and welcoming guests.

Acting President TM Chaitanya opened the session with his usual elan with an inspiring story.

TMOD Rajat had chosen Modern Art Movement as a theme, which is a thesis subject actually. Incorporating the same within a short time span without getting lost in the details was a challenge. If the audience was overwhelmed,  they did not show it and smilingly accepted the deluge of information.

Timer TM Saleem explained the timing criteria for speech, evaluation and table topics.

MTM Niral introduced the word CATASTROPHIC to the group. Any word is a worthwhile challenge to toastmasters so not only did they use them in round robin, but there was good usage by role-players as well.

TM Venkat, who would be evaluating the upcoming P-1 speech, explained the criteria and highlighted the difference in approach of the earlier P-1 speech and the new Pathways P-1 speech, which had higher expectations.

TM Chaitanya delivered his P-1 speech once again, titled "Taking a Fresh Guard", kicking off his Pathways programme.

Table Topics master TM Viswanath had relatively easy topics and among the 4 speakers 2 were guests - a generous participation by the visitors.

TM Venkat gave the P-1 speech evaluation, in view of the heightened delivery criteria in Pathways, with very clear recommendations.

General Evaluator role was played by TM G Kumar, who gave a comprehensive feedback on all the role plays. He suggested to the TMOD that in the middle of the topic presentation, the role-player introduction had got somewhat diluted, which should be balanced better. To be kept in mind, GE.

TM Chaitanya conducted the business session, tying up the TMOD and a couple of speeches for the next session. A good bag.

TM Kumar conducted the conclusion and prize distribution ceremony, signing off as Division D Director at the same time. The end of a scintillating year as Director, GK. Take a bow.

The awards were as follows:

• Best Speaker:        TM Chaitanya (default)
• Best Evaluator:     TM Venkat (default)
• Best Table topic:   Ms Swapna
• Best Supporting:   MTM Niral (Wordmaster)

Next session will be at Al Turki on 7/7/18.

Session 126 - joint session with SBG club

We did not have a session on 16/9/18, being in the middle of Eid holidays, nor on 23/6/18 as the head count was too low.

Instead we combined our 126th session with SBG club's regular session on 26/6/18.

The roles played by RTC were as follows:

Timer was played by TM Viswanath. This was done with his usual efficiency. Since the theme was World Cup, he referred to himself as a referee, who was ready to show his green, yellow and red cards to erring players.

Wordmaster was played by TM Chaitanya who introduced the word EXTEMPORE to the club.

P-9 speech was delivered by TM Venkat, titled "Phone or children - who is smarter?". Questioning the overwhelming role that smartphones are playing in our children's lives, he urged all parents to exercise moderation in allowing children access to such addictive devices.

Table topics were conducted by TM Rajat, who managed to give 5 thought-provoking topics to the assemblage.

Next session will be on 30/6/18, as usual, at Al Turki.

Session 125

125th session. That is half of a quarter of a thousand. Nothing to be sneezed at. 

But the outside temperature was on a close chase at 115 degF. If attendance was low, this was surely one of the biggest disincentives.

The session flagged off at 3.20 pm with SAA Viswanath calling the meeting to order instead of TM Raja who called in sick. TM Viswanath described the SAA role as the P-1 speech of every session, given that that is what a session starts with. A nice turn of phrase, TM Vish.

Acting President TM Chaitanya opened the session with a nice story about a yogi and the king which ended with the king realising that he, in his desire to conquer the neighbouring kingdom, was spiritually much poorer than the yogi.

TMOD role was played by TM Saleem, who had chosen as theme "Flashback" that related a series of incidents in his life which had elevated him to higher levels of thinking. Thank you TMOD for this different approach to a TMOD theme. It was indeed interesting.

Timer role was played by MTM Rita who described all the timing criteria suitably.

MTM Niral, a new member, made a debut as Jokemaster, relating amusing incidents out of her experiences in Oman. Good job MTM and may you go from strength to strength.

Wordmaster TM Chaitanya had chosen PRIMORDIAL as word of the day. It was a new and interesting word for many of us and the round robin saw varied application. Some role-players managed to use it as well.

There was only one P-10 speech scheduled today (after TM Raja's P-1 speech was dropped) and TM Vignesh described the criteria of a P-10 speech, which is an inspiring speech, that denotes the completion of the CC manual.

P-10 speech "Dancing without a Partner" was delivered by TM Rajat. Based on how to continue life after the death of a life partner, the speech addressed issues normally avoided by all of us and delivered tips on possible mental preparation.

Table topics were conducted by MTM Khathija, whose topics were the proverbial type, hence easy to speak on. Our guest Dr Anil also had a go.

P-10 evaluation was given by TM Vignesh, applauding the subject and the approach of the speech. He also gave suggestions for improving the speech further.

General Evaluation was carried out by TM Bhaskar, who applauded all the role-players on carrying out their roles well. He had a suggestion for TMOD regarding continuity, since his narrative was being broken by the role plays and enough call-back was not being provided.

TM Chaitanya carried out the business session. There will be no session next week due to Eid holidays. For the 23rd session, if there are too few role-players, a joint session would be attempted.

He closed the session with announcement of the awards.

Best Speaker:      TM Rajat (default)

Best Evaluator:    TM Vignesh (default)

Best TT speaker:  TM Vignesh

Best Role Player:  TM Chaitanya as Wordmaster

See you all again on 23rd June. Eid Mubarak.