RTC turned 3 on 19th Sep.
For those who had been present at birth, it was an emotional day indeed and for all others, it was a day of celebration.
This was mystery session, where the Agenda itself did not reveal the names of the role-players, including TMOD. Only the President did not hide. So everyone attending was all agog at this abundance of cryptic clues, because the role-players were named as "Doctor", "Copywriter" etc.
The session was kicked off by SAA Viswanath at 3.18 pm with a suitable quotation from Neil Armstrong.
President TM Rajat congratulated the club for completing its baby steps for 3 years. He then related a story of the two wolves - the good and the bad - who fight inside us, the winning wolf being the one whom we decide to feed. This meant that whichever habits we allowed to form through repeated behaviour will contribute to defining our character and our destiny. So let us behave responsibly and feed the good wolf.
TMOD, the "Doctor" turned out to be TM G Kumar, who got this nickname by virtue of having played the role of a doctor in a mini-film in Tamil. His theme today was "Surprise" and indeed he kept up the element of surprise throughout the role-player introductions. He had also asked three questions to the role-players : (a) what was a surprising moment for him/her, (b) what was the most thrilling movie he/she had seen, (c) what does the word surprise mean to him/her - whose answers formed the introduction of the role-player.
[As he mentioned later in the session, even an approach like this can be the TMODs theme, without having a full-fledged presentation on a subject, as introducing the role-players is the primary function of the TMOD].
The Timer seat was occupied by TM Raja, but in the usual twist, the "Curious Kid" turned out to be MTM Niral, who explained all timing criteria clearly and succinctly, with the aid of a green highlighter, a yellow pencil and a red paper!
The Word-master was named "Detective" as his favourite thriller was a Tamil movie by that name and up walked TM Viswanath with the word CRYPTIC, in keeping with the theme. The round robin speakers were chosen through an antakshari of the member names, which was quite innovative.
Joke master was a "Gold Hunter" who came to Muscat expecting pavements to be lined with gold bricks but was suitably disappointed. TM Bhaskaran delivered jokes we had not heard earlier and his laughing delivery added to the humour.
The Evaluator for today's L1P2 speech was described as a "Scientist" who decided to become a CA after pursuing science. TM Venkat delivered the criteria for the upcoming Level 1 Project 2 speech in a relaxed manner.
The speaker was a "Visitor" as he kept switching jobs between India and Oman. TM Sabu delivered his L1P2 speech for the first time, describing his trip to Shimla-Kulu-Manali, and taking us trekking through the snowy fields for some time.
Table topics was conducted by the "Copywriter" who had won a slogan contest from Bournevita during the World Cup in 1983. TM Sethuraman set out short and pithy topics where speakers could speak from their own experience. A lovely round actually.
TM Venkat gave his evaluation of the L1P2 speech, clearly pointing out good points and areas of improvement.
Wordmaster TM Viswa gave his report (first time in the club, but a good practice to start). Not many uses of the word CRYPTIC and he pointed out a couple of missed opportunities.
Ah Counter and Grammarian role was played by "Bond 007", for his ability to slip into any role. TM Rajat today withheld negative comments, saying that 3-year olds should not be scolded on their birthdays, and gave only an Ah-count and good usage of words report.
Harkmaster TM Ramalingam was the "Lucky person" and he asked a number of questions in detail that were answered quite comfortably by the crowd. So they were all awake after all.
The GE role was played by the "All rounder". Who else was up for any job at any time but MTM Panna? She gave a detailed review of every role, ending with a few suggestions:
- Wordmaster - to hold up the word till role-player sees it and uses it
- Evaluation - to present his perspective and not speak on behalf of the audience
- Speech - powerpoint can be kept ready so that there is no distraction
- Kamil - hand in pocket can be avoided
- Rajat - slow down rate of speech
- Harkmaster - Jokes related to gender/wife to be reduced/avoided
- Things to avoid while role-player is speaking:
- People coming in going out (wait for claps)
- People talking among themselves
- People interacting with role-player
Business session was conducted by the "Saviour", who has bailed out the club on many occasions, including venue. TM Chaitanya volunteered to be TMOD for the next session with TM Venkat slated to deliver his P-10 speech.
There was a surprise program today (being a day of mysteries and surprises) of an interview to be held for a famous personality. TM Rajat hosted a talk-show "Relax with Rajat" (on the lines of "Koffee with Karan") and interviewed TM Babu Srinivasan, who, apart from being a Toastmaster, is a scriptwriter and actor in Tamil telefilms. It was interesting for the audience to know more about this aspect of Babu Srinivasan. The session ended with a rapid-fire round to the guest which he successfully negotiated and was presented with a gift.
The session drew to a close with the announcement of the awards:
- Best Speaker: TM Sabu (default)
- Best Evaluator: TM Venkat (default)
- Best Table topic: TM Chaitanya
- Best Role player: TM Viswanath (Wordmaster)
The session closure was followed by two birthday cakes - one for RTC sponsored by TM Kamil and another for TM Chaitanya, who also celebrates his birthday today, baked by TM Rita. As one of TM Sethu's table topics said: "Let life be short, but let it be sweet."
See you all next session on 28th September 2018.
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