Eloquence 2017

Ralph C. Smedley mimeographed and bound in paper covers. On October
25, 1928, Ralph obtained copyrights on his publications
(February 22, 1878 – Septem- and copyrighted the name Toastmasters Club all of which
ber 11, 1965) was the founder he later assigned to Toastmasters International.
of Toastmasters International, The new association needed a name and because of one
an international speaking or- club in British Columbia, Canada, they chose to call it
ganization with more than Toastmasters International. There were about 30 clubs
345,000 members in 142 coun- when the association was formed in 1930, and in 1932
tries and more than 15,900 in- Toastmasters International was incorporated as a Califor-
dividual clubs. nia Non-profit corporation.
Smedley was born in Waverly, In addition to his job as Secretary of the YMCA, Smedley
Illinois, a city twenty miles was the Secretary and Bulletin Editor of the Santa
southwest of Springfield. He Ana Rotary Club and undertook the dual role of Editor
remained in Illinois most of his and Secretary of the new Toastmasters International. In
youth. After high school, he 1936, he published his first article to give special recogni-
taught schools in the country- tion to General Henry Martyn Robert, the author
side before enrolling at Illinois Wesleyan Universi- of Robert's Rules of Order. His interest in General Robert
ty at Bloomington, Illinois. After his graduation in 1903, continued for the rest of his life and culminated in the
he started working at the local YMCA. book The Great Peacemaker by Ralph C. Smedley pub-
lished in 1955.
As Educational Director of the "Y" he discovered there He resigned as YMCA Secretary in 1941 to devote more
was a need for training in speech. He began to design a time to Toastmasters International. Through the war
club and struggled for a name. The General Secretary of years he operated the organization out of a small office.
the "Y", George Sutton, suggested calling it a Toastmas- When the war ended, a new Secretary, Ted Blanding,
ters club. The boys liked the name and the club was a replaced Smedley, who remained active as Educational
success. At each club meeting, there was a rotation of Director for the rest of his life and a permanent member
duties with members taking turns at presiding and speak- of the Board of Directors. In 1950, Smedley wrote Beyond
ing. Short speeches were evaluated by Ralph and the Basic Training. At the Toastmasters International Con-
other older men, and the boys were invited to join in the vention at Atlanta, Georgia, August 18–20, 1960, Ralph
evaluation to learn more. The club performed its intended C. Smedley showed the model of the new Toastmasters
purpose as leadership and speech improved in the other International Headquarters, 2200 North Grand, Santa
educational groups with which these young men were Ana, California, (which was so occupied until June 1990)
associated. to the District 19 delegation.
The club only lasted a year after Ralph Smedley moved In 1950, Illinois Wesleyan University recognized Smed-
to the YMCA at Rock Island, Illinois as General Secretary ley's service to mankind by conferring the honorary de-
in 1910. He organized a Toastmasters Club at the Rock gree of L.H.D. -- Litter arum Humaniorum or Doctor of
Island "Y" which soon reached a membership of 75. Humane Letters. Santa Ana named a junior high
When Ralph Smedley left the Rock Island "Y", the Toast- school after him in 1955.
masters Club there also soon perished.
After he spent over two years with an architect working on In 1956, Toastmasters itself gave Smedley the title of
YMCA architecture he accepted the post of YMCA Secre- honorary president and lifetime board member. The San-
tary at San Jose, California in September 1919, and soon ta Ana Toastmasters Club renamed itself the Smedley
had a Toastmasters Club flourishing at his new YMCA. Number One Club in honor of its founder. A photograph
Again the club lasted only a short time after he moved of Ralph Smedley and the original club charter are placed
to Santa Ana, California in 1922. in an empty chair near the lectern to represent his contin-
uing inspiration. This started at Club Number One and
A club was immediately organized and still exists as Club several other clubs around the world also chose to honor
No. 1 of Toastmasters International. He introduced the Ralph Smedley in this way.
Toastmasters Club idea and the first meeting was held at In the summer of 1964, Smedley's health began to de-
the YMCA Building on October 22, 1924. Until then, the cline. He was confined to a medical facility and died on
Toastmasters Club was an educational arm of the YMCA. September 11, 1965.
In the autumn of 1925, J. Clark Chamberlain of Anaheim,
California visited the Toastmasters Club and the following
winter, Ralph Smedley helped a group in Anaheim to form
a Toastmasters Club. It is still labeled as Club Number 2
in Toastmasters International. The Toastmasters Club
idea spread to Los Angeles, Long Beach, and other
southern California cities. Representatives of these clubs
met and organized an association.

In order to save the time consumed in replying too many
letters and inquiries, Ralph prepared a "Manual of Instruc-
tions" and "Ten Lessons In Public Speaking" which he

02

HRH Prince Khalifa Bin Salman His Majesty HRH Prince Salman Bin Hamad
Al Khalifa King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa Al Khalifa

The Prime Miniuster Kingdom of Bahrain Crown Prince & Deputy Supreme
Commander of Bahrain Defense Force

Kingdom of Bahrain

KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

Bahrain has been one of the Gulf’s most im- In particular, our country has become the re-
portant commercial crossroads for over 4,000 gion’s leading financial center since the 1980s.
years. Since then manufacturing, logistics, communi-
The word Bahrain means ‘two seas’ in Arabic, cations, professional services and real estate
indicating how the country’s geographic position have also become important sectors. Through-
as a collection of islands has been important out this period, we have taken great care to
throughout its history. build up the skills and talents of the Bahraini
people.

As the land of the ancient Dilmun civilization, In 2002, Bahrain became a constitutional mon-
Bahrain has long been a trading Centre linking archy, and a democratically elected parliament
east and west. The country has benefited from was established. This marked the beginning of
its position at the center of the Gulf’s trade a period of on-going reform. The country also
routes and rich pearl diving industry. has an established legal framework and re-
By the mid-19th century, the country was the spected regulatory system.
Gulf’s pre-eminent trade hub, emerging as a Manama is the capital of Bahrain and also its
modern state. Merchants from countries across largest city. Manama enjoys a distinct reputa-
the Gulf and beyond established themselves on tion as a tourism and cultural hub regionally and
the islands. internationally, as shown by its selection as the
Bahrain was the first Gulf state to discover oil, Capital of Arab Culture in 2012, and Capital of
in 1932, and in the past 40 years has led the Arab Tourism in 2013, and Capital of Asian
regional transition to a modern economy. Sub- Tourism in 2014.
sequently, as the first Gulf state to move away
from dependence on oil, we have become the
region’s most diversified economy.

03

List of Contents Page

1. Cover Page…………………………………………………………… … …….…….…….1

2. Ralph C Smedley ……………………………………………………………….....…2

3. About Kingdom of Bahrain…………… ………………………………...………….….…..3

4. Contents…………………………………………………………………. ...……..…….4

5. Ex-com 2017-18 ……………………………………………………….…………….….…..5

6. Message from Editor……………………………………………………….…………..……6

7. Message from District Director……………………………………………………………..7

8. Message from Division Director………………………………………………….……..….8

9. Message from Area Director……………………………………………………….….……9

10. Message from WMC President………………………………………………………...….10

11. Article from DTM Dr.Babu Ramachandran ….”Through the looking glass”…………..11

12. Article from TM Nazakat Mallick …………….. “Club meeting at ea ………….....13

13. Article from Dr.Suresh Karunakaran……”Being Wise” ..…………………………...…. 14

14. Article from DTM Rekha Utham ………….”Communication”…………………….……..16

15. Article from TM Shoib Sultan…….. ……….”Return Gift” …………………...……...…..18

16. Article from TM Bilal Mansoor Husain ….”Our shortcomings & Futureplans”….……..19

17. Article from TM Saju Ramachandran ….”Don’t WTF our lives”…………….…………..20

18. Article from TM Manoj Pandey……... ….”Discovering the self”………………….… ….21

19. Article from TM Anitha Sam …………...”My Passion Part-1……………….”…………..23

20. Glimpse of Achievements for 1st term……………………………………………… …....25

21. WMC Gavel Club……………………………………………………………………… ..… .26

22. Our new Members……………………………………………………………………… ...27

23. Induction Ceremony…………………………………………………………………… …27

24. New members orientation program…………………………………………………… ...28

25. Youth leadership Program…………………………………………………………………..29

26. Bowling team in action………………………………………………………………… … ..30

27. Stardust team in action………………………………………………………………… ….30

28. Glimpse of all six meetings of the term………………………………………...…………31

29. The journey …………………………………..continues…………………………...……..32

04

President CLUB OFFICIAL 2017-18 34375102
VP Education 39461693
VP Membership Manoj Kumar Pandey 33808029
VP Public Relations Amal Itty 33077872
Treasurer Bilal Manzoor Hussain 35592935
Secretary Masood Hussain Shah 39025123
Sergeant at Arms Ullas Pazhampilath 39427855
Past President Jefrey Abraham 33202433
Ovin Crasta
Anil Govind Menon

In our togetherness (as a team) ,Castles are built.”

Irish Proverb

05

From Editor’s Desk

TM Masood Hussain Shah
VPPR

Dear WMC ,

TMC Members and valuable readers, possible to complete this beautiful Eloquence.

Published in this newsletter is a quick reflection

It’s an honour to welcome you all to the 46th of our recent past achievements, our strengths,

edition (1st of the term 2017-2018) of this shortfalls and a future plan for this term. The

newsletter “Eloquence”; where we have high- Members participation in different activities

lighted the invaluable efforts of our members In such as Gavels, YLP, Bowling tournament and

the journey to Learn, Lead and Achieve Stardust. It also includes some personal arti-

“together”. cles shared by our ingenious authors.

Firstly, I sincerely express my gratitude to all Once again, I acknowledge, appreciate and
my fellow members, executive committee congratulate all the club members for being el-
members and in particular the immediate past emental in helping WMC TMC reach the distin-
Vice President Public Relation TM Satish guished level within a matter of a few months.
Mudalayil without whom it would not be

A glimpse of achievements in our first term.

Proud moment

Dr Babu Ramachandran has been awarded the DTM Plaque.

Achievements

Educational Achievements —Meeting Nos. 332/333/334/335/336/337 (1st term six meetings)
1- TM Dr. Thuraya completed her ACS
2- TM James Mathews completed his CL
3- TM Yashodhan Abhyankar completed his CL
4- TM Manoj Pandey Completed his ACB
5- TM Sathish Mudalayil Completed his CC
6- TM Bilal Mansoor Completed his CC

Membership Achievements
1-We have added 8 new members in our Squadron in our first term.

Toastmasters of the term

 Best toastmaster of the Term “TM Satish Mudalayil” for over all contribution to the club.
 Toastmaster of the term “TM Masood Shah” for adding six valuable members.
 The best speech of the term “Touch of Kindness” by Tm Bilal Mansoor Hussain.
 Out standing leader of the term “TM Nazakat Mallick” for being the IT head of NMOP.
 Leader of the term “TM Manu Philips & TM Jefrey Abraham” for Stardust.
 Best continuing leaders;

TM T.Ponambalam for WMC Gavels Club, TM Amal Itty,TM Ullas & TM Jefrey for YLP.

06

Message from DTM Muhammad Hassan Makhlouf,

Director District 20

Dear fellow members of WMC Toastmasters, Dear WMC Members, Toastmasters is a life
Ralph Smedley, the founder of Toast- changing Journey that concentrate on the
member; the more you are involved in toast-
masters, once said "Ours is the only organiza- masters the more benefits you will get and the
tion I know dedicated to the individual, we better you will become. Nobody can learn
work together to bring out the best in each of swimming when he is on the shore, he has to
us and then we apply these skills to help oth- go into the water to learn swimming, It is the
ers.” Yes the whole Toastmasters organization same in toastmasters, if you didn’t attend the
is dedicated to you as a member. The hierar- meetings, participated in different roles and
chy of Toastmasters is not like other organiza- volunteer to serve other members by taking
tions, it is upside down where the member is one of the club officers role, trust me you will
on the top of the pyramid. The whole organi- not get any thing from Toastmasters.
zation is dedicated to serve you to become a
better leader and communicator. It’s a great pleasure to be part of the WMC first
news letter “Eloquence” this term, and congrat-
Yesterday, I received a call from a toastmas- ulations on having your 338 meeting, congrat-
ters member that I didn’t meet since two ulations on your hard-work, dedication and
years. He told me that I changed his life after commitment towards Toastmasters. I wish to
introducing toastmasters to him and he meet you all in DTAC 2018 in Kuwait and cele-
thanked me a lot. When I chartered that club, brate together the Club achievements which
two years back in Jahra ( 45 KM from Kuwait reflects your club quality.
city ), I wasn’t expecting this call or changing Remember… ’Talent wins games, but team-
others’ life; but I felt the change that happened work and intelligence wins championships.’
to me and so decided to open new clubs to
allow more members to reap the benefits of
Toastmasters.

07

Message from Division K Director
DTM. Sanjib Mahapatra

My dear fellow WMC toastmasters, excellent job by earning many awards and will
Greetings! earn many awards in future too. WMC Toast-
According to Donald H. Mc Gannon masters started with 33 members and as of
“Leadership is action, not position”. This prov- now you have 40 members. I am sure by the
erb is completely justified to WMC Toastmas- end of the year few new members will also be
ters. WMC Toastmasters is a vibrant club in added. WMC Toastmasters has already
the island and during last 14 years it has pro- achieved 8 DCP so far and I am sure within
duced many Distinguished Toastmasters few months it will achieve President Distin-
(DTM), Area, Division and District Leaders. It guished Club.
has also produced Area, Division and District John F. Kennedy said that, “Leadership and
Champions in various speech contests. All learning are indispensable to each other.”
this was possible because of the hard work of Toastmaster is a right platform to learn and
each and every member of the club. All the develop our leadership. Taking membership in
members are moving forward with actions just WMC Toastmasters is a great decision. Non-
not retaining the position. Toastmasters can Join WMC Toastmasters
Congratulations to the President, executive and explore their communication and leader-
committee members and all the members of ship skill.
WMC Toastmasters of this year for completion Finally I wish all the best to the members of
of six successful meetings. WMC Toastmasters to achieve more success.
This year also WMC Toastmasters have done

Message from Founder of WMC TMC
DTM A.L.Jose

A Gentle Reminder I wish the aspiration level of TM members can
WMC is an eloquent proof of what a TM Club can be be raised further finding ways and means to inspirie
and I'm as much proud of my association with it as them to put all efforts in passing its exams and climb
any of its member can be. Yet while gloating over its the ladder of CC, CL, ... to DTM without wandering in
gaiety, we should appreciate that Toastmasters Inter- comfort zones. I wish to see at least two new DTMs
national is practically an open university for doing every year emerging from WMC Toastmasters
courses in Communication and Leadership and the Club with greater eloquence. With best Wishes
main objective of Toastmaster club meetings is edu-
cation primarily through project speeches.

08

TM. Roshni Joseph Pinto
Area 9 Director

Dear WMC TMC members, As you know during the first four months of
the year we have a busy schedule with Club
Let me take this opportunity to say thank you Officer Training Programs, Judges Training
to each and every one of you for electing me Programs and New Member Orientation Pro-
as your Area Director for the year 2017- grams. It is very important that every member
2018. I am honored by the trust and confi- participates in these programs. I believe that
dence you have placed in me and I pledge to Club Executive Committee should educate the
serve this organization to the best of my abil- members of the value and the benefits of
ity. these programs so that the members will be
encouraged to participate. It is only by getting
My heartiest congratulations to all the club of- involved in these programs that they will be
ficers. I wish you all the best in your new role able to derive the maximum benefit from
for the year 2017-2018. I am looking forward Toastmasters.
to working with you and confident that togeth- A ‘Quality Meeting’ is the key to retaining
er we will be able to achieve the goals of our members and achieve excellence. We need to
club and Area 9. focus ourselves on how best we could con-
Being a Toastmaster is a journey with limitless duct our educational meeting for the benefit of
potential, full of unlearning and relearning. I our members. We must include variety to our
personally have learned a lot during this jour- educational meetings like meetings at different
ney. While mentoring a new member I myself locations. Let’s make the meetings more en-
have learned a lot. This has also helped me to joyable and unforgettable experiences.
shape up and be a better person, and a lead- I wish WMC Toastmasters Club the very best
er. I would suggest all the members to regu- in its journey towards learning, leading,
larly attend the meetings and take part in each achieving with togetherness.
and every role. Take part in the competitions
because that is the best way of becoming bet-
ter leader and communicator.

The Well– balanced , intelligent speaker is the
natural leader in any group of which he is a part

Dr. Ralph Smedlley

09

Message from President

TM. Manoj Kumar Pandey

Dear team, our first term itself, now it is our responsibility

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity, to provide them a platform which keeps them
on behalf of the WMC Toastmaster club Exec- motivated and inspired throughout their jour-
utive Committee 2017-18, to wish you all, a ney. We will put a special emphasis on nurtur-
happy, healthy and prosperous toast master- ing their capabilities and creativeness by hav-
ing Year! ing a deeper involvement with our new mem-
I am honored and humbled by the opportunity bers. We have to ensure that mentor and
to serve as President of this prestigious club mentee relationship is completely followed and
for the term 2017-18. I also consider myself we request our new members that they must
fortunate enough to have such a committed, initiate their communication journey by estab-
responsible and serving team of members lishing a strong bond with their mentors.
who have come forward to join me in this jour- In our ongoing efforts to strengthen our club
ney as the Executive Committee. and members’ skills in particular, I encourage
I would like to thank my previous Executive all, to take active participation in club meetings.
Committee members for their dedication. They Taking assignment with sincerity and learning
provides us a solid ground to nurture our lead- from our mistakes and becoming the better
ership skill. The leadership of TM Anil Menon, version of our own self. Our achievements
TM Abdul Rahim and TM Satish Mudalayil etc from the club only, ensure that we can bring
and their continuing support and helping something worthwhile and contribute in its
hands till now, enhancing our skills to lead this growth.
vibrant club. My sincere thanks also, to all We had a great joint meeting and will have
past presidents, and their ExCom for their more in future too. We will continue to build
commitment, dedication and leadership skills strong relationships with other Clubs on the
in designing WMC as a Brand. island to collaborate and enrich the greater
As we embarked into the New Year, we have learning experience for our members.
planned to continue the strong tradition of A key ingredient to the success of any organi-
WMC TMC events and activities that we have zation is a sense of togetherness. Please re-
built over the years. We also want to take member that this is “OUR Club”. You, I & eve-
some strategic steps, which will position WMC ry one of us who are a part of WMC TMC club
TMC as a more strong club in future. Our goal have to continue to put in efforts to make this a
as a team is to provide a memorable experi- better place for our own growth. “Together we
ence in each of the events for our members can learn, lead and achieve more”
which provides an opportunity to enhance
their leadership and communication skills. We I am looking forward to a great celebration of
will be working hard to provide the best for our learning, unlearning and relearning in our
members as a team. We would not achieve WMC toastmaster club with togetherness and
any of these without the active participation of sweetness of one another, where we all stand
our members and volunteers during each under the umbrella of our Founder Ralph C.
event. So, we would like to invite and encour- Smedley who said “We learn best in moments
age you all members to come forward and of enjoyment’ so dear team keep enjoying and
participate in all capacities including leader- keep learning.
ship in various events.
As many new members have joined our club in Once again thanks to all for accepting me as
your President.

The best way to predict the future is to create it

10

DTM. Dr. Babu Ramachandran

Founder President
WMC Toastmasters

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

"Babu ,when you move to Bahrain look up plined set up ,not to forget the warm welcome
Toastmasters. " of the Manama Toastmasters. Realization
"Toastmasters???What's that? Some good eat- dawned on me that I was just an infant on the
ery " shores of the ocean of communication and
"No Babu ,it's an international organization leadership which stretched out in front of me.
helping people to improve their communication "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the
and leadership skills. See I am an ATM". first step"-This famous Chinese saying is a fa-
"Gopi ,the only ATM I know is the one at the vourite of mine and on April 1 2000 I took my
bank " first step in my Toastmasters journey. Well
The above was a conversation I had in the ear- April 1 was just a coincidence and not because
ly nineties with my childhood friend Gopi during it was "All fools day ".
one of his visits to the capital city of God's own TM Clement Vinayak took up my mentor ship.
country ,Kerala in India from where I hail. Gopi Much water has flowed under the bridge and I
was based in San Fransisco. as I travel down memory lane,I am flooded with
To brag about my friend, Gopi Kallayil which is the beautiful enjoyable Toastmastering mo-
his name, is an ardent toastmaster. He has ments that flash across my eyes.
completed Advanced Communicator Silver and I am sure the readers of this article who have
is Google’s Chief Evangelist for Brand Market- come this far might be thinking "What - Seven-
ing and a TED speaker . He featured on the teen years to become a DTM. ? Isn't that too
cover of Toastmaster magazine April 2017. long ? Yes dear friends it's a long time but I de-
I decided to take Gopi's words seriously and in cided at the very first meeting to take things at
the year 1990 I walked into the meeting room my own pace. In today's era where we have
of Manama Toastmasters at the Holiday Inn Fast food, Instant noodles ,Quick fix remedies
(today's Crowne Plaza). A galaxy of well etc. mine has been a journey on the slow lane.
dressed dignified ladies and gentlemen greeted We see Toastmasters around finishing their
me. This was my first introduction to DTM in 18 months ,14 months or even lesser.
"Toastmasters ". Having had my foray in the Projects in the morning and evening at different
field of public speaking in India as a student clubs and then reaching the DTM mark..... I
union leader in university Just a Minute cham- have nothing against this fast track approach
pion for three years (Sorry for blowing my trum- but my advice to budding Toastmasters is to
pet ), enjoy the Toastmasters program and to take it
I sat there in the Holiday Inn thinking - “What at a slow pace.
more can I learn about communication?" The When Toastmaster Nasreen,PRM Division
meeting started and at the end of two hours K .asked me to write on my DTM journey, I
I was literally blown away with the inspiring pondered-what advice can I give -To be a tor-
speeches ,the impromptu comments ,the disci toise or a hare. Well my journey is penned be-
low:

There is no such thing as work-life balance-it is all life.
The balance has to be within you

11

The CC manual (earlier the CTM manual) is a Toastmaster A.S. Jose pushed me to take up
wonderful guide. Before attempting any speech the role of founder president of WMC Toast-
I read the project details at least five times. I masters club in 2003 and there began my lead-
think of various topics and analyse each of ership track in Toastmasters. Slowly I bid good-
them .Will it meet the objectives ? And interest- bye to my mother club and took up the task of
ingly I am able to close in on two to three top- building WMC which is now my home club. I
ics. After choosing what I feel is apt, I keep the hibernated from project speeches but took on
rest for a later date. Discussing with the mentor the mantle of Area Governor and marched
is of prime importance and I have done it. Un- ahead.YLPs, Speech crafts and my HPL pro-
fortunately I feel that the Mentor-Mentee inter- ject gave me a lot of confidence and honed my
action is on the downward trend today. leadership skills. I continued the ACB journey -
again in the slow lane till 2015 when our club
On the 9th of June 2017 (which incidentally president MTM Roshni Pinto woke me up with a
happened to be my birthday (don't ask me my jolt. She insisted that I should put on my boots
age because age is just a number ),I at- and reach the DTM mark.
tained my DTM. In the presence of a fifty plus
gathering I delivered my final speech. I was par- I started focusing on my projects. However I
ticular that my mentor DTM Clement Vinayak never never rushed to complete manuals. Tak-
should evaluate me and he gracefully agreed. ing my own sweet time I did each project with
This journey has been long .With gratitude I re- utmost sincerity and to the best of my ability.
call the motivation of my wife Mary and children During this journey I was fortunate to be de-
Deepak and Gautham who have been support- clared as the FIRST PLACE WINNER AT THE
ive and a source of encouragement for me. I INTERNATIONAL TAPED SPEECH CONTEST
also bow down before each and every WMC CONDUCTED BY TMI IN 2004.When I went on
member ,my well wishers from Manama Toast- to the stage at Reno Nevada in front of a two
masters club and many others who have played thousand strong crowd to receive my plaque
a significant role in moulding me into what I am from the TMI President I thanked the Almighty
today. for taking me there. (Sorry ..my trumpet
again ) .My friend Gopi drove down from San
My salute to the founder of our movement Dr. Francisco to Reno, Nevada to applaud me as I
Ralph C Smedley whose words "We learn best received the award .
in moments of enjoyment " echo in my ears

Dear Toastmasters,this is my journey . I have
understood that each meeting is a learning ex-
perience,each assignment is one step forward.
My journey continues....

I have followed the practice of reading the man-
ual for any project speech several times right
from Project 1 of the basic manual to my final
DTM speech.

For most of my CTM (CC) projects ,I have writ-
ten down the speeches ,and rehearsed them
thoroughly before presenting it at the club. I can
proudly say that for the first seven projects I
was the best speaker at the club and that too at
the Manama Toastmasters club - my mother
club which continues to have great speakers.
(Sorry ...my trumpet again). In my journey I also
mastered my impromptu speaking skills having
reached upto the District level in Table Topics
contests.

Do not try to be the best. Just do your best..

12

Club meetings at ease

TM Nazakat Mallick

I would like to introduce the first official mobile app of Toastmasters International designed to
help toastmasters to perform role at club meetings with convenience and ease. This app gives
us an instant access to our club roster and features a built-in Ah-Counter that counts filler
words, also a grammarian function that keeps track of the Word of the Day and an easy-to-use
timer.
Are you ready to use this app!! It is very easy to access this app, just go to Apple store, An-
droid Play Store or visit www.toastmasters.org/Mobile-App but keep in mind, you must be a
good standing member of Toastmaster International. You can use the same credentials to login
to access the Toastmasters website.

You can switch the Clubs if you are a member of more than one clubs. You can see your speech
data and this is only visible to the speaker and those who have used the app in a meeting role.
The club president and vice president education also have access to approve the data for accura-
cy. This is designed to improve our progress and enhance our experience.
For the time being the app doesn’t allow to export the data to members. Data can’t be exported or
deleted. This app is developed by a Toastmaster who knows the requirement for toastmaster
clubs.
Toastmaster international has planned to include more functions into this app. If you want to give
your feedback, please send an email to [email protected] along with your name, de-
vice, operating system (OS) and if you have the solution to the issue.
Make your next club meeting easier with the Toastmasters International mobile app!!!

13

Being Wise

TM. Suresh Karunakaran

I am No Body. Yes! That’s my name. I am 17 steam engine that later morphed into an elec-
years old. I just finished the 12th grade board tric engine graduating into a diesel engine and
exams and like all my friends I am waiting to finally levitating as maglevs. That’s evolution in
get into a good college. For the last two years, a sense but it is always on those parallel tracks
ever since I finished my 10th grade I have been that could stretch to anywhere as well as no-
living a ‘pressure cooker’ life. Not that the where.
years prior to that were any better but the reali-
ty is that the last few years have been truly Am I the tracks, the train or the station? Am I
challenging – no, not just for me – but for my the passenger on the train or one of the hun-
parents, too. dreds of passengers waiting for the train? Apart
from all this conjecture, let me tell you. I know. I
Hi! I am Yes Body (the other twin of No Body) know because I am Some Body – so I am sup-
Let me bring into perspective what No Body is posed to know – that’s what my parents keep
trying to convey. The pressure is to conform. telling me. But the reality is quite different.
The pressure is all about being successful. Not
just being successful but being more success- Meet my friend Any Body.
ful and better than other children. The endless
comparisons, the abject surrender to notional Any Body is lucky. He is a non-conformist. If I
thoughts about what is best for us and the trials ask him: Am I the tracks, the train or the station
and tribulations of having to qualify. All these or one of the passengers. He will tell me: You
and more make me question the validity of ex- are all this and more. You are the journey and
ternalizing education and internalizing qualifica- the destination. So Go! But to go - Just let go.
tions. The more I am forced to qualify, the more
I am alienating myself from education. Honest- At this point Every Body just takes over the
ly, I am confused. I don’t know who or what I conversation. This he believes is his right. He
am. can barge in make his point and exit. He has
not understood what we are discussing. He has
Wow! Finally Yes Body is speaking the truth. no interest in knowing what we are discussing
He is confused. But not I. I am never confused. but he does have an opinion on that fragment
I am Some Body. I know. I am caught in the of a contextual conversation, that he stepped
paradox of parallel pathways that stretch to- into and now wants to dictate – leaving us none
wards eternity. Earlier, I could have been a - the wise or other-wise.

Doubt is good-it means you are searching for truth. Suspicion is sickness

14

Now, it’s time for me to have the last word. I am No Body.

I have been part of this conversation, from the Let me come back into this discussion. I started

very beginning. In a fashion, I initiated this, but it. Let me conclude. I am now happy being No

then let No Body, Yes Body, Some Body, Any Body. I don’t want to be my twin – Yes Body. I

Body and Every body have their say. don’t want to be Some Body. I can never be

And what were they discussing? They were Any Body. I also don’t want to be Every Body.

discussing in length about being successful I am what I am. I am finally free of having to

and being happy. About entering a new world conform to perceptions, free to explore and ex-

of un-limited opportunities with their limited plode, free to ingest, digest, invest and divest

knowledge and even more limited education. without giving thought to the myriad possibili-

So let me begin from where Every Body exited ties of being one with the thought of precon-

leaving everybody confused about Being Wise ceived minds extrapolating ideas that tell us

or Other-Wise. that success is the ultimate goal. So let me

now start to explore life on my own terms. Let
I am otherwise Wise but still Other-Wise. My me be happy and I am sure success will want
question is why is this premium on being Wise.

to be with me.
If wise is equal to wisdom, then lack of wisdom

should be being Un-Wise but never otherwise. Wow! Those are great words from No Body.

If we accept this premise, then in effect Other- And with that ‘I’ take leave.

Wise is in all probability parallel to Wise. This Now, you might wonder who is this ‘I’?

leads us to the critical question: Why are we I am. I only reflect what I am.
leading our children to be Wise. Why can’t they

------------------------------------------
also be Other-Wise and be happy and suc-

cessful and never be shamed as otherwise.

15

DTM. Rekha Utham

Pathway Ambassador
Division K

Communication after breathing is probably es. For the first time in recorded history a mes-
what makes a species alive. All living creatures senger pigeon delivered the results of the first
communicate in some form or the other. While Olympiad in 776BC. The establishment of the
most species have limited growth in communi- first library by the Greeks also became a mile-
cation Homo Sapiens or humans are one spe- stone in the history of communications. To-
cies that have fine-tuned communication to suit wards the end of the BC period systems of
the anthropological, technological, social ad- long distance communications were an estab-
vancement that mankind has made. The first lished system. Around 200 to 100BC human
means of communication was the human messengers on foot or horseback with relay
voice. So shouting to make oneself heard was stations built were a common sight in Egypt
a form of communication. This proved to be and China.
inadequate if the distances were great and if It was in 14AD that the first postal service was
one wanted to confirm details of what one established in the western world by the Ro-
heard. mans. Even though this was the first docu-
The Kish tablet, discovered in the ancient Su- mented service such services were in practice
merian city of Kish, is considered to be oldest in China and India much before that. Ancient
form of written communication. Dated to 3500 Persia had its own legitimate postal system as
BC, the tablet is a prototype of the cuneiform early as 550BC, however it was used more for
signs to emerge later. Basically they were sim- intelligence gathering and relaying messages
ple symbols that conveyed meaning by its pic- from the King.
torial resemblance to a physical object. The China forged ahead in its pursuit of efficient
Egyptian Hieroglyphs, which date back to means of communication with their well-
around 3200 BC were also along these lines. developed writing and messenger systems. In
Rest of the world saw written language around 105AD when an official named Cai Lung sub-
12,000BC in China and 600BC in the Ameri- mitted a proposal to the emperor suggesting
cas. using “the bark of trees, remnants of hemp,
The first system to not use pictures as symbols rags of cloth, and fishing nets” instead of the
was the phonetic system where the symbols heavier bamboo or costlier silk material the
represented the spoken sounds. So the origin Chinese were on their way to inventing paper
of most of the modern alphabets which we are and paper making. The Chinese followed that
familiar with was from here. The early Canaan- up sometime between 1041 and 1048 with the
ite population in 19BC and the Semitic commu- invention of the first moveable type for printing
nities in 15BC which lived in Central Egypt still paper books.
had remnants of this system. This Phoenician Are we truly communicating or are we just lis-
system of communication was later picked up tening to our own voice? Was the eagerness to
by the Mediterranean states. In the 8th Century improve communication meant to end up in
BC when these symbols reached Greece, the such apathy in communication? It is time we
Greeks altered it to suit the Greek oral lan- started thinking.
guage. The addition of vowel sounds and hav-
ing the letters read from left to right were the
contributions the Greeks made to written com-
munication.

Once messages could be preserved the next
challenge was to communicate across distanc-

16

Chinese inventor Bi Sheng was credited with the world of colour. The foundation for the
developing the porcelain device, which was invention of electric telegraphy was laid by
described in statesman Shen Kuo’s book inventors Joseph Henry and Edward Davey.
“Dream Pool Essays.” He wrote: In 1835, both had independently and suc-
“…he took sticky clay and cut it in characters cessfully demonstrated electromagnetic re-
as thin as the edge of a coin. Each character lay, where a weak electrical signal can be
formed, as it were, a single type. He baked amplified and transmitted across long dis-
them in the fire to make them hard. He had tances. Samuel Morse developed the
previously prepared an iron plate and he had Morse’s code which communicated across
covered his plate with a mixture of pine resin, oceans and its special feature was the sys-
wax, and paper ashes. When he wished to tem of signal induced indentations that corre-
print, he took an iron frame and set it on the lated to numbers and special characters of
iron plate. In this he placed the types, set the alphabet. In hind sight one can see that
close together. When the frame was full, the we were walking towards computers!!
whole made one solid block of type. He then Of course we all know the story of Alexander
placed it near the fire to warm it. When the Graham Bell and the telephone. But what if
paste [at the back] was slightly melted, he someone tried to call and you weren't availa-
took a smooth board and pressed it over the ble? Sure enough, right at the turn of the 20th
surface, so that the block of type became as century, a Danish inventor named Valdemar
even as a whetstone.” But it wasn’t until a Poulsen set the tone for the answering ma-
German smithy named Johannes Gutenberg chine with the invention of the telegraphone,
built Europe’s first metal movable type sys- the first device capable of recording and play-
tem that mass printing would experience a ing back the magnetic fields produced by
revolution. Gutenberg’s printing press, devel- sound. The magnetic recordings also became
oped between the year 1436 and 1450, intro- the foundation for mass data storage formats
duced several key innovations that include oil such as audio disc and tape.
-based ink, mechanical movable type and ad- The world didn’t stop. It marched on to more
justable molds. Altogether, this allowed for a methods of communication efficient, fast, and
practical system for printing out books in a innovative. However what is it that we com-
way that was efficient and economical. municate now? Our opinions if we have any.
Around 1605, a German publisher named Jo- Or else we have become a generation
hann Carolus printed and distributed the “forwarders”. We keep forwarding music,
world’s first newspaper. The paper was called movies, quotes, thoughts, jokes but never
“Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenck- what we are thinking. Or is it that in this bom-
würdigen Historien,” which translated to bardment of communications hitting us from
“Account of all distinguished and commemo- all sides we have forgotten to think for our-
rable news.” selves? Or are we so involved in imposing
The world was truly inducted into the world of our opinion on others that we have forgotten
communication. that communication is a two way street? As
By the 19th century, the world was ready to Tony Robbins wrote “To effectively communi-
move beyond the printed word. When cate, we must realize that we are all different
French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce in the way we perceive the world and use this
captured the world’s first photographic image understanding as a guide to our communica-
in 1822 it was the prelude to exciting times in tion with others.”
pictures, sounds and movies! Then followed
the quantum leap from black and white into

Only if you are peaceful and joyful,, you really enjoy the world you live in

17

RETURN GIFT

TM. Shoaib Sultan

My Office is on the top floor of a Skyscraper in Countless people work under the sun, on con-
Bahrain. Whenever summer arrives, my sun- struction sites, on roads, in small suffocated
facing room starts becoming really hot and my shops and elsewhere- most of whom can’t even
fingers keep reaching the A.C. remote and I afford a fan in their own abodes or now allowed.
keep monitoring my air conditioner temperature. At the same time, many of us remain too en-
It was just the beginning of summer which was grossed in the rat race for designer clothes and
slowly raising the mercury of the island, one day accessories. The severity of the weather affects
while closing the blinds in order to shut out the all of us. While most of us are able to find solu-
harsh sun, I glanced on the adjacent plot where tions, countless people suffer through these
construction of a new building had just started. harsh six to eight long months of an unforgiving
There were 30 to 40 people who used to work weather.
continuously everyday under the sun, sometimes Sometimes we get so absorbed in our own prob-
the heat is so much into their physical vessel lems, we forget to pause and look around. We
that evaporation of their bodily water could be forget to look outside our air conditioned car.
easily accessible from the beads of sweat from Let’s rejoice and be thankful for the countless
their eyebrows. I unintentionally started noticing blessings we have today. But can we pause!
them and became aware about their routine. And let our compassion rule over our mad rat
Sometimes, I noticed that they are taking a race in life? You might have to cut down on one
break with some food which is not at all hygienic of your luxuries to meet somebody else’s basic
according to my perception. There is always a needs or with little care you may have to cut out
shortage of water, accessibility for washroom nothing you might have already been blessed
usage also seemed to me as a huge problem, that you can help others without cutting down
working in odd hours and completely in an un any luxuries from your life to help someone smile
humanitarian world the only hope of ray they out there.
had ,was a wet cloth which they tied and kept Seasons comes and go, even the thought of
around their head & neck, shook hands with the compassion in our hearts may appear and disap-
due, hot, humid weather all around. I don’t know pear, but it’s just someone above our head who
if they have fun in their life there, but even if they may watch us that are we giving in return, what
had, it was not witnessed by me. My heart was we already have as blessings from the almighty.
filled by compassion for these laborers. Unknow- It will be just a little return to fellow humans
ingly my heart followed them and I started ob- which are also sons of same Almighty, so let’s
serving them every day, like a young heart in think about some ways to send return Gifts in
love which has no reason to what it does. whatever capacity we can from the gifts which as
On the other hand, when I observed my life, I am blessings is already be- stowed upon us by the
blessed enough to be able to work and sleep in Almighty.
an air conditioned room, yet I complain about the I remember the great lines from the renowned
weather more than them. I complain when I have Urdu poet Nida Fazli which says
to move out of an air-conditioned car to go to an “Apna Gham le kar kahin aur na jaya jaye, Ghar
air-conditioned mall or a restaurant. I complain me bikhri hui cheezo ko sajaya jaye. Ghar se
for those two minutes under the scorching sun. I masjid hai bahut door chalo yun kar le, Kisi rote
become impatient when the housemaid turns off hue bache ko Hasaya jaye.”
the air- conditioner at home for cleaning. While I Which means,
quickly turn on the AC as the job is done, she “Why we should carry our pain somewhere else,
sweats profusely and yet moves on with her job. We should rearrange our own scattered house.
I whine to my wife when my 21 months old’s per- the mosque is far from home, so let’s do this
sonal paddling pool is punctured, while many in Lets make a weeping child laugh.”
the city just looking for water to drink and finish Hope this will be, also accepted, as a compas-
their essential chores.
sionate prayers and Return Gift !!!

18

Our Shortcomings & Future Plan

TM Bilal Mansoor Hussain

What we did well?

 The entire ex-com was focused not only Shortcomings
on strengthening the membership but also
we were keen about the quality which  With all the planning coming to reality in
the form our great achievements for indi-
would be added to the club by each and vidual members and of course for the club,
every individual through delivering the yet, in the first quarter, we were unsuc-
best. cessful in getting full media coverage, par-

 Our key focus was to tap into the needs of ticularly print-media. However we were
our members, to ensure they achieve the successful in creating good vibes on the
very reason they joined a platform such as social-media mainly Facebook and Tweet-
toastmasters. Frequent follow-ups were er. Our ex-com members were very in-
carried out with the members pre and post strumental and particular about our mem-
meetings, to help them understand and bership strength .We taken all measure to
pave their way to the educational achieve- ensure that Quality members should be
ments e.g. CC, CL, etc. added to club roaster who really brings
values to himself as individual and to the
 We are also weaving the Mentor Mentees club as whole.
relationship by preaching its importance to
our members. Let’s have a quick glimpse into the

 Other than that, there had been active par- Future Plan:
ticipation in Gavel’s club activities, Youth
Leadership Program (YLP), Bowling tour-  Workshops (speech Evaluation, Table top-
ics, humorous and International speech)
nament, Stardust, New Members Orienta-
tion Program etc.  Speech Marathon

 All of this was only possible because we  Family get together
made sure to sharpen our axe by execut-  Club level contest in January
ing hard-work before the scheduled club
meetings.  Joint meetings

 Follow-ups were also made with past club  Media coverage
members to connect with them  Mega event

 Active on social-media mainly Face-  Net growth of 8-10 members bi-annually.
book ,Instagram and Tweeter.
 Consult the Past President Panel to select
the next Ex-com for their better under-
standing of the club culture.

19

Don't WTF our lives TM. Saju Ramachandran

Most of us reach out for our mobiles first thing in the rant, Important & Not Urgent. Push our digital dis-
morning. We read our emails, WhatsApp messages, tractions into the fourth quadrant.
Twitter and Facebook mentions and jump out of our
beds to immediately start reacting to what other

That Facebook picture to comment on, this political
people have said. This in other words is executing a

discussion in progress on Twitter that you have a
to-do list of things that other people want us to do.

strong views on.They can all go to the fourth quad-
We have already started reacting to what other peo-

rant. This will give you time to plan things better and
ple want us to do than establishing our own to-do

move most of the time spent to second quadrant
list and executing the way we want it. What if we

activitiesOne of the podcast that I listen to regularly
spend a few minutes, before getting distracted by

is from Shankar Vendantam. Shankar is an author
digital world, think what we need to accomplish for

who host a famous show Hidden Brain on NPR.
the day. Actor Aston Kucher has a simple way to

Shankar talks about another approach in organizing
handle this. He delebratiley doesn't check his new

our time. Shankar suggests to divide our work into
messages till he writes to everyone what he already

what is known as Deep work or Shallow work. Deep
had planned to. This is setting to-do list for other

work requires high levels of distraction free concen-
people than being driven by others todo list for you.

tration. This is the type of work that will push your
Creative work requires extreme concentration. Alas

cognitive abilities and require uninterrupted though
we have too many things to distract us.

process to deliver quality work. You must have read
about famous authors recluse themselves into the
lonely places to concentrate on their job. Mark
Twain apparently had a cabin s far from his house
to let him write undistracted, his family members
had to blow a horn to catch his attention. JK Rowl-
ing too worked out of a hotel too to finish Harry Pot-
ter. You cannot multitask while you are engaged in
deep work. Shallow work is not so demanding and
can be performed while distracted. This includes
most of what we do including our digital distractions.
Famous author Stephen Covey's Time Management The key is to understand what is deep and what is
Matrix could help us fight this problem. This matrix shallow and give undivided attention to the tasks
helps us classify activities that deserve our attention that are important.
to four different quadrants. The smart one among us
would want our activities to be in the second quad-

"A seed grows with no sound but a Tree falls with huge noise. Destruction has noise..

20

Discovering the self

Manoj Kumar Pandey

Heat was a profound puzzle in the early 19th
century. Everyone intuitively knew that a hot ob- cial, and historical. Biologists have tipped their
ject cooled to its surroundings and a cool object hats to the genetic code (a matter of mole-
likewise warmed up. But a comprehensive theo- cules); brain scientists to neural activity.
ry of how heat really worked eluded scientists,
as it had to explain some weird happenings. Hot While theories and explanations are useful, also
things expanded; cold things contracted. Motion of enormous value is having direct, hands-on
could disappear into heat. Heat could spark mo- access to who we are as human beings—to be-
tion. When certain metals were heated, they ing able to actually impact our actions, to
gained weight, therefore, heat had weight. Early change course should we so desire, to be the
explorers into heat had no idea that they were authors of our own lives. The single biggest
investigating temperature, calories, friction, stop to having this kind of access is one
work efficiency, energy, and entropy—all terms of identity ,the “who” it is that we consider our-
they were to invent later. selves to be, coupled with the impulse we have
to cling to and defend whatever notion of our-
And so it is today with explorers who are at- selves we already have. How we “arrive” at our
tempting to come to grips with the elusive self- identity is mostly inadvertent—essentially built
conscious “I”—to provide some insight into just from a series of what we see (consciously or
what exactly goes into the nature of being hu- not) as failures to do or be something. When
man. From fields of philosophy, brain science, these “apparent” failures arise, we make deci-
anthropology, linguistics, psychology, etc., peo- sions about how to compensate for, respond to,
ple are actively investigating, inventing, and and accommodate ourselves to them. So
picking through strands of disparate evidence. whether it is one or 10 or even 40 years later,
For most of us, “I” is positional (“you” are there when something inconsistent with how we see
and “I” am here), a location in time and space, a ourselves occurs, we still hold on to that with
point of view that accumulates all previous ex- which we’ve identified— leaving us no power-
periences and points of view. Does this “I” pre- ful way to be with whatever is going on.
sume a substantial entity located inside our
bodies, or is it located in our minds, our fami- The degree to which our behavior is filtered by
lies, job titles, Facebook profiles, bank ac- our identity goes unrecognized—the default fil-
counts—those trappings that help us maintain ters then set our values; bestow meaning; de-
the meanings and understandings that we have termine the aims, limitations, and purpose of
up ’til now considered ourselves to be? our daily life. They become “us,” they are “us”
and we only get what they allow—obscuring ac-
Theories abound. Sherlock Holmes was said to cess to ourselves and to what’s really possible
sometimes look for the logic of human behavior in being human. Unless the identity factor is ad-
in plumes of pipe smoke; Shakespeare thought dressed, the answer to the question, what does
people became themselves through action and it mean to be human, gets looked at only
dialogue; Darwin saw human activity related to through that lens. But stepping outside of our
that of apes, albeit slightly more clever; Freud identity isn’t so easy—as it’s achieved a certain
attributed the development of self to a cauldron density throughout our lives—it is all we know of
of drives and motives of which we are largely ourselves. The idea that another whole idea
unconscious. The Bhagavad Gita attributed hu- of self is available can be disconcerting,
man behavior to our attachments to our false or Invalidating. In setting aside “all the usual things
temporal selves in our material world. Philoso- that gave us an ‘identity’—the accident of our
phers Heidegger, Sartre, and Husserl thought time and place of birth, the accident of being a
the self’s way of existing to be a function of their human being rather than a dog or a fish—we
involvement in worldly activities—physical, so- become aware that this so-called self is as arbi-

21

as our name. It’s like standing over an abyss, times demonstrate in our programs, is when we
recognizing that ‘I,’ as we know it is not an ab- ask somebody who considers themselves very
solute.” But it is here, with this recognition, uncoordinated to play a game of catch. We
where transformation occurs. throw them the ball, and as expected, they don’t
catch it. When we change the game and ask
Transformation does not merely change our ac- them to just call out which way it’s spinning,
tions; it uncovers the structures of being and they think of themselves as fully able to make
interpretation on which we are grounded. This the call accurately, and at the same time they
revealing of ourselves to ourselves occurs in a (inadvertently) catch each ball. Changing the
profound way that can alter the very possibility game alters the way it “occurs” for the player.
of what it means to be human. And while trans-
formation is not an event, there is a definite be- In each of these examples, what people
fore/after quality to it. Transformative learning are saying to themselves (how the world
gives us an awareness of the basic structures “occurs” for them) results in two totally different
within which we know, think, and act in the outcomes. Occurring is a phenomenon that
world. This shift does not rid us of old contexts, arises in language. Language is far more than
it simply stops defining who we are. just a tool that describes or represents reality.
To know the power of language, other than
mere words, essentially requires a transfor-
“I am” is the language of identity. “I occur,” on mation from knowing ourselves as who we have
the other hand, kind of jolts that perspective, considered ourselves to be (our identities), to
orientation, and notion of ourselves. Each mo- knowing ourselves through language. We shift
ment’s meaning happens inside of the back- in the way we define ourselves—not merely in
ground of understanding against which it oc- the way we think about our definition of self, nor
curs. The phenomenon of occurring begins to merely in the way we believe our self to be, but
reveal and dismantle what we might normally in the actual experience of who we are as the
have attributed to a “cause-and-effect” model or one who defines who we are. Who we are is
a just “the way things are” model of thought. But fundamentally a conversation—a phenomenon
we don’t act out of what is there or what we of language, created by our words—by our say-
know, or a cause-and-effect model—we act out ing.
of what “occurs”—our actions are directly corre-
lated to how the world occurs for us.
When identity stops being something that is
fixed, real, or just the way it is, there is this abil-
For example, if the world “occurs” to us that it’s ity to generate possibility. It’s worth seeing the
important to win, we take a lot of risks (we can’t difference in what an identity gives versus what
win if we don’t); if the world occurs for us that it possibility gives. Identity gives a “condition” in
is important to avoid losing, we take very few which life occurs. Possibility is a “clearing” in
risks (as we can only lose by taking risks). How which life occurs. Possibilities are generated;
the world occurs gives two totally different kinds conditions are by default. When we recognize
of lives. Renowned physicist Richard Feynman that we are not our identities, and the space of
wrote that two mathematically equiva- nothing becomes available, who we are can
lent formulations can “occur” unequal. People show up as itself. It is from nothing that we have
investing their money who are told they’re likely the space in which to create. From nothing, we
to lose money every 30 years, invest differently can create something we know we created, so
than if they’re told they have a 3.3% chance of we don’t get stuck with what we create, be-
losing a certain amount each year. Same math, cause we can again create something else.
but occurring differently. Transformation leaves us with the presence of

choice—no more, no less. The actual choosing
Another great example of this, as we some- remains of our own making.

You can be socially smart but Existentially stupid.

22

My Passions (Part-1)

TM Anitha Sam

Meow…………..Meow…....…… Meow………… would go again! I had him for 10 long years
“I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little and he was the first cat I had as my own pet.
by little, they become its visible soul.” Then I moved to Dubai, one day I was out for
my grocery shopping and it was at that propi-
tious time that this beautiful half grown Abnysi-
My strong bond with cats started from a very an mix kitten bounded up to me and started
young age. We didn’t have any pets while mewing and rubbing itself on my legs! He was
growing up but there was something about so gorgeously coloured pure black and pure
these mystical creatures that I was besotted white. I carried him in my arms and brought
with. Maybe it was growing up with cartoons of him home. I called him Zorro because he
Tom and Jerry or Sylvester the cat – whatever looked just like the mask of Zorro.
be the reason, I loved them! To call them one
of my passions is as befitting as my story will Again a great bondage grew between us and
reveal. I remember following cats and kittens even brought him to Bahrain on the flight. He
around the place we lived in and would wait for was more human than any cat can be because
a propitious moment to carry them to the front both of us would play hide and seek and he
of my flat and when my mum used to open the would always be on my lap and sleep with me
door, I would say, “See Mummy, there is a cute as a child in my arms. I had bought him 2 toy
kitten here! Can we please keep it?” And my rats which he would throw up in the air and
mom who is also a pet lover would feel sorry then catch it as it fell. He would surprise me
and we would feed it and play with it, left to my every day when I came home as the 2 rats
hearts content. Then later in the day, my dad would be neatly kept side by side his food
would come home and say those dreaded bowl! Almost as if a human being had kept
words: “The cat will have to go.” And then them there but there was no one except Zorro
would start my tears and tantrums but my dad’s and me in that house.
stance was firm. I would plead with him again
and again – one reason my dad always wanted One day, when I was dressing up for one of my
me to be a lawyer! By night fall, with the kitten’s trips, I accidentally stamped his tail and he bit
mewing and my crying, my dad would propi- me on my leg. I bled profusely but I dressed
tiously come to me and say:” If that kitten does the wound and continued my trip to Abu Dhabi.
not go out, you will! With a heavy and sad By noon, my legs were swollen and red and
heart, I would take the kitten back to its rightful went to a nearby clinic and the doctor asked
owners. This bitter sweet events went on for me if I was sure it was a cat coz the wounds
several years but with the same outcome. looked more like I was attacked by a tiger! With
antibiotics, she told me to go back to Bahrain
Life went on and we settled down in Bangalore as I needed care before it turned septic. So the
and one day found a stray kitten who I saved next day, I returned but by this time, the bacte-
from some boys who were ill-treating it. I ria from Zorro’s teeth had gone to my blood. I
named him Tommy. A relationship formed and had to take a sabbatical for 2 and half months
we were inseparable. From a small kitten to a on antibiotics and bed rest before it healed. In
large grown Tabby, I carried him with me eve- the meantime, Zorro died of a kidney failure
rywhere I went! When he matured, he would be which explained the chemical reaction that
gone for days and guess what happened to me must have messed up with his head to bite me.
during that time? Stand by the window and cry Rest in Peace Zorro! You were such an im-
propitiously waiting for him to come home. portant part of my life when I needed you the
Since he was a TOM cat, he would get into cat most.
fights which would leave him all wounded and
scratched. My maternal instincts would make
me tender to him till he recovered but off he

23

The funny part was I still yearned for another best of friends and during his last days, it was
cat and started chasing after stray cats and REX my pug who became his body guard fol-
kittens in Bahrain. lowing him everywhere. When he used to col-
lapse to the ground, Rex would gently nudge
My family and friends thought I had lost it in him up again.
spite of what happened to me.
I was devastated and mourned for days and
Then a few years later, my husbandsurprised weeks and months. Friends and family sug-
me with a beautiful Siamese kitten and we gested I get another cat to replace him but I
called him Theo. He was the sweetest most just could not let go. My husband started ask-
intelligent cats I had ever seen. He grew up ing around and after few months, got me an-
along my 2 Chinese Pugs and always thought other Siamese kitten who looked just like
he was also one of them! Theo. We named him Tango.

He wouldclimb into my arms while applying my Another close bonding took place and before
makeup and wait for me at the door step every we knew it, one thing led to another and we
day after work as he knew my work timing well. have 5 cats in our home now. Tango the fa-

He was a real joy not just to me but to all our ther, Trixy the mother and 3 kids, Theo, Toby
friends and family who would visit. He would and Tammy.
comfortably lounge himself on the car dash-
board while we went for long drives and he If I were to ask myself “am I contented with my
loved it. He was both fearless and brave. tryst with cats?” I would say not just yet!!! I
want a home filled with these beautiful, playful,
And then 2 years later, he was diagnosed with independent, intelligent, funny and such loving
a fatal disease called FIP which he must have creatures! I am very grateful for being given
contracted during birth and died a painful such a variety of cats in my life!
death with lung fluid and loss of appetite and
lack of limb movement. This affects one in a
1000 cats and my poor Theo fell victim to this As I said earlier, “ love cats because I enjoy
dreaded disease. We did everything we could my home; and little by little, they become its
including extracting the fluid from his body and visible soul.”
also putting him on drips but his life was pro-
longed for another 2 months. The saddest part
was he and one of my Chinese Pugs were

Theo with Peggy and Rex

Tango with wife Trixy and
kids, Theo, Toby and Tammy

Tango
Zorro

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Glimpse of Achievements, from 1st term Six meetings

Advance Communication Silver Distinguished Toastmaster
TM Dr. Thuraya Abdulla Juma TM Dr. Babu Ramachandran

Competent Leader Advance Communicator Bronze
TM. Yashodhan Abhayankar TM Manoj Kumar Pandey

Competent Leader Competent Communicator Competent Communicator
TM. James Mathew TM. Bilal Manzoor Hussain TM. Sathish Mudalayil

25

WMC GAVEL MASTERS
Ponnambalam Thirumalai

Counselor

From 2004, WMC Gavel Masters is being mentored under the able guidance and support from
the experienced Toastmasters of WMC Toastmasters Club. WMC Gavel Masters , conducts its
meeting on the Second and Fourth Saturdays of every month from 4.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. at New
Horizon School, Segaya. It is founded on the vision to provide a platform for budding public
speakers to experiment and innovate their ideas and skills and thereby discover their true self.
Every Gavelier here in each meeting is encouraged to become better than what he/she was in
the previous one and thereby to reach their full potential.
The club draws its strength from the relentless support and inspiration provided by Founder
Members, A.S. Jose, Dr. Babu Ramachandran and Dr. Suresh Karunakaran. TM Gayathri Ka-
math, TM Anitha Komath, TM Manohar, DTM Rekha Utham, TM Ganapathy Narayanan and TM
Leena N.Pillai has served as counselors of this club in the past years. The continuing support

from the past counselors, TM Ganapa-
thy Narayanan and DTM Rekha Utham
has been very much helpful in grooming
the gavelliers. My sincere thanks to the
current Excom headed by TM Manoj
Pandey for their assistance in providing
Evaluators whenever needed. I also
thank all the members of WMC Toast-
masters who have contributed their valu-
able time to WMC Gavel Masters as
Evaluators, General Evaluators and
Judges for the annual contests.

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Our New Members

TM. Anil Kumar TM. Shoaib Sultan TM. Faizan Awan TM. Nazakat Mallik

TM. Faizan Riyaz TM. Anitha Sam TM. Sudheej Kumar

Induction ceremony

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New Members Orientation program

28

Youth Leadership Program

Maharashtra Cultural society
20th Oct.- 8th Dec. 2017

Leaders establish the vision for the future and set
the strategy for getting there.
John P. Kotter

29

Bowling Team in Action
Stardust Team in Action

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07/07/2017

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Where leaders are made

Gratitude is an emotion expressing appreciation for what one has
achieved in the journey of life, As gratefulness is an empowering con-

text to live life, associated with increased energy, optimism,
and empathy for our own well being.

The journey of thousands miles ………

Find Us Website :http://603459.toastmastersclub.org
WMo Toastmasters [email protected]

This newsletter became possible with the support of contribution, in the form of articles and pictures, from members and the efforts of the xeecutive oom
mittee. xloquence is the official publication of the WMo Toastmasters olub. It includes official notices and details of activities of the club. However, no respon

sibility is assumed for the opinions of members who have contributed other articles.

EDITORIAL TEAM
Dr Thuraya Juma-TM. Masood Shah - TM. Bilal Hussain -TM. Jefrey Abraham

Design
TM. Sathish Mudalayil