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VOL:01 ISSUE:02 DECEMBER 2014

PICTURE TALKS QUESTION OF RETIREMENT

COVER STORY

FACE TO FACE WITH MIKE RAFFETY LET US DIE ONLY ONCE IN LIFE THE BLUE HERON TOOK OFF THE MALAYSIAN TAKE AWAY WHAT YOUR SIGNATURE SPEAKS ABOUT YOU

PAST EVENTS

THE DAY OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY NEVER LOSE HOPE SOCIAL BUSINESS 15 YEARS LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNICATION

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Meeting Venue: Foodlands Restaurant, Airport Road, Abu Dhabi Meeting Time: 8-10pm alternate Tuesdays

A quarterly newsletter of Millennium Toastmasters, Abu Dhabi. “The bird Blue Heron stands for selfdetermination and self-reliance. They represent an ability to progress and evolve.” - Ted Andrews

President Bijoy Kuruvila 050-3290980 VP Education TM Kuldeep Kaushik 050-1063756 VP Membership TM Dileep Raj 050-6123692 VP Public Relations TM Abdul Nasser 050-6713413 Secretary TM Suresh Gopal 050-6719002 Treasurer TM Jayan Balakrishnan 050-4917028 Sergeant-At-Arms TM Rajesh Babu 050-4685430 Past President MTM Rency Patcheco 050-6611970 Catch us on web http://6664.toastmastersclubs.org Facebook facebook.com/millennim.toastmasters.auh

THE TEAM PUBLISHER TM Bijoy Kuruvila bijoy.kuruvila@gmail.com EDITOR TM Abdul Nasser kpanaser@gmail.com EDITORIAL TEAM MTM Rency Patcheco TM Ahsan Ghori PHOTOGRAPHY TM Abdul Nasser ART DIRECTION TM Abdul Nasser GRAPHIC DESIGN TM Abdul Nasser GUIDANCE TM Sunil D Kottarathil, DTM Disclaimer: Blue Heron is a newsletter by Millennium Toastmasters, Abu Dhabi. The publisher and the editor are not responsible for the writers’ views, opinions and ideas in the articles published here.

www.toastmasters.org

CONTENTS

BLUE HERON - T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F M I L L E N N I U M T O A S T M A S T E R S

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LET US DIE ONLY ONCE IN LIFE

THE BLUE HERON TOOK OFF

THE MALAYSIAN TAKE AWAY

By Abraham Raju, DTM

By Rency Patcheco

By Ahsan Ghori

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COVER STORY

WHAT YOUR SIGNATURE SPEAKS ABOUT YOU

By Rency Patcheco

By Ravi Moosad

MIKE RAFFETY INTERVIEW

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24 QUESTION OF RETIREMENT

By Raj Jhajharia

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THE DAY OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY

NEVER LOSE HOPE

SOCIAL BUSINESS

By Rency Patcheco

By Kuldeep Kaushik

By Suresh Gopal

31 15 YEARS LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP & COMMUNICATION

By Ahsan Ghori

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PICTURE TALKS

GERMANY

By Abdul Nasser

32 NEW FACES OF MILLENNIUM TOASTMASTERS

36 MILLENNIUM TOASTMASTERS’ CLUB AWARDS

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PAST EVENTS 38

DIVISION CALENDAR

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Toastmasters International Fact Sheet Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of meeting locations. Headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, the organization has more than 313,000 memberships in more than 14,650 clubs in 126 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people of all backgrounds become more confident in front of an audience.

Founded

October 22, 1924

Updated Brand August 17, 2011

Leadership Mohammed Murad International President Jim Kokocki President-Elect Mike Storkey First Vice President Balraj Arunasalam Second Vice President Daniel Rex Chief Executive Officer

Benefits

• Clearer communication • Improved leadership skills • Enhanced teamwork • Effective meetings • Increased productivity • Positive mentoring • Complements existing training programs • Cost effective

Number of Toastmaster Clubs Worldwide clubs: 14,350+ U.S. clubs: 8,500+ International clubs (not including U.S.): 5,850+

Types of Clubs

• Community • Corporate • College • Government agency • Religious

Notable Corporate Clubs

• American Express • Apple • AT&T • Coca-Cola • Disney • Google • IBM • Johnson & Johnson • Microsoft • Sony • Toyota

Toastmasters Member Demographics

Gender distribution • 52% female • 48% male Income level • Average member annual household income is $50,000-$74,999 • 30% of members earn $100,000+ annually

Level of education

• 74% of members have a bachelor›s degree or higher • 35% of members have a master›s degree or higher

Toastmasters International Mission

We empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders.

Toastmasters International Values

• Integrity • Respect • Service • Excellence

Club Mission

We provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.

A Toastmaster’s Promise

As a member of Toastmasters International and my club, I promise • To attend club meetings regularly • To prepare all of my speech and leadership projects to the best of my ability, basing them on projects in the Competent Communication, Advanced Communication, or Competent Leadership manuals • To prepare for and fulfill meeting assignments • To provide fellow members with helpful, constructive evaluations • To help the club maintain the positive, friendly environment necessary for all members to learn and grow • To serve my club as an officer when called upon to do so • To treat my fellow club members and our guests with respect and courtesy • To bring guests to club meetings so they can see the benefits Toastmasters membership offers • To adhere to the guidelines and rules for all Toastmasters education and recognition programs • To maintain honest and highly ethical standards during the conduct of all Toastmasters activities.

For more information: www.toastmasters.org Media Contacts: Dennis Olson | 949-835-1305 | dolson@toastmasters.org Suzanne Frey | 949-835-1306 | sfrey@toastmasters.org

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

GREETINGS “KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM ARE THE ONLY ASSETS THAT A THIEF CAN’T TAKE AWAY FROM YOU”.

I am very happy to pen down this message for the second issue of Millennium Club’s newsletter Blue Heron. I certainly hope our newsletter contributes positively to every reader and empowers you to achieve your goals better.

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking is the most common type of social phobia. Some experts estimate that 3 out of 4 people encounter anxiety issues prior to public speaking. Experts are of the opinion that anyone can overcome this fear through preparation.

Mayo clinic, in their website, endorsed Toastmasters program as a means of support for people challenged by public speaking. In this instance I would like to congratulate each and every new Member in Toastmasters international for their right decision to join a toastmasters club.

A person who graduated yesterday and stops learning today will become uneducated tomorrow. This is very true in today’s fast changing world.

Learning, personality development and communication skills are essentially an ongoing process. These are the greatest asset one can accumulate throughout his or her life and may be subjected to no or meagre rate of depreciation. I remember the words of my grandfather, which he used to say many times during my school days - knowledge and wisdom are the only assets that a thief can’t take away from you.

Toastmasters club is definitely a training organization and it provides immense opportunity to its members to learn, practice and develop better speaking skills, better leadership skills and overall personality development. Every man is entitled to freedom of thought as

well as freedom of speech. But his listeners have the right to demand that he speak intelligently, reasonably and honestly if he expects them to listen.

Every man having spoken has a right to listen to others. In other words a speaker should speak in such a way that motivates the listeners to listen and the listeners should listen in such a way that motivates the speaker to speak.

Educate to elevate - 100 days of Education program – an initiative of D20 ExCom 2014-15 – further enhances the members opportunity to learn and develop various skills. Thanks to D20 ExCom 2014-15 for this fastidious program. I am sure that all the individual members will find their decision to join in Toastmasters Club as one of their wisest decision and will achieve their goals effectively and efficiently in the shortest possible time.

Happy toast mastering.

Bijoy Kuruvila President Millennium Toastmasters Abu Dhabi

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MESSAGE FROM THE DIVISION GOVERNOR

GROW WITH EXPERIENCE “GO CONFIDENTLY IN THE DIRECTION OF YOUR DREAMS. LIVE THE LIFE YOU’VE IMAGINED.” - Henry David Thoreau

Dream big and travel towards your dream consistently – one day you can see your dream within your reach.

As the Millennium toastmasters club celebrates its 15th year of the wonderful journey that is Toastmasters, we can see the club capturing heights, year after year, with determination. The people / faces change, but the determination to move towards the dream continues.

As we try to reach for our dreams, we face many distractions - external or internal. They can be in the form of changes, oppositions, challenges etc.

However, if we look carefully, we can see opportunities amidst the chaos around us. Opportunities are everywhere, whether we realize it nor not. But when everything goes wrong, the negative emotions make it difficult for us to recognize the hidden opportunities.

On the other hand, when everything around us goes smoothly, we barely notice the opportunities.

Toastmasters clubs, in their life span, faces many challenges, in terms of effective leadership. Some clubs are guided by many leaders, while many other clubs are at the other extreme, having no leaders to guide at all.

Irrespective of the current challenges a club faces, there are opportunities for all members and club leaders to overcome

the challenges and grow. Spreading awareness, re-establishing the process and reinforcing the core values are some of the key elements that can make a big difference. Leaders who have taken up official positions get an opportunity for one year to sharpen their leadership skills, showcase their talents and make a positive impact among the toastmasters fraternity.

Those who focus on this basic concept will find enough opportunities around.

Half-yearly officers training, educational programs arranged by division / district, valuable knowledge shared through various sources (website, monthly magazine, regular mails, manuals etc) are few of the resources that come to a new club officer’s assistance / guidance.

Toastmasters three phased learning system (Study, Action and Feedback) is applicable in effective leadership building also. As an officer learns his duties from the available resources, putting it to practice in the club by assisting in running the club, and getting feedback from other officers / members, is the way he can learn the best. Considering that toastmasters program is a learning workshop, failure is not something be afraid of – perfection comes with practice. One can find the best mentor (most accurate and reliable) from these direct sources provide by toastmasters international.

Many new clubs thrive and reach higher levels, mainly following the above path.

Initially, it is all about the will to learn and move forward. During the initial stages, identifying our areas of strength is a key factor. Look at these lines from the book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K Rowling: “Play to your strengths.”

“I haven’t got any,” said Harry, before he could stop himself.

“Excuse me,” growled Moody, “you’ve got strengths if I say you’ve got them. Think now. What are you best at?”

Wisdom comes from experience.

Experiences teach us lessons of life. Most often the hardest experiences teach us the most powerful and transformational lessons. Many successful leaders we admire today, have emerged from some of the hardest situations they faced in life. Tough times will pass, but the lessons that these moments teach us, shall remain with us, to take us to the dreams we carry.

When times are tough, you must be tougher. Don’t pray for an easy life; pray for the strength to endure a tough one that leads to greatness. Keep growing with experience.

Sunil Kottarathil, DTM Division H Governor (2014-15)

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MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR

CHALLENGE YOURSELF including TM Rency Patcheco and our club officers, with a wealth of personal and professional experience and everyone returned infused with confidence and enthusiasm. Glimpses of those experiences are the highlight of this newsletter.

DTM Abraham Raju has more tips on how to live life to the fullest in his inspiring article, while TM Kuldeep, through his article encourages you to be optimistic and dedicated. He also reinforces the importance of hard work and patience for a successful life.

“GOOD IS NOT GOOD WHEN BETTER IS EXPECTED.” - Thomas Fuller

Expectations demand you to push your limits. Sometimes it gives you immense energy to do something better than what you have done already. When you strongly believe that what you are doing is for a good cause, you will surely do it from your heart. And you will always challenge yourself to do better by pushing your limits further.

In the fast paced world of today, each one of us faces a myriad of challenges on many levels, personal, professional and social. It has become an absolute necessity to equip ourselves with all the ammunition like self confidence, courage and competency, so that we become capable of facing these challenges. One way of doing this by recognizing those opportunities that helps in building these qualities and grabbing them.

I grabbed one such opportunity when Sunil Kottarathil, DTM, invited me to attend an interactive session with Mike Raffety, DTM, PID, at Abu Dhabi Men’s College. Mike Raffety, who can be best described as the encyclopedia of Toastmasters, enriched all present,

Whether you are successful or not, your signature can speak a lot about your character. TM Ravi Moosad, in his article, claims that a well-trained graphologist can identify more than a 100 personality traits from just a single page of handwritten letter.

For all who missed the action at the Toastmasters International convention that was held at Malaysia, TM Ahsan Ghori shares with us his personal experiences of the journey and the event in his inimitable and humorous style.

As long as you are mentally and physically fit, your age should remain just a number and not a signal for retirement, says Raj Jhajharia, in his article on the age limit for retirement.

Till you retire from life, challenges are inevitable. Expectations will push you to move forward. Do the unexpected, challenge yourself and excel in whatever you do.

Abdul Nasser Vice President, Public relation.

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WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE FIRST ISSUE OF BLUE HERON

“Without hesitation, I can state that the Blue Heron is the best toastmasters’ magazine I’ve seen in all these years.

In fact, it easily gives the TMI official magazine a run for their money. Among the striking features that really make this magazine standout include the uncluttered layout that aids easy reading and apparently having followed the colour swatches of the TMI brand , the brilliant photography by TM Abdul Nasser and the amazingly creative illustrations, again all from the creative genius of the editor TM Abdul Nasser.

Obviously all of that cannot make a successful magazine if it did not carry appropriate content; and indeed, the magazine was filled with rich and varied content like interviews, events coverage, club news, dates to remember, and of course members’ articles.

Let me congratulate all the editorial team members and the talented contributors and of course the guidance team consisting of the redoubtable Division Governor DTM Sunil and the indomitable Ex-President MTM Rency in particular for this landmark achievement. I am sure the club will live up to the daunting task of sustaining this great start and producing the magazine regularly with quality to match.”

TM Manmohan Sreedhar

Past Area 23 Governor (2013-2014) “I was truly mesmerized with the final newsletter. Simply amazing, truly outstanding! Millennium Toastmasters Club newsletter BLUE HERON is a masterpiece of its own. The right blend of creative design, pleasing layout, rich contents and above all, the correct use of Toastmasters brand elements, makes this newsletter a unique one. So pleasing to the eye, that page after page, the newsletter elevates the reader to an enthralling reading experience! Keep conquering new horizons of creativity”.

TM Sunil Kottarathil, DTM

Division Governor (2014-2015) “Fantastic take off “Blue Heron”! Keep Soaring High!! Best Wishes”

TM Bharat Mehta

Past Division Governor (2013-2014) “It’s easily the best newsletter I have ever seen in Division H. I really loved the beautiful, super clean, clutter-free design and the creative use of Toastmasters branding. The content quality is also on par with the outstanding design which is comparable to any international magazine. Kudos. Keep up the great work.” ​

TM Ravi Moosad

Area 23 Governor (2014-2015)

“It’s all good. Please lower the standards, you are making it difficult for other clubs”.

TM Derick D’Souza

Division Manager- Marketing “One of the best opening ceremonies (curtain raiser made justice to the real show definitely). All your efforts have come true today, best of luck for a bright future.”

TM Shivprasad Gowda Past Area 23 Governor

“What did I think of the First issue of the Blue Heron? In a word – Refreshing!

The External layout itself – Cover page as well as the poster at the back – speaks volumes on the energy, enthusiasm and sheer genius of the entire compilation.

Blue Heron’s unique font has become its brand logo and it promises to be a major branding support for Millennium Toastmasters for a long time to come.

Moving on to the inner pages and the content – dare I say, every page presented a treat for the eye. It began so professionally with the Presidents & Area Governor’s message and then the Editor’s note. This was of course preceded with a colorful & eye catching index! Every article

had a message that came from the writer’s heart and reached out to the reader. The illustrations that accompanied each article make the content come alive.

A massive round of applause to the photography – this just takes the cake!

With every Millennium TM or Gavel article, photographs that came with it were simply exclusive. There was a signature of perfection all over. Truly, this is the case with the last article that spoke of Kashmir through the lens – Picture Talks.

Only areas of improvement I could spot was the proofreading needed on some of the articles. At some points the sentences were poorly constructed and this could have been done in much better ways.”

MTM Rency Patcheco Past President

“Soar high and keep the momentum going.

Great job. Congrats. Loved it.”

TM Ahsan Ghori

Past VP Education (2013-2014) “I could imagine this newsletter would become really the most awaited thing by the Millennium Toastmasters.

Congratulations for the official launch of it.”

TM Zaini

“TM Abdul Nasser you have done an awesometically, fantastically, fabulous job.

Each page showed the dedication you have put in the creation of this newsletter.

One is truly dedicative when he shows the dedication to work where he is not getting only reward except only appreciation.

Millennium Toastmasters Club you are leading every possible way to do the PR campaign and it is in international standard.

Your standards are high. I feel every other toastmasters club follow your footsteps”

TM Jean Zibbin

“WOW!! TM Abdul Nasser did a great job.

Such a fantastic newsletter. The whole club is proud of this newsletter. Congratulations to all those who contributed to make this happen, especially the Excom. We, the Millennium TM Club could reach heights we are dreaming, if we go ahead with this level of enthusiasm & passion. Let us work together for achieving the M2016 a true success story. All the best”

TM Rafih Yahqoub

“We should start to have a magazine show.

The magazine is not a club newsletter. This is having the top standard. The appearance and layout and the overall presentation is very good. Keep the good work Abdul Nasser. Great effort.”

TM Jayan Balakrishnan

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LET US DIE ONLY ONCE IN LIFE

By Abraham Raju, DTM

FEAR kills us on a day-to-day basis.

We all are slaves of FEAR in one way or the other. Though people claim that they are brave, there will be some kind of fear with in them. It is normal that we all have FEAR of several things like darkness, devils hiding in the darkness, higher authorities or what will happen in our future, etc.

It is true that FEARFUL people die several times in life. They die because, a) They are upset about what happened yesterday, b) They are worried about what is happening today and c) They are very much concerned about the things which are going to happen tomorrow.

We can find lot of people around us, who are unable to absorb any kind of difficulties in life. A slight disturbance in life mentally kills them.

Whatever kind of fear we have, there is no doubt that it will definitely make us handicapped. It will be a hindrance to our progress in life. It will make us depressed, unhappy, stressful. It will put us into a corner, or even ruin our life itself.

But the question is- do we need to die several times because of these FEARS within us ?

Let us overcome the fear of FEAR with the following tips: BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. A strong belief in your own ability will keep you away from fear.

FEAR FROM DOING WRONG THINGS. Great Philosopher Socrates said “My only fear is doing wrong things�. So let us avoid doing wrong things.

Let us live life to the fullest and die only once in life.

Illu s tra tio n by A b d ul N a s s e r

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THE BLUE HERON TOOK OFF

By Rency Patcheco

You know those doll sets where you have one big doll & you open it and a smaller doll pops out. Then you open that one and another smaller doll pops out – I think they are called Russian dolls. That’s pretty much how Millennium Toastmaster Club’s FIRST NEWSLETTER issue got launched but in reverse order of size – from small to the biggest!

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It began sharp at 8 pm with the Sergeant at arms, TM Rajesh Babu gallantly kick starting the meeting and then handing over to the President TM Bijoy who gave an opening address filled with motivation & inspiration – He announced different kinds of awards for Millennium members and guests. Everyone’s spirit was already on the rise – how can this not get you excited. But then he goes a step further to call upon the VPPR TM Abdul Nasser to present the first newsletter of the club. TM Abdul Nasser began by sharing his account of the preliminary stages that surrounded the making of the club newsletter. He explained the meaning of BLUE HERON and expressed his thanks and gratitude to all the Ex-com members and the support of many senior toastmasters to make this a reality, especially VPM TM Dileep Raj who proposed the name.

While the music in the background

played a dramatic instrumental crescendo, he called upon the current & past division H governors, DTM Sunil & DTM Bharat, two Toastmaster Titans, to unveil the massive package which revealed the cover page of the newsletter – a dashing photograph of DTM Sunil with an interview article included in the newsletter. The same instant, as if to pump up the already exhilarating music, the party pop-ups were released showering a rain of glitter!

TM Abdul Nasser then went on to present, on a slide show, the contents and pages of the entire newsletter which is about 44 pages to give the audience a brief insight on its contents. The 1st issue of the quarterly newsletter has the cover story of our district governor TM Sunil Kottarathil. The issue also contains many interesting articles contributed by several club members. At the end of the presentation TM Abdul Nasser

invited area governor TM Ravi Moosad to accept the 1st printed copy of the newsletter. Towards the end of the meeting, and in order to honour their presence at this meeting, each of the senior toastmasters, past area 23 governor TM Manmohan, past & current division governors, past area 23 governor TM Shivprasad Gowda and our club president TM Bijoy.

Last but not least, all who attended this meeting received a humble ‘thank you’ gift, beautifully gift wrapped with a delicious chocolate and carrying the exclusive logo design of the “Blue Heron”. Nothing compares to celebrating a great occasion than being surrounded by friends and well-wishers in a memorable joyous environment created & co-ordinated down to every detail by each and every member of the Ex-com of Millennium Toastmasters Club. Thank you all.

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THE MALAYSIAN TAKE AWAY

By Ahsan Ghori The minute I discovered that the 2013 – 2014 TMI Annual conference was scheduled to be held in Malaysia, and not the USA as it always had been, something hit me instantly ..... not a brick or coconut, but something equally hard and undeniable! The idea that I could possibly attend a Worldwide TMI Conference after all!! The likelihood of attending this event increased by the day as every bit of logistics fell into place. The dates coincided with my vacation, the air fares to Malaysia were at the lowest and totally affordable plus the entire package seemed to be just perfectly tailor made for me. There was no way I could pass up an opportunity like this & as the saying goes “when opportunity knocks at the door, grab it with both hands & a leg” .... and that’s exactly what I did! Grabbed it & devoured it!

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I don’t care what you think about me but I care how I feel about myself & I will do what it takes to feel good about myself.

On 20th of August I was so excited as I boarded the train to Kochi because my journey to attend the conference commenced with that first big step. I was reminded of the saying “A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step” & literally that was how it went for me.

You’re probably wondering that it is just a conference & what could possibly be so exciting about it?

It was exciting for me because for the first time I was going to any conference all alone. Normally it would be going with a group & sticking with them. I was excited of the fact that I will be among thousands of strange people who had only one thing in common, that is they were all toastmasters. I was excited that I made a decision with no second thoughts & there was no looking back. I took that big step to come out of my shell and out of my comfort zone. Being a shy person, I would always avoid crowds and be on my own.

After joining Millennium Toastmasters Club Abu Dhabi, my inner confidence had grown threefold & I was ready to face my first big test. To be with thousands of people and interact with them was not terrifying but surprisingly exciting for me because the fear of aliens I had harboured till then had vanished somehow. The vanishing act is all compliments to the magic of toast mastering which transformed me to a different person.

Every other person had noticed the change in me since I joined toastmasters, but not me until this conference at KL. I validated the change in me later when I attended the first meeting in my home club after the conference. I demonstrated in front of all my toastmaster club members that I too can do it. I don’t care what you think about me but I care how I feel about myself & I will do what it takes to feel good about myself.

At the conference I was fascinated by the sheer number of people coming together from all over the world at one place, each & every one of them had beaming smiles on their faces.

There was vibrant energy & the atmosphere was electrifying.

Continued on next page >

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EVENTS THAT INFLUENCED ME THE MOST As I stood in the huge winding line to register, within seconds the people standing in the front and back extended their hands & we started talking as if we have known each other for long. I realized the Toastmasters emphasis of communication and I felt at ease. I have never spoken to strangers in years & if I did it was always about asking for directions or just saying hi or hello. I expected that I would go alone and sit in one corner and listen to what the guy had to say, hear some top class speeches, take notes, share visiting cards , make new contacts & come back home. What I didn’t know was the drastic change waiting to happen within me. The least I had expected was ANY “change to happen”!!

He pulled down his pants in front of 2500 odd crowd to free himself of his shyness. I thought to myself that if one has to do something like this, it would require a tremendous amount of courage.

One was a heart rending speech titled “Listen”. It stressed the importance of listening which brought tears to my eyes and as I looked around many were passing through the same emotions as he spoke.

The second one was a speech about her autistic child which I could relate to as I am a parent of a special needs child myself. It was a speech about her autistic son and how her hard work to improve him paid dividends at the most unexpected of times. It urged us to never give up and keep working & believing in our children.

The third speech was a spectacular and unusual one. It was a stunner & I came to the edge of my seat in awe as the whole crowd went Woooooooohooo. The image of the act by the speaker on stage is impinged in my mind & will remain forever.

The first thing that jolted me was when a group of beautiful TM ladies standing behind me in the line wanted me to join them. Suddenly I was in a midst of strangers who were all interested to know about me & toast mastering in UAE.

He pulled down his pants in front of 2500 odd crowd to free himself of his shyness. I thought to myself that if one has to do something like this, it would require a tremendous amount of courage.

They were so comfortable, joking, laughing, patting me as if I have known them for years but in fact I was actually changing colours. I went from red to blue, yellow & then pink and finally settling down to my normal brown & that is when I started feeling at home and all strangers seemed to be very familiar.

All imaginary barriers that I had about people especially the opposite sex went “Wooooooooosh” flying out the window just by being in Malaysia.

Back home during the first club meeting I wanted to share my experience of the KL International conference with my fellow members.

I came prepared to replicate that stunning act because I wanted to test my courage & feel liberated. But during a humour session prior to my speech I got an opportunity to play act as Jim carrey who is known to do weird acts. I grabbed the opportunity with both hands, swallowed & digested it, then stunned everybody into a shock when my pants went down.

The excitement was peaking up as the semi finals contest began.

To hear the best speakers from all over the world, 30 speeches in all, would be an exhilarating experience for a toastmaster. As the speakers enchanted the audience with their oratory skills, 3 speeches made an impression that I would take home.

The dialogue I was required to perform & deliver was all about friendship and love. It went something like “If love is like trousers and Friendship is the underpants, then when your trousers get ripped, the underpants always come to the rescue from utter humiliation”

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I can’t believe myself that I pulled my pants down in the meeting & that too in front of all the top past and present Governors of our Division. That could mean either I had that much guts to do that or I had gone totally insane. I was so inspired & influenced by that performance in TMI semi final contest in KL that I had to do it to experience the feeling. I would say now I feel liberated & so very confident after that act.

Next day while chatting on whatsapp with my friends I told that I was actually shaking after the act. My friend replied “Speaking of experience you may feel weird now but you will gain a fearless kind of confidence like never before & this is just going to boost you to a new level”.

Indeed it has & I feel elevated to the next level. I am glad I did that bold act.

In the finals of the speech contest In KL the international speech winner ended his speech by seeing something in the audience but didn’t know what it was & these very words “seeing something in him” by his friend inspired him to become what he is today. I thought that was a wonderful Inspiring message to share with the entire audience. Sometimes others see your potential more than you do & a little nudge is all that is required.

Coming to the climax of the conference I did another unexpected act as well. Wondering what it is?

I danced to my own tune for the first time. I danced & danced holding on to the shoulders of the person in front and moving in circles like a train.

My journey started in Kochi when I took that 1st step & my journey continues……A journey of 1000 miles…..

A new me emerged, a transformation from the past & looking forward to the future.

Next conference is in Las vegas, USA ………..Do I need to refuel, only time will tell.

Ahsan Ghori Past Vice President Education Born in God’s own country (Kerala) in India,studied in three different states Kerala,Tamil Nadu & Karnataka. An engineer by profession who migrated to Gulf countries in early 1990s to make a living. He began his working life in KSA for as short period of time and for the past 20 years have been working in the UAE. Presently living with his wife & 3 kids. His passion always has been tennis as a sport & also likes writing letters in news dailies, playing with children. Believes in peace & dreams of seeing a world in harmony with peace.

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COVER STORY

MIKE RAFFETY

The Man behind the Toastmaster INTERVIEWED BY RENCY PATCHECO On 30th August 2014, our Division H Governor DTM Sunil Kottarathil, sprang a surprise on all of us by announcing the arrival of TM Mike Raffety the next day for an interactive session with our Division Toastmasters. Who is Mike Raffety?

Well, get this …. Each year at the Toastmasters International Convention, the International President announces recipients for Presidential Citations. This citation is presented to members who have shown continual support and dedication to the organization by helping building clubs, promoting leadership and providing significant contributions to his or her club and district. Recipients of this citation are selected at the sole discretion of the International President.

Mike Raffety was awarded a Presidential Citation in 2014. Not only that, Mike has served as an officer of Toastmasters at every possible level including being on the Board of Directors of Toastmasters International.

I was totally unprepared – how could I interview a stalwart like Mike at such short notice! I didn’t think too much, just pushed myself to get it on!

On a bright & sunny afternoon of 31st August, at the Men’s Higher Colleges of Technology, Mike Raffety arrived to give a short talk on Toastmasters and to answer any questions that the audience had to throw at him.

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COVER STORY First impressions – WOW!! He sure is Tall! … either that or I am unbelievably short!!

Secondly, he was confident, calm, poised and surrounded by an aura of such divine humbleness, I couldn’t help but be in awe of his mere presence.

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M

ike grew up on a farm in Iowa, USA & earned a Major in computer science, with minors in political science and business.

He moved to the Chicago area, did database programming for a year after college, until he landed a great opportunity with the financial derivatives trading O›Connor and Associates. The company eventually merged into Swiss Bank, which then merged into Union Bank of Switzerland, with the resulting company called simply UBS. In 2008, he moved onto Northern Trust, a Chicago-based bank. He earned his Masters in Business Administration from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management in 2000. After graduating, he decided to attend a Toastmasters meeting which he had heard his professors endorse during his program. After hearing a few speeches at that meeting, he returned to the next meeting to enrol in Toastmasters.

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COVER STORY

“WE LEARN BEST IN MOMENTS OF ENJOYMENT” Ralph Smedley

After the session at HCT, the Millennium Excom team managed to borrow him for a few minutes to a secluded place in the lobby to catch his personal point of view on what toastmaster’s means to him.

Me: Is this your first visit to UAE? How do you find it here so far?

Mike: It’s primarily my vacation time but happy to talk about Toastmasters.

It is my first time and its very impressive although it is quite warm.

Me: After reading through your biography, you mentioned you were impressed with a speech and you decided to join. You must have had some idea on what it is that you were seeking personally to gain out of Toastmasters.

Mike: It was mostly internal presentations not customer presentations. But in IT we still have projects and we have to present Projects for Funding, present Project Update reports and Project Closure reports. And in the IT world those are our bread and butter.

Me: Looking back, apart from what you have gained professionally, do you think you have gained something personally as well?

Mike: Oh sure, it’s given me confidence to speak anywhere. I’m on vacation in Abu Dhabi and I’m here talking to you, I could not have imagined doing that 20 years ago. By nature I am a bit of an introvert but I can turn it on for a while as needed, I can become an extrovert temporarily.

Mike Raffety with Division H Toastmasters

Mike: Well, Professional Advancement in being a better speaker and better leader. I was in my MBA program and a prof there mentioned there is a better way of being a better speaker and obviously presentation skills are very important in Business. So that’s why I got into Toastmasters to be a better presenter at work.

Me: But you were already successful at a number of banking firms (UBS & Northern Trust) and you were in the IT section so how much of presentation skills would you have been required to do?

At the same, I would be happy to go back to my hotel room and have a quiet time reading. So I like both.

Me: One last question. Toastmasters often struggle to be regular at TM meetings owing to family & work commitments. How would you advise them especially since they want to be in TM but can’t?

Mike: Get rid of the family! .. no, just kidding. Well you’ve heard of the work & life balance. Well, there is the work, family and Toastmasters balance. It’s a matter of priority. If a person wants to

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get better educated, they go back to school. Toastmasters is just that kind of thing. For people whose priorities are there, they will map time for Toastmasters and their families will understand. And most people will only be in Toastmasters for a year or two. I probably will be in Toastmasters all my life – been in TM for 14 years. I fully anticipate being in TM for the rest of my life. Most people who go to the Toastmasters International convention every year, no matter where it’s held, those are Lifers – they will be in toastmasters for Life.

Their priority is Toastmasters. And yet I too have a priority in Life. Work is important to me and my work understands this.

They give me 2 days a year Toast mastering work. So it’s a blend. You have to assess your priorities & do whatever meets your needs. Ralph Smedley had a saying “We learn best in moments of enjoyment” … and there’s a lot of truth in that.

Me: A few rapid fire questions: What are the 5 values you uphold the most / A principle of life you live by.

Mike: I’d have to summarize this in saying, do what’s right even when no one else is looking.

Mike Raffety with Excom members of Millennium Toastmasters

What’s your favorite sport or hobby?

Mike: Hobby might be Toastmasters, or traveling, and best is doing both together.

Best place in the world... Your place of peace & sanctuary.

Mike: Best place is HOME, but 17 days away may be altering my perspective, lol What would ideally be your next vacation hotspot?

Mike: Vacation hotspot, so many new places to go, but probably Macchu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands That’s it Mike, & cheers. Thanks ever so much, still a little unbelievable for me to have interviewed you!!! And with that, I bid adieu to a shining personality that graced us with his magnanimous presence and time.

Rency Patcheco

Immediate Past President Millennium Toastmasters, Abu Dhabi Raised in UAE, Rency Patcheco lived, studied and worked in Abu Dhabi for a major part of her life. She is a member of the Abu Dhabi Indian School alumni as well as the St. Agnes College alumni in Mangalore. A graduate in Business Management, she completed her Masters in Global Human Resources from the University of Liverpool, UK. Rency is a single parent to her 14 year old son. She loves to read, write inspirational blogs as well as engage in any activity that challenges her and brings out her people skills.

She joined Toastmasters in July 2012 and was immediately inducted as Club Secretary of Millennium Toastmasters Club and 8 months later, she took charge as the VPE and Acting President of Millennium Toastmasters Club. Rency is now looking forward to enjoying the Toastmasters journey from all other perspectives having completed a successful president term.

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WHAT YOUR

SPEAKS ABOUT YOU?

By Ravi Moosad Study of handwriting with the objective of analyzing a person’s character is known as Graphology. A well trained graphologist can identify more than a hundred different personality traits from just one page of handwritten letter. However, the big challenge faced by graphologists now a days is that people don’t write any more. They like to type instead or your handwriting is practically the font that you choose! However, you still use your signature to sign documents and whenever you do it, you unknowingly reveal a wealth of information about yourself.

WHY ANALYZE SIGNATURE? A signature is a snapshot of your public personality and it is central to your identity. You sign several thousand times in your life and you do it mechanically without thinking about it. It’s a stylized form of writing and it usually reveals how you want the world to perceive you. It’s true that we don’t use the same signature always. The signature that you put on a birthday card may be different from the signature that you use on a cheque. Going by the law of common sense, always analyze the legal signature, the one that is used on a cheque.

Graphology is considered a pseudoscience by many. I learned the fundamentals of graphology

as a teenager and did it solely with the objective of impressing my classmates. However, when I started analyzing my own signature, I started getting new insights into my own personality. You too can use this technique to learn more about yourself as well as others.

Now let us see some of the key aspects of signature analysis.

HOW BIG IS YOUR SIGNATURE? The size of a signature is directly proportional to the person’s selfesteem. Analyzing the size is a bit tricky since size is relative term.

Whenever possible, to analyze the size, the signature should be compared to the size of the normal handwriting.

A large signature compared to the normal handwriting means that a person craves attention. It could also mean that he is outspoken, people oriented and outgoing. Significantly larger signature compared to the handwriting also means that the person want to project more selfesteem than is the case.

A medium signature points towards a well-adjusted and adaptable person, probably a ‘What You See Is What You Get’ kind of person.

A small signature indicates shyness, low level of confidence and low

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self-esteem. Sometimes it also could indicate that a person do not seek any attention from others.

married to. The reverse is also true. If she signs her husband’s family name noticeably smaller than her first name, she demonstrates a low opinion of him.

Figure 1: Oprah Winfrey’s extra-large sized signature reveals her high self-esteem, desire to be noticed and her healthy ego.

IS YOUR SIGNATURE LEGIBLE? A signature is considered illegible if others can’t read it and legibility is usually a subconscious choice that you make. An Illegible signature means that you don’t like the people around to see the real you. On the other hand a legible signature indicates that you are very open, straight forward and communicative about your real personality. A very complicated signature indicates your lack of trust in other people.

Figure 2: Current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s huge but illegible English signature points towards a very confident and attention seeking person with a secretive inner personality. The dots at the end of the signature indicates that he considers his words as the final one. It’s also interesting to note that he started using his very much legible and upward rising Gujarati signature in the recent years instead of the English one above which probably indicates a paradigm shift in his behaviour.

HOW YOU SIGN LAST NAME OR FIRST NAME? The way a person signs his last name points towards his feeling for his family or the father figure. Those who are proud their family name usually gives prominence to their surname in their signature. A woman who writes her husband’s family name with prominence indicates her feeling that she is married above her status or that she is very proud of where she is

Figure 3 : Singer Lata Mangeshkar›s great emphasis on last name indicates the high level of respect and importance that she gives to her family

DO YOU UNDERLINE THE SIGNATURE? A simple and straight line under a signature is considered as a very good trait. It indicates that a person is self-reliant and believes in going by the rules. A curly or stylish underline usually points towards an attention seeking behavior. Sometimes you will notice the use wavy or smile shaped underlines which shows the humorous behavior of a person.

a person. A straight line signature usually means that you are cautious and stable minded.

IS YOUR SIGNATURE DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF YOUR WRITING? As mentioned before, a signature is your public personality. If it’s entirely different from the rest of your handwriting, that means you want to project a different personality rather the real one. On the other hand, if the handwriting and signature and very similar, that means you are the same person inside and outside.

Now you have learned some of the tricks of signature analysis. Just observe the signatures that you usually see and try to analyze them. It could be the signature of your spouse, boss, friends or colleagues. Whatever you have learned so far is no way complete and it can hardly give any accurate conclusion about anybody’s personality. However analyzing their signatures could trigger your interest in the subject and definitely will help you to learn about them more than you know right now. Most importantly put your own signature on a paper and start learning more about yourself!

Figure 4: Napoleon’s simple but exaggerated underscore indicates that he is a totally self-reliant person who needs no help from any one.

DO YOU PUT A PERIOD AFTER A SIGNATURE? A single dot that you put after the signature means ‘you have said what you want to and that’s the final word’.

This is usually done by a person who doubts his own actions to reassure himself.

DO YOUR SIGNATURE GO UPHILL? A signature that goes uphill or a rising signature is the indication of an energetic, cheerful and optimistic person. On the other hand a signature that goes downhill reveals the pessimistic and depressive nature

Ravi Moosad, ACS ALB Governor, Area 23 Ravi is an active Toastmaster since 2008 and is currently Area 23 Governor. He is a Chartered Accountant by Qualification and Technology Consultant by profession. He can be found online at www.moosad.com and can be reached at ravi@moosad.com

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QUESTION OF RETIREMENT

By Raj Jhajharia

The other day a friend, soon turning 50, approached me with a volley of questions: How should I prepare for my retirement in the next 10 years or so?

How can I mellow down my current urge of achieving so many things in life, yet unfulfilled? Should I really think of retirement at all, even though I find myself physically fit and mentally productive? Is there a model or formula that I can apply to age gracefully?

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It is ironical that when you are a young applicant for jobs, they look for experience in you, but when you have accumulated vast experience and wisdom at work, they want you to retire from work. What a colossal waste of this experience? These senior citizens, still in good health and overflowing with valuable experience, have to hang their boots. Rejected by the corporate world and sidelined by the societies, these individuals often go into depression and turn into huge liability for their families and governments. Growing number of old age homes is, indeed, scary. Only rare few of them succeed in maintaining their health and mental sanity by indulging in social services and / or interesting hobbies at their individual levels against many odds.

According to a French proverb, «If youth but had the wisdom and old age the energy.» So true! Youth’s energy is like the accelerator of a car, while the wisdom of the old age is like the brakes. Only accelerator will end up in accidents and only brakes will prohibit all movements. You need both the accelerator and the brakes for the safe driving. Why can’t we have a system wherein those aging people, who are still in good health and mentally agile, are gracefully moved into positions where younger lots can benefit from their wealth of experience and wisdom? Universities can be one such place, where academic qualification requirements for a Professor (a PhD) are lowered in recognition of their experience.

Corporate houses can form a layer of senior advisors in various disciplines to guide their younger work-force.

Governments can establish ‘thinktanks’ in various areas, where such senior citizens can guide the young policy makers with their wisdom of the real world. Local communities can set-up centres where senior citizens can be approached by the students

and young parents for their personal and professional counseling.

Having fulfilled all family obligations and saved enough for rainy days, these senior citizens don’t need much of financial remuneration or fancy titles. All they need is opportunity to share their experience and a lot of respects from the younger lot. This would be a ‘win-win’ for all. So long as a person feels wanted, he lives a healthy life. Huge national resources have been invested in building this pool of experience, and it must be kept gainfully employed until the very end.

Notwithstanding the above, there is no single model or formula to age gracefully. Each person is uniquely wired and has unique desires; aspirations; characteristics; values; behaviors; capacities; strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, everyone must find his/her own way of aging with grace. Someone may find happiness in travelling around the world, while some other person may find peace in simple gardening in the backyard.

Someone may enjoy voracious reading & writing, while some other person may find satisfaction in providing helping hands to the needy.

We must follow the laws of nature.

A fruit falls from the tree only when ripened. Any attempt to pluck it earlier would harm both the tree and the fruit. Our desires are like the seeds, which must be allowed to flower and bear fruits. Once fulfilled from the core, the desire would drop on its own, leaving behind a matured person.

Any suppression of desire would turn into ugly perversions harming both the person and the society. Age is not a factor in fulfilling any desire. One may graduate to desires of finding ultimate truth at young age or carry the sensual desires well beyond 50’s.

Whatever may be the case, it is a solo journey, wherein we must remain

conscious of every desire sublimating into some higher purpose, which then becomes the guiding force for our life.

We must not imitate anyone else. We must live our own unique lives. We should let nature take its own course and trust that nature would give us whatever we need at the right time.

Age should remain just a number.

Ernest Hemingway has rightly said, “Retirement is the ugliest word in the language.”

Raj Jhajharia I am a Petroleum Engineer from Indian School of Mines (1975) and a Project Management Professional (PMP) from Project Management Institute (PMI). Previously in India, I worked with ONGC (as Production Engineer) and Oil India Ltd.(as Reservoir Engineer). Since 1981, I am working with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co in UAE. My career is a rich mixture of Petroleum Engineering and Information Technology experiences. Currently, I am overseeing the Risk Management of Oil & Gas assets of ADNOC Group of companies. I was a reviewer and contributer to PMI›s current Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK - 4th Edition) and Project Manager Competency Development Framework (PMCDF - 2nd Edition). I am regularly coaching the aspiring Project Managers to prepare for the PMP exam. Creating new ideas or trying new approach excites me.

Continuous learning and evolving into a better human being is my ultimate goal.

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T H E D AY O F

GREEK MYTHOLOGY

By Rency Patcheco Did you know that Hades, the God of the Underworld, tricked his wife, Persephone, Goddess of Springtime, into staying with him for 7 months of the year, hence causing winter to happen? Did you also know that every month of the Calendar is ruled by a Greek God who upholds certain characteristics and elements of nature? For instance, if you are born in September, this month is ruled by Aphrodite, the Goddess of love & beauty.

I am born in December, a month ruled by Dionysus, God of Wine and Celebrations (hahaaahaa ‌ now that explains a lot!!)

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But the 218th Millennium Gavel Club meeting on 6th September did a lot more than just explain Greek Mythology – they made it come alive.

All thanks to the Sergeant at Arms Gav. Staissy, who was also the Gavelier of the Day for this meeting.

The meeting was promptly kicked off by the SAA Gav. Staissy with the reading of the Toastmasters mission statement. The VPE and Acting President Gav. Vaisakh gave a warm opening and then introduced the Gavelier of the Day being Gav. Staissy.

Of course, I knew Staissy had this entire theme planned and set out about a month ago, but I had no idea she had done such detailed research and preparation into the theme of Greek Mythology.

Since I was aware of the theme, I had announced by email to everyone to turn this into a fun event – take the opportunity to get dressed up in an appropriate costume or equip themselves with a suitable prop

related to any one Greek God that they thought would aptly describe their personality. Now again, I was not aware on how far the Gaveliers would go to make this happen – but when they did turn up for the meeting, gosh!! I was amazed at how well they made the most of their wardrobe & accessories!!

Persephone, the Goddess of Spring time.

Dressed in dramatic black, she spoke of Persephone’s character being Tom Boyish which is what she relates to.

Gav. Alston portrayed Hephaestus, the Greek God of Fire & Blacksmiths.

Gav. Amal chose to recreate Perseus, not a Greek God, but a great Hero in Greek Mythology. Leave it to Gav. Amal to always think out of the box and do something stunningly unique! …. that too, dressed in a South Indian Lungi!!

Awesome stuff, Gav. Amal.

Gav. Sara donned a modern version of Athena, the Goddess of wisdom, who is often symbolized by the dagger. She explained that it is not education or school that determines wisdom but how you react to a particular situation (well said Gav. Sara!).

Gav. Shallon also portrayed Athena but in a more conventional way – a beautiful dress and Greek like sandals to match!

Gav. Ayesha presented a humble yet elegant characterization of

Gav. Nyla was majestically dressed as Athena and spoke of her choice in representing this goddess with equal calm and royalty.

Last but not least, Gav. Nilesh armed with a rather large trident, he became …. For the next 5 minutes … Poseidon, the God of the Seas and Earthquakes.

It was truly a unique meeting and as promised I chose 3 winners, namely Gaveliers Alston, Ayesha and Nyla, with a consolation prize to Gav. Amal for his genius and creativity!

GREEK MYTHOLOGY GODS, GODESSES AND HEROS WERE PERFORMED

BY GAVELIERS

Gav. Ayesha as Persephone

Gav. Alston as Hephaestus

Gav. Sara as Athena

Gav. Shallon as Athena

Gav. Nyla Nasser as Athena

Gav. Amal as Perseus

Gav. Nilesh as Poseidon

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NEVER LOSE

H PE

By Kuldeep Kaushik

A famous best selling author Dr. Norman Vincent turned the famous old saying ’where there is life there is hope’ to ‘Where there is hope there is life.’

Because, as long as you have hope you are never beaten down.

Hope is the ESSENCE of our Life. It gives us courage to continue through struggles, it gives us desire to face another day, it gives us a glimpse of tomorrow & the possibilities that lie in our Future.

It lightens our steps as the road is full of obstacles and helps us decide on the path we take. With hope, we always look to the future with optimism and it helps us to believe that the best is yet to come.

Having Hope is what ends the fear in our hearts. When we focus on hope the bad things become better as hope makes them disappear or seem bearable.

But in our day to day endeavors with life’s struggles we tend to forget the ways to be hopeful unless someone reminds us to be so. There are many ways we can be hopeful in life. We can narrow this down to three simple focus points: 1) BE POSITIVE Always try to be positive in life for everything. If you are expecting a loss think about the profit; if you are expecting pain think about the joy; if you are financially deprived, think about the happiness of earning an income; Feed the positive thoughts in your mind. See the light at the end of the tunnel and be sure that whatever happens it happens for the good.

Be surrounded by the people you admire. It can be very easy for you

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to start believing in yourself when you are surrounded by people who set their objectives and achieve it.

This is a nice way to allow ideas to surface especially about how you can accomplish your own objectives.

Walk around with a smile. Make eye contact with people you meet. Be friendly, pleasant, nice and cordial.

Give respect in order to get respect, Listen to others with interest and finally don’t complain.

Even if you are surrounded by critics, don’t respond to their comments. If possible try to analyze the comments and it is possible that they might give you an entirely different perspective of the situation which may help you to overcome your present situation. Find something positive in the criticism.

All this would help you stay with positive mind-set.

2) BE PATIENT AND PERSISTENT Bamboo Trees are difficult to grow.

Not because they require extra consideration/ money, but because you have to water them for years without seeing any results. In the first few years a Bamboo tree grows just a few centimeters above the ground then in the Fourth year it shoots up exceeding the height of all other trees.

In the same way, goals are set by each and every single individual but only those who remain persistent and show patience can hope to accomplish what they have set out to do.

The path you have taken may be slow and at time might appear to be frustrating. But if you are thoroughly confident that it is in the right direction, it’s much better than the speedy short cut route which could be the wrong option.

Nothing great is ever accomplished without persistence and patience because, in order to be successful, your dreams must translate into work and this takes time, it is not achieved overnight. The people who succeed in life are the people who are willing

to do what they don’t feel like doing.

They are not mastered by their moods, they are mastered by the Master, and they establish their goals and plans according to God’s will.

3) NEVER GIVE UP A famous proverb comes to mind here ‘Winners never quit and quitters never win’

reach your destination!

Never lose hope. Stay dedicated, Stay Positive, keep believing and keep going! When you do that nothing will stop you from making your dream come true! Have Patience! The key to success is not just hard work, but patience as well. Finally, never give up and keep giving your best.

Think about the Star sportsmen and famous artists in various fields, inventions, important medicines and other research works. Do you think these successes would have been possible if the people involved had given up due to earlier failures?

Giving up is easy. Very easy actually!

What takes courage is to hang on. If you begin with something and don›t get the desired result, you ultimately give up. Giving up could only push you farther from achieving your goal whereas hanging on could make you achieve big! You never know where you have reached and what could come your way and make your dream come true.

Give your best at any and every opportunity that you come across.

Pledge to yourself that you won’t give up trying, no matter what the outcome is. Remember, any effort to improve yourself, in order to accomplish your tasks, will not be a waste of time. It would be a Learning Process, you will be putting your best efforts and enhancing yourself to accomplish the task. The only valid excuse you have to give up is if you are dead. As long as you are alive (and healthy and free) you have the choice to keep trying until you finally succeed. You are stronger than you think. One little setback is not enough to stop you from achieving your goals. Neither are 10 or 100 or 1000 setbacks. Don’t ever let anybody tell you otherwise.

You deserve to be happy and you deserve to have success. Keep that mind-set and never give up until you

Kuldeep Kaushik Vice President Education Millennium Toastmasters, Abu Dhabi Born in India, Kuldeep Kaushik lived, studied and worked in India for a major part of his life. He works for Oman Insurance Company, as Asst. Vice President, Heading the Technical Dept of Abu Dhabi Branch.

A Post Graduate in Business Management, he completed his Masters in Commerce and is an Associate Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute, London.

Kuldeep lives in Abu Dhabi along with his wife and his 12 year old son. He loves to read, travel and network as well as engage in any activity that challenges him and brings out his people skills.

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SOCIAL BUSINESS

By Suresh Kumar Gopal Professor Mohamed Yunus and the Grameen bank were awarded Nobel peace prize in 2006. He established the Grameen Bank in 1983 in Bangladesh, in the belief that credit is a fundamental human right and therefore wanted to help poor people out of poverty by lending money on long term basis on easy repayment terms suitable for them so that they can start something of their own to generate income and repay the loan.

Today his concept of micro credit, lending small amount of money to the poorest of the poor, to help them come out of poverty, has helped millions and is operating in more than 100 countries. I would like to draw your attention to another important contribution from him for the society.

Professor Yunus pioneered another concept called social business, which improved people’s standard of living dramatically. A social business is a company created for social benefit rather than any private profit. Investors may recoup their initial investment but no dividends are paid after that. It grows as a self sustaining business. Over the last 30 years Professor Yunus had established more than 60 social businesses in Bangladesh. Let us look at two of the business he had established with two multinational companies for the benefit of society.

Professor Yunus wanted to make sure that the poor especially children wear shoes in order to avoid walking bare foot which exposes them to many

parasitic illnesses in Bangladesh.

In order to do this and yet make it affordable, he formed a joint venture with Adidas to fulfill this need. The sports shoes made by Adidas in joint venture with Grameen, are selling for less than one Euro in Bangladesh.

Professor Yunus was worried about the appalling number of children in Bangladesh whose growth had been stunted because of malnutrition. He wanted to address this widespread malnutrition with a new kind of yogurt that added many nutrients and vitamins, such as vitamin A, zinc, calcium and iodine, which children lacked in their diet. In joint venture with DANONE, Grameen produced a yogurt with all micronutrients added to it and served in a bio degradable cup made of corn starch and selling it very cheap so that even very poor families can buy this yogurt. Once a child start eating this yogurt, within seven to eight months, the child’s growth became normal. So, it turned out that the Yoghurt Company also became profitable and went into expansion of business.

These two examples show how businesses can help society to improve the life of poor people in a profitable way. The general perception that only government and NGO’s can work towards improving people’s life is changing. The social business,which helps society to attain its aim of improving quality of life for all, also generates profits which helps it to continue its mission in a

sustainable way. These businesses, now self-sustainable, have expanded to other territories to help the poor people in those areas. This is different from charity as it only depends on the money made available to meet the purpose and always depends on donors contributions to continue its work. The concept of social business is now spreading into more countries and many multinational companies are jumping into it. This is in turn helping many of the poor people to improve their quality of life and get into the main stream of society.

Suresh Kumar Gopal

Secretary Millennium Toastmasters, Abu Dhabi.

Suresh is working with Nexus as Associate Sales Manager. Has been living in Abu Dhabi with his wife and two children for the last 16 years.

He manages a team of financial advisors and also looks after insurance and investment portfolio for large clients. He has got around 16 years of experience in the industry. Post Graduated in Maths and secured M.B.A in Finance and presently pursuing for CFA level 2. He was the Senior Under Officer of NCC unit of the college and passed out with a ‘C ‘certificate in NCC. Attended many NCC camps including Army attachment and Advanced Leadership Course with rock climbing. Likes to travel and visited more than 12 countries. His other interests are reading and investments.

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15 YEARS LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP & COMMUNICATION

By Ahsan Ghori It was on the eve of millennium year 2000 a TM club was born and everyone welcomed the club like a baby arriving into this world. The club was aptly named as Millennium TM club since its birth coincided with that of the new millennium. It is the second oldest TM club in Abu Dhabi.

Phew………. What a journey this has been, 15 years of growth & still going strong. Millennium TM club has embraced so many members with open arms who hesitatingly walk through the doors to Millennium club meetings & get smitten by the sheer camaraderie that prevails in the club. They come, they rejoice, they learn, they succeed & then they move on with their life with a positive feeling of empowerment.

The club has definitely grown from strength to strength along with its members. In the course of its growth during this 15 years the club has achieved many laurels & is considered to be one of the best in this region.

The founders of this club had high hopes of nurturing the club to become one of the best in Abu Dhabi & the vision and mission continues even to this day with right earnest and is on the right track. This year the target date was finally set to make Millennium the best in the region by year 2016 and all members are playing their roles positively. Within the Toastmaster circle & even outside people have recognized the efforts. It has already become the talk of the town in Toast-mastering circles.

Recently TMI celebrated its 90th birthday & along with it for 15 years Millennium TM club contributed & played its role in the vision of Ralf Smedly, the founder of Toastmasters International.

I would say it has been an awesome journey of 15 years of toast mastering by Millennium TM club.

Kudos….Keep growing Millennium and make better leaders & communicators.

No one stops learning until their last breath.

The message and certificate received from the Toastmasters Intrenational President TM Mohammed Murad, DTM.

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NEW FACES OF MILLENNIUM

Indeewari Jayaweera

Ramasubramaniam

Shaju Uthuppan

Lives and works in Abu Dhabi. A professional banker with over 7 years of experience in the field of banking and Finance. A graduate in Business Administration from University of Colombo. Holder of Diploma In Banking and Finance from institute of banker’s of Sri Lanka and holds Associates Management Accountant title from Certified Management Accountancy of Sri Lanka. She loves reading, traveling, dancing and going to movies.

Living in UAE for the last 10 years and worked with government, semi-Government and private sectors. Currently working as a Lead Consultant in ADI Strategies, Dubai. Graduated in Physics & Electronics and Masters in Computer Applications.

He lives with his wife and 5 year old son.

He is interested in music, movies, English series, photography and self-development (Toastmasters)

Born and brought up in Kerala. Presently working in a multinational inspection firm in Abu Dhabi. Graduate in Arts and Masters in Business Administration. Married and living in Abu Dhabi with his wife and 2 children.

Loves playing volley ball and participating in Marathons for charity purposes.

Suresh Kumar

AKM Nizam

Jean Zibbin S.P

Mr. Suresh Kumar has 22 years’ professional experience in the domains of IT, Strategy, Security, Auditing, Governance, Business Continuity, Finance and Management.

Currently he works for the Abu Dhabi Government - ADSIC : Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Centre as IT Manager and has held roles of IT Director, Chief Information Security Officer, Auditor and others. Suresh received his masters MSc. and MBA from UK Universities, Bachelor’s in Commerce from India and many industry leading certifications. He is currently doing research in pursuit of his Doctoral degree.

He contributes to society as an “Advanced Emergency Response Volunteer” for UAE.’s Crisis & Emergency Team.

Mr. AKM Nizam is a civil engineer with 28 years experience. Specialized in the massive planning and design field under various international consultants and organizations in different countries. With a strong technical skill and leadership back ground in civil/ water engineering field by this time he served his profession delivering numerous projects in various countries. At present he is working as an Infrastructure Design Manager (Water) at Atkins, Abu Dhabi, leading the design division of Water & Infrastructure Department and handling various projects, managing project teams, interfacing with clients, stakeholders. Mr. Nizam has three children.

He hails from a coastal village in the southern corner of India. He did his bachelors in Maths and masters in Computer Applications. He has more than five years working experience in Top Tier IT companies.

He was one of the founding members of Amazon Chennai Toastmasters Club, India and held the position of Treasurer of the club for a year. Photography and miniature making are his hobbies. He is trying to make his own path to leadership.

Luxman Dua

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NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION PROGRAM

The new member orientation program was conducted

by Division Governor TM Sunil Kottarathil, DTM and Area Governor TM Ravi Moosad ACS, ALB at the 383rd meeting. Ravi explained the mission and vision of Toastmasters International to the members. He made the whole presentation truly inspirational by sharing his own experiences as a toastmaster.

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PROMOTIONAL POSTERS PUBLISHED A series of 5 club promotional posters and flyers were published during the last four months. All of them were unveiled by the senior officials from Division H. The softcopy of the posters were then published online.

FIRST POSTER

SECOND POSTER

THIRD POSTER

FOURTH POSTER

BIRTHDAY BASH

The383rd meeting witnessed another fabulous event. The surprise birthday party of the Area Governor, Awesome and Gorgeous TM Ravi Moosad.

FIFTH POSTER

Posters can be downloaded at http://6664.toastmastersclubs.org

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E R U IP CT KS TAL

Germany Through The Lens TM Abdul Nasser

They say a picture speaks a thousand words but there are times when even a thousand and one words would not be able to do justice to certain expressions of Life, rare breathtaking moments that are captured in the blink of an eye through a camera lens!

I visited Germany with four of my photography friends in April, 2008. We were on a charity mission, a photography exhibition of Ladakh and Kashmir pictures, conducted by ‘Gallerie Arte’ of Wurzburg.

We stayed in Germany for two weeks. It was such a great place. The landscape, people and food were incredible. Majestic castles, green plains, modern architectures, clean cities.... Oh, what am I doing!?... Let my pictures do the talking. Enjoy!

To see more pictures of Germany, please visit: www.facebook.com/nasserphotographix

Abdul Nasser M: +9712 50 6713413 Email: kpanaser@gmail.com www.nasserphotographix.com /nasserphotographix

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MILLENNIUM TOASTMASTERS

CLUB AWARDS 2014-2015 Millennium Toastmasters, Abu Dhabi (Club #6664) introduces awards for both Millennium Club Members and members of other clubs, as a token of appreciation and recognition for their individual achievements and contribution to the Club during the year 2014 - 2015.

Awards to Millennium Members

• THE BEST TOASTMASTER OF THE YEAR • ATTENDANCE AWARD Awards to Members of Other Clubs

• WISDOM PROVIDER AWARD • ATTENDANCE AWARD 1. The Best Toastmaster of the Year Award [Millennium Members only] The Best Toastmaster of the year award aims at recognizing the individual member’s achievements and their contributions to the club. It is a recognition for the member’s Personal Development by encouraging active participation in club meetings and other activities. The winner of this award will be selected on the basis of points assigned to each member, for various roles she/he performed and contributions made to the club during the year 2014-2015.

2. Wisdom Provider Award [Members of Other Clubs] Millennium Toastmasters believes that sharing of knowledge is important for the development of the self as well as of others. Sharing of knowledge as well as a keen observation skills are effective ways of self development- ‘Keep company with wise men and you will be wise’. Millennium Club introduces the ‘WISDOM PROVIDER AWARD’ to members of other clubs to recognize and appreciate their contribution to Millennium club and its members. The winner of this award will be selected on the basis of points assigned against each role, for the contributions they made to Millennium Club and for the development of its members during 2014-2015.

3. Attendance Award [Millennium Club Members] The purpose of the award is to encourage members to attend maximum number of meetings. Hearing and observing others are powerful ways to advance towards individual goals, as well as for personal development. The winner will be selected on the basis of number of meetings he/she attended during 2014-2015.

4. Attendance Award [Members of Other Clubs] The award aims at maximum participation of other club members in Millennium club meetings with an objective of knowledge sharing and development. The recipient will be the Toastmaster from any other club, who attended the maximum number of Millennium Club meetings during 2014-2015.

Allocation of Points for selection Best Toastmaster of the Year and Wisdom provider awards.

Criteria Points

Criteria Points

Criteria Points

Attendance 10

Thought 2

Article for news letter

10

TME 10

Ah Counter

Education Session

10

Manual Speech

5

2

Grammarian 2

Competent/Advanced level

Speech Evaluation 3

Mentee Speech

communicator/Leader* 10

Timer 2

Humor 2

Mentors of above TMs

3

Table Topic Master 3

Guests 3

Participating in club Contest*

5

Table Topic

2

Guests to Member

Participating in area contest* 10

Word Master

2

On time payment of membership fee* 10+10

General Evaluator

5

*For Millennium members only

2

10

Participating in Div. Contest*

15

Participating in Dist. Contest* 20

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DATES TO REMEMBER

DIVISION CALENDAR

NOVEMBER

NOVEMBER

NOVEMBER

PR FOR DUMMIES 8:30-12:00 Venue: AL RIMAL CLUB

JUDGES TRAINING 9:00-11:45AM Venue: ADCO TRAINING CENTRE

CLUB OFFICERS TRAINING

DECEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FUN EVENT FASHION SHOW COMEDY SHOW 4-7PM Venue: TBA

CHECK YOUR CLUB DCP STATUS (DISTRICT AWARDS)

TACKLE TABLE TOPICS WORKSHOP 3-6PM Venue: TBA

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CLUB CONTESTS JAN 10 - FEB 28

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FEBRUARY - MARCH

AREA CONTESTS FEB 20TH AREA 9 FEB 27TH AREA 23

MARCH 06TH AREA 11 MARCH 13RD AREA 55 MARCH 20TH AREA 26 MARCH 27TH AREA 2

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9:00-12:00

Venue: ADCO TRAINING CENTRE

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APRIL

17

DIVISION ANNUAL CONFERENCE 9AM-6PM Venue: TBA

Information Source: TM Sunil D Kottarathil, DTM

www.aptcfo.com

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DIVISION H O R G A N I S AT I O N C H A R T NMC Community Inner Universe Kera NBAD One ACIO DULSCO

Abu Dhabi Chapter Achievers Ro’Yah Tebodin Al Riyadah

NMC Corporate Al Ain Mussafah

AREA

2

AREA

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GOVERNOR Raj Sekhar ACS, ALB

GOVERNOR Ana Maria Paler ACB, ALB

AREA

DIVISION

GOVERNOR Swaminathan S ACS, ALB

H

Community Clubs

9

Corporate Clubs

GOVERNOR

Sunil D Kottarathil, DTM

AREA

26

GOVERNOR Romeo Dias ACS, ALB

AREA

11

GOVERNOR Alok Tuteja ACS, ALB

AREA

23

GOVERNOR Ravi Moosad ACS, ALB

Basharia Abjad (Arabic) Intilaaqah Abu Dhabi Refinery Oxy Speakers

Millennium Abu Dhabi ICAI Humoroids Advanced Etihad Airways

DIVISION MANAGERS Education & Quality TM Salwa Al Marzouqi Marketing TM Derick D’Souza Training TM Pratima Mishra

Al Jazira Spectrum ISC ETA Ascon Star FML AD Team Voice

DIVISION AMBASSADORS - GAVEL CLUBS MTM Rency Patcheco 050 6674150 TM Ashit Korgaokar 055 5730709 Information source: TM Sunil D Kottarathil, DTM.

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