TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club Express. Engage. Evolve.
BEYOND BOUNDARIES
COMMUNIQUÉ June 2020
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK Dear Readers, Have you ever heard a success story that did not involve any hardship? I often wonder why we must experience tough times, adversities and struggle in order to reach greater heights in life. But when I expand my vision I realize that the world we live in is full of people who push their limits to make our lives easier with greater inventions and innovations. In fact you and I are communicating via Communiqué right now because somebody somewhere decided not to simply settle where they were, and decided to go beyond their limits and come up with this. The club was doing really well as a new set of enthusiastic leaders took charge and were trying to raise the bar set by previous club leaders. Multiple educational sessions, campaign after campaign, parallel meetings and demo meetings were keeping us engaged while we had planned for a series of events till June. But the rapid spread of the Novel Coronavirus put a stop to all our plans. As Toastmasters don’t believe in stopping at any point, we realized that it was time to push ourselves and go Beyond Boundaries to broaden our horizon. Amidst the chaos, on 15th March 2020 TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club became the first club of District 98 to conduct a virtual speech contest. After that there was no turning back and we continued to evolve ourselves to best fit in the virtual environment, Innovating with the meeting structure to make it interactive and engaging for club members — thus creating the best experience possible. I am extremely delighted to present to you the 18th Edition of Communiqué our club newsletter. It Includes several notable events like our club activities before lockdown began, our seamless transformation into a virtual club and then experimenting and innovating with the meetings. We have our fellow members who shared their personal stories and life lessons they learned in their journey. Gratitude being the greatest of all virtues, I extend my deepest thanks to the Communiqué team who came up with amazing ideas and worked diligently on them. Special thanks to my fellow members of the club's Executive Committee for providing all the information and help needed. To the editor of the previous edition, Tuba Mansoor for the guidance and the club Members who shared their experiences and stories — you guys are awesome. Have fun as you browse through the pages of this exciting edition full of wonderful articles and updates from the club! We will be looking forward to your feedback. Happy reading! Misbah Siddiqui
TEAM COMMUNIQUÉ MISBAH SIDDIQUI EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
IHSAAN MUHIYADHEEN
DEVENDRA SHASHANK
SHRUTI AGRAWAL
NEHA KIRVE
NAYAN JAIN
AKSHAY SINGH
ROSHNI PORWAL
SANA SIDDIQUI
SMRITI RAJPAL
EMINA D'COSTA
SHARIQUE AHSSAN
FEATURES
5 6
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
TCS MAITREE TOASTMASTERS CLUB IN A DIGITAL AVATAR
8 10 11 12 14 16 17 18 20 21 22
THE PROFESSOR
24 26 27
POEM CORNER
THE STORY OF A BOOK THAT GAVE LIFE
THE CAPTAIN
THINKING AND SPEAKING
28
TALL TALES CONTEST
29
FROM THE DIARY OF A FIRST
30
EIGHT EXPRESSIONS YOU WILL
EDUCATIONAL SESSION ON SPEECH ARTICULATION
MY FIRST LEADERSHIP TRAINING
TOASTMASTERS IN TRICOLOR
MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN
QUARANTINE DIARY
A DIFFERENT KIND OF INTERNATIONAL SPEECH CONTEST
TABLE TOPIC ONLINE CONTEST
BEYOND THE FORMAT
31 41 44 46 48 50 51
THE HUMAN VOICE
TIME MOM
ONLY HEAR IN INDIA
AWARDS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND APPRECIATION
STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH
#24 HOURS OF TOASTMASTERS
A HEAD FULL OF COLORS
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
LEADERS IN THE MAKING
NEW EXCOM
President's Message N A V E E N
J A G D I S H
If someone had told me back in December 2019 that my journey in the club in the next couple of months and beyond is going to be full of surprises, unexpected meets, innovative planning, and going online… well… ah! I would have been nervous, reluctant to start. Yet having seen our club swim together in these hurdles and tides, I will say it has been nothing less than a spectacular set of leaders and ever-enthusiastic support of our members that has made this possible and something I will always want to do over and over again. Going beyond the regular meetings, conducting outdoor sessions, taking initiatives be it during the campaign, roles players, contests, or renewals, our club this term has been at the forefront in all aspects. It was the motivation and encouragement from all including senior members of the club, past presidents, executive committee, and the members that have helped us reach this point. On a personal note, each one of you has taught me to be empathetic, patient, and decisive during the last six months, I will also cherish and take these memories beyond Toastmasters. The future is online! We would not have known before 15th March 2020, while we at the ExCom were still experimenting and doing dry runs on video conferencing apps. But yes, online meetings are here to stay and I think we’ve had a good head start in this virtual meeting journey. In the end… like most things, this term has come to a beautiful end, with over 15+ Awards and recognition at Eloquence 2020 (annual District 98 conference) surely being an icing on the cake.
COVER STORY
TCS MAITREE TOASTMASTERS CLUB IN A DIGITAL AVATAR! BEYOND BOUNDARIES RANGANATHAN RAMANI
28th March 2020 - A glimpse from our first online meeting.
L
ife in Mumbai was as usual in the fast lane but ironically an average Mumbaikar spent a minimum of two hours commuting every day — most of it at a not-so-cruising speed of 20 kmph. We, the members of TCS Maitree Toastmaster Club, looked forward to Fridays, not just for the TGIF weekend vibe but more so because we started the day with our weekly club meeting. And then COVID-19 struck. Speculation of a full nationwide lockdown was thick in the air. The pandemic had created a situation that had no precedent over several decades. With no vaccine in sight, the only viable solution was hygiene and physical distancing. Meetings in conference rooms were expectedly the first casualty. TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club members accepted the reality and took it in their stride with the utmost maturity. Does physical distancing warrant our club meetings to be suspended till
BEYOND BOUNDARIES | JAN - JUN 2020
normalcy returns? It wasn’t just about the weekly meetings: the club round of the International Speech Contest too was around the corner. The debate was intense whether we should shift the meeting outside TCS premises. Necessity is the mother of invention, the saying goes. Keeping the safety of Toastmasters and guests, Toastmasters International permitted holding online contests. The executive committee went into a huddle over video meetings and eventually decided to go virtual for the contest, sticking to the originally scheduled date of 15th March. Personally for me, as a contestant, it was a great experience. Initial apprehensions about whether my home internet connection is good enough, whether I would be heard and seen clearly on live video, etc. vanished when I joined in a couple of preparatory meetings a few days ahead of the contest.
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COVER STORY | TCS MAITREE TOASTMASTERS CLUB IN A DIGITAL AVATAR!
On the D-Day, Ihsaan as the chief Sergeantat-Arms, started the meeting on time and also played the role of the ‘Zoom Master’ (meeting manager) although this term itself became popular only later. Be it spotlighting a speaker or passing the control over to the Contest Chair, it was flawless. Misbah, who started her Toastmasters journey less than a year ago, was the Contest Chair and outdid her splendid performance in the same role at the Tall Tales Contest a couple of months ago. All members of the Executive Committee had worked hard for this event, and it turned out to be a grand success. We were early adapters to the virtual model in our Toastmasters District 98 (which spans across six Indian states) and were sought after by other clubs to guide them in the smooth conducting of virtual meetings. Meanwhile, our club went ahead with the regular weekly meetings, including the semi-annual ‘Moments of Truth’ meeting. This one requires special mention — the participating members were divided into small groups each of which then assembled in its respective virtual ‘breakout rooms’ to confer before sharing the candid feedback of the group members about a particular aspect of club performance with everyone. Managing multiple breakout rooms and the quick reassembling was all done with amazing smoothness and the overall experience was superior to regular meetings.
The attendance at the weekly meetings surged by 70-100% over the normal onpremises meetings. Guests from far and wide were seen joining in. Members adapted to the online version with aplomb! Members taking up crucial roles like the Toastmaster of the Day kept innovating (e.g., inserting canned applause) with seamless transition between the Timekeeper and their screens. The online meetings provided a welcome opportunity to many of our members to accelerate their Pathways journeys. Technology, of course, was the critical enabler of this big change. For the most part, internet connection, that virtual oxygen, cooperated pretty well. Video and audio freezes were noticed occasionally but didn’t dampen the spirit of Toastmasters. Some hilarious moments presented themselves when members, including some seasoned ones, would ‘accidentally’ go mute when called upon by the Table Topics Master, taking advantage of ‘poor network’. I must say these online meetings have taken our club meeting experience to a whole new level and I do not see ourselves returning to classroom meetings even after the COVID-19 threat is firmly behind us. I believe we will get together only for picnics which I am sure everyone at the club looks forward to.
“The only limits in your life are those that you set yourself.” CELESTINE CHUA BEYOND BOUNDARIES | JAN - JUN 2020
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THE PROFESSOR FARAZ MOHAMMED
T
okyo, Berlin, Nairobi and Rio are great cities. But if you've been binge watching Netflix you know exactly what I am talking about. Money Heist is a Spanish drama about a plan to pull off the biggest heist in history by a criminal mastermind who they call “The Professor”. He recruits team of eight people with certain abilities who have nothing to lose. Sounds familiar doesn't it? Every six months the club elects its care takers who are selfless, committed and give it their all. On 10th January 2020, some talented members came together to pull off a grand event. It was the 600th meeting of TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club, Mumbai. Having been at the receiving end of love by the club, it was time to give it back and the theme “We love you 600!” chosen by the host Nayan Jain lived upto its name. The attendees were asked to dress themselves in either white, red, black or blue. The Toastmaster doing what he does best first welcomed us, made us laugh and then took us all down the memory lane sharing an inspiring and heartwarming video of the clubs' achievements and senior members who are spread across the world sharing their experiences. To top it all club newsletter Communiqué was launched by the Vice President Membership, Tuba.
BEYOND BOUNDARIES | JAN - JUN 2020
The theme of the edition was Rise & Shine. She hosted some interesting games and ensured full audience participation. The meeting had speeches, games, quizzes, blast from the past and guess what refreshments too. We came to know exactly why this club of ours has so many feathers in its hat. With a total of 55+ attendees including 18 hostages, I mean guests, the meeting was indeed a jamboree. The professor had planned the perfect heist, similarly for this meeting too there was not one but two professors working in the background, masterminding each and every step - Convener Abhishek and Coconvener Shruti. They ensured that there were no loose ends, everyone played their part well and that the mission was above personal interests. We as a club have always been evolving and adapting to the ever-changing corporate culture. Always trying out new innovations and implementing the best practices but never drifting from the mission and the values of Toastmasters. My experience at the club has been life changing. If you ask me, it could easily be made an essential service in times of a pandemic.
PAGE 08
I think it's a great achievement in itself that our vibrant and ever-so-welcoming club culture is self-evident and needs no pitching. Our warmth and camaraderie has always been the talk of the town. A thing many clubs envy! As we reached 600 meetings this term, with the current set of officers at the helm, it comes as no surprise how we managed to achieve what we have achieved. I can vouch for the fact that it wasn't a bed of roses, ever. Every year brings in its own challenges, external resistance and personal battles. Winning the coveted Diamond Club Award, every year after year is what makes us legendary, an achievement inimitable by any club in the district. Officers taking charge always wish to make their mentors proud and thereby stumbling upon excellence has become a habit. We are our own competitors.
Ia Professor masterminding our success with a foolproof plan.In my eyes the professors were Anurag Sinha sir, Sameer, Kannagi, Raunak & Pramod, just to name a few. I'm no Dr. Strange but there could be a million directions in which our club could go from here. You reading this are the future. No ode to this club could be greater than that of you as a member taking up a role and contributing to the minutes that may lead up to the 700th, 800th, 900th. As Captain Planet says, “The power is yours!”.
A single meeting produces 90 mintues of fun and learning. 600 meetings would mean 54,000 minutes of sheer commitment from its members. Some of these minutes may have had resounding applause, roller-coaster ride of laughter while some deafening silence and moments of great learning. But we have stood through it all, thick and thin. It is like
BEYOND BOUNDARIES | JAN - JUN 2020
PAGE 09
AND
TABLE TOPICS SANA SIDDIQUI
I
attended an educational session by an
2. Add the main story in the body
esteemed former member of my club, Mr.
3. Summarise the topic with a message
GM Subramanyam, on 21st Feb 2020. It’s
4. Remember "4 wives 1 husband" (4W 1H —
always an unforgettable experience when
what, where, when, why, how)
you get to learn from veteran Toastmasters.
5. Structure your speech in PPF format -
'Subbu sir' is an inspiration to many like me. I
past, present, future
see myself getting retired, wearing big fat
6. Stay away from commenting on politics,
glasses, some more white hair on my head,
religion, sex, and criticizing any club
and still a part of Toastmasters club! Got to
member. If you want to criticize, criticize
learn a lot of nitty-gritty of table topics, what
yourself or your family members.
aspects are evaluated, and do's and dont's.
7. Speak with enthusiasm and energy.
How to start and structure your speech, how you can leave an impact on people by, say,
Many thanks to our club's VP Education
quoting
Neha Kirve for organizing such an amazing
a
famous
dialogue,
adding
anecdotes. There were 18 people who
education session!
attempted table topics round. There were two rounds, and each had 9 members who spoke on the same topic. When that happens, you get to see how the same topic, the same words evoke different feelings and memories in people, their perspectives are different, their experiences are different. You learn a lot from such sessions. Key takeaways for me 1. The opening should be powerful, for example
a
powerful
statement
or
an
anecdote or a rhetorical question. https://clipartlook.com/img-72201.html
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PAGE 10
TALL TALES 20
CONTEST 20 I
t was bright and early on a Saturday morning when Toastmasters of TCS Mumbai gathered at Yantra Park for the Tall Tales contest. We started with 12 contestants all set to wow us with their exploits. Contest Chair Misbah introduced us to the contest with a tale of her own superpowers which had made superstars envious. We kicked off the contest with Tuba, who detailed her fabulous journey as an exceptional beauty with brains, a business genius who advised Mark Zuckerberg and changed his life. Next it was Sagar, who took us on an adventurous trip to Goa complete with the DDLJ twist of him as Raj and a beautiful girl as Simran helping him in a train to dancing in the party capital of the country. Sana had us awestruck with the description of her ideal prince charming, the Crown Prince of Dubai who would make her fantastical dreams come true. Ranga amazed us with his story of a time when he could talk to birds, his role as their problem solver and his eventual retirement of that role with the use of headphones.
KSHITIJA SURYAVANSHI
Mihir made us realize the extent of the club’s enormous budget with his account of the luxurious club trip and made us aware of the sophisticated description of the humble ‘poha’ he had there. Naveen mesmerized us in slow motion with his misadventures with mermaids, pirates and sea horses for his lead role in the movie Under the Ocean. Ashish lamented the difficulties in his quest to find a suitable life partner for Sanjay, his pitiable, misunderstood pet lion. Likhit let us in on his secret, that he was actually a 650-year-old wizard and he shared his advice to his mentees, Newton and Salman Khan, which helped them achieve immense fame although with certain side effects. Akshay enthralled us with his inspirational journey of building startups with Mukesh Ambani, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, along with his plans to successfully branch them out not only across the world but also the solar system.
Prashant had our sympathies with his struggles of getting his software ticket resolved and his email reminders to all levels of hierarchy from his manager to our CEO to Ratan Tata himself.
Naveen’s preparation for his dream role paid off and his movie was a huge hit with the audience and the judges, making him the winner of the contest. Ranga came in the 1st runner up with his humorous role as a ‘Bird Whisperer’ while the energetic performance of Raj earned him the 2nd runner up position.
Raj’s antics from being mistaken for an Indian spy in Pakistan to roaming around the world meeting Toastmasters captivated us no end.
It was a marvellous experience that we all thoroughly enjoyed. Kudos to the organising team and role players for a great job done!
Neha Kirve revealed her secret role as the mastermind of Voldemort’s defeat and we finally realized the identity of the true hero of the wizarding world.
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EDUCATIONAL SESSION ON SPEECH ARTICULATTION BY AVINASH SINGH SMRITI SINGH
P
ublic Speaking is an art. Though all of us agree to it, very few of us know how to work on our Public Speaking skills and speak in such an eloquent manner that everybody loves listening to us. Recently, we had an educational session in Yantra Park with a powerful speaker, Mr. Avinash Singh on ‘How to craft a speech’. Very beautifully, he gave us tips on Public Speaking, especially how we should create the content for our speeches. A short and crisp educational session by him left us all contended and mesmerized. To begin with a speech, one can have a great start by asking a question or two to the audience. This makes the audience attentive and gives them another reason to listen. He shared his views on how one can use the stage and hand gestures to show transitions in the speech in a very smooth and graceful way. In the end, he emphasized having a memorable statement or quick learning for the audience which helps them to remember you and your speech. For example, We remember "Yes We Can!" by Barack Obama. Focussing on the content, the key statement of his lecture was ‘Follow the principle of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos’. A term is commonly known as Aristotle’s modes of persuasion, where Ethos stands for ethics or character, Pathos for emotions, and Logos for logic. To elaborate, in order to create a link to connect with your audience, the content should have these three main attributes. Your speech should have a reason or purpose. Next, it should be able to ignite certain emotions in a listener like happiness, fear, or motivation. Finally, your speech should have a crux or conclusion wherein you can either give away certain tips or share with the audience your perspective on the topic chosen.
BEYOND BOUNDARIES | JAN - JUN 2020
PAGE 12
In the end, he allowed us to have a sneak peek into his recipe for a perfect speech. He shared that he drafts his speech around four to five times before the final delivery. Also, he makes sure to learn it word by word against a normal practice of just memorizing the key points and framing it into sentences when on stage. Also, he believes that one must never read or try to remember his speech while sitting or traveling. Instead, he focuses on rehearsing your speech with full actions, voice modulation, and stage movement. Well, that is it from his short yet very informative session. I hope we all can apply his learning to our speeches and soon participate in and win the International Speech Contest!
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MY FIRST LEADERSHIP TRAINING SHRUTI AGRAWAL
Toastmasters international tagline is
“Where Leaders are Made". Indeed, this belief became stronger when I experienced this session called Leadership Training for club officers held in Hiranandani, Powai. The session started early Sunday morning 10th Jan 2020 at 7:00 am! I along with my club ex-com members reached there and attended the whole training program. The introduction segment began with an energetic emcee Ark Almeida. She engaged the audience very well with lots of jokes and explained the structure of the entire session. The leadership training for all club officer positions was scheduled to be held in corresponding allotted rooms at the same time.
Students during Spirit Week
BEYOND BOUNDARIES | JAN - JUN 2020
All the ex-com members have to attend the training as per their respective role, But I was lucky that I got to choose any of them to attend. Firstly, we all had attended the Judges Training Workshop by DTM Avaanticka Narayan. This was my first time; I had never attended such a training before. She has explained that being a Judge of any opportunity is an opportunity as well as a very important responsibility. She added that how a contest judge has a crucial role of the event without revealing his/her Identity. She gave out the necessary explanation about the difference between an Evaluator and a Judge at Toastmasters. How the judgement is more critical and crucial than Evaluation because judgement can never be biased. She explained more about the various barriers too i.e. Speaker Position: Where speaking order of the contestant could distract you to turn the ballot again and again and you start comparing between them. Reverse Halo effect: It means that a negative characteristic might make a person or product seem overall less attractive. As soon as the Judges training got over we all had a delicious lunch together and met so many people from so many Toastmasters clubs from Mumbai.
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Now after finishing our lunch we turned up for the ex-com member training program and I finally decided to attend the VPE training. The session was conducted by Avinash from Mulund Toastmasters Club. He told us that as a training facilitator, you are responsible for conveying the information that club officer needs to fulfil their roles. He explained that VPE (Vice President Education) is a full time job responsibility and a VPE is the backbone of the Executive Committee. He defined VPE as 'Vision, Planning and Execution'. A VPE should have a vision to expand and spread the awareness within the club as well as outside the club. In spite of having vision, a VPE needs to have a proper blueprint and plans to make the vision execution successful. Though I am not a member of the ex-com yet, I learnt about many things from this training programme, i.e. 1) Networking Opportunity 2) Leadership Skills 3) Innovative Planning 4) Becoming an Expert This Program helped me develop an insight into personal growth and also ignite a sense of responsibility towards the club and towards the role which I would be taking in the future. Also, I strongly recommend non ex-com members to attend the Leadership Training which happens every six months to help and understand the functioning of the club also how to support club in a better way.
BEYOND BOUNDARIES | JAN - JUN 2020
PAGE 15
TOASTMASTERS IN TRICOLOUR
OJUS KAPOOR
I
n honour of the Republic Day of India, TCS Maitree Toastmasters club Mumbai witnessed its 603rd meet in local language Hindi. Abhishek, playing Toastmaster for the meeting, expressed how 26th Jan has been special for him since childhood, with an innocent smile he shared the challenges he faced in a small town Hindi medium school during a tender young age. Witnessing the whole meeting in Hindi, the struggle impromptu speakers faced in finding the right word in Hindi during the Table Topics Round was evident. Even after their best efforts, taking solace in an English word or phrase was a common phenomenon. It raised a fundamental question among curious Toastmasters: as we became fluent English communicators, are we outrightly disregarding Hindi and burying our vernacular talents?
Since the venue for the meet was a public
park,
the
team
had
its
doubts if the meeting will flow smoothly
but
to
pleasant
surprise
it
everyone’s took
place
flawlessly. Amidst lush green trees and bushes, cheerfully sitting on a vivid grass field, under a pleasingly bright sun complemented with a fragrant and cool breeze, listening to
engrossing
and
emotionally
stimulating prepared speeches by Prayashree and Faraz, was a surreal experience.
Nevertheless, the role players put in a lot of effort to translate their respective scripts to Hindi and listening to the usual Toastmasters’ role scripts in Hindi was indeed great fun.
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MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN TUBA MANSOOR
O
f Demo Meetings & Membership Campaigns! If you had met me a year ago, you would have found me to be a whole different person. Being an introvert as far as I can remember, life changed when I joined Toastmasters and more so when I took part in the membership campaign in Powai last August with Naveen, who was the then VPM. Talking to non members about Toastmasters in canteen made me realised talking to others can be fun. When you guys gave me a chance to become the VPM, I wanted to hold the campaign at all the 3 locations – yes increasing membership was one of the reasons, but also because I wanted club members at all locations to experience the joy & learning that comes when you are a part of the campaign. With the ex- VPM as the current President, we had an early start at the memembership campaigns. One of the best things that we did was form a membership committee because after any demo meet or campaign we would have a lot of guests attending and it was difficult to attend to them all. Currently we have Kshitija, Namrata, Prashant, Abhishek, Sadaf, Devendra, Glen, Ihsaan, Prerana, Rushabh, Sagar, Saurabh Pandey, Sharique and Shruti as part of the committee. And while these members connected with guests after meeting, they did much much more than that. On December 26th we had a demo meeting in Powai in the evening. Shruti, Twarit, Hari, Sagar, Kirty, Nidhi, Raj, Sagar, Roshni & Naveen all helped put together a successful demo meeting which was attended by more than 100 people. On 9th Jan we held our membership campaign in Yantra Park. That was a bit tricky as, during the previous term, even after trying a lot we were not able to secure the required permissions. But this time we had a secret weapon in our arsenal, SAA Abhishek who worked at Yantra Park and who made sure we had the go-ahead this time. With our 600th meeting scheduled for the next day, the executive committee still came in from all locations to provide their support for the first membership campaign of the term. My fellow club members Sai, Emina, Naveen, Raj, Abhishek, Neha Kirve, Nayan, Sharique, Namrata, Neha Jain, Ritusmita & Nivedita made the campaign a successful one as we gathered about 150 contacts of TCSers who were interested in attending our meetings!
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During the lockdown, members decided to kill the boredom and to make the most of their time by doing things they like or by trying new things. Look!
PRERANA tried some new dishes
QUARANTINE DIARY HARI tried his hand at authentic Litti Chokha
NAYAN continued to capture the beauty of nature even at home
SHRUTI spent her time painting
NEIL looked at it as an opportunity to help the needy people
NOEL secured 2nd place in Corona Yoddha Singer Season 2, an event organised by Korba Artist Association
IMRAN tried his hand at digital painitings
SIMRAN tried her hand at painting and sketching
A DIFFERENT KIND OF
INTERNATIONAL SPEECH CONTEST
TUBA MANSOOR
C
onducting any contest brings with it, its own set of challenges. This time in Excom we decided to get started early for International Speech Contest & the Table Topics Contest to avoid last minute surprises. We had the certificates ready, new banners made and even the thank-you gifts were ready. But who knew life would have such a big surprise planned for us? The contest was scheduled on 15th March. Our last physical meeting was conducted on 7th March before the lockdown began. Can you believe the irony of it all? If only the contest would have been conducted one week ahead, it would have been a physical contest instead of an online one. Well, that is life! On 12th March, it was finally clear that conducting a physical contest was not possible and we would have to opt in for an online one. We panicked! Yes, we did. But we had to accept the fact and move on. We had to start from scratch. The first challenge was imitating a physical contest in an online format. Then there was the challenge of putting the speaker in spotlight, muting & un-muting people, getting contestants and role players accustomed to this new platform in two days, sharing timer cards etc. And the biggest challenge was creating virtual rooms for Table Topics Contest. Thus began the journey of trial and error. After trying out a couple of software we finally settled on Zoom as the most suitable one. Our techies Akshay & Ihsaan set to work, researching on the software inside out and finding the best way to display timing devices. If we did it successfully, we knew that we would be the first club in District 98 to hold an online contest. While this meant that we would be creating history, this also meant we had no help available. As minutes passed to hours, we figured out ways to do things that needed to be done. After multiple dry runs it was time for the big day! 15th March - the day arrived. We knew things may go south, but with hope and the realization that we had done the best we could, we proceeded. God was with us because we received full support from all the role players and the contestants. And much to our surprise we carried off the event without any glitches! 13 beautiful speeches later we had our winners. We had created history! We had conducted the first online contest of District 98! For weeks to come, we were an inspiration for other clubs of the District and in the entire TI community! We were in news, we were revered! We are proud of ourselves! We are proud of TCS Maitree Toastmasters!
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TABLE TOPICS ONLINE CONTEST
2020
NOEL DAS
O
nly a month into Toastmasters international, and I was already in love. The way every meeting was carried out- the speeches, the theme, the discipline, the evaluation, everything was top-notch. I was a silent member enjoying all the activities, but could not gain enough confidence to take up any role or participate in any of the table topic sessions. When I heard about the table topic contest being held, I was curious as well as excited as it was something new and unknown. Little did I know how much involved I would become! I was fast asleep when my phone rang. It was an unknown number. In a sleepy state I enquired who it was. “Noel, this is Tuba. Are you available to take up a role for today’s table topic contest?” I sat bolt upright. I haven’t taken up any role or participated in regular meetings, would I be able to do this role at a contest held at a bigger level? However, I thought why not start my journey at the Toastmasters with a good start, and agreed. I was given SAA (Sergeant at Arms) role. What came next was briefing about my role. Surprisingly, I felt very much at ease after knowing the details of my role. Once the contest started, while acting on my responsibilities, I realised it was much easier to interact with all the members and the participants as I was the Sergeant at Arms who was managing the participants in a queue. It was a very unique experience as it was the first time this contest was held online virtually using zoom. The application zoom and its Breakout room feature was one-of-a-kind. Time flew by, and one after the other participants had their chance. I had not even realised that it was almost 4 hours since the contest started. As the contest neared its end I felt proud as I was able to fulfil my responsibilities efficiently. Taking a screenshot of all the members present in the meeting, it surely was an equivalent of taking a group picture after a successful party. It was a wonderful start to my Toastmasters journey, amidst the Covid-19 lockdown that was imposed. I gained a lot of insight while watching the participants speak, and made up my mind to actively participate in all meetings thereafter. Also, I was lucky to be a part of the first of its kind contest all over the country! It would not be wrong to say that the toastmasters beginning was a blast, and I eagerly look forward to what it has to offer in future.
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BEYOND THE FORMAT RAJ BHARAT
A regular Toastmaster meeting gets planned at least a week in advance. This Grab the bag meeting concept had a different way of planning the meeting. Every role players, speakers & evaluators have to appointed on the spot during the meeting. This meeting was very interesting.
GRAB THE BAG In the current term, VPE Neha planned for the reverse meeting. This is a different concept of a Toastmasters meeting. Everythings happen in reverse order. This meeting was a good mental practice. Where we had to think and perform the regular process in reverse order. Such a meeting should happen more.
REVERSE MEETING
This is a unique way of speech-evaluation. In this, Speakers get the benefit of multiple evaluations, where a speech gets evaluated by multiple evaluators. TM Tuba attempted a speech project, to create a podcast from level4 of leadership development pathways. Each episode has been very interesting and she is doing a superb performance.
ROUND ROBIN EVALUATION Moderating a panel discussion is a very important skill to develop. To be very effective, Moderator needs to know about the panelist well in advance. Preparation to ask the right set of questions during panel discussion develops unique skills.As part of the level4 project of Leadership Development pathways, TM Tuba moderated panel discussion with panelist DTM Pramod, DTM Brillian SK, and Susan Schmitt. The session was very impactful with a lot of learning.
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PANEL DISCUSSION
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SPEECH MARATHON Two speech marathons were conducted in the current term. I enjoyed thoroughly all the superb speeches. In the speech marathon, Speakers get a chance to deliver speeches in a more competitive environment, Which helps them to prepare patiently and perform with high impact.
TABLE TOPICS MARATHON Table Topic helps to develop four communication skills. Listening, Thinking, Organising, and delivering. TM Tuba & TM Ihsaan conducted Table Topics marathon in eight different segments. These were Situational Comedy, Step into the Shoes, Thinking out loud, Change is the only constant, Wolf of wall street, I see something in you, Murder mystery and story building. Club members participated very enthusiastically and enjoyed a lot.
ICE BREAKER MARATHON
Desire, burning desire, is basic to achieving anything beyond the ordinary
Icebreaker speech is the very first step for a new member to start an educational journey in Toastmasters. Icebreaker marathon creates a unique environment for new club members to come out from their comfort zone and to deliver the first speech. In this term, TM Neha Kirve hosted the icebreaker marathon having eight impactful icebreaker speeches.
IMPROMPTU PREMIERE LEAGUE Impromptu speaking skills development is very important to be a confident communicator. IPL event played a key role in drastic improvement for impromptu speaking skills in many members. Club members participated actively, practiced, learned, and improved the impromptu speaking skills.
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POEM CORNER
Hey! Wassup All good you say Your expressions give away You had a fight again with her Alright I say I steal glances at you From the corner of my eye Trying to read your mind You busy in your cellphone Typing furiously and yet Hoping things will smooth out again
HERE IS HOW YOU CAN
Next few moments fly by 'She is fighting again for no reason' In a sad tone you say
I WANT TO BE 'MYSE
I am lost in the jungle, I am lost inside me; Where’s the voice that drives? Lead me to what, I want to be
Resilient through nights of despair, Shaken, to shape new trajectory. I am reborn inside my pain and tear Expanding beyond own Boundary. Leaving my glories, success stories, Whether I collapse walking alone Evolving in my stranded corner Composing myself, I most adorn
All I could say: really? Pretending to haven't noticed anything Relationships huh? I sigh I know you are her's And she is your's But in my mind it doesn't fit right
Am I stranger? Searching treasure, My content, not known to me, Passionate to know it’s creative touch What is my true identity?
She controls you Dominates you Break you And yet you let her She yours queen You let her rule
- MOUMITA NAG
But why do I even bother It's not that I notice your smile Or the way you appreciate life The way your mind works Or how positively you handle her spikes Dude I am not into you Or that is what I say to me Secretly for a moment Wishing if things were different And then you go Wreak my train of thoughts And ask 'how can I end this fight' I return back to reality Put on a big smile and go 'Here is how you can'
- AAKRATI AGARWAL
Like many times before,the sea once roared, And the ship was shaken with the boy aboard He cried in horror, he cried in fear, For he thought his time was close to near.The Delusioned, the boy had no clue. But in that darkness ,there stood the ray, And the boy was safely guided to the bay. But now he sees your sorrow, your strain, He wishes to be your light bearer, relieve you This too shall pass,no matter what you say, He will be your lighthouse, stand by you come Dear friend, the waters are hard, the sea is col But these blizzards are what will help you fina .Just hold on, just hold on, and keep your spir For one day, you men will laugh at these days
DEAR FRIEND
So many heads So many eyes But all are not Satisfied Some are running for work and some are running from it
SOMEONES
T E ELF'
Some are going to learn And some are learning to go away Some are running to get fit And some are trying to fit in Some are breathing and living And some are begging for that one breath Some are sitting and laughing And some are hustling to find that one laugh Some have dreams to fulfill And some are under the burden of fulfilled dreams Some are afraid of heights And some are afraid of never flying Some are traveling to find peace in an unknown land And some are stuck in their life's band Some are finding Shade in the sun And some are hustling to get out of their own dark shades Some are walking hand in hand And some are craving to find that one hand Some are Fighting their demons with the Elder wand And some are waiting "Expecto Patronum" to work for them Some sleep by saying "Accio peace" at night And some are slept by gazing stars in the sky Some find themselves beautiful in the mirror And some find beauty as just a terror Some just sleep with Dreams in their eyes And some are just stuck in their lies
d.
Some are happy with their friends And some are just wishing for the end
e ship was engulfed by the blue,
Some are finding their soulmates And some are just stuck in their hates Some just want to fly high And some don't let their hopes die
of this pain.
e what may. ld, ally mould rits above the sky. s gone by.
- MANOJ GHURE
Some are trying to understand And some are just living in their own Brand Some are spoiling everything in rage And some just want to run away from that cage So, Just RememberYour daily Demons and work Can grow the wings of luck Every little effort makes you fly if you dream to go high and high.
- SIMRAN CHAUHAN
THE STORY OF A THAT GAVE
BOOK LIFE
MANJU JACOB tories, they live. Some stories even breathe life into those who need it, some stories get S buried with men who own it, in their graves, untold and unheard. We all have stories in us, but most of us like to bury those within our memories. It takes split seconds for a man or woman to become from 'Is' to 'Was'. "He is such a good person" to "He was a good person". It was such a moment of realization, when I asked myself a question - If this were to be the last moment of my life, what is that one last thing I would like to do? I answered, "To do something that my Eternal Creator would be proud of" Then I thought, what is that I have within me, that I could make use of. That was when my book, "The Trinity Quotes" was born. Writing, Publishing all in a span of 3 sprints, total of 9 weeks - executed in a truly agile way. The book sale proceeds were planned for a noble cause, but I did not have any person in mind when the book was released. As written on the book cover, my intention was to donate the book sale proceeds to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for under privileged cancer patient’s treatment. However, this universe along with its creator, had drafted the plans. Who Am I to come in between their plans? After few months of my book release, I found a beneficiary through few youths. They were helping a Taxi driver who had lost his job, his house - everything lost and sold off to treat his 2nd son - 11-month-old baby suffering from cancer in Tata Hospital, Mumbai. Manu was the sole earning member of his family. He had 2 boys, an elder one in 1st grade and younger son, 11-month-old Melvin had cancerous tumour growing on his leg. I reached out to the youth and expressed my desire to contribute to the baby's surgery expense. When I made that decision, I understood the plans of the universe. I was the chosen one, all that happened in my life before, the calling to write the book was all planned to fulfil this purpose. Life somehow made sense to me, at mid-life. I along with a few friends from the youth wing visited Tata Hospital to see the baby, it was a day before the baby's surgery. At the first sight, Melwin's smile was good enough to melt our hearts. He is a strong baby. Lying there on the hospital bed with his leg plastered, we could see the lil one was in pain; however, he had a sweet smile on his cherubim face. We prayed and spent some time with Melwin and his family. As we were leaving the hospital, a question crossed my mind - how could a small baby have so much inner strength to bear the pain? Maybe, it is the pain man endures that makes him stronger. Call it miracle or a handshake of God and Tata Hospital doctors’ efforts, the baby's surgery was successful. This happened 2 years back. I keep that baby in my prayers always and wish him a successful life ahead. In a world, where passion is used for profits, I was happy to turn my passion into compassion.
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THE CAPTAIN WHO BET ON HIMSELF
HARI GOVIND
eb,2017, Zonal Volleyball Final match of 5-rounds. We hadn’t lost a single match till F now and so hadn’t the opposite team (Zonal Champion). I was the Captain of my team. The game started. As usual we were playing our best. But soon the scene started to change. We started losing to the other team and soon we lost the 1st round by 12-25. 2nd round started and score board was running faster than my expectation2-15. I was not able to digest why we were not able to score even after having better players than the opposite team. I made a plan, I substituted myself with other player and sat on the sidelines and started to observe how my boys were playing. Soon I realized my boys were playing under psychological pressure as the opposite team were the defending champions. Till now we had lost two rounds. So I called my boys and told them to relax. I said “Boys, we have two options now, loose the next round and go back to our college OR put your every single C6H12O6 out and fight and return back as the Champions”.
The 3rd round started. I entered along with my team with boosted zeal and continuously cheered for them on every serve of the ball. I took consecutive timeouts and reanalyzed my plan. It was a tough fight but in the end we won the round by 2523. Now my boys’ moral was on cloud nine. They had spark in their moves and they started playing enthusiastically. And finally we won next two rounds and became Zonal Champions! Here I learnt one life lesson. The game either of life or a sport can’t always be won by battling on the field. Sometimes you need to take a pause, observe the game, come up with a new plan and put your every C6H12O6 and be the Champion!
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" WHEN WORDS ARE INFUSED BY HUMAN VOICE, THEY COME ALIVE " THE HUMAN VOICE MIHIR TRIVEDI
I
t is the instrument that we all play. Probably the most powerful sound in the world that can start a war with or say I love you. When a small-town kid steps out for higher education and struggles with communication skills, it is a nightmare. Yes, that kid was me in the year 2013. I was good at public speaking in Gujarati and knew little English then. At the end of our communication course in 1st semester of Engineering, every student had to give a presentation in the classroom as a final internal evaluation. I was super excited and went there wearing a blazer to make a good impression. I made a PowerPoint presentation on “How to make a PowerPoint presentation”. I must tell you that it was a flop show as it didn’t go well as per the expectations. I saw other students who chose to wear normal clothes and delivered excellent presentations. However, I managed to get passing marks with a realization that I must work upon my communication skills. In the second semester, there was a similar evaluation but this time it was more like a competition. I took it as a challenge. I knew if I just rely on my communication skills then I am not going to win considering the competition and my limited improvement. So how did I win? I went through a lot of brainstorming because hey! college time is the phase in our life where we get all the cool ideas. At that time, we had some internal conflicts in our batch: there was a lack of unity and class was polarized. I didn’t like that and wanted to do something to make things better. I prepared an incredibly good speech on how all 60 of us - the entire batch has the potential to build a good Tech company. I gave them an idea: if Akshay can get a project with the help of his excellent marketing skills, Nihar can lead the technical team, Shenee can be the project manager, and so on. We all can be the technocrats and build great products. I also highlighted that some of the greatest applications such as WhatsApp had just 55 employees and look at the scope of their product. In the end, I said, "We all are good individually but together we are great." I received a big round of applause at the end of the speech and I was the winner. I believe comparison can be extremely useful when you do it with yourself. You can always be better than you were yesterday, in the last semester, or maybe better than the previous financial year. Along with your mobile apps, keep upgrading yourself and be the best version of yourself.
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FROM THE DIARY OF A FIRST TIME MOM KANNAGI MISHRA
Me (pointing to my son, Ishaan): "Mummy,
isko bed pe rakh do." Mummy (angrily): "Samaan nahi hai wo. Rakh do nahi, 'leta do' kehte hain!" Â For days, I was corrected by my mom for addressing my baby as if he was an object. It was an instant feeling to protect him and care for him. But, loving him as a real person? Don't judge me here, can you love someone who cannot make an eye contact with you or smile at you? Aren't those the very fundamentals of falling in love with someone? It may come naturally to many women or men but I was wired differently. I had transitioned from not wanting to have a child to feeling the want of one. Since childhood to until recently I had never wanted to be around babies and toddlers. In fact, I would change a seat, dodge, and never hold one. How I reached to wanting one of my own is a really long story. I might take that story with me to my grave. My expectation while I was 'expecting' was when I will become a mother something will change in that instant. (Motherly hormones will kick in). In the labour room right after I delivered him, I mustered the energy asked my doctor in a feeble voice 'What is it?' Either he didn't hear it the first time or I stupefied him with my question. So, I asked again. I quote 'What is it?'. Taking his own sweet time, he responded 'a boy, 9.30 am'. It sounded as if two robots communicated with each other after finishing their respective jobs. Relieved! No, not because I didn't want a girl. Because it was all over and I knew the answer to an
BEYOND BOUNDARIES | JAN - JUN 2020
illegal question lingering over me from the past 9 months. I dropped my head on the pillow and slept for two hours. Not knowing where and how he was going to be. I was the last person from my family who held him. Things gradually changed when I saw a life slowly taking form in front of of my eyes. I was graduating from 'it' to 'him' and from 'the baby' to 'Ishu/Shonu'. He grew substantially every week and one day he made eye contact. Time pauses for me even today when he does that.. It felt as if he appreciated and wanted me like nobody else ever did. I didn't mind losing my sleep. 2-3 hours a night were enough and I thanked him for giving me those. One night he cried the whole time. I rushed to the doctor the next day and I told her "he cried the—" I choked before I could finish the sentence. Then came another night when he laughed whole heartedly for the first time over a conversation that didn't make any sense. Just simple and meaningless laughter, the contagious kind that lit up the entire household. He falls asleep in my arms and wakes me up every morning with the rising sun. A day hasn't passed when he hasn't made me fall in love with him. If there was something that I could change in the past, then I would want those two hours back with him and be the first person who ever held him. At the end of the day, we all are here to grow.
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EIGHT EXPRESSIONS YOU WILL HEAR ONLY IN INDIA UMA BHUSHAN
MUGGING
If someone is caught mugging in India, he is not a criminal, whereas he will be in the USA. Mugging in India is not violence against others as in holding someone up and grabbing their cash and phone. It is violence against oneself – learn by rote things they never need and don’t understand.
OUT OF STATION
When some of us leave town on a vacation or for work, we think of ourselves as a train that pulled out of a station. Well, the similarity may lie in the fact that we also make a return trip along the same route.
GOOD NAME
Just in case you want to give your evil alter ego free rein, we stop you with this very basic question: “what is your good name”? It may simply be a translation of the Hindi equivalent “aapka shubhnaam kya hai?”
PREPONE
Opposite of postpone, why hadn’t anyone in the real English-speaking world realised the need for preponing? So, we coined the term and it entered the dictionary in 2010.
BACKSIDE
In most parts of the world, it is an informal term for the derriere, but to Indians it is just another way to say ‘behind’. In order to achieve logical consistency, we also say ‘frontside’.
MISSED CALL
It happens only in India that you can call someone by not actually calling them. Rather, just give a “missed call”.
EXPIRE
People don’t “die” or “pass away” in India. They simply “expire” much like medicines or a perfume past its utility date.
PASS OUT
That is precisely why in India we don’t graduate, we pass out of school or college. It may be the sheer effort of “mugging” stuff and taking all those exhausting exams!
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ACHIEVEMENTS, AWARDS & APPRECIATION
CLUB ACHIVEMENTS Diamond Club Award President's Distinguished club Leadership and Excellence Award Pristine Award Golden Shield Republic week celebration recognition Renewal Award Retention Survey award Renewal Campaign Award Smedley award Talk-Up Toastmasters award Membership Resiliency award Online Ovation award Education award - Gold
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HAIL OUR CONQUERING HEROES! TALL TALES CONTEST
1ST RUNNER UP RANGA
2ND RUNNER UP
WINNER NAVEEN JAGDISH
RAJ BHARAT
INTERNATIONAL SPEECH CONTEST
1ST RUNNER UP NAYAN JAIN
WINNER
2ND RUNNER UP
NAVEEN JAGDISH
AKSHAY SINGH
Naveen Jagdish won the first place in the Area level contest and also represented our club at Division level contest. TABLE TOPICS CONTEST
1ST RUNNER UP
NAVEEN JAGDISH
WINNER AKSHAY SINGH
2ND RUNNER UP RAJ BHARAT
Akshay Singh won the first place in the Area level contest and also represented our club at Division level contest.
EDUCATIONAL AWARDS
AKSHAY SINGH
Pathways Mentor Program UMA BHUSHAN
Advanced Communicator Bronze
SHRADDHA PATEL
Competent Leader
Pathways Completion
NAVEEN JAGDISH
AKSHAY SINGH
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RAJ BHARAT
TUBA MANSOOR
PAGE 34
Pathways Level 3
RANGANATHAN RAMANI
Pathways Level 2
ABHISHEK MAURYA
SANA SIDDIQUI
NEHA KIRVE
PRASHANT KARKERA
PRAYASHREE BAHALIA
SADAF AHMAD
Pathways Level 1
NEHA JAIN
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PRERANA UKEY
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MEMBERS' ACHIEVEMENTS ELOQUENCE CLUB HERO MISBAH SIDDIQUI Teamwork is the key! Misbah, our club hero did that precisely by being the voice of Eloquence 2020
PATHWAYS STAR NAVEEN JAGDISH For completing ONE Path (all 5 levels) between 1 July 2019 and by 25th April 2020
TRIPLE CROWN WINNERS
AKSHAY SINGH TUBA MANSOOR NAVEEN JAGDISH RAJ BHARAT
BEYOND THE CLUB PATHWAYS FOCAL, DIVISION B RAJ BHARAT
DISTRICT DESIGN TEAM NIDHI BHANDARI
PATHWAYS COACH, DIVISION B ABHISHEK MAURYA
TOASTMASTER OF THE YEAR, DIVISION B
ELOQUENCE'20 DESIGN CHAIR
AKSHAY SINGH
SHRADDHA PATEL
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COMMUNICATE 98 AWARD SHRUTI AGARWAL
ASSISTANT AREA DIRECTOR AKSHAY SINGH
DIVISION B TASK FORCE
EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP
IHSAAN TUBA MANSOOR AKSHAY SINGH
RAJ BHARAT NEHA KIRVE
BEYOND TOASTMASTERS CLEARED THE TCS DIGITAL NATIONAL QUALIFIER INTERVIEW
COMPLETED 21K MARATHON SADHANA PATIL
RUCHA DESHMUKH
WON THE 4TH CORPORATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT HELD AT KOLKATA ALSO DECLARED THE BEST PLAYER FOR THE TOURNAMENT SHARIQUE AHSSAN ON REPUBLIC DAY 2020, I WAS PART OF A TEAM OF 1000 MUSICIANS, CREATING A RECORD IN THE GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS FOR THE LARGEST INDIAN CINEMATIC BAND ON EARTH. THIS WAS LED BY MUSIC DIRECTOR PRITAM, AND WAS THE LAUNCH OF THE TITLE TRACK FOR A NEW SERIES ON AMAZON PRIME INDIA. HTTPS://YOUTU.BE/5HQQ7LOKBYU
NOEL DAS
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PAT ON THE BACK TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club Conducted first Online ISC contest of District98
Avaanticka Narayan, DTM
There has been a remarkable demonstration of clubs like TCS Maitree who were the first in our District 98 to go online and conduct smooth contests.
TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club Excom - A wonderful maiden event in District 98. Well done! Arvind Nair, DTM
Sadaf Ahmed
When I heard it will be an online contest before a day, there were alot of ifs and buts about the same but the way everyone has contributed and participated in the contest was exemplary and outstanding. Ihsaan was the Amazing host today and he managed everything being calm and composed. Naveen and excomm has done a great job in making this event successful, be the dry run or live contest. Kudos to excomm. It would be an unfair appreciation without the mention of all the role players and contest chair (Misbah). You guys were great today.
First Online Meeting by TMOD Namrata
Pramod Mohandas, DTM
Anand Dethi
Attended the session for a while and had a good time. Kudos to the team and all the partcipants. Great theme and good insights from TMOD Namrata, Technical part handled well by host, co-host and zoom master.
TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club breaking all the records by having 70+ audience for offline meeting at Olympus Office
Anurag Sinha
It is euphoric moment for our club when more than 70 of us sitting is Toastmasters session at Olympus. It is a dream come true... co-incidentally the word of the day was 'euphoric'. Kudos to everyone for all the efforts to reach at this stage. Certainly it was not a piece of cake(Phrase of the day). Like in yoga they say you should breath in, breath out with being automatic and natural. Similarly keep giving to Toastmasters by participating in roles, giving speeches, or just attending regularly will help your learnings of communication, leadership, planning, organizing, listening, organizing and many more will become automatic and natural.
Mesmerized with the way meetings are conducted, a member shared hisexperience
Ashish Khandelwal
Today's session was wonderful. It was only my second Toastmasters session and first as a member. It was a great experience for me. Being an artist I felt touched by the way toastmasters describe their life in their speeches. The best moment for me was when Sadaf talked about Dr. Kalam. He meant alot to me and his name in the session today made my day. My take away from the session was the new word I learnt today' ardent'. Hope to be a part of such amazing sessions going forward.
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A member's response on meeting conducted in a local language (Hindi) Today's meeting not only gave me an unique experience but also helped me in emendation of my hindi literature. TMOD Abhishek's meeting opening style with his childhood story was really interesting. Faraz's deep speech showed a new depth of love, as well as gave me an unique idea of writing speech. Table topic master Shruti did a great job giving interesting topics aligned with the theme of the meeting. And the Table topic speakers, kept the session entertaining with their good humour. All the roleplayers' effort to translate the scripts to hindi was commendable. Great work Excom. Keep it up.
Prayashree Bahalia
When we conducted dual session simulatneously at two different TCS locations
Manoj Ghure
Faraz Mohammed
Today's session at Yantra Park,was really well planned.The whole idea was really thoughtful and Shraddha pulled it off really well with her doodling. The clubs comfort level and safe environment with humble people really makes you wanna try to come out of your shell. At first it is intimidating, but then you see all these people come up and share so bravely. This helps. Like Prayshree's topic on her battles with mental health and Namrata's ice breaker speech were very brave and very relatable. Sana's Ikigai was a new and interesting outlook. Kshitija's topics gave some very interesting outcomes, and encouraged me enough to come forward and participate in table topics round for the first time. At last a great meeting. And that's my 2 cents for today Summed it up really well Manoj. Though we had parallel sessions with divided members the quality wasn't divided. Great feat!
When a Panel discussion was organized with expert panelists
Anand Dethi
Very intriguing and insightful session. Good to hear straight from horse's mouth, Godfathers of Toastmasters community. Thank you Naveen & team for organising it.
Wonderful Session Tuba!!! Glad that I could attend it! Congratulations!! Ihsaan Muhiyadheen
Prashant Karkera
When flow of the meeting was upside down (Reverse Meeting) I remember a Spanish movie that goes reverse and that's how this meeting is going. In the movie we need to very attentive to understand the flow or else you get confused. Finally you start thinking after the movie is over for over a day. And that's how this meeting is going on. Well executed Such a humorous Session we had today !!! Wonderful planning and execution as well
Shruti Agrawal
Mihir Trivedi
When we decided to have an IPL (Impromptu Premiere League) While I am badly missing the IPL season this year it was great fun to watch Impromptu Premier League. Fantastic job organizers & ExCom
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T O P
1 0
PRIDE POINTS WINNERS JAN-JUN 2020
IHSAAN MUHIYADHEEN
DEVENDRA SHASHANK
SANA SIDDIQUI
SMRITI RAJPAL
NAYAN JAIN
NAMRATA KENI
SAGAR MANEK
SHRUTI AGARWAL
PRASHANT KARKERA
SADAF AHMAD
STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH PRESIDENT We began this journey together in December 2019, I would be lying if I said it was a smooth start. Of course having an ever-energetic executive committee drive meetings over meetings, campaigns over campaigns, and speech after speech, time and again… I would say that it’s been absolute delight and privilege to be part of this amazing joinery called Executive Committee. The learning has been countless, it has taught me to believe in possibilities, and it has made me realize the importance NAVEEN JAGDISH of teamwork and being patient. The transition from offline to online probably is a highlight of this term on a personal note. The one thing that will stay in mind and which will be missed is the offline meetings and the applause we get to hear.The future will be online at least for a while.
VICE PRESIDENT- EDUCATION January 2019 was the year I first attended Toastmasters meeting at TCS Maitree toastmasters club and January 2020 I got the opportunity to serve this club as a VP Education. The last six months were like a roller coaster journey, with highs and lows, but at the end of this ride, all I want to scream is, 'one more time, please!'. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the members of the club for supporting me and bearing with me. I am grateful for the trust and confidence that NEHA KIRVE you showed in me. I am glad to have gotten the chance to serve, at the times of change. I am indebted to you all for the awards and recognition the club could achieve because of your commitment to growth.I now pass on the control and the learnings to the next VPE, with all the good wishes.
VICE PRESIDENT- MEMBERSHIP
TUBA MANSOOR
An amazing term full of demo meets & membership campaigns is certainly one of the best 6 months of my life. With the help of the membership committee, the executive committee, and the members of the club, we managed to increase our membership by more than 100%! My journey as a VPM not only taught me a lot about planning and organizing but it also helped me meet a lot of interesting people along the way – which has provided me with more learning than ever. Trust me when I say – the pleasure has all been mine! Thanks for giving me this opportunity and supporting me immensely throughout!
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VICE PRESIDENT- PUBLIC RELATIONS 3 months into Toastmasters and I elected as the VPPR of the club. That's when the amazing journey of Toastmasters with immense learning and growth began. I learned designing flyers, which led me to meet my creative self. It always made me feel happy when people from the club and outside the club appreciated my posters. It encouraged me to do more. AS VPPR, I got the opportunity to lead the PR team and the Newsletter team. It helped me learn skills like Team management, Time management, Prioritizing, Planning ahead of time MISBAH SIDDIQUI Delegation of tasks, and many more. I had an amazing time with the most enthusiastic and best Executive committee ever. Having these beautiful souls besides me made these 6 months full of fun and laughter. I will always encourage members to be a part of Excom at least once because while they say, "It helps you to serve your club". But I believe it serves you in many other ways that can't be put into words.
SECRETARY My experience in Toastmasters as a part of Excom especially at the position of Secretary was marvelous. Each meeting helped me get a different set of experience and learning. I had enhanced my skills everyday by putting in a lot of hard work and learned from each Member of the club something unique. Talking about public speaking, I have been fortunate enough to have the excom that provide me a level of comfort to speak, motivate in every meeting, provide a ROSHNI PORWAL huge support, and encourage each time to take up different roles. As a part of Excom, I had learned how to work collaboratively in a team and delivered the minutes of the meeting on time after every meeting.I am so blessed that just joining as a member of toastmasters I got an opportunity to be part of Excom with such wonderful and amazing people and also create lifelong memories to cherish.
TREASURER
RAJ BHARAT
As life is full of happiness and sorrow.. Similarly my journey in Toastmasters has been. I learnt many life lessons being in current ExCom. Being a treasurer, I had good learning to understand the payment process of Toastmasters International. I also learnt how to be economical and make the best use of resources available. I was fortunate enough to see the enormous growth in club strength. Overall, It was good to be the part of ExCom. and have had amazing learning experinece and I wish the club all the best for uplcoming events and occasions.
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SERGEANT - AT - ARMS It gives me immense pleasure to think that I have submitted my nomination for Excom term, Jan-Jun '20. And all of sudden it became reality! I had a chance to work with not just great personalities but also good human beings, who have been kind enough to forgive me for every little mistake I did. Being the SAA for Club, you are responsible for keeping the SAA kit with you, but when we did the dual meeting, people came forward to support me! Everything was going good and then ABHISHEK MAURYA pandemic lockdown happened. With the online meeting, the new set of challenges arrived, but with a set of amazing people, we have done pretty well. The best moment for me, when I was asked, can you start taking mentees? Seriously, I felt honored. That tiny appreciation from the team, kept me motivated to attend every possible meeting and contest. SAA role is the easiest role in Ex-com, it only requires your presence that's it. If you happen to be a member of this club, do join Excom, at least once, to learn how a team works!
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT As I passed the baton of responsibility to guide the members of the club to our club Executive Team Jan to June 2020 I was about to relax as IPP and focus on my communication journey. Well, there were many new chapters added after that which kept me on the path to continuous learning and experience. When a third opinion was required I shared but I can tell you all it was rarely required as the team was very diligent and amazing. Thanks to the outgoing executive committee AKSHAY SINGH for such a wonderful term with so many achievements, new experiences which they, my Excom (July-Dec2019), club members, club well-wishers will always cherish as memories forever
Executive Committee - Jan -Jun 2020
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#24
O
Hours of Toastmasters
n 25th April 2020, when the GMT clock stuck the midnight hour, a bunch of young and enthusiastic Toastmasters from all parts of the world transcended physical boundaries and timezones to come together for a common goal - Toastmasters. Tuba Mansoor chats with Akshay Singh, one of the masterminds behind the idea which once seemed to be an unfathomable fantasy.
1) How was the idea of a 24-hour 3) Can you list down the twelve meeting born? 2-hour sessions and the Once the Toastmasters countries it covered? Community started going online, I Each team was very special to immediately formed a group with me. Each team of role players and few Toastmasters Friends who organizers was my International were attending online meetings. Toastmaster Friend and I had Akshay Singh Few days in the group, I was amazed made more of them after we went India | D98 at how Toastmasters are collaborating online. We also kept a Triad around a collaborating to go beyond boundaries. I letter as the theme to have meeting thought let us plan something like this as names. it will be a great learning experience. With They are as follows: this, the idea to do a 24 hours Marathon 1) Embrace | Engage | Empower Meeting came into the picture on the 2) Speak | Surprise | Surpass group. Still many said it is crazy but one of 3) Making | Meaningful | Memories the group members agreed and together 4) Motivate | Master | Makeover we set out to act on the idea. And as the 5) Zeal | Zest | Zenith idea went forward it became big and we 6) Pushing | Past | Perceptions had 6 continents participating. Just an 7) Create | Colorful | Connection amazing feeling after completion of the 8) Communicate| Collaborate | Coordinate event. It helped me learn a lot. Now any 9) Obstacles | Opportunity | Optimism club in the world will feel familiar when I 10) Radiance | Resilience | Reformation walk in that club. 11) Pivot | Pursue | Prosper 12) Celebrate | Community | Creativeness 2) How many countries, districts, the continent had participated? 4) How did you get in touch with people We didn’t keep a count of countries as from all over the world? Toastmasters are categorized under Well, Hardik from Mumbai Toastmasters Districts and Continents. So we had 6 created a Google form and we just shared Continents - Asia, Europe, Africa, South it on Facebook Toastmasters International America, North America and Australia. Group. Surprisingly we had an amazing We had members from 50+ Districts. response and then we just connected with them. Few of the countries we had to connect with Toastmasters from there.
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South America for particularly I know as we had no connected even 5 days before the event. But I said 6 is the number we decided so we will have 6 continents and I went on to Find A club on Toastmasters International portal checked out the club over there. Got the contact of members of the club from the page and connected with them over a WhatsApp message – a leap of faith. To my surprise it was 2am when I received the response due to time difference and they loved the idea of 24 hours event. Immediately the member connected with me the District Leaders and under 24 hours we had met our target of 6 continents. 5) Which new Toastmasters meeting styles you learned? I learnt a lot of things but here are a few things which I feel should be adopted by other Toastmasters: 1) Round Robin Evaluations where members from the audience about 3 of them take a minute to give the speaker feedback. Not to have this for all speakers but at least one in each meeting will be helpful. 2) Table Topics Evaluations even the guest receive feedback. In online setup pre-select table topics, speakers from guests joined early and get to know if feedback can be shared during the meeting. 3) Base Table Topic on the theme of the meeting helps guests speak on topics but if they are aligned on the pointers about Toastmasters it helps members learn these pointers. For example, one of the meetings had Table Topics around ingredients essential to cook a good life which was Respect, Integrity, Service Excellence and more. 4) Roles Like Quote Master who uses WOD and POD to give quotes, Hark Master or Listener who finds who all were listening during the meeting at end of it, Joke Master to practice humor every meeting. 5) Ah counter report shown using excel to all using Online Medium can help Ah counter read a shorter crisp report. 6) A complete meeting by Distinguished Toastmasters was a great learning. Everything was perfect and yet, they shared amazing pointers for each other to be better. 6) How many hours did you stay awake? Well, for the event it was Friday 8 am to Sunday 1 pm. A few hours more before the event days.
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7) Tell us about the #24 hours team. For the events hosted by the four districts in India we had three amazing teams as follows: PR Team which designed the poster and helped us spread awareness about the event. Meeting Team which played the roles along with members who connected with each of them and members who mentored them The Tech Moderator Team which took responsibility to be the #24 Hosts for entire 24 hours. We had 11 members who took control as the host and ensured a smooth experience for the 24 hours of the event day. Apart from these, we had 10 organizers and who took the responsibility to organize and implement the event for the sessions which were hosted by their team and role players. We had Ihsaan, Tuba, Misbah, and Neha from our club helping out with many PR, member management, and Tech Moderator activities. 8. How did you feel once you had completed the 24-hour meeting without any glitches? Did you have a backup plan? It was tiresome I was exhausted and felt sleepy the entire next week. Though the learning, the connections and new friends made were the best part of it. Well, there was a glitch in the live stream and we learnt a lesson around timer cards which we now implement to ensure a seamless experience to our live audience. Backup plans were in place. We had our Tech Moderator teams working round the clock to support if anything goes wrong. 9. What were your overall learnings? I learnt a lot, but I would like to share what I learned as a leader. You need to delegate and have the members own the tasks and be responsible for them. With an event at such a scale, not everything can be done by you. Ensure communication is seamless as it will help avoid confusion and get tasks organized and planned smoothly. Be a backup for everything or have a team of members who can take up the role and do the same justice as you would. Trust in fellow members and leaders as each of them has skills of leadership. 12. Will this go in the Guinness book of World Records? We are planning to apply. Still deciding under which category we should apply.
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A HEAD FULL OF COLORS AALIYA ALI
interviewed by
TUBA MANSOOR
T
his term saw a surge in people joining our club from various backgrounds. One such member is Aaliya Ali. With an extremely creative mind and often leaving us awestruck with her art & designs, she has already made her mark in the club. Tuba Mansoor spoke with her to understand the secret behind her creativity.
1. When did you realize you loved creating arts? How did it start? Since childhood I was always involved in arts, whether it be decorating stages for school plays, or decorating my room. While making school projects I used to show extra effort in creating something which my teachers always appreciated. I was also in my school’s Art Committee. In school I was more of an introvert person and did not participate much in competitions such as poster making, face painting etc. But in my college days I won several prizes in fests for my face painting skills and creative skills in many fields. 2. What sorts of things do you make? I paint Paper with Paper, sounds confusing right? Well, I love quilling and we have to use paper on paper to create art. Apart from quilling I do many kinds of paper crafts such as Explosion box, Box cards, different kinds of greeting cards, I also do Thread Art(which is basically done on a hard surface with nails and colorful threads). I also do calligraphy, and I do my own face painting majorly SFX (which is done using tissue papers, latex etc.) in horror theme. 3. From where did you learn it? I never attended a single art class. I am a complete self-taught artist. I was always mesmerized by so many artists on Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. They also had their tutorials on YouTube. So basically, I learned everything from YouTube and practice.
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4. Since when have you been doing it? Since the age of 11 or 12 I started creating greeting cards for my siblings. 5. You have an Instagram page. Does it help you commercially? Yes, I have a page on Instagram which goes by the username @soulsiscors. My friend and I started this page when we were in 1st year naming it soulsiscors (soul sisters + scissors). It did not help much because we used to be so busy in college. Also getting a lot of orders was not easy back then since many people were not aware of handmade crafts in my locality but yes it was a good experience. 6. Are there artists in your family? Yes, we have a lot of artists in the family. My Sister is a certified interior designer, my cousin brother has been a crew member in several films where he has created the sets for movies namely Kaptaan starring Saif Ali khan, also My aunt has recently appeared in a movie Liftboy and she gave a small appearances in movie lunchbox . Also, she has been a costume designer for several movies. 7. Daily how much time you spend creating arts? There is no specific time, it all depends on my office work because for me right now art is a hobby which can only be done in free time. But my aim is to make it a full-time business one day since I love and enjoy doing it.
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8. What was the toughest thing you had to create? Sometimes the simplest things become hard when a time constraint is applied. So this happened when I was in 3rd year and my friend called me to create a three layered explosion box in a day (which usually takes 56 days to create) she had got an urgent order but due to her exams she was unable to make it. So, I took it and started my work, I literally sat for complete 20 hours and completed it. Although it was difficult and seemed impossible at first, but It somehow tested my limits and I am glad that I took up that order. 9. How do you come up with such innovative ideas? While creating something personal for a friend or a family member the ideas just come by themselves and start to join like a puzzle when I actually start making the art piece. Also, when we get a lot of exposure to all different sort of artworks from different artist a lot of ideas come on their own. 10. How do you manage your work and this Artwork? Well, it is a little difficult sometimes, but we have to separate our work life from the personal life. Mostly it is the weekends when I do my art works and create something mostly for my friends and family.
those colorful papers. When I visit a stationary shop, I am like a dog with two tails, I want to buy anything and everything from there and create art pieces from it. I can do this job 24 hours without showing a sign of tiredness, I hope to turn this around and make my hobby a fulltime business. 12. Any highlights of your artistic life you would love to mention? First and foremost is seeing the glow of happiness on the face of a beloved person, and how they keep my gifts safe over so many years. Second, that art gives a platform to explore ourselves and our limits, as I explained question 8 that how accepting an order from beyond my capabilities has in fact proved that I can do it. Third that it showed me that I have a good grasping power, when I was in second year I participated first time in Face painting competition, I practiced a night before on myself using a mirror and next day showed up with a mirror, everyone was excited on seeing what I was going to do since I was the only one with fevicol, tissues papers, scissors and some colors. I created a horror themed painting on myself, and the judges really took a step back on seeing my face. Well, the end of the story is I bagged the First Prize on my first ever face painting. It gave me confidence in myself.
11. Do you have any plan to have it as your full-time business in future? Yes, absolutely I love creating art, I love seeing
SOME OF AALIYA'S DESIGNS
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New F
O
TCS Maitree T
Club, M
#Right
Force
Of
Toastmasters
Mumbai Choice
LEADERS IN THE MAKING PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE "Here's the team that brought glamorous posters and spectacular fliers for you throughout the term. Thank you all for helping me and the club in PR activities!"
Misbah
VP Public Relations
Aaliya
Twarit
Shruti
Rucha
Kshitija
Sagar
Sadaf
Sana
Prerana
Abhishek
Glen
Devendra
Ihsaan
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE "As part of the Membership Committee, members learned people skills. Thanks to the membership committee, we now have some new & amazing members among us!"
Shruti
Ihsaan
Tuba
VP Membership
Rushabh Sharique Saurabh
Prashant Namrata
Devendra
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE J U L - D E C 2 0 2 0
TUBA MANSOOR PRESIDENT
KSHITIJA SURYAVANSHI VP-MEMBERSHIP
IHSAAN MUHIYADHEEN
VP-EDUCATION
AALIYA ALI VP-PUBLIC RELATIONS
SMRITI RAJPAL
MOMIN AATIF
JINESH VASA
SECRETARY
SEARGEANT AT ARMS
TREASURER
"TCS MAITREE TOASTMASTERS CLUB TO US MEANS..."
#Impressive
#Going Beyond
Expectations
#Growing Together
#Learning WithFun
#Opportinity To Improve
#Small Family
#Learning Together
#A
n Over whe lmin E xp g e rie n
ce
#AMelting
Pot
#Toastmasters #Remarkable
Family
Rocks
#You
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Friendships
Amaze
Me
#Second
Home
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Fun
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Pill
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Atmosphere
Together #Lively
Environment