Puttalam Toastmasters Club Newsletter 2019/2020 Issue.1

NEWS LETTER 2019 -2020 ISSUE 1

PUTTALAM TOASTMASTERS CLUB

PURSUANCE

CONTENTS • From the editor 02 • President’s Message 04 • Message from the Programme Quality Director

05

EDITED BY ZAHRA MARZOOK

• Message from the Immediate Past Division Director 06 • Area Director’s Message 07 • Club Officers 2019/2020

08

Member articles • Only Female in the Room

09

• First Flight - Charter Installation Ceremony

10

• An Unexpected Achievement?

13

• Not a laughing matter

14

• Wild Toastmasters

15

• Miles to go before I sleep

16

• Awakening the dream speaker inside you

17

Nalaka Kumara President

• Confidence is Key

18

Zahra Marzook

• Toastmasters - A Pathway to be Rich?

19

• Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness 20 • Debating to public speaking

21

Dileepa Kulathilaka

VP Membership Ashen Malitha

VP Public Relations

Feature • My Toastmasters Journey in a pandemic

VP Education

22

Guest Article

Manula Malraj

Secretary Thanitha Weerasekara

• Is it worth the effort? 24

Treasurer

COVID Special

Janith Peiris

• Will you be my Quarantine?

Sergeant-At-Arms 25

Nalaka Kumara

Immediate Past President

Member Focus • Member Achievements 26 • Club Performance

28

• Educational Goals

30

• New Members

31

• Newly Elected exco members

32

Location : Club House, CEB Housing Complex Toastmasters International www.toastmasters.org https://www.facebook.com/ PuttalamToastMasters

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From the Editor

Puttalam a Paradise on Earth

T

he Puttalam district, one of the two districts in North-Western province, is a homeland of prolonged history. The history of Puttalam dates back to the arrival of Prince Vijaya, nearly 2500 years ago, when his vessel washed ashore to “Thambapanni” which is located North side of Puttalam lagoon. So, this was the place of origin of Sinhalese lineage.

The origin of the name Puttalam is “Uppuththalam”, which generally means ‘salterns.’ Puttalam is famous for its salterns, fisheries, and coconut plantation. It is part of the well-known coconut triangle of Sri Lanka (Kurunegala, Chilaw, and Puttalam). Puttalam is enriched with heritage and historically important landmarks.

On Kalpitiya road is the famous church in Talawila, dedicated to St. Anne. The church, which is more than 250 years old, is one of the country’s most popular Roman Catholic shrines. Thousands of Catholics swarm the holy grounds each year, especially during the feasts held in March and August.

At the end of the Kalpitiya road is the Old Dutch Fort built at the start of the 18th Century to protect trade and commerce. Its walls are 2.28m wide and 2.43m high.

Kalpitiya is also one of the best locations in Sri Lanka for dolphin and whale watching. Best dolphin and whale watching season in Kalpitiya − Sri Lanka is from Mid-October until the end of March! During these months’ large schools of the playful spinner dolphins can be seen dwelling few nautical miles out from the beach.

Kalpitiya is also famous for the Bar reef, which is located two km off the coast of Kalpitiya. It is the largest coral reef and the largest protected marine area in Sri Lanka. It is home to 156 species of coral and 283 species of fish.

Hamilton Canal is another important aspect of Puttalam.

The dutch built this canal connecting Puttalam to Colombo passing through Negambo. This canal is 14.5 km (9.0 mi) in length and it was designed to drain salt water out of the Muthurajawela wetlands. The canal was named after Gavin Hamilton, the Dutch Government Agent of Revenue and Commerce.

Another attraction you find around Puttalam is the Wilpaththu National Park which is the biggest and one of the most seasoned National Parks in Sri Lanka. Wilpattu is among the top national parks widely acclaimed for its panther (Panthera pardus kotiya) population. The distance from Puttalam to Wilpattu National park is approximately 40 km / 40 mins travel time.

Wilpattu means ‘natural lakes’ in Sinhala and ‘10 lakes’ in Tamil and lakes are exactly what you’ll find at Wilpattu National Park. The ideal time to visit Wilpattu and to get a feel for the flora and fauna is generally between February and October when the temperature hovers around 27 degrees celsius.

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Puttalam is also well known for its mascot the feral donkey. Although now the population of feral donkeys has declined and limited to the Kalpitiya Peninsula.

Kite surfing is another attraction you can find in Puttalam. The kite-surfing season runs from May to October, with brightly coloured kites, tied down by a surfer will be pushed and pulled and driven with immense speed while performing airborne acrobatics.

Another must-visit place in Puttalam is Gange Wadiya, which is a village along the Mannar road close to Eluwankulama. This is the point where the Kala Oya (A river) merges with the lagoon. Tourists and locals love camping at this site and never miss the boat ride along the Kala Oya.

Baththalangunduwa is a unique island located around 38 kilometers from the dutch bay which is ideal for beach camping. A thin strip of an island about a mere five square kilometers in size, it is one of the few inhabited ones off the coast of Kalpitiya. It is an iconic place to visit with breathtaking views of the surrounding.

Apart from the above-mentioned tourist attractions Puttalam also has assets that contribute massively to the economy of Sri Lanka. It shelters the country’s largest Power Plant which also is the Only coal power plant in Sri Lanka- Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant. With an installed capacity of 900 MW the plant contributes nearly 40% of the country’s peak demand.

Puttalam is also well known as the home of Insee Cement Puttalam plant, the only fully integrated cement manufacturing plant in Sri Lanka which celebrated its Golden Jubilee Last year.

Finally let me tell you about the ingredient that simply adds more colour and beauty to these landmarks in Puttalam.

It’s none other than the people in Puttalam which consist of a multicultural, multi-ethnic group of people who co-exist in peace and harmony. Puttalam is the home for Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists all alike.

Puttalam is still bursting with natural beauty, far away from the rush and racket of urban areas such as Colombo.

It’s the ideal travel destination for the Nature lover and Ideal area to relocate if you wish to enjoy scenic sunsets every day.

Puttalam has a long way to go as a city and that is why it needs a Toastmasters Club to mold its’, future world class leaders.

Puttalam Toastmasters Club will make sure of this goal.

Next time you visit Puttalam remember to get in touch with Puttalam toastmasters Club for a better travel experience.

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Changing is inevitable with the times!

W

e established this club in January 2019 with the help of senior Toastmasters in the region. We had to face many difficulties to sustain this club as it had different views among members about the conducting of the club. Most of the members are engaged in fieldwork, night shifts, and crucial activities in their respective and have countless priorities.

However, by now all our members realized that the toastmasters club is one of the great settings for them to develop their leadership sk`ills, communication skills & public speaking skills, etc.

Changing is never easy. It can be met with resistance or uncertainty. Nevertheless, changing is inevitable with time. Toastmasters is a great agent of change. It allows us to take small positive steps in a safe environment. As we STEADILY enhance our communication and leadership skills, we BEGAN to feel the difference.

The difference is the growth in who we are and how we think feel and behave.

Puttalam toastmaster club has uniquely talented club members.

We can see that all of them show their talents, they get to know their strengths, weaknesses, and also, they gain an opportunity to improve their skills and they overcome their barriers in public speaking. All the members help each other to identify the shortcomings of the English language usage in public speaking. Further, they gain opportunities to make links with the community on different levels.

During this one-year period, our members demonstrated remarkable achievements on various occasions of inter-club events. I believe most of them will provide leadership to the national and International toastmasters.

I take this opportunity to extend my appreciation to those who were dedicated to establishing this club and also those who supported us to become a club with good standing in Sri Lanka.

TM Nalaka Kumara President Puttalam Toastmasters Club

TM Nalaka Kumara, is a Chartered Electrical Engineer at Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant currently working as the Manager (Occupational Health and Safety

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Message from the Programme Quality Director Greetings Puttalam Toastmasters !

I

am extremely happy to convey this message to your newsletter which you are publishing successfully in a very short time.

Well, when initiating the Puttalam toastmasters club - a remote club, we had a very tough time chartering the club in April 2019. Toastmasters for Puttalam is not new. We had a club for Holcim - Palavi some time back. But we had to struggle a lot and finally, we had to give it up.

But this time it is not going to happen.

Because we have remote clubs all over the island, we are there to help you all out. With COVID 19 we have a positive learning platform. Online platforms for clubs like Puttalam is very important. Maybe in days to come, we will make it in person.

But don’t forget to meet online at least once a month, because that opportunity will give you to get good resource persons, and good evaluators, and good keynote speakers, outside Puttalam, it may be from Sri Lanka, or maybe from outside Sri Lanka.

Toastmasters is all about learning the art of speaking and learning leadership skills. Already you must be experiencing the difference after joining the toastmasters. Which is the same to me as well. When I joined toastmasters in 2006. I never dreamt that I would serve in district trio one or the other day. But it was made possible because of my learning through toastmasters and my confidence building through toastmasters. Taking risks is the art of a toastmaster.

You will learn the skills of confidence. And it will take you to another step in your personal life professional life and also your relationships with the community and the society at large.

As toastmasters of course we have targets to complete our educational projects. But why do we complete the project levels? Only to get the title out of it?

No. Use the skills and knowledge that you gain and put it into practice wherever you are. It may be at your working place or community. Because definitely, you will stand out, among others, if you are a toastmaster.

You will take a risk without any hesitation for the betterment of society and the benefit of your working environment. That is the power of toastmasters.

My dear Puttalam toastmasters I am extremely happy to see the progress of Puttalam toastmasters.

Of course, we have some issues with membership, but don’t think that is only for your club. When we charter any remote clubs, for the first three to four years we will always have trying times. Until we prove to the surrounding people that, toastmasters make a difference in anyone’s life. So take it a chance to prove yourself and show your friends, show your organization, the skills that you learn from the toastmasters and bring more members to the club which will prosper your club and in time I am sure you will be on of the most outstanding clubs in district 82.

My best wishes for your future endeavors. Thank you.

DTM Noorul Munawwara Programme Quality Director District 82 A

The writer is a Chartered Electrical Engineer who works as a Deputy General Manager in Ceylon Electricity Board

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Message from the Immediate Past Division Director Puttalam: Populated with Potential

I

was the division director of Division H, District 82.

The idea of forming a toastmasters Club in Puttalam had always been one of my goals particularly because Puttalam is a city where a large number of professionals can be found in numerous fields. There are government and semi-government and private organizations in Puttalam including the Lakvijaya Power Plant, Insee Cement, Puttalam Salterns, District Secretariat, Base Hospital, Zonal educational office, Banks, and Courts, etc.

Therefore, there are so many individuals working living in this city who can benefit hugely from joining a toastmaster’s club.

Why do I believe that the toastmasters club can be of great benefit for the professionals?

If you take myself as an example, I have come a long way and developed myself as a strong communicator as a result of being part of toastmasters. Communication is Key. Communication is the strong link that helps you in solving problems, reaching understanding, convincing others, persuading someone to do something, motivate your subordinates, and most importantly inspire those around you.

The confidence and skills in public speaking that you develop within the friendly and encouraging atmosphere of a toastmaster’s club will help you perform well in your work as well as improve your communication skills within the family unit and the society you live in. I myself am living proof of this fact.

When I helped charter Puttalam toastmasters club as a community club I wanted to create a strong link between the various professions in the city. The Engineers from Lakvijaya Power Plant, Engineers from Insee Cement, Bankers, Doctors, Lawyers, and other professionals can build strong relationships in the positive environment of the Toastmasters club. That was the main reason it was decided to have the club meetings at the District Secretariat where individuals from all professions can easily visit the club and be a part of.

Today after one year, although there have been many ups and downs, I can clearly see a number of emerging leaders in the Puttalam toastmasters club. Puttalam toastmasters were one of the very first clubs to go online during this pandemic situation. Having technically sound Engineers in the club may have been instrumental in achieving this feat. I can clearly see increased confidence and developed communication skills within the club members.

And I am certain that Puttalam Toastmasters has certainly a long way to go and many feats to achieve in the years to come.

DTM Lawrance Madapatha, Immediate Past Division Director, Division H

DTM Lawrance Madapatha is a Chartered Engineer by profession and currently holds the prestigious position, Director of Board of Investments Sri Lanka.

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Area Director’s Message

Effective or Efficient; The Dilemma

J

ust think about how well you spent yesterday? Was the day effective or efficient? Are effectiveness and efficiency the same or is there a difference between effectiveness and efficiency? These two buzzwords are popularly used

by CEOs and executives. However, most of the time both words are commonly misused or misinterpreted.

According to Dictionary.com, effective means producing the intended or expected result. Meanwhile, efficient means performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort. So, efficiency can be described as a simple tool, which has no value until someone uses it. For example, you can be efficient though you are not effective. Let’s take the example of a knife. We can use it to cut an apple or to harm someone.

Both the activities can be done efficiently, but which is effective? It is cutting an apple.

In Toastmasters too, you can be efficient without being effective. We can pay the dues on time. We can attend the programs without fail. We can attend the educational meetings regularly though we don’t have any role to play.

But being efficient is not sufficient enough. What can we learn for our development? How much are we keen to complete the educational goals in Toastmasters? We need to answer these questions in order to be effective in Toastmasters.

My dear friends, we ourselves should try to be effective in what we are doing. If you cannot practice it in Toastmasters, there is no other place in this world you could practice it. Because we all know Toastmasters is the place where leaders are made.

Let’s be effective and efficient leaders.

Wish you all the very best!!

TM Mohamed Rifnaz ACS, ALB Area Director Area 4, Division H TM Mohamed Rifnaz is Chatered Electrical Engineer by profession and currently working at Sri Lanka Telecom

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PRESIDENT Nalaka Kumara 071 869 3278

nalakakumara2007@gmail.com

VP EDUCATION Zahra Marzook 071 3568541

zahramarz88@gmail.com

TREASURER Thanitha Weerasekara 071 448 2988 thanitha@gmail.com

VP MEMBERSHIP Dileepa Kulathilaka 077 074 2893 skdileepa@gmail.com

VP PUBLIC RELATIONS Ashen Malitha 077 288 9964 ashenmalitha@hotmailco.uk

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS Janith Peiris 071 182 1383 janithpriyanga121@gmai.com

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Member Articles

Only Female in the Room,DL2

H

ave you ever been the only woman participant in the room at any event or meeting?

In my case, the answer is “Yes, 95% of the time”. Joining toastmasters didn’t change the situation for me. When Puttalam Toastmasters was chartered in April 2019, I had not even the slightest idea that I will end up not only being the only female member but also the Vice President Education.

I had been putting off joining toastmasters due to various reasons as time was precious being a mother to a toddler and having an exhausting work life. I did not want to add more work to my already busy schedule. When TM Jude Kurera, from the Lunuwila toastmasters club, who also happens to be the chairman of IESL Puttalam District Center, proposed to establish a Puttalam Toastmasters Club and I did not have the least interest to join the club.

It was on 18th February 2019 that I decided to take part in a club meeting before it was chartered in April. I found the meeting to be really interesting and even took up the role of the timer at short notice. An education session was conducted for us by the past division director, DTM Lawrance Madapatha which influenced me to be attracted to the environment of a club meeting.

At the end of the meeting when DTM Lawrance asked for volunteers to join the exco team my hand went up involuntarily. Thus, I began my journey in toastmasters.

What I did not expect was, to end up being the only female member of the charter team which is nothing new for me as well. Being the charter VP Education has been a bumpy but interesting journey and as a result, I have finally TM Zahra Marzook (DL1) developed the thirst for toastmasters so much that it has Vice President Education replaced my previously main hobby, reading books.

Puttalam Toastmasters Club It is my firm belief, that joining toastmasters was a stepThe writer is an Electrical Engineer by profession, currently working at Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant. ping stone in my voyage to becoming a weathered leader and helped me to achieve yet another phenomenal success in my career. I attribute my receiving the award for the IET Young Woman Engineer, 2019 to the confidence and poise I have gained as a result of participating in club meetings.

I’m still learning the nuts and bolts of communication as well as leadership skills or qualities, and the more I learn the more I realize I have to learn and practice.

My sincere expectation is that the Puttalam toastmasters club will prosper into a world-class club in the future and transform Puttalam into a city with world-class leaders.

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First Flight - Charter Installation Ceremony

By TM Zahra Marzook, DL1

Understanding comes through communication, and through communication we find the way to peace.

Ralph C. Smedley

O

ur master of the ceremony Toastmaster Shabry Samoon began the ceremony with the above quote said by none other than the founder of toastmasters international. It was followed by Toastmaster Kavinda Athapattu presenting a brief history of toastmasters international for the benefit of the guests and new toastmasters.

Thus, began the unforgettable event of charter installation ceremony of Puttalam Toastmasters club on the 8th of October 2019.

The occasion was graced by distinguished guests including the DTM Noorul Munawwara, Club Growth Director, District 82 as Chief Guest. Toastmaster Tharaka Amarasena, Division Director, Div. H was the Guest of Honour. Other eminent guests were DTM Lawrance Madapatha, TM Mohamed Marzook, TM Mohamed Rifnaz, TM Kasun Meegahakumbura, TM Jude Kurera, Eng. Indrasiri Gallage, Eng. Chinthaka Thuduwewaththa and representatives of our main sponsor for the event, China Machinery Engineering Cooperation.

Secretary of Puttalam Toastmasters Club, Toastmaster Tharindu De Silva warmly welcomed all guests and the audience with an ice breaking address.

He emphasized the fact that its priceless to have likeminded people who come together for a worthy common cause.

Puttalam toastmasters club was formed with likeminded people – professionals who are not even residents of Puttalam, but have come to work in establishments in Puttalam from all over the country.

Next unfolded the most awaited event of the eveningintroduction and induction of the charted members of Puttalam Toastmasters Club. Toastmaster Tharaka Amarasena, Division Director, Division H took control of the event and ceremoniously inducted the 20 charter members of the club which began with all the members pledging

I in the presence of my fellow members of the Puttalam toastmasters club, Make this firm obligation… to attend meetings regularly and prepare fully for each assignment…

To apply myself to the projects outlined in the toastmaster’s education program… to participate Actively in club activities… to evaluate others in a positive, constructive manner… to build open, Friendly relationships with my fellow members … and to bring other new members into the club so That they can also gain the benefits of toastmasters.”

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The induction ceremony was followed by the address of Chief Guest DTM Noorul Munawwara, Programme Quality Director, District 82, who emphasized the importance of Toastmasters to develop leadership skills in professionals, especially engineers. Having an impressive address by a well-known leader of District 82, who is also known as an iron lady was motivating and inspiring to everyone in the audience.

“By the authority vested in me as your Area Director, it is my sincere pleasure to declare these Toastmasters Officers installed in their respective Club Offices� declared Area Director of Area H4, TM Mohamed Rifnaz after installing the club officers for the very first time

Nineteen out of the twenty charter members of Puttalam Toastmasters Club are from Lakvijaya Power Plant which is the only coal power plant in Sri Lanka, as well as the largest Power plant in the country at present. The power plant manager of Lakvijaya Power Plant, Eng. Indrasiri Gallage addressed the audience expressing his views in an interesting speech remarking that it delights him to see a majority of the Puttalam Toastmasters Club consists of engineers from Lakvijaya Power Plant, who are the future leaders of Lakvijaya Power Plant and Ceylon Electricity Board.

The officer installation ceremony provides a symbolic passage of leadership authority to the newly elected leaders DTM Noorul Munawwara presented the Club Charter certificate to President TM Nalaka Kumara following the Club Officer Installation.

TM Nalaka addressed the gathering as the Charter President and stated his vision for the future of Puttalam Toastmasters.

Following his speech VP Education, TM Zahra Marzook briefly presented the humble beginnings of Puttalam toastmasters and took the opportunity to recognize everyone who had supported in various ways to form and charter Puttalam toastmasters club.

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The honourable mentions included TM Mohamed Marzook for sponsoring the charter fee, TM Yoosuf Aroon for conducting the Model meetings, TM Chandana Kumara for conducting the Pathways Workshop and all the visiting toastmasters who came all the way from around the country for various educational programmes.

DTM Lawrance Madapatha (Immediate Past Division Director, Division H) delivered an inspirational Keynote Speech on ICEInspire, Communicate, and Engage. As always, he inspired the audience with an inspiring personal story with a beautiful message.

The guests were felicitated with a souvenir and token of appreciation designed by Puttalam Toastmasters, for which approval was obtained from TMI. The evening ended on a Happy note with everyone having chance to sing with the calypso band including both the immediate past Division Director and Present Division Director.

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An Unexpected Achievement?

By TM Dileepa Shashtri Kulathilaka

“All the Sri Lankan presidents have come to their position by either hard work or family background. But sometimes it can come up as a strokeof luck”

T

he above quote was expressed by the former president of Sri Lanka Late D.B. Wijethunge in his appointment as the president with the sudden assassination of the previous president Ranasinghe Premadasa.

Life goals or achievements generally come with some expectancy. But some can come unexpectedly. VP membership for the year 2019 in the installation ceremony has come as such an incident for myself.

After the founding of the Puttalam Toastmasters Club, I joined the club as a charter member.

While having some previous experience with the BEPZ toastmasters club I was eager to join the club and do my speeches but due to the working pattern of Lakvijaya Power Plant, Ceylon Electricity Board I could not accomplish the same for several months.

But after two months I was able to complete 3 projects in my level 1 of Leadership development path. Meanwhile, the installation ceremony of the club was in the pipeline and the Club Officers and the members were eagerly preparing for the function. Two hours before the installation I got a call from the previous secretary TM Tharindu and he told me, “You have to take the position of the VP Membership”. I was kind of nervous but if the club has decided to elect me as VP membership, I was interested to work on it.

This incident suddenly reminds me of the words of past president D.B.Wijethunge.

“An unexpected Achievement.”

The writer is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, A charter member of the club and the VP Membership.

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Not a laughing matter

By TM Thanitha Weerasekara, VC2

“Toastmaster Thanitha Weerasekera - “This is Not a laughing matter”, “This is Not a laughing matter”- Toastmaster Thanitha Weerasekera.”

a

nnounced the contest master for the humorous speech contest.

As I started walking up to the stage, I was recollecting the events that happened on the previous day.

I had worked the graveyard shift from 4:00 p.m. of the previous day to 8:00 a.m. of the competition day.

After being awake the whole night I decided to drive to Anuradhapura from Puttalam.

Ironically, I decided that I was going to speak about road safety. While driving I patched up a simple structure for the speech and here, I was now getting on the stage.

On the stage, time stood still and the speech was effortless. I was having a good time and the crowd was enjoying and laughing. When the red light lit up, I wrapped up the speech and left the stage with a “Thank you Anuradhapura, you’ve been great”.

When I got off the stage, I felt happy. For that happiness I would like to thank our little group of toastmasters at Puttalam that gather for meetings so we all can enjoy the experience of public speaking. Special thanks should be given to Anuradhapura Toastmasters Club for well organizing the Area Contest.

Finally thank you to our dedicated office bearers who drive our club forward.

The writer is a Mechanical Engineer at Lakviaya Coal Power Plant A charter member of the club and currently serves as the Club Treasurer

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Wild Toastmasters…

By TM Manula Malraj

H

ow did Puttalam toastmasters become “wild toastmasters” in a day? Being a budding Toastmasters club, having club meetings in Puttalam city once every fortnight throughout the year, there was an increasing demand from the members to have a different experience. In the midset of various suggestions like a beach party, hiking and meeting in a restaurant came to a halt by the words of TM Ashen; “Why we can’t have a meeting at Gange Wadiya in Wilpaththu suburbs which is a famous destination among nature lovers and not so far from the city either?”. While TM Ashen was busy arranging the necessities to have the outdoor meeting at the woods of Wilpaththu, others gave fullest side support whenever needed.

On the evening of 26th November 2019, three 4WD vehicles departed from Norochcholei carrying ten toastmasters for their first-ever outdoor toast mastering adventure while two experienced toastmasters from Anuradhapura toastmasters were already on their way to join us. Being a driver of one of the 4WD vehicles, my busy foot on the gas paddle made us ahead of the rest of the vehicles by half an hour when we reached Eluwankulama.

The environment suddenly changed into a greenery of woods when we turned towards Gange Wadiya from Eluwankulama, which gave us the first sign of “wilderness”. Occasional peacocks and monkeys crossing the road caused us to slow down the journey a bit. The copper-colored soil in the area reminded me of the great story of the beginning of civilization in Sri Lanka where the king Vijaya landed and named it as Thambapanni 2500 years ago.

The area that once gave prosperity during ancient times now gives the much-needed elements hidden under the soil for the cement industry to build the nation. Is it just a coincidence of having the very first outdoor meeting of a budding Toastmasters club in such a place, which has given birth to a nation’s prosperity?

We reached the destination at around 5 PM and were privileged to have an early bird offer which others were still not aware of! Since we had some time to kick off the formal schedule of the toastmaster meeting, we decided to have a boat ride towards the lagoon along the Kala Oya. The “captain” of the boat wanted us to rush into the boat as he needed to come back before the sunset.

The view from the boat was spectacular as the river flows through beautiful landscapes such as mangroves and islands. Our destination was an island made entirely from the sand just before the river hugs the Puttalam lagoon to finish her mighty journey. There were herds of endemic bird species on the island, and it seemed that they were not happy about entering toastmasters before finishing their daily routines.

We were busy capturing the breathtaking view of the drowning sun in the horizon of the Indian ocean far away from the Kalpitiya peninsula, making vibrant colors in the sky. However, it seemed that the view from the naked eye was far better than cameras.

Other toastmasters had just arrived at the meeting place when we returned from our boat voyage.

The meeting place was a restaurant made from entirely wooden amenities which were aligned with our “wild” theme. The meeting started at 7 PM with our Sergeant at arms TM Janith’s introduction followed by president TM Nalaka’s speech.

All the formal activities of a toastmasters meeting such as round robbin sessions, prepared speeches, and table topics sessions followed in the wilderness.

The speech delivered by visiting TM Thusitha was filled with much-needed humor to stay awake refreshingly.

The educational session conducted by TM Rifnaz was valuable for budding toastmasters to identify the importance of following the proper pathway of the toastmaster journey. Finally, the meeting winded up around 9.30 PM without delaying dinner and party sessions which all were anticipating to commence.

The delicious dishes blended with music and the precious dose of vodka in the candlelight made a heavenly environment at the tail end of the day.

We had to drive carefully on the way back because elephants were expected to meet us during the night time though we didn’t meet them. We suspected that the jumbos too do not like toastmasters the same as the birds in the sand island!!

The writer is a Chartered Electrical Engineer at Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant, A charter member and the Secretary of Puttalam Toastmasters.

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Miles to go before I sleep

By TM Janith Peiris, IP1

I

s there anything which helps you to build up yourself?

The answer is ‘NO’. Because I think there is nobody to build up yourself. But it’s all up to you to build up your inner self.

I was an introvert. I talked less. I interacted less with the society. I wanted to be in a quiet place without talking to anybody. That’s how I brought up. I always believed the fault is with the system.

But one day it all changed. Back in 2019 a ray of hope brightens my dark world. That was the day I joined toastmasters club. I was scared to talk. I was scared to know each other. But on that day, I thought I should help myself because problem is not with the system.

Very first meeting was held at Lakvijaya Power Plant conducted by TM Yoosuf Aroon. He gave us a brief introduction about toastmasters’ club. Day by Day I was addicted to this club. I was no longer an introvert, no longer the quiet guy who always sat at the back of the class. I talked and talked a lot. I felt my inner soul was blooming and I was eagerly waiting for the next club meeting.

In 2019 blooming month of April Puttalam toastmasters club was chartered. Particular day I was nominated as Seargent At Arms in our executive committee.

Still I’m gaining lot of skills from Toastmasters club. Now I have confidence to give a speech in front of a crowd. No longer am I shivering and no tingling in my feet. Now I can count on myself. But I have many more goals to accomplish in Toastmasters journey as Robert Frost said “Miles to go before I sleep”. I am always looking forward to achieve these goals without having blind faith in miracles.

The writer is a Mechanical Engineer at Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant and Charter Member of Puttalam Toastmasters Club. He served as SAA and is the VP PR Elect.

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Awakening the dream speaker inside you

By TM Kavinda R. Atapattu

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n a globalized world development of technical competencies and soft skills has become the prime concern of everyone who are chasing after life goals and dreams. Public speaking is one of the most important soft skills for any person to become successful.

There are many instances where I was called upon to speak on behalf of myself or on behalf of others at organizational meetings, weddings, technical forums, business forums or numerous other public gatherings. In such situations my public speaking skills were tested in front of different spectators where it demanded competency and confidence.

Therefore, speaking had to be developed as a life skill.

In the journey of improving the skill of speaking the most difficult part is to begin with it or break the ice. Feelings of anxiety in front of an audience and concern whether I will end up running out of words made me reluctant to speak.

Remembering each and every word in the speech is one of the hardest tactics I followed where doubtfulness in my mind made it difficult overcome this hurdle.

However, in toastmasters I got a golden opportunity to make up my mind and improve my confidence to break the ice which is the first step of unveiling the hidden speaker.

Mistakes were always welcomed by my fellow toastmasters and I received a bunch of suggestions as a reward to improve it. Once I broke the shackles and started moving forward, I felt my approach towards speaking was changing positively.

I was really amazed by the phrase “I see something. But I don’t know what it is”. As the world champion public speaker said on a winning note that you may see something in you, but you won’t know what it is.

Being a fresher to toastmasters, I started dreaming about a great speaker as a hidden character in my life, of whom I would like to dream even more to be an inspirational dynamic leader.

During my toastmasters’ journey, I was lucky enough to become one of the chartered members of Puttalam toastmasters club where I was also designated to be the master of ceremony of the charter installation ceremony of the club.

Now, I believe that speaking is not only an art, but it is a way of life as well. I have cherished each and every moment in toastmasters so far since the dream speaker who was lying idle in me, was taken to the podium where the audience waits with abated breath for that special oration The writer is a Mechanical Engineer at Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant and a Charter member of Puttalam Toastmasters Club.

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Confidence is the key

By TM Udayantha Niraj De Silva

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onfidence is the key… first, you have to believe in yourself then the others will follow!

The thought of addressing a crowd made my blood run cold but I was inspired on that first company monthly casual meetup to give a small talk about how I feel there since I was the only one from my country.

The rush was amazing. I swear I was buzzing for days. I went back every month then joined the Puttalam Toastmasters Club later and embarked on a very powerful speaker training journey.

I’m not boasting when I say it changed my life. The programme covers every angle of speaking from brainstorming to creating a voice personality in a very practical and supportive way. But I think the most powerful thing I took away from it was the confidence to just let go of inhibitions, fear of criticism and judgment. That’s where authenticity comes from, and what connects to an audience. Since being a member of the Toastmasters family one of my biggest learnings and greatest surprises was to know that one comes across very differently to other people than it feels to that person themselves. How I found that out was by getting so much constructive feedback from other members of toastmasters in every meetup.

Unless such a supportive environment and feedbacks I would have never got so honestly such freedom from my own barriers that could not open up my true potential.

The writer is an Electrical Engineer at Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant and a Charter member of Puttalam Toastmasters Club

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Toastmasters - A Pathway to be Rich?

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By TM Dasitha Liyanage

hen I started my career with Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) as an Engineer, I was having a dream like all others, of making the future bright and successful.

To achieve that, it’s a must that you have to work towards being successful. My research on how to become successful had started since I was an undergraduate and I was looking for role models, idols whom I can learn from, and stay focused in my career as a promising Engineer.

My first learning experience in my career was the network progress meeting which was one of the largest meetings in which engineers from all over the country participate.

I was asked to do a presentation on fault analysis and give recommendations where I had to convince the importance of good practices to avoid failures in the future. It was kind of a challenging task for me as a newcomer. Skills should be there to convince others if you want to achieve your targets. I was looking for a way to learn and practice.

I came to know that there is a corporate club inside the company called Toastmasters and it’s a good place to build confidence and sharpen your speaking skills. I found that’s interesting and in the first meeting I participated itself, found it to be a wonderful environment full of fun and friendly people. Individuals from different professions and different ages interacting like classmates in a school. This experience made me to participate in the club meetings again and again.

Even though I was a beginner, through toastmasters I was able to learn how to listen to others attentively. That little round-robin session of 20 seconds helped me a lot with my career where through listening before speaking I was able to understand things more effectively and it helped me a lot with not only providing solutions for technical matters but also improving personal relations among subordinates.

Furthermore, I learned how to make others happy, motivated, without any cost. That’s by appreciation. The clap we are making after every introduction, speech, and word of the day, etc. really matters and it shows our willingness and ability to appreciate someone else. I experienced how appreciation can make you more approachable to others and once you can appreciate someone else you also feel more appreciated by the others.I was able to network with different kinds of individuals due to toastmasters and enjoyed the joint and themed meetings immensely.

Toastmasters was a second family where everyone was caring for each other with their achievements, life events and it is filled with celebrations of birthdays, New year, and Christmas parties.

Whatever I learned about convincing others was all by the speeches I watched and learned which are made to achieve the objectives of convincing and its techniques. It was very helpful in my career and as well as in my personal life. To work your innovative ideas inside the company and to make your subordinates work without hesitation you need to be convincing.

I have identified my strengths and areas where I should improve as a result of Toastmasters’ art of evaluation.

The assets I accumulated from Toastmasters helped me when I joined the Ceylon Electricity Board where I performed well in the interview showcasing my knowledge and skills without any fear to make the panel impressed towards me.

After joining Lakvijaya Power Plant I was able to join Puttalam Toastmasters which consists of a team of enthusiastic, talented, and committed great humans. I was able to discover hidden skills such as compering and showcasing my inbuilt talents due to toastmasters where overcoming stage fear and presentation techniques were practiced tirelessly. A transformation is going on inside me unknowingly which is truly remarkable.

Some other profits I earned through toastmasters is quick decision-making skill to achieve the precise solution in case of an emergency. Impromptu speaking not only makes you talk about the given topic in the given time, but it also makes you respond quickly with the ability to decide the best all-inclusive solution within a short period. It’s good training for your brain as especially in power plant operations such situations are frequently experienced.

As of today, my journey continues with Puttalam toastmasters with a great team while investing more and more on listening, appreciation, convincing, decision making, and public speaking. There is no doubt Toastmasters will make those investments expand day by day creating the billionaire leader. If you are confused with the heading and my story, I suggest you join with toastmasters and if you are already a toastmaster hope this will be an eye opener.

The writer is an Electrical Engineer at Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant and a reinstated member of Puttalam Toastmasters Club.

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Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness

By TM Chameera Bamunusinghe

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o you feel the fear of public speaking? Congratulations‌! It is very common for human beings and normal. Maybe that fear is ahead of death for someone.

The public speaking anxiety or glossophobia is a mental status. Can you overcome the fear of public speaking?

YOU CAN. There is no magic. The simple but perfect way to improve public speaking skills is to join the world of toastmasters. Not only do you get to develop your communication skills but you also get to network with many professionals in the industry is an extra opportunity of the toastmasters.

Puttalam toastmasters club is a beautiful place with friendly hearts. Since the very first day, club members have been supporting me in many ways to improve public speaking and leadership skills. Being a role player is a bit difficult in the initial stage but with the time you will adapt to it.

Every role is designed to achieve a specific learning goal.

Outdoor meetings are adding extra beauty to regular club meetings. Club meetings are always fun with plenty of opportunities to gain new knowledge. I also completed a speechcraft program on my toastmaster’s journey.

I had many negative thoughts and fear for public speaking but I feel there is a transformation within me with time.

The pinnacle of success in toastmasters is to achieve the distinguished toastmaster (DTM) level which is the highest educational achievement in Toastmasters. I am sure when a person achieves that status, he or she will be a confident speaker with advanced career development.

There is a long journey ahead for me as well in Puttalam toastmasters. As a young emerging club, there are plenty of opportunities for us to grow up. Yes, there is darkness around us but it is our duty to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

The writer is a Mechanical Engineer at DIMO and a member of Puttalam Toastmasters Club

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Debating to Public Speaking

By Shabry Samoon

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ight speakers, two teams and one resolution. It is the time to start the battle against each other, to bring justice for the title The words come from the moderator of the debating competition is much energetic, always pumps me up and give goosebumps. debaters are equipped with heavy weapons of arguments to battle each other. The arrogance and aggression is much evident from the body language of each and every speaker. A debate is indeed a battle between the intellectual capacities of two teams and the eloquence of the speakers.

The most aged shreds of evidence on debating can be found from ancient Greece and Rome. In ancient Greece, the philosopher Socrates used debating as a way of understanding the world by drawing out answers from his followers. In Rome, Cicero the Roman lawyer, philosopher, and orator were famed for his rhetoric and ability to show up weaknesses in government by arguing with the government officials.

In a typical debate structure, two teams were presented with a resolution/ title that they will be debating on. Debates are performed in a formal setting that gives all participants a chance to present and defend their arguments. The Affirmative side of the resolution or the title also called the Proposition – supports and upholds the resolution. The proposition is the team that attempts to secure the acceptance of a proposition. The negative side of the proposition also known as opposition opposes the resolution; in other words, they deny the stance of the proposition.

Unless like a speech in toastmastering, a speech in a debate is often partially prepared and partially spontaneous, there are various different structures of debating available all around the world. Yet, in Sri Lanka mostly school debating has adapted the British Parliamentary Style, which is conducted with two teams consisting of four members per team. First, two speakers of the debate prepared to deconstruct the topic and define the resolution. The points mostly support or defend the resolution are presented in the format of Name, Explanation, Evidence form.

In contrast, the last two speakers cross-examine their opponent and present the rebuttals. Always speakers tend to begin with a strong attractive opening statement to get the full attention of the judges and sometimes to humiliate the opponent and gain an edge over the opponent.

I was a member of my school debating team, which taught me the A, B, Cs of public speaking. Debating has many contrasts in comparison with the public speaking which we practice in toastmastering. It is all about presenting your arguments in a more aggressive manner in terms of expressions, gestures, postures and the usage of language. For example, in comparison with the usage of open palms gestures in public speaking, is much limited in debate and more often speakers use a pointed finger during the presentation of arguments. The rhythm of speaking mostly would be monotonous, yet to stress the points speakers used to vary the pitch of the voice and the magnitude. Yet, strategic pauses are not affordable and economical to use in a debate speech as the time is strongly restricted and over speaking would disqualify the speaker.

On the other hand, debating is a team exercise where a loose link would bring disaster to the team. The flow of arguments should be structured in a way to convince the judges that the team has put a collective effort to bring out the arguments strongly with supporting evidence. Even though in many aspects debating is much different from the regular public speaking, often it brings out the top-notch team spirit and leadership to the maximum threshold. End of the day, it is an ultimate litmus test of the capability of construction of arguments, which pushes the intellectual capacities of the debaters to the edge.

The writer is a Project Manager at INSEE Cement and a member of the Puttalam Toastmasters club

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Feature

My Toastmasters Journey in a pandemic

By TM Asitha Koshala Thanippuli Arachchi MBBS, ACG, ALB.

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xtraordinarily I went to Royal-Thomian Big match for all three days from 12th March 2020 to 14th March 2020. I have never done that earlier in my life. Covid-19 was breaking out at a steady rate throughout the world.

Ananda Nalanda annual cricket encounter was over by then, bit early and His Excellency the President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was seen attending the match on news. Except for the Chinese woman who was found Covid-19 positive in December by then we had only the Sri Lankan tourist guide who worked closely with an Italian tourist team.

We thought we were safe due to being a tropical nation and for having strong genes. Since the province Hubei in China where city Wuhan was, also at a cold climate and even Europe was the same and relatively most of Covid-19 spread was reported in those hot spots, we also had highly optimistic confidence I suppose.

From March 19th the situation was in a grave disaster as here and there in Colombo and Gampaha Covid-19 cases popped up. My big match also reported a positive Covid-19 case. We also had fears of being positive as we all mingled with many others during the lunch breaks of the big match. Friendships were seen overwhelming at the grounds, tents and roads in Colombo 7. The bonds were made strong. Me and my batch-mates are 42 years of age.

Leaving school in 1997 after advanced level exam and some friends leaving bit early for higher education abroad or at international level institutes, meeting them all at the grand get together of this scale was definitely fun. If you look around, the friends you have, the near dear ones are indeed amongst your school friends. You attended all the mischievous actions with them. Teased lady teachers, nicknamed male teachers, bunked few classes and went to films etc., are amongst some of the mischiefs that we all did.

Visiting my old parents at residence at Horana and being with them for entire 3 days was feeling awesome initially as I loved them very much. The only barrier for my daily visit to them was the distance from Kekirawa, where I work and live now. They loved my visit too. Suddenly everything seemed upside down.

“Why couldn’t I stay away?”

“Why did I go home?”

“You shouldn’t have gone there!” my brain blamed the heart. Real Love seemed not visiting your dear ones, to deal wisely with Covid-19. People were urged to stay away from each other. Instead of locking down we imposed police curfew throughout the country.

A Presidential Task force to eliminate the disease was established with an Army Major General in command. The word quarantine came into the picture. An act which was introduced by English in 1897 came into the picture and was in action. We all obeyed that as Director General of Health was the chief authority of the act.

People started to work from home while gazettes defined some new essential services. As a health professional I had no curfews in place. But my hobby was made distanced.

Toastmasters couldn’t meet for physical meetings. I only had to finish my advanced communicator projects and high-performance leadership projects including a club coach role before June 30th of 2020.

With curfew in place above was an ineffable reality. Then came the International President’s email on online meetings and keeping the connectivity. Bonds were renewed. I had the first meeting as a demonstration with Anuradhapura toastmasters and Puttalam toastmasters. For the very first-time Kekirawa Toastmasters went online. Most of my Advanced Communicator Gold projects were delivered at online platforms. I want to specifically thank Puttalam Toastmasters Club for giving me speech slots from their online meetings. That invitation was so much encouraging as my club had few issues going online. Some active members of my home club did not like the online meetings and some didn’t have 4G signal for connectivity. All the resistance was overlooked as I could participate at District 92,98, 41 and 82 combined Quadro meeting to deliver my ACG 7th speech with a great evaluation from district 41,

by TM Mayank Mohata. I was the lucky one and the only speaker selected from district 82 to deliver a speech. It was a 3-hour long meeting with enormously fruitful outcome.

P a to g einterpret 1 I had a poetry. I chose “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost. Early 20th century poem was made live at Quadro and it truly made me happy. TM Zahra Marzook’s support can never be forgotten here. She was the guiding light that kept me concentrated on online meetings and delivering my speeches. I make this article as a personal gift to her in order to pay my gratitude for our friendship in toastmasters.

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Meanwhile Area H3 Director TM Kasun Meegahakumbura communicated with me about the good old TM club in Kuliyapitiya which direly needed club coaches. They could accommodate two and one name was already proposed.

Luckily, I got to work with them and to my amazement Club Kuliyapitiya could be revived within a very short period. TM Hishana Martinesz, my co-coach was enthusiastic and instrumental in this endeavor. We could pay the membership renewal for 8 of them after a promising online meeting which the members admired a lot. TM Zahra Marzook gave her relentless commitment to host these meetings on ZOOM platform.

Toastmasters of Kuliyapitiya club were mostly Engineers and were from sound technical backgrounds. So, they loved the online meetings and that was the backbone of the success. 8 became 10 in no time. TM Gamini Fernando the President and TM Anurasiri Adikari, Vice President Education were highly positive and affirmative of our suggestions to uplift the club and the meeting environment.

Covid-19 could devastate our economy, freedom of movement but not the spirit of toastmasters.

We kept our heads high within the core values of toastmasters - Respect, Integrity, Services and Excellence. Membership payments were not coming easily as the members found that their hard-earned money was onerous to spend on toastmasters. Resistance was built within when it came to membership renewals. Toastmaster International offered a grace period of one month for renewals as well.

But the need of self -development, helping friends at the crisis were observed throughout the covid-19 outbreak.

I was given speech slots to finish my ACG speeches from the club I coach as well. Those were evocative moments to cherish in this legendary pathway to become a DTM.

But the threat is out there! Its unseen! It is unpredictable!

Mighty nations are kneeling before the virus while some toastmaster clubs are suspended for not paying the renewals on time. Its foreseen and foresaid that we would have to live with the threat for years.

Let the face mask steal your beauty. Let the curfew keep you safe. Let the physical meetings be obscured more but let us conquer the quest!

Still the meetings are conducted online. The covid-19 threat is imminent. Curfew is lifted with restraints in place. I achieved Advanced Communicator Gold level with LDREXC award for high-performance leadership project during this crisis. My club coaching role is accepted and pending approval till the club achieves distinguish status.

Friendships that I newly found also are rewarding like school days. Some people found their hobbies within the insurgency. Inadvertently or not some found the crisis a blessing. Humanity was seen and upheld many a times at many occasions. We as a nation are proud about ending a three-decade old terrorism and would in the future too boast about the actions positively taken against eliminating Covid-19 threat.

The writer is a Doctor by Profession and has held many leadership positions including Club President of Kekirawa toastmasters and Area Director of Area H1. Currently he serves as Treasurer of Kekirawa Toastmasters Club

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Guest Article

Is it worth the effort?

By Eng. Indrasiri Gallage

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ear Toastmasters, Do you like to work without being appreciated?

You are the people who are in the process of continuously improving your leadership and communication skills to become a future leader. In the future, you may become a leader of a public or private establishment or a social circle.

Do you think that working in such a capacity without any appreciation is worth it?.

Let me tell you a story related to me. My younger brother is a doctor, who is a member of a team of surgeons who carry out open heart surgeries.

Usually, they carry out two surgeries per week for patients from all over the country and help them see the world longer and to enjoy their time with their beloved families by saving their lives. Saving a life is the greatest service that a human can do. These patients are very grateful to him, appreciate his service and whenever he visits anywhere in the country, they will help him with anything. It is a wonderful experience and the appreciation he gets motivates him.

Coming back to myself, I am the Plant Manager of Lakvijaya Power Plant and I have to lead around 1000 people from different disciplines and backgrounds who work tirelessly to provide 40% of the country’s electricity supply around the clock.

It is the only thermal plant providing electricity below the selling price and its generating cost cannot even be matched by wind or solar power plants. We operate a power plant that supplies electricity to almost 10 million of the people in this country enriching their lives and providing a basic human need of nowadays.

But let me ask you this. Are we being appreciated? No. Instead we mostly get harsh comments such as “always breakdown”, “a plant that kills the environment” etc. When I meet someone, they usually ask three questions. They are “is the plant still running?”, “why is it failing all the time?”, “is it environment friendly?”

Although someone in my role does not get much appreciation compared to heart-surgeons for the service that we provide, should we ever lower the quality of our service?

No. That is why a leader must be firm on his role and confidently lead the team even though praises may not come his or her way all the time.

As a leader you have a role to play and goals to achieve.

While being appreciated and valued for your work is a wonderful thing, should you be frustrated and let-down if you.

I am confident that you all can develop the skills and mindset of leading without appreciation with Toastmasters Club. I wish you all a stable and joyful long journey.

The writer is the Power Plant Manager of Lakvijaya Power Plant (3 x 300 MW coal power plant of Sri Lanka and prospective member of Toastmasters)

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COVID SPECIAL

Will you be my Quarantine?

By TM Zahra Marzook

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ith the outbreak of corona virus or the pandemic which is well known as COVID-19 many new words and terms were started to be used all around the world wide web and social media platforms. Not only that you get to see a lot of memes, parody’s and new creations all thank to the lockdown, quarantine and self-isolation impacts. A new culture is emerging as a result of the Corona pandemic and we can simply call it as “Corona-Culture”.

Thanks to “Corona-culture” our daily conversations and newspaper articles, blogs, columns all seem to be flooded with COVID or Corona related jargon. For the benefit of the future generation’s reference I have compiled most of these terms as following. Enjoy!

Armchair virologist – Someone who doesn’t know any-

thing, but is posing as an expert.

Blursday – An unspecified day because of lockdown’s disorientating effect on time Coronacation – Vacation or holiday as a result of quarantine or isolation due to the corona pandemic.

Corona-cuts – A hairstyle during the pandemic.

Coronadodge – Physically avoiding others out in public

so as not to contract the virus.

Coronalusional – Suffering from disordered thinking as a result of or during the COVID-19 crisis.

Coronaspeck – The weight you gain due to overeating when emotional during isolation Coronasplaining – Similar to “Mansplaining,” when someone who doesn’t know very much about a topic lectures to others.

Coronated - No royal connotations here. ‘being infected’ Coronapocalypse - Corona apocalypse Coronageddon - Corona Armageddon Coronarita - The margarita answer to a quarantini— served with, what else, a Corona-brand beer.

Coronaphobia – Fear of corona Coronials - The hypothetical new generation of children conceived during COVID-19 has cleverly been crowned the, Coronomics – Economics during corona Coronaspeak – to describe something that happened which happened never before Covidivorce – A divorce initiated during COVID -19 pandemic Corona-Waltz - Maneuvering around other people in public, like a dance, to avoid be close to them.

Corona babies – babies conceived while being on quarantine at home Covidiot – A person behaving irresponsibly in conditions of containment.

The COVID 19 or COVID 15 (pounds) – Extra body weight accrued during quarantine.

Covidient – obediently following precautions Covidating - The art of dating in the time of Corona Covideo party – online parties via Zoom or Skype Covexit - the strategy for exiting lockdown Drivecation – A holiday, typically in a motorhome or RV,

in one’s own driveway.

Hamsterkaufing – Stockpiling and/or hoarding Isobar – An at-home isolation bar.

Locktail hour - Cocktail hour in lockdown.

Morona - A person behaving stupidly because of or during the coronavirus outbreak.

Post-rona – When the pandemic is over Prepper – a person who prepares for the future Quaranbaking – The therapeutic act of baking during quarantine Quaranteams – Online teams created during lockdown (for work or helping others) Quaranelling – the quarrelling that happens during extended periods of being in quarantine Quarantunes – The music you listen to while in quarantine Quarantini – A slang term for a cocktail people drink at home while under quarantine during—and because of— the coronavirus.

Spendemic – increase in online shopping during the pandemic.

Virtual happy hours – happy hours over Zoom, facetime, Google Hangouts, and other video conferencing or chat applications.

WFH – working from home Zoom-bombing – When people hijack or interrupt a video conference.

Zoom-room – The one corner of the home that is kept clean for video conferences.

Zumped – When someone dumps another person in a Zoom video call.

Although it’s fun to learn corona-slang during this pandemic period I do not wish that the situation will last persist until the list goes on and on.

Let’s hope that next year’s Valentine will not be celebrated in Quarantine.

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Member Achievements KICK IT HIGH! President, TM Nalaka Kumara participated in the 18th Junior, cadet and Under 21 years championship of Asian Karate Do Federation with the national team in the city of Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia in 2019. There, He participated for referee Seminar and Examination, and he qualified as a Judge B grade in “Kata” in Asian Karate Do Federation.

YOUNG WOMAN ENGINEER Vice President Education, TM Zahra Marzook went on to win the IET Young Woman Engineer Award in 2019 in an event held at the Galadari Hotel. She contested against four other finalists and received her award from Sri Lanka’s First ever Lady Engineer, Dr. Premila Sivaprakasapillai.

She also won the third place in the table topics contest of Area H4 in March, 2020.

NOT A LAUGHING MATTER Not only did Treasurer, Thanitha Weerasekara take part in a Humorous speech and evaluation contest for the First time, he actually won the third place in the Humorous speech category. His speech titled “Not a laughing matter” was indeed full of laughing matter. The audience was curious to know whether he was interested in a career in public speaking.

Apart from that Thanitha also completed his Masters in Energy Technology.

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HAT-TRICK!

Vice President Membership, Dileepa Kulathilaka had quite the year. First, he participated in the one and only reality general knowledge competition held in sri lanka Sirasa Lakshapathi. He has completed his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in the Anglia Ruskin university, England. As if that was not enough achievement he went on and achieved the status of Professional Engineer (Chartered) all in one year. Man of the match!

IT’S RAINING CHARTERED ENGINEERS! TM Manula Malraj, Secretary of Club and TM Asanka Sudasinghe, Charter VP Membership also achieved the sought-after status of Chartered Engineer.

MASTER OF ALL TRADES? Our Charter member Toastmaster Madhawa Nadunmal graduated with his Masters in Electrical Engineering, from the University of Moratuwa.

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Club Performance JOINT MEETINGS

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uttlam Toastmasters ckub achieved the Distinguished Club Status on 24th june 2020.

VISITING TOASTMASTERS Always a helping soul, Toastmaster Sudath Fernando visited Puttalam Toastmasters on 23rd July, 2019 and conducted an educational session relevant to the better speaker series.

For the tenure of 2019/2020 Puttalam toastmasters have had 2 joint meetings.

The first joint meeting was held with Anuradhapura toastmasters club on 10th September 2019.

A guiding star for our club, our area director TM Mohamed Rifnaz visited the club on 26th November 2019 and conducted an educational session from the Better Club Series.

The second joint meeting was held with IESL toastmasters club on 30th April 2020, which was an online meeting organized during the COVID19 pandemic situation.

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EXCELLENCE IN CLUB BUILDING

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FIRST ANNIVERSARY

EDUCATIONAL AWARDS Pathway Level 2 completions

Pathway Level 1 completion

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NEW MEMBERS Chinthaka Jayakody

Shabry Samoon Project Manager Insee Cement

Process Engineer - Plant Insee Cement

Dasitha Liyanage Reinstated member from SLT Toastmasters Club Electrical Engineer, Ceylon Electricity Board

Chameera Bamunusinghe Project Engineer, Diesel and Motor Engineering PLC

Prasad Dissanayake Mechanical Superintendent Ceylon Electricity Board

Nuwan Dhanushka Mechanical Superintendent Ceylon Electricity Board

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NEWLY ELECTED EXCO MEMBERS

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