ABC

Tidings

ABC TOASTMASTERS CLUB

CLUB NO. : 1353103 - AREA 67,

DIVISION L, DISTRICT 20

www.abctoastmasters.org www.toastmasters.org

Newsletter of the ABC Toastmasters Club – Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman

Volume 1 Issue 13 - Date : 26 September 2014 “The mission of a Toastmasters club is to provide a supportive and positive learning experience, in which members are empowered to develop

communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth”

From the Past President

THANK YOU ABC TOASTMASTERS Yes, thank you very much to such an awesome and realistic Toastmasters club. The journey was rewarding through Toastmasters fraternity. If future is our hope, goal and destination, the past is our strongest foundation on which we are standing today with great confidence and pride. I, as the immediate past president, am very proud to be a part of that glorious past. Yesteryear was rewarding and challenging as well. But the obstacles were overcome by the support and experience of our great six chartered members of our club who stood behind like a rock throughout these astounding five years of our club’s existence. Those six stalwarts are DTM Cyprian Misquith, DTM Alexander Sequeira, TM Sankaran Nambissan, TM Louis Pereira, TM Thomas George and TM Dilip Correa. My dear club members, with all your whole hearted support, I want to salute them for their unconditional support for this outstanding Toastmasters club. Without an iota of doubt in my mind I can claim that ABC Toastmasters club is the talk of the town for its uniqueness. We are the only celebrating Toastmasters in the town. We conduct Annual day celebration, annual picnic, that too with willing participation of other Toastmasters’ club members and gaveliers every year without fail from its inception. We also never miss an opportunity to celebrate with lots of hullabaloo, as we celebrated every winning moment of ours and our gaveliers, in Area and Division contests. Recently we celebrated our fifth anniversary. The invitees included Division L Governor, all area Governors of Division L, all presidents of

Area 67 and old members and their families. It was an opportunity for all of us, especially the old members, to regurgitate the experience of toastmastering in ABC Toastmasters club. Our predecessors have set the trend of keeping the highest standard by achieving 10 out of 10 DCP points every year since the Club’s inception.. With the support of all office bearers and mentors, ABC Toastmasters club was the first club in Division L to get 10 DCP points in the year 2013 – 2014. And it is not to be forgotten that our ABC Toastmasters club is instrumental in adorning Area 67 with its Governors for four consecutive years. That explains the deep rooted discipline and character of our club. And now comes, the new vibrant office bearers with a strong vision to take our club to newer heights. Let’s all join our hands together and celebrate through the journey of Toastmasters. Enough cannot be said to thank toastmasters’ fraternity, but then it all emanated from ABC Toastmasters Club. And I was extremely fortunate to find ABC, so even though it will not suffice, with extreme humility I should say: Thank you ABC Toastmasters.

TM HARWIN GABRIEL CC CL

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT

From the President's Plume

BE PROUD AND POSITIVE

Dear Eloquent Toastmasters and Friends, I am proud to be the president of our ever prestigious ABC TM club that functions with great vitality thanks to the support of the efficacious executive committee members, and supportive members. I extend my heartfelt thanks and appreciations to all the past presidents (DTM Cyprian, TM Louis, DTM Alexander, TM Sankaran, and TM Harwin,) for their total dedication and significant contribution to maintain our club at the top in Oman. Considering the achievements of the previous years, it becomes my responsibility to enhance the position of the club further. I appreciate our EXCOM members’ dedication and confidence to achieve our goals. Abraham Lincoln said; “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” After joining the TM movement in 2003, I have no regrets about the ups and downs of my day-to-day challenges and minor setbacks (childish gossips of others), because I have a dream to achieve with this community. The lessons I learned from the TM activities, gave me the power and confidence to face different situations. These have not only provided wonderful opportunities to enhance my communications and leadership abilities but also supported my business career as well. I hope my perseverance and dedication will help me achieve the dream of becoming a DTM very soon. ABC TM Club is the strongest community I have ever come across in Oman. Here, every member enjoys the freedom to

develop his/her skills without any bias or discrimination. No matter where you are from, what milestones you aspire for, whether new or established, it is important to keep moving forward. ABC TM Club provides you proud moments and positive energy. When you help someone to excel, or you excel in society or at the workplace, you can experience great amount of confidence and satisfactions and feel quite proud. All these achievements are possible when every member participates enthusiastically in the club activities. Here are seven suggestions for our overall improvements:

Be early to meetings. Great things happen when you pay attention to small details.

Be Prepared: Preparation is vital to successful meeting. If not the meeting quality suffers.

Be positive: Attitude is contagious. Project a positive attitude of fun and enjoyment. Encourage new member to sign-up for speaking and leadership roles.

Be Supportive: Develop a culture of encouragement. It is like a mental vitamin and let it begin with you.

Be courteous: TM is a people business and people have feelings, some of them are more sensitive than others. But all expect courteous treatment. Let’s treat our club mates kindly and watch them reciprocate.

ABC Tidings Page No. 2 Issue 13: 26 September 2014

Be a goal-setter: When you achieve CC, set your goals

for ACB, CL etc. You will grow and others will get inspired to grow along with you.

Be ready for anything: TM is a learning process; anything can happen at any time. So be flexible and seize all opportunities to play meeting roles or give speeches etc.

ABC platform is committed to serve you and make use of the opportunities. Let us start with our first step! Your journey towards success begins now!

TM MELADAN THOMAS GEORGE (ACG)

PRESIDENT

REFLECTION

Contemplating my reflection I sit and ponder

Am I really happy with what I see? Is this what I wanted to be?

My life is a reflection of what I am, they said

Have I procured all that I wanted from my life? I sit and ponder

And I realize the discontentment in me Why do I feel this way?

As I look down the memory lane

I find my answers awaiting their discovery

I have made mistakes Terrible ones I could state

You earn love for love, Respect for honesty

Kindness for kindness Success for hard work

What you give is what you get

I am convinced And determined to change

Keep all hurdles at bay Get closer towards what I really need

I march towards achieving what I desire,

So that one day when I reflect I could remark with a sense of pride This is exactly what I wanted to see

And this is exactly what I wanted to be.

PRIYANKA MOHAN (Daughter of TM Mohan Anandan)

FACE WHAT MUST BE FACED "You cannot change your future, But you can change your habits and surely your habits will change your future." - Dr. A.B.J. Abdul Kalam. I have been reminded of an episode from "Mahabharath", where Krishna and Balarama go into the forest and by then the sun had already set and it was dark. Those days, there did not have forest resort for people to stay. So it seems Krishna came up with a proposal to Balrama; I will go to sleep while you are

watching me; whenever you feel sleepy you wake me up and I will keep watching and you go to sleep. And Krishna went to sleep. Balrama encountered a monster in the forest and the monster screamed at him. Balrama was shaken up by the monster and shrank in size while the monster became bigger than Balarama.

The monster screamed one more time and Balrama shrunk even further and the monster became even bigger. One last attempt the monster screamed at Balrama, unable to take the mind of the monster, Balrama screamed "KRISHNA” and he fainted.

Hearing the call "KRISHNA", Krishna woke up. Though Balrama had fainted, Krishna thought that Balarama was sleeping and started walking here and there. Now the monster sees a new person standing there; screamed at him and Krishna instead of getting perturbed stood there and asked "What do you want?" The courage of Krishna expanded him in size while the monster shrunk. The monster once again screamed at Krishna. Krishna again asked "What do you want?" The monster shrunk even further and Krishna expanded even further. One last attempt

the monster screamed at Krishna and Krishna again asked "What do you want?" and the monster shrunk in size!!!

The story goes that Krishna takes that monster and ties a knot at end of his dhothi and placed the monster inside. The sun did rise; Balarama and Krishna began to walk and as they were walking, Balarama told Krishna “you don't know what happened last night; a monster came and threatened us”. Krishna gently took the monster out of his dhothi and showed to Balarama “Are you talking about this?” Immediately Balarama says “But when I saw; it was so big; how come it has become so small?”

The Vedavyasa through the voice of Krishna says, "When you avoid what you face in life, it becomes bigger than you and takes control over you". "When you face what you must face, you become bigger than it and you take control over it". The monster here Vedavyasa is referring to is all the challenges, that we face in life and he wanted you and me to realize through the voice of Krishna, "If you keep avoiding what you must face, these challenges become monstrous and they gain control over you. Instead, face what you must face and you become larger than it and you gain control over it. So my dear friends, from now onwards, whenever you face anything in life always remember, it has been given to you for a purpose, for you to become what you can become.

TM DON ASHOKAN

EVERY SUCCESS STORY IS ALSO A STORY OF GREAT FAILURE

Failure is the highway to success. Tom Watson Sr. said – “If you want to succeed, double your failure rate”

If you study history, you will find that all stories of success are also stories of great failures. But people don’t see the failures. They only see one side of the picture and would say that person was lucky: “He must have been at the right place at the right time.”

Let me share with you the life history of a few famous personalities.

ABC Tidings Page No. 3 Issue 13: 26 September 2014 This is a man who failed in business at the age of 21; was defeated in a legislative race at age 22; failed again in business at age 24; overcame the death of his sweetheart at age 26; had a nervous breakdown at age 27; lost a congressional race at age 34; lost a senatorial race at age 45; failed in an effort to become vice-president at age 47; lost a senatorial race at 49; and was elected president of the United States of America at the age of 52. This man was Abraham Lincoln.

Would you call him a failure? He could have quit. But to Lincoln, defeat was a detour and not a dead end.

In 1914, Thomas Edison, at the age of 67, lost his factory, which was worth a few million dollars to fire. It has very little insurance. No longer a young man, Edison watched his lifetime effort to up in smoke and said, “There is great value in disaster.

All our mistakes are burnt up. Thank God we can start anew.” In spite of disaster, three weeks later, he invented the phonograph. Let us remember that Thomas Edison had only three months of formal schooling and he was partially deaf. What an attitude!!!

We may fail to win in a speech contest, but that failure should motivate us to become a famous public speaker.

All success stories are stories of great failures. The only difference is that every time they failed, they bounced back. Gaveliers of our ANA Gavel Club are great examples for this. Every time they failed, they bounce back by learning from their mistakes and failures. It was sheer joy seeing them winning the maximum number of awards at the Oman Gavel Club Contest this year. Indeed, a proud and memorable moment for them and for the Club! Now, new joinees are following the footsteps of their senior Gaveliers to continue to write the success story.

This is called failing forward, rather than backward. You learn and move forward. Learn from your failure and keep moving.

TM SAMUEL D’SILVA COUNSELLOR, ANA GAVEL CLUB OF MUSCAT

TOASTMASTERS AT MUSCAT PHARMACY

Thank you, TM Ashwyn Kumar of ABC Toastmasters Club, Mr. Godwin Joseph from Muscat Pharmacy & Stores LLC for the commendable work put in by both of them for setting up a wonderful demonstration session, not to forget the Muscat Pharmacy Management Team for giving the approval to conduct this session. We really appreciate the effort and are sure that they will support us in the future, too.

I express my gratitude to all the Toastmasters who were involved in the role play and everyone did their roles to perfection. I was impressed with the comments that I got towards the end of the session. We make the difference and I am very positive that we will have a Toastmasters Club soon in place at Muscat Pharmacy & Stores LLC, Wadikabir. It was a show of unity, where Toastmasters from different Companies made it to the session, in spite of various hurdles during office hours. I love you all for your dedication to Toastmasters.

This session would not have been successful if we did not have an audience. It was a full house with more than 45 members

attending the session which gave it the required impact and the photographers no chance but to stand throughout the session. I thank all the staff members who attended the session. We had to close entry for some staff members who wanted to attend the session, due to lack of space in the hall. Now having conducted an entertaining session, we require the same enthusiasm to be carried on. Toastmasters, if you have the time and the will to Mentor the club, kindly forward your name to me, so that we can decide how best, we can take it forward and help Muscat Pharmacy & Stores LLC register a club soon. This initiative was taken under the wise leadership of the Past Area 67 Governor, Alexander Sequeira, DTM.

CYPRIAN MISQUITH, DTM

“You can speak well if your tongue can deliver the message of

your heart.” -John Ford

“Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent.” -Dionysius

Of Halicarnassus

ABC Tidings Page No. 4 Issue 13: 26 September 2014

OUR DESTINY IS IN OUR HANDS

The exponents of law of karma (action) believe that good result is the outcome of good deeds and vice versa. You reap what you sow. In other words, what we term as fate and destiny are the offspring of our own action. Positive thoughts bring in clarity of purpose and action; charitable thoughts bring in compassion, mellowness and humanness, while negative thoughts beget depression, frustration and arrogance.

Why do we then bemoan our bad fate and destiny knowing fully well that they are merely the reactive process of our own actions? Why do we then curse or blame the creator, circumstances and even people around us for our own creation?

A friend of mine once told me that in spite of giving his children the best possible education, life style, comfort, love, affection; imbibing them with sound moral and cultural values, virtues of familial bond and mutual respect, they display haughtiness and scant regard to those values when they became teenagers. “Where did I fault? What happened to your theory of karma? Why did it not yield good result then?” he bombarded me with such questions.

But, hello, as long as you did your act dispassionately, attaching neither strings nor expectations, you should not feel bad about their behaviour. If we have sown the seeds of virtues and values, they will definitely yield good dividends and grow up to become like a big banyan tree, benefitting everyone around and sheltering the besieged. Of course, it will only be on its own course and pace and not as we want it to be! And, as responsible parents, it is for us to keep doing our job to the fullest of our capabilities. Again, what kind of seed you have sown in them? Take for example – wealth. For many of us, wealth has only one meaning, namely, accumulating financial wealth. But the term wealth has far more bigger connotations. It is about having rich and healthy relationships, willingness to come forward to help the needy and give back to the society in kind and services, a vibrant aura and positivity, ability to speak confidently and communicate effectively, and so on. We need to be balanced and farsighted in our approach towards imbibing them with the right mixture of qualities. True, as concerned parents, we are not able to see our children suffering or undergoing pains, anxieties or lack of confidence. Therefore, at the slightest instance of a perceived failure or difficulties, we stand up for them and protect them from experiencing any such pain and agonies. In the process, we don’t realize that our over protectionism would only pamper them too much that they become meek, sleek and weak! Why

don’t we allow our children learn from their mistakes, follies and stupidities?

Let them learn and emerge stronger! As Robin Sharma says “Your wounds can be turned into your wisdom. Your stumbling blocks can become your stepping stones if you choose. Do not miss the remarkable opportunity that adversity and even tragedy presents. Your life can be made even better by the things that break your heart”. It is our mind that creates our future. A change in mind-set means a change in fate. In other words, our fate, destiny, future and life are in our own hands.

TM MOHAN ANANDAN

“What we say is important… for in most cases the mouth

speaks what the heart is full of.” -Jim Beggs

WHAT IS PEACE OF MIND?

Peace of mind is a state of mental and emotional calmness, with no worries, fears or stress. In this state, the mind is quiet, and you experience a sense of happiness and freedom. Such peaceful moments are not so rare. You have experienced them in the past, at times when you were engaged in some kind of an absorbing or interesting activity. Here are a few examples: Watching an entertaining movie or TV program; Being in the company of someone you love; Being absorbed in reading a book; Lying on the sand at the beach; On vacation, forgetting your work and day-to-day-life; In deep asleep, when you are not aware of anything. Such activities, and similar ones, take away the mind from its usual thoughts and worries, replacing them with an experience of inner peace.

The question is, how to bring more peace of mind into our life, and more importantly, how to experience it in times of

difficulties and ordeals. You might also ask, whether it is possible to turn it into a habit, and enjoy it always and under all circumstances. Actually, there are a few things you can do to enjoy more peace in your life. Tips and Advices for Peace of Mind: Minimize the time you spend on reading newspapers or watching the news on TV. Since most of the news is negative news, and you cannot do anything about them, why should you think about them and feel stressed and anxious? Stay away from negative conversations and from negative people. You don't want their thoughts and words to sink into your subconscious mind and affect your moods and state of mind. Don't hold grudges. Learn to forget and forgive. Nurturing ill feelings and grievances hurts you and causes lack of sleep. Don't be jealous of others. Jealousy and low self-esteem, often lead to lack of peace of mind. Accept what cannot be changed. This saves a lot of time, energy and worries. Every day, we face numerous inconveniences, irritations and situations that are beyond our control. If we can change them, that's fine, but this is not always possible. We must learn to put up with such things and accept them cheerfully. Don't dwell on the past. The past is not here anymore, so why think about it? Let bygones be bygones. Forget the past and focus on the present moment. There is no need to evoke unpleasant memories and immerse yourself in them. Learn to be more patient and tolerant with family, friends, coworkers, employees, and everyone else. Don't take everything too personally. A certain degree of emotional and mental detachment is very helpful. On many occasions, it would be useful to inject a certain measure of detachment and non-involvement. Learn to focus your mind so that you can more easily reject worries and anxieties, refuse to think negative thoughts and

reduce the constant chatter of your mind. Meditation is not everyone's cup of tea, but if you have the time, and are willing to try it, even just a few minutes a day will make a difference in your life. You will become more peaceful, relaxed and happy.

TM NYSAM HANEEF

ABC Tidings Page No. 5 Issue 13: 26 September 2014

GIFT OF LIFE

A gift is always a memento from someone or to someone who is known to the other. But “Blood Donation” is a generous and sacrosanct gift which is going to a person who is not known to you and gives a life to the recipient without expecting even a smile. That is the Gift of your life! Some of the facts one must know about blood…………… Someone needs blood every 3 seconds. 60% of population will need blood at some time in their lives. There is no substitute for human blood. Blood has several components such as red cells, white cells, plasma and platelets. You'll receive a transfusion that provides the part or parts of blood that will be most helpful for you. Whole blood means the blood contains all its parts, but whole blood is rarely used for transfusion. By donating blood we are helping Cancer patients, Hemophilia patients, Sickle cell patients, Surgery patients, Leukaemia patients, Accident victims etc... Donating blood makes a difference in your community by helping others and developing a sense of commitment and connection with your local community. Blood donation has many benefits as well. For example, it removes excess iron which can cause free radical formation in the body. Studies have shown that men who donate blood on a regular basis have a lower risk of heart disease. To be a blood donor you have to be at least 18 years old, not being infected with any sexually transmitted disease, no anemia, no hypertension, not consumed alcohol within a week prior to donation and have not been a donor for at least three months and above all should be in good health.

When you consider the potential health benefits of giving blood along with the joy of giving to others in need, no wonder the donation of blood has become the most valuable gift of your life. Martin Luther King said “Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” Donate blood …Donate life…..Donate the Gift of your life….

TM FRANCIS XAVIER

“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion

moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.” -D. H.

Lawrence

“If you can’t write your message in a sentence, you can’t say it

in an hour.” -Dianna Booher

“A good orator is pointed and impassioned.” -Marcus T. Cicero

“Oratory is the power to talk people out of their sober and

natural opinions.” - Joseph Chatfield

POVERTY

Mahatma Gandhi once said “There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” Poverty or destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education. Main causes of poverty are wars, natural disasters, famines, and industrialization. The future generations will wonder why poverty continues so long in human society - how a few people can live in luxury while billions dwell in misery, deprivation and despair. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.” THE RICH GET RICHER, AND THE POOR GET POORER: The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor, to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets and to steal bread. “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt. Lots of people earn their living out of collecting garbage. Garbage to them is Gold and compares that to what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries.

The above is Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer prize winning photo taken during the Sudan Famine in 1994. The picture shows a famine stricken child being stalked by a vulture. This child was crawling towards a United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away. No one knows what happened to this child. The photographer later told his friends that he wished he had intervened. Journalists at that time were warned never to touch a famine victim for fear of diseases. Weeks after being bestowed with the Pulitzer prize, Kevin Carter committed suicide haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain of starving or wounded children. We, who have so much, must do more to help that in need. And most of all, we must live simply, so that others may simply live. I’d like to conclude, “I learned to give not because I have much, but because I know exactly how it feels to have nothing”

TM EDISON GEORGE MELADAN

“There are always three speeches, for every one you actually

gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you

wish you gave.” -Dale Carnegie

“It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good

impromptu speech.” - Mark Twain

ABC Tidings Page No. 6 Issue 13: 26 September 2014

ANA GAVEL CLUB OF MUSCAT Demonstration session

at Indian School Al Seeb Yet another memorable day was etched in the annals of Indian School Al Seeb on 5th September 2014 when the parents proudly witnessed the initiation of the students’ as members of Toastmasters Internationals Gavel Club, conducted by ANA Gavel Club of Muscat. With the aim of chiseling out young, dynamic and confident leaders, the school has decided to start the Toastmasters International, USA which is a nonprofit organization with over 3,13,000 global members to boast of. The parents’ response was highly supportive and overwhelming as they gathered in large number to witness the inaugural session. The students will now have their training sessions fortnightly as per the schedule. The Demonstration Session began with a prayer by Mrs. Shiney Roy, Head of the English Department. The Principal, Mr. Nagesh Kelkar welcomed the revered gathering which included the august presence of veteran Toastmasters such as TM Yasser Sulaiman (TMI District 20 Governor of seven nations), DTM Cyprian Misquith, TM Ahsan Jalal, (Mentors ISAS Gavel Club) TM Samuel D’Silva and TM Sankaran Nambissan, (Counselors ANA Gavel Club). Quoting Aristotle in his welcome address, the Principal reminded the children that oratory is not a talent; it’s a skill which needs to be carefully and meticulously acquired. He shared his dream with the parents and guests that Seeb students should get the optimum opportunities and gain maximum confidence to

become the future leaders of our nation. He earnestly thanked the President and the members of the School Management Committee to support the school’s welfare with such keen interest. The honourable guest TM Yasser Sulaiman expressed his elation and joy to be there with all the club members. In his message, he reminded the youngsters that the world today required charismatic leadership and that was possible only if children armour themselves with such inter-personal communicative skills that can lead them everywhere – be it corporate sector, industrial sector or the day to day world. The Gavelier of the day was Ruchita who called upon the Time Keeper, Word Master, Grammarian, Ah/Umm Counter and the General Evaluator to introduce themselves and acquaint the audience with the rules and regulations. It was really quite fascinating to see the speakers of various Project levels taking the podium and captivating the audience with their speeches. There was a highly interesting round of impromptu table topic speeches where the newly inducted gaveliers of Indian School Al Seeb were asked to speak for a minute or two. Dhiya Elizabeth Jacob and Mishal Musadique stole the show with their speeches and received the honor from the Counselors and the School’s Principal. There was an evaluation session of the speeches which itself was a learning experience for the students. At the end of the Demonstration session the Mentors and Counselors answered all the queries put up by the parents and cleared their doubts. They informed the parents in detail about the registration process, the role of the speakers and the

audience. The programme ended by the Gavel Club members

thanking the school for allowing them to start the club there. They specifically praised Mr. Julius Antony, the member of the School Management Committee to take the initiative and efforts to support this quality activity. The School’s principal praised the Toastmasters for their selfless service in inspiring and instilling leadership qualities among children and lauded the parents for such an overwhelming response. The Master-in-Ceremony, Mrs. Suneetha Balla, a senior English teacher in the English department of Indian school al Seeb, conducted the programme in the most befitting manner.

Mrs. SUNEETA BALLA SENIOR TEACHER-INDIAN SCHOOL AL SEEB

“He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right

argument, but in the right word. The power of sound has always

been greater than the power of sense.” - Joseph Conrad

“There are three things to aim at in public speaking: first, to get

into your subject, then to get your subject into yourself, and

lastly, to get your subject into the heart of your audience.” -

Alexander Gregg

GOODNESS TO TRUE HAPPINESS Let’s understand goodness in a much simpler way... or a different perspective... Imagine you are having lunch in your lawn and you saw a 5 year old at the gate peeping directly at you. That staring eye catches your attention. The poor kid is begging for food. Now the big question “what will you do?” By his looks you can simply make out that the kid is extremely hungry.

Now! Will you feed him implying thereby that in this world ‘one can get anything by begging? Or Shove the kid away? Thereby implying “it is a brutal world, you don’t get anything by begging... better steal it to feed one’s starving stomach.” Or is there any other way out? We are not propagating child labour here. But wouldn’t it be better to offer the kid a petty job instead; like watering few plants with hose or pulling out some weeds from your garden and offer him some money in return of his work? Informing/educating him about the shop in the close vicinity; where he can buy food ....just to put a word across his innocent mind that the world works this way? “You toil hard to earn money, which can buy food to feed your starving stomach.” Here you have imparted a valuable lesson to the kid, haven’t you? You will not only receive heavenly blessings but the peace of mind ......a true happiness. Isn’t it?

TM VINOD KUMAR

ABC Tidings Page No. 7 Issue 13: 26 September 2014

LEADERSHIP IS DOING THE RIGHT THINGS

You don’t have to hold a position in order to be a leader – Henry Ford Groucho Marx says - only one man in a thousand is a leader of men - the other 999 follow women. Another year at Area 67 has gone by under the wise leadership of DTM Alexander Sequeira, and we moved from Division D to Division L. The birth of the new Division L under the active leadership of DTM Srikumar Pai brought in a lot of activity and togetherness among toastmasters. Area 67 had 4 clubs when it initially started, however, efforts were made to bring in new clubs during the year and we were finally successful in adding one club to this Area that is HA HE HO HO Toastmasters Club, thanks to the hard work of DTM's George Thomas & Srikumar Pai, thus finishing the year with 5 clubs. We all got involved in one big activity and that was organizing DTAC 2014 at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel, Muscat from the 15th of May to the 17th of May 2014 which got in around 600 delegates from 7 countries from Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and UAE and it was a huge success. I should thank all the Toastmasters from Division L for their dedicated hard work which resulted in helping Division D Toastmasters to make this prestigious event successful. Area 67 members have shown their passion and hard work, immediately on completion of the DTAC 2014 work, we focused on getting some more new clubs for Area 67. Currently, we organized a demonstration session for Muscat Pharmacy & Stores LLC on the 14th of August 2014 which was very well appreciated and liked by the management of Muscat Pharmacy. We are sure that the Management of Muscat Pharmacy will approve our proposal of having regular meetings and registering the club. The response from the employees is remarkable and we will be registering the new club during the next month. We also worked towards forming 4 new Gavel Clubs and the first demonstration session was successfully conducted on Friday, 5th of September 2014 at the Indian School Seeb from 7 pm to 9 pm. Our Past Area 67 Governor, DTM Alexander Sequeira did his job with sincerity and with devotion, he was very much

involved in uplifting clubs which lacked membership growth. He is a leader very well known to most of us and his sporting abilities speak a lot for us so that we do not only speak but exercise and keep ourselves fit. We also had all round development for all the clubs in the Area and I am proud to say that Area 67 ended up at the 5th position at District 20, higher than any other areas at Division L. This proves that we are progressing and our march towards improvement is in good hands. It will now be the responsibility of the incoming Area 67 Governor, TM Sankaran Nambissan to rise to the occasion and deliver. We are confident of his ability as a leader and motivator and I am sure he will lead us to further glories this year. I thank the Area 67 team for doing great work during the year and wish all the best for the incoming Area 67 team. I will conclude with a quote by Peter Drucker “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”

CYPRIAN MISQUITH DTM-ABC TOASTMASTERS CLUB

LTEM-TOASTMASTERS CLUB HA HE HO HO TOASTMASTERS CLUB

LEADERSHIP

“Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder expectations.” Exploring Corporate Strategy, by Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes, Richard Whittington, 8th Edition P 3. “Without strong visionary leadership, no strategy will be executed effectively” Robert Kaplan, 2008. The vision and mission made at the top management has to be meaningful and should be acceptable to all employees in an organization. A leader who is implementing new strategic initiative has to engage himself by taking an active role in order to successfully implement the strategy. In other words, a passive leader cannot implement a strategy successfully. The above quote and statements emphasize the importance of Leadership. There are only a few people who are born with the talent of good leadership skills and a few acquire these skills during the course of their life. But, the majority lacks the leadership skills. We are fortunate to be part of this Toastmasters fraternity where we can acquire both communication and leadership skills. Let us take the maximum advantage of being Toastmasters. “Your Toastmasters club is your laboratory in which you try experiments in better communication” Ralph Smedley wrote in a 1955 issue of the Toastmaster magazine. “You can try anything in front of this frank but sympathetic audience, and you can learn by listening to their comments.” I am proud to be a Toastmaster particularly as a member of ABC Toastmasters Club. On this occasion, I would like to thank each and every member of ABC toastmasters Club, particularly past Area Governors DTM Alexander Sequeira and DTM Cyprian Misquith who helped me reach my current position as Area Governor. I wish all the best to all members of this club on this occasion when it is celebrating the 5th anniversary.

TM SANKARAN NAMBISSAN, ACS, ALB AREA GOVERNOR – AREA 67

“The success of your presentation will be judged not by the

knowledge you send but by what the listener receives.” - Lilly

Walters

HAPPY MOMENTS There are many small things in life that could make us happy. Often it might be unexpected pleasures that make us smile and help us build happier and more meaningful lives for ourselves and for others. The happiest thing I’ve enjoyed is when a family friend took me to Centre Point and bought an expensive Barbie doll as birthday gift of my own choice. On another occasion, I went to Lulu Hypermarket to buy some magnets, but the salesman gave it to me as complimentary. Recently, my favourite song was played in the radio and I was happily jumping up and down. And now as the exams are fast approaching, learning the subject early and then relaxing a while makes me happy. They are my true happy moments!

VACHANA FRANCIS GAVELIER, ANA GAVEL CLUB OF MUSCAT

ABC Tidings Page No. 8 Issue 13: 26 September 2014

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE GOD God is being interviewed here. As we don’t know the interviewer, let us assume that the idea is brainchild of someone. As the interviewer reached in the vicinity of God, God welcomed the interviewer and asked “So, you have come to interview me – right?”

The interviewer replied: “If you have some time to spare”.

God: “My time is infinite; I have time to do all my duties. Alright, what are the questions that you want to ask me?” “I know there are no questions that you can’t answer” said the Interviewer. However, my first question is: What is that you are surprised about us human beings?”

God answered with a smile: “In order to make money, you are destroying your health, but later on you spend your money to regain the health and peace. As you think about the future, you get so confused that you forget to think about your present life. Therefore, like your present state, your future also becomes lifeless. You live like you will never die, and you die like you never lived.”

As God stopped, the interviewer asked: “Being your children, what do you think that we should remember and practice?

God continued: “You cannot force someone to love you. But, you can make yourself fine-tuned to receive others’ love; It takes years for someone to have faith in you, but it takes only a split-second to spoil the faith; It is not right to compare you with others, because there will always be people who are little or more blessed than you; You should know, the richest man is not the one who has amassed material wealth but he is the one who has only minimum needs; If you don’t control your habits, those habits will control you throughout your life; It takes only seconds to destroy even the most valuable friendship, but decades may not be sufficient to rebuild the lost friendship; You may have many reasons to feel sad about yourself, but that is not a reason to trouble others; You need, not only forgive others but must learn to forgive yourself as well; You are the single owner of whatever you have not said, and slave of whatever you have said; Happiness is derived not only in accomplishing aims; you can draw happiness even from the attempts to accomplish your aims; People who progress are the ones who hold virtues of true honesty and sincerity; You have many ways to help others in need even when you think that you don’t have anything with you; Don’t ask what valuable items you possess in life, but ask yourself if you have any one valuable; The money you save will not provide you incessant happiness; There are people who truly love you, but some of them do not know how to display their love towards you; The word ‘LOVE’ has different meanings, but sacrifice is involved in ‘TRUE LOVE’; I love you always - you will be able to experience my love only if your heart is open towards me; The easiest way to connect with me is through prayers”.

God had many more points to say, but the interviewer had to leave with a promise to be in touch with God through prayers.

We might have come across the foregoing points before, but here as prepared by the interviewer as advices from God to humanity, these are to make our lives happier and successful. Although the interview is not a real one, the facts described are for us to remember, try and execute resolutely.

Don’t be exhausted to ask God if we are not in agreement with these advices, since the way to contact God has also been suggested – Prayers!

JESTIN ABRAHAM

(Son of TM Abraham Nettikadan)

THE FIVE FOOLS

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.” Plato A few months ago I spent couple of hours at a school at their science and social studies exhibition venue, where my daughter also took part with her friends. To my surprise, I noticed that around 60% of the parents or visitors were not interested in it. They ignored the students’ explanation and had a quick glance in random and left the classroom. Another 20% just heard and some of them remarked ‘Good’. And 10% people did listen carefully; some of them asked a few questions and suggested some points to improve the students’ explanations. And the rest of the 10% interfered with their explanation, asked difficult questions, made arguments and criticized their work and made them confused. Finally they left the venue with a sadistic satisfaction and the expression on their face clearly showed ‘I have won over somebody today’. It was really painful to see this type of people showing no regard to the efforts of students and scuttling their confidence level. Again, there are people in our society; who think they are the only perfect ones and the best in the world. Very often, their unwanted comments or statements make us upset, angry and confused. Yet, there are people with lesser knowledge and silent nature. We call them fools. Are they really fools? No! Then who are real fools? According to Acharya Ratnananda, there are five types of fools, flooding this planet. Let us have some knowledge about these fools. Harmless Fool: The first among the fools is the one who just barges into a group of people, uninvited and unannounced and stands mute, before them like a pillar, producing all-round embarrassment. While he is certainly a fool, he belongs to harmless variety. Interrupting Fool: The second fool is the fellow, who having been invited by his friends, misuses their courtesy, and interrupts their conversation quite often, with his own views on a subject about which he knows little. He creates a situation, where his friends can neither tolerate him, nor throw him out. He is more harmful than the first type, but he is not dangerous. Proverbial Fool: The third among the fools is the fellow who

keeps on arguing, and exposing his unripe knowledge in an assembly, unmindful of the ridicule and unaware of the futility, thereby wasting his time and that of others. He is the proverbial fool, who learns nothing and forgets nothing. Dangerous Fool: The forth fool in the line is the knowledgeable fool, the incorrigible fault finder, one who takes pride, while in a discussion, in finding fault with everybody and with everything, just to show off his assumed intelligence. He may attract people with his half knowledge; but he certainly repels them with his brazen ego. He is the dangerous fool. Wise Fool: The fifth fool is the unfortunate fellow who keeps company with any of the above fools, either by choice, compulsion or convenience. While his wisdom impels him to react, his predicament prevents him from a response. He is the wise fool. I am sure you are now fully equipped to understand people around us! Let us all make a positive difference in the lives of people around us with the above knowledge by being a sensible communicator and responsible leader.

TM SMITHA FRANCIS

ABC Tidings Page No. 9 Issue 13: 26 September 2014

EVENTS & HAPPENINGS

ABC TOASTMASTERS CLUB

ANA GAVEL CLUB OF MUSCAT

Gav. MEGHNA LIJO-Table Topics

Gav. JOEL PREM LOBO-Evaluation

ABC TOASTMASTERS CLUB Picnic

Gav. SHERWIN D’SILVA-International Speech

Gav. EVELYN FRANCIS-Evaluation

Gav. NANDINI BALACHANDRAN-Humorous

ABC Tidings Page No. 10 Issue 13: 26 September 2014

ACHIEVEMENTS DURING APRIL TO SEPTEMBER 2014

Our club won the President’s distinguished Club Award for the 5th time in succession (2010-2014).

CONGRATULATIONS

TM Don Ashokan won third place in the Division ‘L’ Story Telling Competition held on 2nd May 2014. The following Toastmasters achieved milestones during April to September 2014:

TM Alexander Sequeira, DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster) TM Louis Pereira, ACG (Advanced communicator Gold) TM Vinod Kumar, CC (Competent Communicator) TM Leena Francis, CC (Competent Communicator) TM Edison George, CC (Competent Communicator)

OFFICERS TRAINING

All the seven office bearers of the club attended the officers’ training held during June 2014.

TM SMITHA FRANCIS SECRETARY

NEW CLUB MEMBERS

The following new members have joined the ABC Toastmasters club during the period April 2014 to September 2014:

Sl No. Member Mentor/Sponsor

1 TM Smitha Francis TM Jyothi Vas

2 TM Edison George TM Louis Pereira

3 TM Annies George TM Lijo Thomas

4 TM Sunil Gandhi TM Thomas George

5 TM Renuka Vinod TM Nyssam Haneef

6 TM Shameem TM Francis Xavier

The ABC Toastmasters club current membership stands at 35.

TM LIJO THOMAS VP-EDUCATION

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

TM Harwin Gabriel: Past President; TM Thomas George: President; TM Lijo Thomas: Vice President Education; TM Saji Joseph – Vice President Membership; TM Samuel D’Silva: Vice President Public Relations; TM Smitha Francis: Club Secretary; TM Francis Xavier: Club Treasurer; TM Nyssam Haneef: Sergeant at Arms.

MENTOR AND SPONSOR

George Thomas, DTM – Past Division D Governor Cyprian Sebastian Misquith, DTM – Past Area 67 Governor

OTHER MEMBERS

TM Harwin Gabriel; TM Abraham Nettikadan; DTM Alexander Sequeira; TM Annies George; TM Arunkumar Roy; TM Ashwyn Kumar; TM Ayju Pynadath; TM Binoy Paul; TM Dilip Correa; TM Don Ashokan; TM Edison Meladath; TM Karthikeyan Gurusamy; TM Jose Chacko; TM Rana Jose; TM Jyothi Vas; TM Leena Francis; TM Louis Pereira;

TM Mohan Anandan; TM Naveen Kanchan; TM Parag Zoting; TM Sankaran Nambissan; TM Satish Bhanushali; TM Selvarani; TM Jeykumar; TM Srinivasan; TM Sunil Gandhi; TM Suranga; TM Vijendra Mohnot; TM Vinod Kumar; TM Renuka Vinod.

WEBSITE COMMITTEE: TM Rana Jose; TM Ashwyn Kumar

NEWS LETTER COMMITTEE: TM Lijo Thomas; TM Mohan Anandan; TM Abraham Nettikadan