7/31/2019 Learning the rules of the game - Hindustan Times
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elle [email protected]
agine a world whereults read out aloud from
orybooks and wear littleld pins as a status sym-
This is the Bombaytmasters Club, Mahim,
itys version of the inter-nal organisation thathes budding
orators and
c speakers the rules ofame.
he Club is not a post gen-world; the men are simplyd Toastmaster
while thes have a Madame pre-to their title. But it does
tise complete equality;yone has a designationa specific role to
play formeeting.
he grammarian keeps tabse use and misuseof gram-
and pronunciation Ansh professors wet dream.
Ah counter keeps tabs ofumber of times an oratorfillers like ah,
umm, You get thedrift.may not be the mosting job in the world,
but
these guys take it very seri-ously. Theres a timekeeper
who deducts points for over-extended speeches and
aSergeant-at-arms who callsthe meeting to order. Youd beforgiven
for thinking you had
joined the army instead of a
group of public speakers.This alternate universe of
order and discipline isplanned down to the lastdetail and
spontaneity is defi-nitely not on the agenda.Except for the table
topicsround, where volunteers take
a chance in giving an extem-pore speech, the entire eventis
planned right down to thelast minute.
Each meeting has a set ofpre-ordained speeches. Thoselucky
enough to be doing thetalking have gone through a
rigorous process of selection.Each would-be speaker has amentor
whom they have toimpress, and who will ulti-mately decide if the
speech iseven worthy of being givenfloor time.
But alls well that ends well,
because the ToastmasClub doesnt believe incism, only
constructiv
back. Members are nomanded for a bad speethey are merely
instruon how they could hav
better.Every speaker is rew
with a deafening applaeven if he or she was oreading out the
minutthe meeting. If this weschool, it would have tpiest bunch of
kids in t
To an outsider who in a sarcastic, competienvironment,
theToastmasters seem abfamiliar as Eskimos inGreenland. The level
oenthusiasm doesnt fitthe cast-iron structureevent, but the
genuine
warmth of the entire bcan warm even the mocal heart.
If there ever was a pwhere you didnt needmovie star or a
politiciing elections for peoplcare about what you hsay, this is it
folks.
e Bombay Toastmasters Club is thecitysversionof theinternational
organisation that groomsbuddingoratorsand publicspeak
22mbai,Sunday, October25,2009
variety htca
Learning the rules of the game
Collin Rodrigues [email protected]
Heres ourpick ofthe
bannedWalmarttees which
youll surely never find on thestores shelves in India
The world's largest rev-enue spinning corporation
and the US largest employerhas set up shop in
Amritsar.Walmart
adheres to a strict poli-cy on the tees that
are sold in itspremises.
The firm hasalways been in
the eye of protestorsfor reasons as varied asunethical treatment
ofemployees to lower wages.
At times it has bowed downto their demands becausetees that they
sold werefound to be offensive. Two
years ago, a domestic vio-
lence group lobbied hard to
have a shirt off itsshelves. What
bothered themwas the line,
Some CallIt Stalking. I
Call it Love. In1995, a Miami-based
Wal-Mart pulled thisshirt which read,Someday a woman will
be President, from itsracks after consumer
complaints. The shirt,which featured the
character Margaret frDennis the Menace, ra
of the companys famvalues. On seve
occasions,chains o
have bforc
wN
In 2smal
Kansacompany thmade pokeT-shirts, rto sell theproducts
Walmart,their cen
policy.
Heres our pickof the banned Walmart tees which you willnever
find on the stores shelves in India
VISIT
[email protected] further details.
i
T-shirtsnotallowed
