MINDSparkMINDSparkMINDSpark

In This Edition

Face-to-Face With the man who’s seen it all (almost!)—TM Sunil Pawar

Solecism A fresh new look at some common Grammar mistakes.

Club Round Up What? When? Where? Who? How? Need we say more?

Voices Compositions from the Toastmaster’ Club Members

I, think. Write what you think. Don’t think much on that!

A Nation Stained Red We condemn the Peshawar attacks. Our homage.

Q4 Winter

2014 The Quarterly Newsletter of the Orator’s Club, Pune

2

The Editorial Team

Editor

in-Chief: TM Deepthi

Editors: TM Diana

TM Shashank

TM Ankur

For internal circulation within Black and Veatch only.

For membership contact: TM Leena Sukhatme, CL (VP-Membership)

The Executive Committee

3

Dear Reader,

Welcome to our first MINDSpark issue for the year 2015.

Within these pages, you will find the award winning humorous

speech by Amit Jha, solecism- grammatical mistakes in

speeches and writings by Ankur Mathur, a narrative which

wonderfully narrates enthusiasm of a cyclist written by a

passionate cyclist Pratik Chimane, Ice Breaker Experiences by

two of our new members of The Orator’s Club and an article “A

Nation Stained Red” which reflects the writer’s views on the

Peshawar tragedy. In a professional environment it is indeed

very fascinating to know the inner thoughts of few of our

colleagues which they express through their prowess in penning

down their ideas and views. Many random ideas always roam

around in our mind. But to jot down those ideas and views in a

systematic and interesting manner is indeed an art or shall I say

science? I believe every writer has within him a spark of

scientist who uses his thoughts and ideas as resources to create

a new write-up which is an invention in itself. So MINDSpark is

full of such inventions for you to marvel at. In these pages I

hope you hear some echo of achievements of The Orator’s Club

members both as speakers and writers.

In the beginning of every year we resolve to do something we

really want to accomplish. But many a times in the midst of

following the routine schedule we just forget our resolutions.

We forget that we are in this world not just to exist but to live

our life to the fullest. We are here to fulfill our purpose for

which we were created. And the resolutions we take every year

can be called as a plan to effectuate that purpose. Resolutions

help you do your part. It is an affirmation that you're interested

in fully living life in the year to come. This year most of our

Orator’s Club members have resolved to

give more and more amazing and

innovative speeches. I am sure this year

will be a great year for our club in all

aspects.

I wish you all a new beginning. Happy

reading!

- TM Deepthi Valsan,

Editor in-Chief

Mixed Mixed Mixed

EmotionsEmotionsEmotions

The

Editorial

4

C NTENTSC NTENTS The President’s Address

TM Shashank Jha ………………………….5

Club Round-Up

MINDSpark Bureau ………………………….6

Voices: 1.5 years in TM, yeah...whatever!

TM Amit Jha ………………………….7

Face to Face

TM Sunil Pawar, CC, ALB ………………………….8

Solecism

TM Ankur Mathur, CC, CL ..………………………10

Voices: Destination Diaries

Pratik Chimane: Guest Column ..………………………11

I Think: Ice Breaker Experiences

TMs Rahul G, Samarjeet K, Bheela W, Avinash S ..………………………12

The Word List

TM Diana Davis ..………………………14

Voices: A Nation Stained Red

TM Ankur Mathur, CC, CL ..………………………15

! Speak

Write into us about the Peshawar incident. ..………………………16

5

TTTHE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESSHE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESSHE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

---TM Shashank JhaTM Shashank JhaTM Shashank Jha Dear Reader,

2014 has really been a

kind of year that is diffi-

cult to replicate for the

Orator’s Club. We have

reached the pinnacle of

success by representing

our club at the division

level at three of the four

contests (ISC, HC, EC),

a feat that never been

achieved before. Also

the addition of few

fresh bloods to the team

really excites me as eve-

ry new member adds a

new dimension to the

club. Welcome on

board.

As they say in cricket

match, you need to start

every innings from

scratch, in the same

way in this New Year we

need to infuse the en-

thusiasm among us to

give more speeches, to

attend more session

and challenge ourselves

to be better than what

we were. Focus on the

process (how to be and

help other to be better

orators) and the result

will be evident (we will

be president distin-

guished).

This year the club will

see lots of different di-

mension added to make

the session more inter-

esting. I am sure the

new executive commit-

tee will work will same

enthusiasm and leave

no stone unturned to

carry the momentum

that they have been

handed over.

Come and watch the ex-

citement – every Thurs-

day sharp at Noon.

6

--MINDSpark BureauMINDSpark Bureau

C L U B R U N D U P

TM

Am

it Jha

afte

r win

nin

g th

e

Ru

nn

ers U

p in

Hu

mo

rou

s Co

nte

st.

NEW DELHI: The Semi Annual

District Conference of District 41

was held in New Delhi’s Rohini

neighbourhood’s Crowne Plaza

Hotel in November 2014 where

particiapnts in huge numbers

made the show a resounding suc-

cess. The District Conference

(DC) pondered over secessionist

questions whereby the district

would be bifurcated into 2, re-

ported the District President.

The event started with the open-

ing ceremony which was a splen-

did show of dance and several

welcome speches which left the

atmosphere warm despite the

chill of winter in the city. The sec-

ond day saw the Speech Evalua-

tion contest being held in the

morning in which TM Ankur Ma-

thur CC, CL represented the Divi-

sion E having won the club, area

and division levels. He competed

against some stalwarts of the for-

mat which was won by the Divi-

sion D. Sunday saw a slew of

speeches and an electrifying hu-

morous apeech contest where TM

Anit Jha who represented Divi-

sion E won the Runners Up tro-

phy and was seen being congratu-

lated by all. World Champion of

Public Speaking 2005 was the

chief guest who rendered several

tips for all the participants and

there was a takeaway or two for

everyone present. The next con-

ference is due to be held in May

2015 in Mumbai.

It is indeed a matter of immense

pride and joy that two TMs of our

club – The Orators’ TM Club, Pu-

ne – represented the Division E

in the conference and competi-

tions. It’s now the second time in

a row that this has happened.

Previously TM Shashank Jha and

Amit Jha have participated in the

District Level contest. We con-

gratulate Amit for his resounding

success and hope 2015 surmounts

the conquests of 2014 and makes

us stronger, higher…faster!

_______________________

PUNE: To mark 90 years of

Toastmasters International,

Speakathon 2014 was held in the

club which was a resounding suc-

cess with a packed conference

room and six excited speakers.

The speaking party was an eclec-

tic mix of new and young-at-heart

Toastmasters whose plethora of

topics held ajar the doors of im-

agination for all the listeners.

TM Bheela Wadehra spoke about

the Chetan Bhagat novels and

their novelty in the reading world

and how she rediscovered the joy

of reading with them. TM Jas-

mine Musa, on the other hand,

touched through a personal

heart0wrenching story the topic

of cadaver transplants while re-

lating to the religious repurcus-

sions of the same. TM Shashank

Jha regaled everyone with his

much adored bachelor’s tale and

TM Dinesh T drove through the

universe with the narration of

Interstellar via Black & Veatch.

TM Nitesh Pachwarya, inspired

by PM Modi’s Swachh Bharat

Abhiyaan mocked the public’s

tendency and put across his point

sternly while gaining a lot of ap-

plauses for his use of props. And

finally, TM Deepthi Valsan gave a

speech on safety which we hold in

the highest regard and stunned

everyone by reciting a poem ver-

batim.

This was a much loved event and

we congratulate the Ex-Com for

holding it. Hope it repeats in the

future too!

7

Exactly 1.5 years ago, came the

worst day of my life when I told

our VP Membership “ I want to

register for TMs”. He replied

“Amit, that would be 56”. I went

for my wallet, took Rs 100 note

outand told him “Give me 40,

you can give Rs. 4 later”. Cheap

people, Amit that would be 56$.

I angrily replied “Hey, I know I

am cheap, but does it look good

to say it on my face.” I always

knew time is money, but I never

realised, that money is not in

rupees but in dollars.

Contest chair, fellow toastmas-

ters. Do we have any new mem-

bers of TM? God bless you.

These 1.5 years in Toastmasters

has been a pure torture. So far, I

have given 8 speeches in TMs. I

still remember in my 4th speech

I was flawless but somebody

else won the prize. I clapped for

him. It happens with everybody

where your mind says “Hey you,

you know your speech was a

piece of garbage” and you lips

say well done my dear friend,

you deserve it. I have always

been truthful to TMs, I have

always voted speakers based on

their speech and not on preju-

dice, except when it’s my

speech. But am I, Greedy for

certificates? Yes I am. This inci-

dent happened one time, when

SAA intimated me, “hey, you are

not supposed to vote, you are a

speaker”. I replied “I don’t know

whose it is, just take it and go”.

TMs has also affected my love

life, I had a date last Sunday.

Everything was going great. As

we were about to leave, she held

my hand and told me” You

Know, Ki, actually, Amit I love

you”. I interrupted her and said

“It is common mistake we Indi-

ans do, you used ki as filler and

then you started a sentence with

you know and you didn’t com-

plete it”. She was furious, she

got up and shouted “Ki – 5, you

know-5. Do hell with you, do

hell with TMs.” It was still ok.

But she slapped me, when I

gave her the feedback form to

fill. In the meantime, I was

awarded the most important

responsibility in TMs. Sargent

at arms. Going by the name, I

thought it was really cool. I al-

ways fantasized meeting a girl

and having a conversation.

Where she would say “Hey, I

work at NASA” and I will reply

“So what, I am SAA” and then

she will hug me and the rest of

details you know. But my

friends it is a name created by

white collar people to elude us,

to fox us. I later realised that is

a synonym for usher, peon. It

will haunt you for the rest of

your life. If that was not enough

I took upon the second most

hated responsibility, VP Mem-

bership. I am okay. Ours is a

corporate club which means a

lot of my teammates at office.

While a community would have

access to entire world popula-

tion of 7 billion , I have to mem-

bers from a group of 200 odd

people. Hence, whole office

hates me, they even call me TM

bhaiya, TM bhaiya. They even

have a map of the route I nor-

mally follow for cafeteria, they

named it Bhikhari route. They

think my primary job is TM. My

good friend gave me an offer

that he will bring the members

but I have to give him half the

commission. I felt so cheap.

Yesterday, I told everything

about TMs to one of the pro-

spective members. I asked if he

had any doubt. He replied “Are

you sure TM is non-profit or-

ganization??”. I was speechless.

But I really went insane, when I

found that “President and secre-

tary are must to run a club”,

seriously secretary. My life has

become miserable, in the pur-

suit of golden gavel. The only

good thing that has happened to

me in these 1.5 years is this T

shirt, which I got at orations

2013. I was a speaker for Inter-

national speech contest there,

but I got late for the competi-

tion but it was not my fault.

Surprisingly, contest started on

time. All those Joke Masters

roles I did, where you laughed

when I said “the joke is over”,

all those painful pauses I took

expecting a boisterous laughter

and all I got was a pin drop si-

lence, all those grammarian

roles I took, where you guys

corrected my grammatical er-

rors, all those ex-committee

roles I have taken. These things

have helped me a lot. 1.5 years

ago I didn’t have any self-

confidence, I thought I was

worthless, I had money and af-

ter these 1.5 years in TM, I know

I am worthless, but with no

money.

After these 1.5 years in TMs, I

have only one advice for you

guys, for guests, some pain are

better felt than narrated, so

please join toastmasters and

experience this beautiful jour-

ney, To members, I love you

guys, “it is often said that, when

a person can no longer laugh at

himself, it is time for others to

laugh at him”. And thankfully at

Toastmasters, we laugh at our-

selves.

--TM Amit JhaTM Amit Jha

8

What got you interested

in the idea of Toastmas-

ter?

I had not heard of any such

‘public-speaking’ program be-

fore. And the announcement

for our office TM club revival

came at a moment when I was

thinking about ways to im-

prove my English speaking

skills. So, I decided to give this

forum a try.

Were you convinced

about the advantages of

the programme from the

beginning?

No, I was not. Not at-least at

the beginning. I believe the

benefits of such a program can

only be realized once you at-

tend a considerable number of

sessions, listen to other speak-

ers and actively participate in

various roles. The Toastmas-

ters program does not have a

single-teacher concept; the

system thrives on the various

styles and strengths that each

speaker has. You can count the

club environment as a peer-

learning one. It’s always give-

and-take and gradually the

benefits become evident to

you…

What changes have you

seen in the club in so

many years?

The club has undergone a lot

of changes over the past three

years…We had a lot of expats

as our Charter Members,

which also gave the other

members a challenge in terms

of speech topic/Table Topic

selection. For better under-

standing and wider reception,

we had a pick topic that was

suitable to most. And this

challenge also must’ve helped

us all. It forced me to think

about facing similar situations

in the future, a time when

most of the workforce will be

global.

The club lost a lot of steam

when Larry, Joel and especial-

ly Joseph moved out of Pune

office. But a few things have

unchanged over the years…the

innovative ways in which we

give speeches still remains a

constant. I have witnessed so

many Ice Breakers (your first

TM speech in which you speak

about yourself)…but no two

speeches can be called similar

in style. I think we have got a

great bunch of professionals in

our office, who not only speak

on a varied range of subjects

but also display a vivid range

of speaking and thinking

styles.

Do you think it has helped

you advance in your ca-

reer? If yes, please cite a

situation.

The Toastmasters experience

has helped me be ready for

situations in which a quick

presentation or discussion is

required. The club has made

me realize the importance of

good listening skills. These

skills help me negotiate in-

stances in which I did not have

a lot of time to prepare my talk

or presentation.

When thrown in awk-

ward situations, which

Toastmasters trick you

learnt came in handy?

The practice to greet our lis-

teners always comes in handy

when you’re talking to any

person. A greeting coupled

with a question, in which you

ask about the person’s well-

being puts both of you at ease.

This practice not only buys

you some time to gather your

thoughts.

Going forward, what

With TM Sunil Pawar, CC, ALB

9

advice would you give to

people initiating into this

programme?

I would suggest every new

member to put in sincere ef-

forts in learning speaking and

leadership skills. The member-

ship fees are just a start com-

pared to the effort and time

expected out of you. And I

think the benefits of this pro-

gram do not necessarily reflect

inside the club …the improve-

ments are seen outside of the

club i.e. in your personal and

professional life.

What strategy did you

employ in order to com-

plete your CC? What kept

you motivated?

Whenever a potential speech

topic came across - and this

happened anytime, anywhere -

I kept a note of it somewhere.

These speech topics can come

in handy when you’re thinking

of your next speech. We also

should seek guidance from our

fellow members when you

have a specific concern…

there’s no point in spending

too much time in thinking

about it yourself. Also, it really

helps to set your own goals

regards to speeches. You

should always have a

timeframe in which you owe to

the club your next speech.

As a Toastmaster, and a

potential student of busi-

ness administration, how

would you think TM gives

you an upper hand?

Toastmasters, most im-

portantly, opens up a channel

in which you gain a lot of

friends. You end up making a

whole lot of new friends, many

of which are from different job

functions, and whom you

would never have had an op-

portunity to work with. This

peer-learning and bond-

building helps each one of us.

You’re connected to a larger

group of people and I think

this networking opportunities

would be beneficial to anyone

who wishes for career progres-

sion and not just for students

of business administration.

As a member of the execu-

tive committee, which

was your most challeng-

ing role and how did you

cope with it?

Performing the role of VP-

Education from July’13 to

June’14 was the most chal-

lenging role that I faced as an

Executive Committee (Ex-

Com) member. The role is very

important regards to the club’s

smooth functioning and in-

volves a lot of action. I coped

up with this role by seeking

support from the other mem-

bers, both: in and out of Ex-

Com. The partnerships that I

had forged when I was not an

Ex-Com member helped me

when I was elected the VP-

Ed. I could rely on others to

help arrange a speech con-

test, deliver a speech at a

short notice and take up cru-

cial meeting roles. The other

Ex-Com members were great

in a way that they did their

own functions responsibly.

So, I never had too much on

my plate at any point of time.

Do you think it’s better

to have a specific style or

better to experiment

with styles in your

speeches?

I think it’s better to find your

own style that relies on your

strength. But we should still

believe in a continual process

to fine-tune our abilities. So,

we can experiment with our

own style by changing it the

way a certain speech project

would ask for. But the chang-

es shall be limited to a certain

extent. I feel safer in a surely

paced evolution than an im-

pulsive revolution. :)

Write into us with a suggestion

and we’ll interview them in the

next edition!

Suggest an interviewee?

Interview

10

TO EAT OR NOT TO

EAT

For all that you we know

about English language,

grammar cannot be distilled

as coming from one source.

It is part Latin, part Ger-

manic and fully confusing.

Yes, there are rules but

there are an equal number

of exceptions that can rede-

fine “rule” itself. Unlike oth-

er languages, English has

two words that

point towards

t h e s a m e

thing, but are

different in

context. For

example, there

is mutton and

goat or cow

a n d b e e f

which point to

the same thing

– meat on

your place, but

are different in

context – one

points to the animal and the

other to the food. There is

however, no such distinc-

tion with birds. Finding the

answer to this dichotomy is

the cultural context of lan-

guage.

So here’s the story: there

were the French and then

there were the Nordics. The

Nordics were the more bel-

ligerent tribe. Contrastingly,

the French were more sub-

lime and sophisticated. For

them, the animal was only

concerned insofar as it

reached their plates. As for

their lives, the French were

mostly into commerce and

the arts while the Nordics

were engaged in war. The

a n i m a l

figure for

them was

the one

w h i c h

they saw

over the

g r a s s -

lands. So

t h e i r

word for

the ani-

mal be-

came the

word for

the ani-

mal per

se and the gastronomical

connotation came from the

French lineage. English

therefore has this distinc-

tive ability to distinguish

between animal and food

which makes communica-

tion clearer.

AMONG-AMONGST

If you ever thought the

problem with those extra st

letters at the end of an al-

ready amusing “among” was

simply that someone forgot

to remove them whole con-

tracting the word? You are

right! As it turns out rather

intuitively, there is no dif-

ference between the mean-

ings of among and amongst

except their spelling and

time of usage. Amongst de-

veloped from Germanic into

Old English when –st was

added at the end of words to

make adverbs out of them.

Other examples of such

morphology are whilst and

amidst. And so the st stuck

and got passed down into

Middle English where it’s

vestigial letters were re-

moved and contracted into

among. It is a preposition

which means “in the middle

of” or a variant of that and

used rather often in conver-

sation. So go ahead and use

among amongst other

words in your routine.

For example: These compa-

nies were among those to

indicate lower earnings.

TM Ankur Mathur

11

--Pratik ChimanePratik Chimane This article is about how 27th

Sept. 2014 turned out to be the

most exciting, gruelling, thrilling

and memorable cycling sojourn of

my life. It is about sticking to the

plan in spite of the hurdles com-

ing in your way. It is about push-

ing your-self beyond limits, going

through the grind, doing what it

takes and emerging victorious.

For cycling enthusiasts to know,

the Bopdev ghat road is the near-

est possible Tour-de-France-ish

stretch from Pune. It is the tough-

er route through the hills that you

see from the Southern windows

of the office. As per my calcula-

tions, it has a grade of 7-7.5%

which is at par with that of TdF

stages. One day while I was de-

scending the Bopdev, I saw a pro-

fessional cyclist on his bike nail-

ing the ascent. I gave him a

thumbs up which brought a wry

smile on his face. I stopped to see

him move past me ahead and up.

I said to myself, “Ye hai mera

lakshya” (that’s my aim!).

So, I drew a route up the Bopdev

and back. According to the plan, I

started at 9.30 am in the morn-

ing. Considering 91 km riding at

13 km/h average speed and 90

minutes of stoppage, I pegged

myself retiring at my place before

sunset. I started off quite well,

not exhausting too much before

the ghat stretch. While climbing

up, people passing by on vehicles

stared at me like I had got to be

insane doing this. Nobody’s face

spelled belief. On the way up, I

wished someone would descend

down giving me a thumbs-up and

I would return him a wry smile,

like that biking pro on the other

day. As it turned out, I could do

the 5 km stretch in almost an

hour. Not bad, I thought to my-

self.

Having reached the summit, I felt

what’s left is the routine stuff –

an amazing descent, the fast-

paced NH4 stretch, dodging some

city traffic and I would be home.

But as they say, if everything is

going smooth, there’s some prob-

lem. I usually mark up my route

beforehand. This time too I did so

but I overlooked a turn that I had

to take after reaching the other

side of Bopdev, because I thought

I knew the road having taken it

once in the past weeks.

Life is a wonderful maze,

it never ceases to amaze,

Just let it hold your hand,

and it takes you to a far off land,

Where things are calm and quite,

and worries take a respite,

Breathe it all in and come back

strong,

’cause happiness can’t wait for

you that long.

Coming back to that turn, it

turned out to be so crucial that

my sojourn extended to a never-

done-before-but-today, 115 kilo-

metres.

But I never stopped. I was not

stunned. I had not taken a wrong

turn. I just did not take the right,

right turn which meant I would

have to take the next right turn

with a detour of 24 km and I will

be back on track. I told myself it

was okay as long as I didn’t

cramp up. The nightmare kept

haunting me, the worst of them

being that I lost my way and stuck

somewhere far away from home,

alone, with no one to help. But

some things are more important

than fear. M S Dhoni had once

quoted that a bad plan is better

than no plan. Yes, it was proba-

bly the worst plan I made but I

was going to see this day through

as per the plan.

I stuck to my route, which meant

I would see the sun set when I

reach some distance after cross-

ing the Ambegaon tunnel which

meant I had to night-ride on the

highway. On the NH4 stretch,

the chain slipped twice. It had

never happened with this bike

but there is always a first time.

The fear of not being able to fix

the slipped chain of a geared

bike had kept me away from one

for so many years. I dealt with it,

but next was my left pedal foot-

rest cracking up and breaking off

the bike which meant I had to

pedal using the tiny rod to do the

remaining 20 km.

That was it. The thought out of

giving in was staring me in the

face. Will the nightmare come

true? No, I won’t let it, because I

won’t sleep. I wouldn’t go gentle

into that good night. I deny the

dying of the light.

All it took was courage. When I

look back at that day, I realize

that it could have been worse.

Many things did favour me – the

tubes held up in spite of the

scorch of the heated asphalt, the

brakes did not fail, I was well

hydrated all along, I was not

mugged, the decent descent of

Bangalore-Mumbai bypass

helped me pedal the rod. The

universe had conspired to make

that day the best cycling experi-

ence ever.

12

Four Toastmasters

share their Ice Breaker

experience.

AVINASH SAVEKAR

I had written last essay proba-

bly in English subject exami-

nation of standard

12 and had given

last speech in pub-

lic during a felicita-

tion program in

same year. For last

5 years or so I had

nev er writ ten

something or given a speech in

front of anybody. These were

the two things which I use to

like at my school level. But

then in the middle of rat race

for finding right career I lost

connection with speaking and

writing. When I joined Black

and Veatch Pune, I came to

know about Orator’s Toast-

master Club. Some where deep

down I wished that I should

join this club to rediscover my

lost penchant for writing and

speaking. Finally I decided to

join and then it was time to

give my first speech, “The Ice-

breaker”. Writing a speech

was totally new to me. Even in

school days we use to have im-

promptu speech competi-

tions. I had the skill to take

out points and talk based on

those points. Here I had to

right the entire speech and

then try to speak as it is. So it

took some time for me to write

the entire speech. As first

speech was about myself it

made my task a bit easier. Fi-

nally when I delivered my

speech I ended up talking

many things which I had

not written. It was really

nice experience to write

and speak after such a long

time. I am looking forward

to write and speak more

and more in coming year .

RAHUL GOURKAR

My New Year resolution:

A. To complete all ten speech

project from competent

leadership.

B. Will participate at least in

one Speech competition.

My Ice breaker Experience:

Nothing was in my mind, I had

joined Toastmasters club just to

make new friends. After two-

three sessions I was asked to give

my ice breaker speech. I

agreed. I was given a

time of 7 days to prepare

my ice breaker speech.

Being from an engineer-

ing background, we en-

gineers have an attitude:

whatever it may be -

exam or viva or anything, we will

prepare on the day before the ex-

am or on the exam day. So 5 day

went. I still had nothing in my

mind and was very relax.

On the 6th day, the Toastmaster

ping me “Tomorrow is your ice

breaker Speech! Have you pre-

pared for it?” I replied, “No I

haven’t prepared anything”. As

soon as I replied, there was a

very strange feeling, a combina-

tion fear and excitement; heart

started beating faster and faster.

Toastmaster again ping me

“prepare and best of luck for to-

morrow” and he signed off.

There was a lull expression on

my face, strange feeling in my

heart and for the first time, I was

talking randomly to myself. I

started scolding myself “You are

an idiot, a big idiot. What you

will speak tomorrow?”

To find an answer, I started ask-

ing all my club colleagues what

ice breaker is. Interacting with

them made me feel easy and ex-

cited. They shared their experi-

ences. One told me that it is sim-

ple, only I have to introduce my-

self in a formal way and just have

to tell my school’s name, col-

lege’s name and something

about my family. Second one

told me that I could also nar-

rate a small incident from my

life and what I had learnt from

it. The more I was interacting

with my colleagues, the more I

was getting confident about

what I wanted to speak. With-

out writing anything, without

rehearsing anything I waited for

the next day.

Speech day and bingo! I forgot

everything. I told myself, “Never

ever back out, and just go”. For

13

me it was a challenge to go in

front without any preparation.

For the first time I realized my

inner motivation.

I started my speech in a formal

way. Introduced myself, some-

thing about my family, my school,

college, and my college days’ fun

and concluded with a thank you.

At the start of my speech, I expe-

rienced a lump in my throat mak-

ing me unable to speak. I was

shivering making me uncomfort-

able to stand. My hands were

sweating. I kept continuing my

speech. Slowing down, I experi-

enced a rise in confidence. After

two minutes, my shivering

stopped. I was gaining more and

more control over myself. Slowly

a new confidence invigorated in

me.

After the conclusion of my

speech, there was a round of ap-

plause making me feel better. All

my club colleagues greeted me.

My experience so far with Toast-

masters has been a positive one;

initially the idea was to get a bit

more proficient at public speak-

ing but now I want to learn more

and more. For me Toastmaster is

a constant source of learning and

Improvement.

SAMARJEET KATKAR

My New Year resolution:

1. Complete all ten competent

communicator speeches

2. Participate in best speaker

and speech evaluation con-

test

3. Most important of all, dou-

ble my speaking and listen-

ing skills.

My Ice – Breaker experi-

ence:

Well, I was invited as a guest to

the Toastmasters club. I absolute-

ly had no idea about what it was.

Confused, I attended. Luckily, I

had the opportunity to witness an

ice-breaker in the very same ses-

sion. I was really impressed by

the way the session was conduct-

ed. Everybody got a part in it that

contributed to their development.

One thing I like the most about

this club is that, it is the safest

place to make mistakes. The club

has got a variety of speakers, right

from the ones who have already

established a command of their

speech to the ones who are begin-

ning to. A lot can be learned from

both. With mixed feelings, nerv-

ous and excited too, I committed

to give my ice-breaker speech. In

a day, I prepared the speech and

delivered the same on next

Thursday. To my surprise, I was

unable to deliver the speech with

same confidence and also I was

unable to explain all the points I

had jotted in my mind. This may

have happened because of the

nervousness when I stood on

stage. At that time I understood

the true meaning of the phrase

“Practise makes a man perfect”.

Since that time, I have started

observing each speaker carefully,

the grammar they use, new

words, their body language, voice

modulation, etc. I have also start-

ed watching videos of some of the

best speakers in the world and

trying to

learn how

they frame

their speech-

es, how they

c o n c l u d e ,

how they use

the stage,

etc. I am expecting to deliver my

10th speech by inculcating all that

I have learned from my fellow

toastmasters and speakers all

over the world and introspecting

from my previous 9 speeches.

BHEELA WADEHRA

I cannot forget the date, it was 09

Oct 2014! It was the day on which

I had to deliver my first speech at

the Toastmaster’s club. The task

was to talk about myself; my life,

my interests.

Before giving the speech, I had

attended some sessions as a new

member and was quite comforta-

ble as I knew my audience who

were very supportive. All the

same, as the D-day approached,

the nervousness continued to

grow.

Fortunately, I could figure out the

overall structure wrote the same

on a paper. I have a great mentor

Anurag Mathur, who was willing

to listen. He gave me great tips

and after incorporating those, I

met one of my colleagues in the

office during lunch time and

practiced the speech without

looking at the notes with her.

I was now better off! Or, that is

what I thought!!

I showed the speech to my family

and the unanimous opinion was

‘it is too long’!!

H o w how can I

c u t short fur-

t h e r ? My pro-

fessional

life of 33 years

is not a short

p e r i - od, add to

those the two decades of my stu-

dent life, it is more than five dec-

ades, how can I make it shorter??

Well, finally the day and my turn

to give the speech arrived. All of a

sudden, I seemed to have forgot-

ten all what I had to speak, but

looking at the friendly faces in the

audience, I regained my confi-

dence back. Lo and behold, I did

deliver my short speech of my

long life!

The evaluator gave me beautiful

account of my speech, and I re-

ceived those encouraging notes

from the audience. A day indeed

to remember forever!!

14

The Word List

(Q4 2014)

-TM Diana

Davis

OCTOBER 2014

NOVEMBER 2014

DECEMBER 2014

Sr. no.

Date Words Synonym/Meaning Usage

1 1.10.14 Finifugal Hating endings; of someone who tries to avoid or final moments of a sto-ry, relationship, or some other jour-ney.

I’m still dating him only because I’m finifugal and I hate to break up and start over.

2 09.10.14 Epistle Especially long, formal letter.

Epistle of joy despite the fact that Paul is in prison.

3 30.10.14 Pristine Completely clean, fresh, neat, etc.

We come up with pristine thoughts dur-ing table topic session.

Sr. no.

Date Words Synonym Usage

1 06.11.14 Whimsical Unstable, protean, inconsistent, etc.

The whimsical arbitrariness of autocra-cy.

2 13.11.14 Profound Heartfelt, intense, very great, etc.

His knowledge of history is profound.

3 20.11.14 Spirited Lively, Vivacious, Vital, etc.

A spirited campaigner for women’s rights

Sr. no.

Date Words Synonym Usage

1 04.12.14 Abash-ment

Bashfulness, em-barrassment, etc.

She raised her eyes with a half-smile of abashment.

2 24.12.15 Prolific Creative, Rich, Abounding, etc.

Soft yellow wintertime flowers are small but prolific and long lasting.

15

M A Jinnah, the founder of the Pakistani state in his address to the proposed nation assured them of a place in the heavens if they abided by him. Little had he known that his words would find fulfilment in the acts of such in-tense cowardice that languages would fetter into the burrows to seek words for it. Yet they shall be ashamed in not doing justice. Maybe the verse of this Urdu poet might come to help:

Har shaakh pe ullu baitha hai, Anjaam-e-gulistaan kya hoga!

(There is an owl on every branch, Who knows now the garden’s fate?)

The metaphor of the owl is quite easily explicable. When the gar-dens of Swat have been gnawed to a bare minimum, the verdancy of the entire state can well be a mat-ter of time before it’s down too! This act of extreme cowardice and one that makes a mockery of the existence of the state cannot just be condemned; it has to be in-demnified too. Let this be the 9/11 moment for Pakistan so that it may finally turn the narrative of the terrorism outbreak within itself and search the roots of it all. As Hillary Clinton said, “You can-not have snakes in your backyard and not expect them to bite you!” So what can be possible strategies to germinate the soil of a new generation that will read this in their history books? The answer

lies in the very rhetoric – books. To quote Malala Yusufzai, “One student, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.” Education is the plague that needs changes and better-ment on war footing.

Pakistan currently has five phi-losophies of educating its stu-dents which, as scholars say, are unintelligible and intellectually incompatible. There is the mad-rasa system which preaches Is-lamic Studies and Arithmetic and shuns the sciences as foreign. This is in contrast with the Inter-national and Private schools which are teaching Shakespeare and Ghalib in the same breath as Physics and Economics. Alas the latter is an oftentimes unafforda-ble dream that most parents hide in their closets leading to a mi-nority of middle class that often flies to the greener pastures and becomes both uninterested and incapable.

Incapability however, is on the part of the political leadership as well. As a Safety State (unlike a Welfare State), Pakistan’s most powerful institution is its mili-tary. So powerful that even the civilian government must ask before taking any step thereby creating bipolarity in power con-centration while confusing the people. It must return to being a Welfare State and provide gov-ernance institutions at priority – schools, hospitals, roads, election

commission that’s non-judicial and so on.

As an Indian one can realize that these are things that must've been done long time back. In fact the lineage of these reforms must begin first with the land reforms. Remove the Zamindari System and create cooperatives for working the farmers. A planned change that begins here can gradually change the percep-tion in the people about the power of the sickle over the gun. The power of the sheaf of wheat over that of a magazine of bul-lets. This will open their con-sciousness and have them accept the various programmes that the government is yearning to run successfully, not least the polio vaccination drives. A healthier and more educated generation will think broader and think of more civilian ways of earning money finally elevating them to the middle class which is tax paying because they have jobs. Real jobs.

And then the country shall be painted in green from the beauty of nature’s bounty and of agri-culture’s planned growth. In the white of lab coats of learned sci-entists and the smiles on the millions of faces who shall see a future which as Jinnah wanted, a true reflection of the heavens above!

We wish them good luck!

16

Dear Reader,

This page has been intentionally painted black in mourning the death of more than ten dozen

children in the carnage at Peshawar , Pakistan on 16th December. One of them was a five year

old who was shot in the arms of her father as she attended her very first day at school. The

egregious nature of the massacre cannot be comprehended by any articulation of its heinous-

ness. As parents and human beings above all, we stand in solidarity with all those parents

whose shoulders now ache not in play but by the most heavy burden of their kids coffins.

I invite you to share your comments in the box and print this sheet and submit to TM Deepthi

Valsan, VP-Public Relations of The Orators’ Club at the earliest. We shall print your messages

in the next edition.

-The Editor.

To,

The Editor,

MINDSpark.

Date: _________________

YOUR COMMENTS: