Erudite Roulette: Needle in a Haystack - TM Swathi, Mysore Toastmasters

It has been such a short time after I have moved into a new city away from my family, everyone and everything seem different, things don’t seem to be the same anymore. To be frank I’m now understanding the concept of evolution and the survival of the fittest. I’m evolving and I’m trying to survive. On this journey, finding people with similar interests as mine is like looking for a needle in a haystack especially because this city is extremely large and crowded. At this point of time, all I can remember is that one lesson which I had learned so far in my life that is - everything that seems to be impossible once can definitely be solved.

The pursuit of that needle in this haystack began; the first thing that came to my mind was Toastmasters. Because of the fact that Toastmasters is present in 142 countries having 345,000 members in 15900 clubs; this is not even close to the fact with my family. So rather than searching for my relatives, I Googled to "Find a Club" in the city; Guess what I found… 119 clubs in Bangalore. Where I’m sure that even if I call every relative of mine, that number is unbeatable for my family. That was a surprise for me, though. Then I planned to visit clubs close to my place, this gave me a sense that I was not away from my family. However now I have found some amazing people who are extremely talented and inspiring; which seems as something that is impossible or extremely difficult to find, In the end, I found my people and I am as happy as finding that needle in the haystack. Cheers to Toastmasters! 
Topic given by TM Ilavenil

Erudite Roulette: The Last Bite - TM Rohit, Mysore Toastmasters

Hunger, love, pain, fear are some of those inner forces

Which rule the individual’s instinct for self-preservation.

-Albert Einstein-

Anu (short for Anushree) is a sweet and pretty little girl.  Her dad used to work in the nearby construction site before a drunken brawl turned ugly. Her brother dropped out of school and ran away with an anti-social gang leaving the entire burden of raising this family now solely on her mother who was a maid in the neighboring households. She and her younger sister had to be pulled out of school since her mother couldn’t afford it with her meager earnings. The condition was so bad that the family could only manage one proper meal a day. Things got worse when Anu’s mother had to repay a few loans borrowed from different people. All the money that she was earning was going only to repay these loans and hardly anything was left for food! 

It so happened one day that Anu’s mother took her children with her to work. Both the little girls sat in one corner of the fancy house playing while their mother did her job. It was at this time that the bread maker of the house was preparing a delicious breakfast for her family. She placed the hot chapatis and curry on the dining table and called for her family. Everyone gathered and started to have their meal, all under the innocent eyes of Anu and her Sister.

It had been more than 24 hours since the girls had their Last Bite. The hunger grew within their small stomachs while gazing at what they saw as the most scrumptious meal in days. The Bread maker’s family finished their meal but some leftovers remained on each plate. She gathered all the leftover chapatis, threw it in the dustbin and continued her work. By now Anu’s mind fell prey to her hunger. A few minutes later Anu’s mother had finished her work and was looking for her children. She searched the house only to find the two sweet little girls near a corner eating those leftovers from the trash! Her eyes filled with tears as she watched her daughters innocently satisfy their hunger. She rushed over, picked her kids up and went home. That night the whole family had a big meal. As Anu’s mother watched her daughters enjoy the Last Bite of the night she vowed to make sure her daughters never have to crave for the Last Bite of someone else’s bite.

Now have you ever been hungry? Think back to the last time you were hungry. How did you feel? What did you do to satisfy it?

In Anu’s story, we saw that hunger can drive a person to do anything in order to satisfy it. It is for the satisfaction of this hunger that people beg, steal and even kill. However, this article isn’t about the hunger for food; although that is a growing concern for the world and it is my humble prayer that no one has to ever feel this hunger again. No, this article is about the hunger we feel after our Last Bite.

We are all hungry for something or the other in this life. Some are hungry for food, warmth and shelter while others are hungry for money, sex and power. Irrespective of what we are hungry for we crave for the satisfaction of that hunger. How we get there is another matter but getting there is what we yearn for. However, once we have our Last Bite of this hunger it is not over, there is always another bite around the corner. Don’t get me wrong here; being always hungry is a good thing. No matter what you crave for be it money, power, fame, education, sex, status etc., once you are hungry the only thing that you want is to satisfy this hunger and you will do whatever it takes usually to do so just like if you were hungry for food. 

Having that fire in our bellies is what makes most of us reach great heights in this world. And once we reach this height we are again hungry to go higher. This ongoing tug of war between our hunger and our satisfaction goes on throughout our lives. Yet none of us ever seem to be truly satisfied once our hunger is fulfilled. So my question is when will you have your Last Bite?
My dear readers, be hungry to do more, be hungry to have more & be hungry to achieve more in this life. Let your hunger spread to everything that you desire and do whatever it takes to satisfy that hunger. Because only when we satisfy our hunger for everything on the outside do we start getting hungry for what is inside which is You. It is only then do we get truly satisfied with the Last Bite of this Life.

The Day hunger disappears, the world will see the

Greatest spiritual explosion humanity has ever seen.

-Federico Garcia Lorca-

Topic given by: TM Pujashree

Erudite Roulette: Without a Reason - TM Anish - Infosys Toastmasters (Chennai)

He was not a typical 19 year old. At his age, he had the utmost love for collecting perfumes, sitting down for coffee to discuss business ideas and had the latest updates in the technology world at the tip of his tongue, while his peers were busy with football, barbeque and one night stands. But a new hobby that he ventured into, eventually changed his life. Here’s his story…

Without a reason, he persuaded a couple of teetotaler friends in accompanying him to a bar and taking the ambience of coffee table discussions to the next level. His deep knowledge and research into alcoholic beverages made him no stranger with the menu except the taste. “I’ll have a dry martini, please”, were the words first uttered. One drink, one hour of chatting and one round of pool later, this circle of friends felt they have FINALLY GROWN UP!

Two years later, a typical day in his life looked like this – The evening began with a large bottle of scotch, no tab was kept on time, junk food was his only source of nutrition and sleep his only best friend – for everyone who enjoyed his presence have moved away from the liquid courage that he became dependent on. Without a reason, time demolished his judgment, intellect and replaced it with dependency.

Three years, thirty planned detox sessions and three hundred hours of listening to speeches at Toastmasters, he finally understood that it’s okay to let go. And better, it’s okay to space out the drinks and accommodate every other priority in life because “The next drink will always come” and it’s pointless to go cold turkey or seek counseling without a reason.

At 23, he’s out of the dependence and looks back not to regret for those few years but thankful that he has faced the extremes only to write this article to share his story. It’s easy to begin any hobby, habit, heartfelt conversation with an open mind (without a reason) and it’s easier to move out of it without a reason. The phase that we go through in the middle, is just an experience worth narrating some other day.

What will your next leap of faith look like, without a reason?

Topic given by: TM Avinash

Erudite Roulette: Discovering Silence - TM Tanuja, Leader's Garden Toastmasters

Why can’t you shut up and sit back for a moment? Why it always have to be about you? Why the heck you don’t let me breathe for a moment? These are the questions I always asked her.
She made my life miserable. I always had to listen to her. No matter if she is right or not, I had to do what she wanted me to do. I always wanted her to be silent; I always wanted her to be quiet. But, wait….Does being silent and being quiet have same meaning? I read it in a novel by a very famous writer, “Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it.”
Yes, that is it; I wanted her to be quiet, to take a pause, to turn down the volume, to slow down her pace. I needed a comma, not a full stop. But, what did I get? Who is responsible for this? Why is she not talking to me anymore? I need her, I need her suggestions, and I need her interferences in every decision of my life.
Why is this silence killing me? Silence is most powerful, because we never expect silence, we expect words, actions, reactions; we have learnt, “Each and every action has equal and opposite reaction” but no one ever taught us, that silence as reaction to an action can be toxic, toxic to such an extent that it can kill your enemies and at times it can kill you and right now it’s killing me.
I wanted my inner self to be quiet, because I thought I can do better without her, I needed a break because I felt it’s her who is taking control over my life but I was wrong, she was there to help me, to give me options in life. It was her who made my subjective life objective, I always had options like in a multiple choice question, but she never decided what is right and what is wrong for me, she always left it to me, to decide.
I realized this when it went silence, I realized silence is powerful, more powerful than any other weapon. It is important to know oneself, it is important to attain peace, but yet it is so hard learning to live in silence.
So, let your inner self wander, let it travel the world, let it be herself, talk to her, listen to her, only then you can attain tranquility, only then you can connect to your outer hemisphere, only then you can bring out your intellect and relate the same to the world because your soul is the fastest medium of connection to your surroundings.
Discover the silence inside you and never let it turn off the intellect inside, go crazy with your inner self and no silence of outer world can ever make you feel solitary.

Topic given by: TM Srihari

Erudite Roulette: Just an Ambivert - TM Manoj Guru, Mysore Toastmasters

Hey You! You are an ambivert man.
When I used to hear the comment above, I started to think about types of personalities, Personalities can be categorized in many ways. Psychological theories say that it can be categorized into three types.  Extrovert, Introvert and Ambivert.
Extroversion tends to be manifested in outgoing, talkative, energetic behavior. Extroversion is the state of primarily obtaining gratification from outside oneself. Extroverts tend to enjoy human interactions and to be enthusiastic, talkative, assertive, and gregarious. They take pleasure in activities that involve large social gatherings, such as parties, community activities, public demonstrations, and business or political groups. They tend to be energized when around other people, and they are more prone to boredom when they are by themselves.
Whereas introversion is manifested in more reserved and solitary behavior. Introverts are typically perceived as more reserved or reflective.
Introverts often take pleasure in solitary activities such as reading, writing, using computers, hiking and fishing. The archetypal artist, writer, sculptor, engineer, composer and inventor are all highly introverted. An introvert is likely to enjoy time spent alone and find less reward in time spent with large groups of people, though they may enjoy interactions with close friends.

The psychological character in between extroversion and introversion is Ambiversion. Although many people view being introverted or extroverted as mutually exclusive, most contemporary trait theories measure levels of extroversion-introversion as part of a single, continuous dimension of personality, with some scores near one end, and others near the half-way mark. An ambivert is moderately comfortable with groups and social interaction, but also relishes time alone, away from a crowd.
Below are some signs to identify oneself as an ambivert.
1. Your friends have a hard time classifying you as an introvert or an extrovert
2. Your energy isn’t drained when you’re alone, nor do you feel exhausted after lots of socialization (or maybe you tend to be drained by both equally)
3. You are usually satisfied with your weekend plans
4. During conversations you know when to keep quiet and when to talk, and you do them both relatively easily
5. You are emotionally stable during a concert, a yoga session and everything in between
6. You don’t relate completely with posts about introverts and extroverts
7. You can’t empathize with people who are not able to sit through loud social gatherings or are uncomfortable with time spent alone
8. You meet more people who are like you
9. You are shy or stable and hence mistaken about your introvert or extravert status.
When I am called as an ambivert, I went through the test with all the above questions. I could see myself in all of the above, except the fourthlh one. So far I have never able to shut my mouth…. LOL
Being an ambivert I have always enjoyed togetherness, fun with people, loved reading into the personalities of people, found it exciting to lead a team, have been comfortable sharing my thoughts and feelings with fellow members. During travel, I have guided and supported teammates.
Nevertheless, I am not taken aback when I don’t see soulmates around me. I even enjoy reading a book alone in a dense forest, going on a trek to the top of a hill alone, playing a video game, thinking deep and being a researcher. During travel alone, I learnt a lot as a wanderer.
So to summarize I could engage my body and mind equally both when I am alone and when I am with company.
Enjoy both being public and being alone.

Thanks to:
Wikipedia, Forbes.com, The psychology-Influence of persuasion by Robert.

Topic by TM Shriya

Erudite Roulette: Winter is Coming - TM Ilavenil, Mysore Toastmasters

“Winter is coming!” Papa Hamster shouted at his children. “Be quick with that food, Anka! Quick, with those feathers, Cobb!” Little Anka hurried to him and handed her over her load, and Papa Hamster put it in their food storage hollow. Mama Hamster was getting feather beds ready for the family. As soon as the ravens announced winter, the family would snuggle into their little den. But till then, Anka had to endure her father! “Anka, don't just stand there,” he said, right on cue. “Winter is coming!”

They worked till nightfall, and were back the next morning. But to their surprise, some of the food in the hollow had disappeared! Mama and Papa Hamster paced the floor, wrung their hands and scurried all over the den! But there was nothing to do, except fill it again!

Little Anka wanted to find out what had happened to the food. That night, she slowly slipped away from their summer home to the winter den, and kept watch. Suddenly the Earth began to shake! As Anka watched, the food in the hole started to disappear! She ran out to investigate. She could see lights far away, and there was a huge thing moving ponderously. As it moved away, the shaking stopped.

Anka went back into the den and pulled out the food from the hollow. There was a little hole in the bottom! Anka had solved the case!

When Anka told her parents, they were cross, but they were also impressed.

“Father, what was that thing?” Anka asked. “You were born in the summer, you've never known anything else.” her father said, stroking Anka's head. “In the winter, the humans drive huge trucks. And sometimes, the humans from them come into the forest!” The childrens' eyes grew wide in horror.

“You know,” Mama Hamster added, “before they built the wall? The humans used to come here all the time. And animals used to get hit by their big trucks!”

The children were scared, and when the ravens finally came to announce Winter, were more than glad to go into a torpor. Anka awoke one day to eat, and heard a strange noise. She carefully crept out of the den, carrying a stick in her mouth. If anyone harmed her, she could “stick them with the pointy end,” as her cousin Lon had told her.

To her horror, she found a group of humans sitting around a fire very close to the den. One of them had something glowing on its lap. Anka crept close to it, and saw that the box on the human's lap had more tiny humans inside!

And as she watched, one of the little humans in the box said something! Anka ran back to the den in shock. Later that winter, when she and her sister Tansa were both awake, Anka told her the whole story. “What did the little human say?” Tansa asked, her voice a low whisper. Anka whispered back, “Winter is Coming!”

Topic given by: TM Arjun

Erudite Roulette - Life Goes On, Come What May! - TM Avinash, Leaders Garden Toastmasters

Somebody asked me – “Which is your favorite comic character?”

I said- “Undoubtedly Joker!”

Then he was amused and asked again- “What? A psychopath! A negative character?”

I replied- “We all know that Mr. J. is an antagonist. He is the clown prince of crime. It’s his job. But what I love in his character is he has emotions, but he is not a slave of emotions. Whatever he does is just to enjoy. He doesn’t care about the moment which is yet to come and he doesn’t think of what he did in past. Basically, he has no regrets about what he did.”

The guy was totally silent after my answer. He only uttered –“I don’t know what to say”.

The same thing happens in our life too. But we are so attached to materialistic things that we restrain ourselves to come out of the trauma. I heard many people saying in their terrifying moments - “I am a failure. I couldn’t do ‘this’ thing or ‘that’ ”. I used to ask them “What did you want to be?” The answers amaze me almost all the time. It’s like you wanted to be an engineer, but became a farmer and planted a mango tree wishing to get pineapple. Isn’t it an irony? You didn’t live in your moment and you planted your tree of sorrow and now blaming the Almighty.

Another weird thing is our emotion. You fall in love. You broke. And most people are stuck in that relationship after that. It doesn’t show your love is true. It shows that your knowledge about life is very less. Because life goes on. When you lose something (emotional) in life and are searching to get back; it’s similar to finding a needle in a haystack. The chances are rare that you will get it back.

I am not telling you to be emotionless. Everyone would have faced failure or sorrow. But we can’t be slaves of emotions (even though we want to). I have seen cases where father lost his only son. You can’t measure his pain and sorrow and suffering. But, as they say “Time is the biggest healer”. If you always think ‘Winter is coming’; you will lose the bursting beauty of fall. Life goes on. As time passes it teaches you how to survive without a particular person or particular relation. All you need to do is match you steps with time.

Discover your inner silence in the outer noise. Set yourself free, give it all away. Be super awesome. Be a child who smiles without a reason and we smile just by looking at him. Enjoy every single moment as your last bite. Live every single day as your dancing dreams. You will find the doorway to paradise in your life itself. Life gives us multiple chances to be happy, all we need to do is forget the moment we lost and use the moment where we are at. Because, when it rains, it rains equally on everyone. Some store the rainwater, some not. The one, who stores, gets the benefit. Here, the point is, everyone can do it. So, All I want to say is; the moment, the time, the life we living in won’t stop. It goes on. Live it or lose it, it’s up to us.

“LIFE GOES ON; COME WHAT MAY. LIVE EVERY DAY LIKE A HEYDAY.”


Topic given by: TM Bhumika

Erudite Roulette: Being Super Awesome - TM Kavitha, Mysore Toastmasters

I don't need to tell you that writers and Toastmasters sometimes get ideas which practical-minded individuals regard as chimerical.

Aaah! ..... The Meta Mind!

The one place when you rise above all. YES! That's what it is to be Super Awesome..... literally humbled by the vastness you perceive from that perspective position.

That state which lets you be all inclusive and all exclusive. Well, being super awesome is beyond words....it's an experience! 

Awesomeness is an abstract noun....subjectively expressed as an adjective in superlative.... a momentary figment of connect that we make with someone. An ability to identify ourselves with someone or identify someone with ourselves. That point when no barriers exist in the expression of admiration. 

"Hey ! You are awesome.... Indeed Super Awesome!!"

I receive this compliment as often as the Sun rises in the east. How do I feel!? I instantly hear the bubble of ego go POP! 

Well, It is just the connect that matters then.

Topic given by: TM Nawab

Erudite Roulette: That Terrifying Moment - TM Pujashree, Infosys Toastmasters

TM Pujashree

That terrifying moment when you are walking alone in the dark and a shadow approaches you

That terrifying moment when you hear the TV switched on, but nobody’s home but you.

That terrifying moment, when you locked the door and yet, it creaks open,

That terrifying moment when you hear a baby’s laughter, but you are all alone in your den!

That terrifying moment when your eyes are wide open, yet you cannot feel your feet,

That terrifying moment when you open your mouth and see no teeth,

That terrifying moment, when you laugh when you cry,

That terrifying moment, when your parachute doesn’t open and yet you fly…

That terrifying moment when your teacher saw you sneak a note to that cute boy

That terrifying moment, when your mother saw you steal that toy.

That terrifying moment when your doctor made you step on the weighing machine,

That terrifying moment when you realized that the word “cute” literally meant an elephantine teen.

That terrifying moment when you read of an impending earthquake in your beautiful hometown,

That terrifying moment when your heart skips a beat because he isn’t picking the damn phone!

That terrifying moment when your mother informs of a small painless mole on her skin,

That terrifying moment when you pinch yourself but that nightmare wasn’t a dream…

That terrifying moment when your heart just wouldn’t stop beating and you don’t know why

That terrifying moment when you know you are unprepared to jump off the cliff and fly…

That terrifying moment when you are around millions of people, yet you feel alone,

That terrifying moment when you are laughing as you tightened the noose around your bone…

That terrifying moment when you survive in spite of all the fears,

That terrifying moment when you smile, amidst all the tears,

That terrifying moment, when you are chained to the bottom, yet you run free and wild,

That terrifying moment when you realized all the fears you had are just a fragment of your mind….  

TM Pujashree

Infosys Toastmasters

Topic by: TM Anish

Toastmasters Leadership Institute - TM Darshini, Impact Club Toastmasters

I attended the (Toastmasters Leadership Insttitute) TLI program, as Treasurer from Impact Club Toastmasters, from the Mysore Area (Area F4, District 92.) The Program was organised by District 92 on 17th July in Bangalore at S.P Jain University with the aim to train the club leaders for their roles and responsibilities.
The program was divided into 2 sections.

The first section concentrated on training the club leaders based on their leadership role. This was very useful, especially for the people who had taken the role for the first time. Informative discussions were carried out the whole time. Club leaders were given chance to share their experience. Concerns, usually faced in the clubs, were addressed. The discussion revolved around the key topics depending upon the respective roles.

Club Growth

The crux of the club growth defined the essentiality in working as team. The motto of the second section was to train the club leaders on how to work as a team in order to see a drastic growth. This message was powerfully brought out through different sessions. There were sessions on how to get DCP points, Club Central and Quality club meetings, Moments of truth.

How to Become a Distinguished Club: 

This is based on DCP points and very closely related to Awards.The best learning for me here was to understand that this was framed by considering the overall club growth and is a way to urge and motivate the members to achieve their goals. If the club leaders understand this and work together as a team, it will definitely make a bigger impact on club growth and even individuals' goals can be achieved in shorter span.

Conducting Quality Meetings: 

The message behind this session was “Monotonous gets boring” and we, as the club leaders are bound to work to make things different and interesting while not forgetting the whole motto of Toastmasters. Club leader work does not end in just organising the meeting, but he/she has to take one step ahead and set himself/herself as an example to other members. The trainer used mnemonic technique to make things simple and raw in the minds of audience. He summarised whole session with word “CAN” which stand for Change (Change to interesting ideas) Attitude (Attitude of Club leaders during crisis) Need (Change as per the Need)

Moments of Truth: 

Based on “The Successful Club series”, the trainer conducted this session as group activity. There was lot of opportunity to understand different methods implemented by other clubs to keep club in good state always.

The “Glitterati Contest”, first and best of District 92 initiative for team building, was introduced to the audience!

To sum up, it was a great experience. Good to see the efforts & commitment of District 92 to bring up the motivation among its members. The minor details, which is very much necessary to know but looked over, were addressed. However, if points to be considered for improvement, the whole program was hard pressed for time with a lot of information to ingest. If this is looked upon, the program would be more efficient.

Presenting the Erudite Roulette!

There are a lot of creative minds and brilliant wordsmiths among the Toastmasters of Mysore Area. To challenge them all and to showcase their talents on this blog, we have this new feature - the Erudite Roulette.

This is how it works:

1. To participate,  Toastmasters send titles to the moderator
2. For example: Toastmaster A wishes to participate, so she gives the moderator the title "Freedom"
3. The moderator ends the cycle after a period of time, and randomizes the titles. Each participant gets a title sent in by another. For example, the title "Freedom" goes to Toastmaster B. Toastmaster A gets the title "Easter Eggs" which Toastmaster B sent in
4. The participants pen a story, an article or a poem (or song) or anything that fits the title, with a word limit of 500
5. They get a week's time to complete the articles

The first roulette was held on Sunday, 11th September 2016. The titles were given to the participants on Monday, 12th September. The deadline for article submission is Monday, 19th September 2016.

Here are the participants and the titles assigned to them:

1. TM Swathi: Needle in a Haystack

2. TM Ilavenil: Winter is Coming
3. TM Rohit : The Last Bite
4. TM Avinash: Life goes on, come what may
5. TM Arjun: Yes, you can do it
6. TM Tanuja: Discovering Silence
7:. TM Nawab: Dancing Dreams
8:  TM Bhumika: If I give it all away, I will be free
9.  TM Darshini: I don't know what to tell
10. TM Manoj Guru: Just being an Ambivert
11. TM Srihari: Doorway to Paradise
12. TM Pujashree: That Terrifying Moment
13. TM Kavitha: Being Super Awesome
14. TM Anish: Without a Reason
15. TM Shriya: Breaking News

All the best, everyone! Write away!!!

Engage, Enjoy, Excel - EXCELSIOR!! - T Ilavenil, Mysore Toastmasters

 I was fortunate enough to participate in the conference “Excelsior” held in Mysore on the 27th and 28th of August, 2016. This was the brainchild of the Mysore Area Director and advisors - TM Yashaswi, TM Rohit, TM Poovendhiran and TM Sagar.

The Toastmasters International conference is something each toastmaster dreams of attending. In most cases though, we do not have the funds or the time to travel across the world. The District 92, Area F4 Toastmasters are lucky enough to have a few “crazy ones” among us, as Steve Jobs said. They were crazy enough to achieve the impossible by bringing the International Conference to Mysore. This is the first event of this kind in the whole world.

The conference was organized professionally. The PR team - TM Darshini, TM Arjun, TM Saikat and TM Subramanya ensured that Excelsior was in the spotlight with posters and teasers on social media. The team at Infosys - TM Divya, TM Nawab, TM Shanawaz and TM Nikhil -  had really “sweated the small stuff.” I have faced problems with the security personnel in corporate organizations before. This time, however, it took less than a minute to collect my pass and make my way inside. Every tiny detail such as registration - done by TM Kavitha and TM Pujashree,  organizing lunch, transportation to the venue of the fun night, and ensuring optimal performance of the audiovisual equipment, was done with care.

Coming to the conference itself - the energy of conference chair TM Rohit was contagious and the message to engage, enjoy and excel was quickly taken up by the audience. The centerpiece of the conference - the videos - did not feel like recordings. The ambience of the room made viewing the videos an interactive experience. The session on “Improv” by TM John Zimmer had the audience in stitches, while demonstrating the importance of working as a team. His final message - to always tell your teammates “I’ve got your back”  - will stay with the participants for a lifetime. The next session - on storytelling by TM Kelly Swanson was informative, especially when she demonstrated how to tell a story written by another Toastmaster.

The videos were interspersed by activities, designed and conducted by the Fun Team - TM Dhairya, TM Syed, TM Divya, TM Srihari, TM Akanksha and TM Dorothy. The activities served as a workshop to test our toastmastering skills. They were expertly designed and ensured that the energy in the room remained high. The energy of the conference carried over to the Fun Night, where a wonderful time was had by all.

The second day brought us a brilliant educational session by District 92 Champion TM Ajay Chittaranjan. His session was highly interactive - so much so that the audience voluntarily postponed the lunch break! Having his family with us added grace to the occasion. The final event of the conference,  the World Championship of Public Speaking, held the audience spellbound, and had us debating the finer points of each of the speakers. At the end of the conference, Mr and Ms Excelsior were announced - TM Himanshu and TM Divya respectively. Keeping with the spirit of recognition in Toastmasters International,  every Toastmaster who contributed to the conference was felicitated by the Area Director.

Excelsior is a fantastic accomplishment, hopefully to be followed by more events which dwarf it. Let’s hear it for the crazy ones of Mysore Area Toastmasters, who know how to Engage, Enjoy, and Excel!

Little Black Marks - T Ilavenil, Mysore Toastmasters

Little Black Marks

“Twenty-six different shapes known as letters, arranged in endless combinations known as words. Lifeless, until someone’s eye falls on them. The eye's owner is changed too. The little black marks can make him love or hate, laugh or cry, fight or run away. And what do we call this incredible chain of events? Reading.”

Norman Vincent Peale

That’s how Norman Vincent Peale describes the miracle of reading. Today, we take reading for granted as we learn our ABCs while we learn to talk. However, for most of human history - humans evolved 200,000 years ago - our ancestors were hunter-gatherers, and the only knowledge a child received was from its parents and elders. Imagine the plight of a genius hunter-gatherer who invented a waterproof basket. The new invention could spread only as far as she could walk! For a long time in history (approximately 194700 years) facts lasted only as long as living memories. Sometimes, they were passed to future generations as stories which became legends. The invention of writing in 3200 BC broke these limits and ushered in a new era of human progress. Even then, reading and writing was a property of the elite. This limit was in turn shattered by the invention of the printing press in 1440 AD which exponentially increased the propagation of knowledge, and brought equality with it. Every revolution that brought freedom to the downtrodden had writing as its backbone. Books are, in fact, the building blocks of liberty.

Reading did not only free us from the bounds of space, time and subjugation, it also gave each person the freedom to interpret and visualize another one’s thoughts. Even if a million people read the same book, the experience of reading is intensely rich, personal, and powerful. Take this line, for example, from the Code of the Woosters, by P.G. Wodehouse:

“There came from without the hoof-beats of a galloping relative and Aunt Dahlia whizzed in.”

Can the best screenplay or the most ingenious director convey this on screen? Or can a movie spark thought in a few words like the words

“Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.”

from “The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith? That is why the book is always better than the movie! Many addictions develop because of the need to escape from apparently inescapable situations. This can take many forms, like internet addiction and workaholism to outright substance abuse. Reading offers an escape without addictions or withdrawal symptoms. And what’s more, the enhanced brain activity might actually help find a solution to the original situation!

Think of a book that you read and loved. The feel of the book, the illustrations on the cover, it’s smell - the sweet smell of a new book, or the distinctive smell of a library book- the texture of the page, the font, the illustrations that enliven it. You will be surprised at how much you can recollect. Reading makes you actively connect what you read with what you already know. This is also why we remember what we read for much longer than what we watch or hear. Reading also provides a way to examine another’s perspective without being derailed by arguments. Historical fiction can bring characters and locations to life better than the dates and names in history textbooks. The most abstract topics in science, from string theory to the theory of memetics are explained simply in popular science books. Reading can open up your boundaries, release you from prejudices and make you more articulate. So why not pick up a book?

The most common excuse that people give is that they don't have the time to read. You can read even a few pages of a book a day and finish it before you know it. Others restrict themselves because they do not have access to “useful” books. Please, read whatever is available. Even the most cliched 120 page romance novels require occupations and backgrounds for the hero and heroine, a location, and a problem that keeps them apart. You come across all those in 120 pages, you get to put your creativity to use, and most probably, learn a new word or two. So, read whatever you can get your hands on. Pick up a newspaper instead of switching on the news. You cannot be distracted and miss something important. You cannot listen to it partly while talking to someone else.

The Internet has made books much more accessible than ever before: Sites like www.gutenberg.com provide access to a huge number of ebooks in the public domain. You can also install the Moon+ Reader app on your smartphone for instant access to thousands of ebooks. For those who don’t have the time to read a book at a stretch, there are facilities that provide a ‘trickle’ of a few pages everyday - such as dripread.com or dailylit.com. For those who like only printed books, it takes less than a minute to order a book you want, and some sites offer used books too. Some libraries have online payment and door delivery options.

Some of you are already voracious readers. You might be feeling like I’m preaching to the choir. However, are you making the best use of your reading habit? Do you have a few choice authors and genres? When you read non-fiction books, do you restrict yourself to only your field? Here is a suggestion- ask an acquaintance to suggest a book. Don’t ask what it is about or the name of the author. Just pick up the book with an open mind. You will be amazed at how fresh your mind feels the next day!

G.G Martin said “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.” Why live only once when you have a chance to live a thousand lives? If you do not read much, please start your journey today. If you already have a reading habit, spice it up!

Happy Reading!

Mysore Area Toastmasters Clubs for You...

Toastmasters International (TI) is a non-profit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of helping members improve their communication, public speaking, and leadership skills. Through its thousands of member clubs, Toastmasters International offers a program of communication and leadership projects designed to help people learn the arts of speaking, listening, and thinking.

Toastmasters International is:

• A non-profit organization,

• Comprised of over 3,50,000 members in over 140 countries,

• Represented by over 14,500 clubs, and

• Dedicated to excellence in communication and leadership

• Most Toastmasters clubs meet weekly for 1-2 hours, and follow a pretty basic agenda:

• Prepared speeches – Members are given opportunities to prepare, rehearse, and then deliver presentations in front of their fellow members.

• Speech evaluations – Whenever you speak in Toastmasters, you receive helpful and supportive evaluations from your peers.

• Impromptu speaking – Members practice speaking “off the cuff” for one or two minutes by responding to general topics of interest (table topics).

About Mysore Area Toastmasters: 

Toastmasters is split into Regions, Districts, Divisions and Areas based on the geographical locations and number of clubs. India has 4 Toastmasters Districts, District 41 (Northern India), District 82 (Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka), District 92 (Kerala and Karnataka) and District 98 (Central India). In District 92, there are 9 Divisions A to I. Mangalore and Mysore together forms Division F. Mysore is Area F4 in Toastmasters International. So, that's the hierarchy.

Mysore Area (F4) has 6 clubs:

Community Clubs:

1. Mysore Toastmasters Club

And 5 Corporate Clubs (Only the people of the corporate can join as a member)

1. Oratorium Infosys Toastmasters Club

2. L & T Impact Toastmasters Club

3. Leaders' Garden Toastmasters Club, SPI.

4. SDMIMD Toastmasters Club

5. Myra Toastmasters Club

Although, only the corporate individuals are allowed to join the club as a member, any member of any club can walk-in to other clubs as a guest.

From the Diary of a Toastmaster – “Man & Machine” - TM Ugene Jude, Leader's Garden Toastmasters

"..for I couldn't harness my awe and fell into a guffawing spree, just at the wrong place with absurd timing”.

Toastmaster Scarlett always had this conflict of interest between her body and her emotions often. She always thought of the imbalance created within the most complex single autonomous machinery in the world – human body. She used to wonder why she fell asleep just when she thought the tragic incident is going to deprive her of sleep for days. She wondered why she felt hungry just hours after her German boy-friend dumped her when she thought it's going to remain heavy in her stomach for long. With much more instances lining up her experience sleeve, she concluded – we are not Master enough to saddle our own body. Do all the possible mess you can with your mind and your senses, it just doesn't matter, when you body wakes up and points a gun at you, surrender is the wisest and only possible option.

That's exactly what happens when you speak of something only prepared and not understood. Your mind, focus and all your sensory pals are zoomed in on the words while your body is experiencing something not familiar and out-of-sync. It trembles at those momentary pauses you take when you have no idea what to speak next. Well, the whole program of you standing out there looks much weirder now.  Your physical form which is supposed to help you with the gestures and postures part is now on its way to crash and now in addition to exploring words in your mind you have more things to handle now – your shaky feet, the what-to-do-with-these hands, the hard-to-look-at-you-folks eyes and an overall stiff stance.

Ever tried to sing your favorite song motionless? How hard is it? It's that weird musical waves and eye-lid movements you make that makes your song a much better experience to the listeners. So the key is, make your speech your favorite. Love what you've prepared and orchestrate it. Take for granted the fact that you got a stage and a decent crowd to listen to you. Roll it.

“..so, had a dusky evening tinted with Easter lights by the Tiber. My friend for a fortnight Nicoleta sang this beautiful song then. It haunted me of my long trip ahead but she graciously swayed to the song and I could feel her movements carrying me away.

                        Who can say where the road goes?Where the day flows?

                        Only time

                        And who can say if your love grows, As your heart chose?

                        Only time

                        Who can say why your heart sighs, As your love flies?

                        Only time.....................”

From the Diary of a Toastmaster – “Sorry, No” - TM Ugene Jude, Leader's Garden Toastmasters

“I should have written this on the first pages. But then I had better things to write than introducing me. It's my diary and I didn't want to explain the obvious. Now, I feel I must do it as my days are getting more interesting and I want it totally to my credit.

I'm Scarlett and I'm on this mammoth venture of spending out my heir-ed fortune on what I love the most. Traveling and Toastmastering. The two T's that never had a toll on me no matter how much I get engulfed in them. Raised in New York, I'm not closed with policies that prevent me from getting close with people and I love. I've been researching on cultural ethics, languages and acceptance perception of folks around the globe and hence by default I love Russell Peter quips. I speak 6 languages including my favorite marmalade like Spanish and the drizzle like French and is still amazed and eager to hear people interact in English as it is the only linguistic experience that tie you with no rules, gives you space to explore and invent and most likely to survive an apocalypse. I'm now on a time travel; of course, it's not all about different places, but about being there at different times during which one or many things might have changed, but with a purpose – a ToastMaster purpose. So there isn't going to be how I met my fiance scribbled somewhere in the next pages. It's not uselessly personal. It's...”

That's enough and more of a direct excerpt from our dear ToastMaster's diary. It is mind-anchoring, but you don't get to read as she has written it because I have the only copy and you'll have to follow me on what I inferred from it. Dibs.

It was 4 PM on a Saturday in the freezing January of 2010 that she had her first and only Parisian ToastMaster's with Tour Haut-parleurs on a green patch just yards from the Eiffel Tower. By this time she was used to being part of outdoor sessions – from right out in the day under the shades of their own sun hats to wrapped in elaborate sweaters in a black-and-white snowy day – quite uncommon in New York. All of Tour Haut-parleurs were below 40 clearly depicting a growing heed to English among the newer generations.

A good looking guy with a bold chin and stubbly face gave a speech there which taught her something that was since an add-on to her personality. He titled his talk “Sorry, No” and literally focused on the art of saying No. Ever come across a Jim Carrey movie(don't raise your hand it's neither The Mask nor Bruce Almighty) named Yes Man? Well, it's related, is all about Yes or No and like in the previous article I made a movie reference. Back to the point, in this hectic, scheduled world of the present, we deal more with colleagues, co-members, co-enthusiasts and co-operations than with friends, fiancées, and families and it has become increasingly significant to learn to say “No”. If you really want to impress someone whatever it might cost you, even your conscience, then “Yes” is always your word. But remember we are wired to question something than to answer to a question – talent by birth in a way. So most of the questions you face from your bosses and co-s are designed to pull out a Yes from you. The apt response 90% of the time to such requests or questions is a No and you surprise them with a Yes much to their relief. It's a valuable life lesson in a passive way unless you need Livingston the Seagull or the Alchemist to assert it to a higher degree.

Not to be understood as something coaxing to make you say No always, this targets on opening that blinds between you and a question which actually deserves a No. It's plenty that you'll have to face counter-productive, doubting, verifying, correcting responses from your listeners when you speak. Just like we blame the mother for the misdeeds of her kid, when you speak, the listeners and their reactions will not be judged and you alone will be. So, assess, give a sharp or relaxed No with clemency. Be a speaker of forbearance and absorb into you that anything between the start and end of a speech in no means can offend you, it's just about the speech.

A quote by Margaret Thatcher said, “If you want something to be said, give it to a man. If you want something to be done, give it to a woman.” Gender discrimination apart, say “Yes” when you want to, say “No” when you are supposed to.

From the Diary of a Toastmaster - TM Ujene Jude, Leader's Garden Toastmasters

Crisp, canny and catchy - well French fries are not the thing of focus. It's much bigger and intangible - Communication. From the rather candid description of communication in Wikipedia, the word literally means 'to share' in its parental language. Numerous other definitions from old school textbooks to wikis and web pages spamming the internet explains it as "a two-way process..."," the method of conveying..." and making it more complex "a channel of information exchange.." and what not.

From the vast complicating sub arrays of what communication is, let us settle with considering it as a verbal interaction or a chat between two sensible life forms which can think(that's what our species is right?)

The intention to broadly reproduce points on communication is almost zero and will very clearly be not welcomed. Then the option is to use the 'biographical' tactic which popular folks with good writing skills do - express their wildest imagination, their wackiest fantasies, their much-desired outcomes from events which actually dropped a hole in them as real time did-happen ed’s in their so-called autobiography. Following are few tips, in fact proved to be 'pointed' tips on relatively better way to speak (communication has now converged and shrunk to speaking) extracted from the long-lost(later found) diary of a Toastmaster who once decided to achieve this streak of attending a thousand different TM clubs traveling from Seattle to Auckland; of course through India. She coveted to see to the varying mix of listeners she would see and what imminent change that will bring to her way of vocabulating. To those who really love to ask questions let's assume all her TM sessions were in English and all those Chinese, European and African club members also knew English.(Got a question why we are not referring to Braille, sign language and other modes of communication? Just assume everything lives and breathes English)

Dreams are fast. Amazed to know that the dream that you had last night on dropping out of office with your gorgeous looking colleague, making it to a movie, topping it with a dinner and ending with that cute peck on your cheek was actually just crossing 50 seconds? Well your prepared speech can end much faster. Going in with a checklist of points to speak and devouring them within seconds will make you a feast for the hungry Ah-counter. It's a safe and efficient solution to wrap your honored points with witty intros, crafty endings, and interesting countenances. Your short list of points are now a full blown balloon. With one bread you are feeding many - a charlatan of words. It is always daring and creative to add these additional wrappers on the fly as it gets you accustomed to moderately risky situations and vacuum up those words deeply buried inside you. The best place to face such risk, make mistakes and still feel convivial undoubtedly is your Toastmasters' dais.

Well begun is half done. Are you the bloke of the 21st century who is still driven by this medieval old theory of negativity? A Toastmaster is never the one who falls back after a seemingly bad start believing one-half is already down the drain. Like the famous comparison goes, the battleground is for those who get back on their feet shaking off a fall. ToastMasters are professional listeners and have all ears on you and is not a gory battleground but a symphony where you, the vocalist, climbs the peak of those melodious notes gradually and winds up the performance with an ovation. If words are just not enough and you always need a Spiderman movie to believe spider webs are sticky, crash on your couch with some popcorn, a classy brain, and 'The King's Speech'. You all begin your speeches far better.

Few of every callow Toastmasters new to the arena have their yet to be disclosed primary fear, a savaging one - The first red carpet walk from their seats to the dais. There are expectations in abundance from our clique to pilot them through that red patch, which still demands a stir from the bloke. If you seriously think you are a tamed lion while there are wild, smart ones, those who dance, those who juggle around you, in the name of those who made it across the speech barrier, it doesn't really matter when we are facing the cross hairs of a nasty hunter. Pick yourself up, face those who walk around you daily and speak. It is the Next Big Thing in your life, only after you've done with it.

A Toast always rises above the head and a Master gains control over the least expected. What Stops You?