Speak Out : 400th meeting special

Speak OutSeize the Day • 21 July 2013

Chennai Toastmasters Club

400th meeting Special

CLUB OF TAMIL NADU

UP CLOSE WITH

DTM SARO

An interview with DTM Saro Velrajan

DTM Nina John on the 400 week journey of

Chennai Toastmasters

CTM - THE LIgHT HOUSE

Speak Out

2 • Chennai Toastmasters Club • SpeakOut

FEATURES04 Milestones are a habit TM Sakthi Prasanna

06 Area & Division Governors’ Address

INSPIRATIONAL07 The Life Changer TM Meena Goel

08 If I can’t I must, and If i must, I can TM Rajesh Upadyay

10 From Compulsion to Passion TM Karthikeyan Balasubramanian

11 Communication, Leadership and..? TM Madhavan V.

400 SpeCial 13 Strength of Nothing TM C T Thomas

16 CTM - the lighthouse club of Tamilnadu DTM Nina John 18 UP CLOSE with DTM Saro An interview with DTM Saro

MUSINgS22 I have a dream for CTM TM Sakthi prasanna.

22 Words of Wisdom TM Nagendra Bharathi

23 Practice, Practice & Practice TM Yamini Devi

23 We reap what we sow TM Ramesh Daswani

24 Impact for the better TM Sunil Baffna

24 Why Toastmasters? TM Hari Ramachandran

ENTERTAINMENT25 just Believe a story by TM Sneha Scholastica.


From the editors’ Desk

Greetings and a warm welcome to Speak Out, our newsletter to commemorate the 400th meeting at

CTM!

We are excited to bring to you a slightly different format from the usual newsletter, as part of this special event. We have categorized the magazine into different sections, as you can see, in the index page. Each category has a selection of articles for you to enjoy.When we set out to create this special edition, one point we agreed was to come up with something different - to give the reader a slightly dif-ferent experience, to the extent possible, by us. Towards this we have made additional efforts to reach out to young and senior toastmasters alike to get a holistic view of how each of us view toastmastering. New illustrations have been introduced in many articles which we believe will enliven the story telling experience.

The magazine has an Inspirational section where the authors inspire us with their motivational experiences at CTM and Toastmasters at large. There is a special section to celebrate the 400th meeting with two articles, one by DTM Nina John and another interview with DTM Saro Velrajan. We hope you find these inspiring as well as a learning experience. There is a Musings section where toastmasters share their thoughts with the readers. There is an entertainment section where we have a short story and also a poem where two toastmasters have show-cased their creative skills . We have also included a couple of games to tickle your grey cells and a few jokes and cartoons. Hope the cartoons and jokes bring the much needed smile and cheer to you!

We are honored to share the work of these committed and talented toastmasters who were ready to provide articles amidst their busy schedules. We thank each and every one for their contribution and support. This was a great learning experience for both of us and we thank the office bearers of CTM for entrusting us with this respon-sibility. We hope we have done justice to their expectations. A special thanks to DTM Aditya Maheshwaran for helping us with a lot of ideas. We express our gratitude to TM Harini for designing the entire magazine on our behalf. Harini was not just a designer, but with all the experience that she has, she was a pillar of support and strength. We also thank each and every Toastmaster who helped us in whatever possible way when we approached them.With warmest thanks,Lakshmi Lakshminarayanan and Unnikrishnan Bhaskara

Editors

TM Lakshmi Lakshminarayanan

TM Harini Srinivasan

Design

Meet the Team!

TM Unnikrishnan Bhaskara


Hope we inspired, excited and entertained you in our milestone

400th meeting. If you were not a part of it, no worries, ask the Toastmasters who attended the milestone meeting to get a feel and I recommend you to get your hands on the very useful souvenior which is a collector’s item we have come up with especially for the 400th meeting. This is a new term and we started with a

bang. As we have won majority of awards at the recently concluded magnum opus Ovation 2013, for the upcoming term we have set new goals. First goal is putting ourselves under best preparation pos-sible for the evaluation and humorous speech contest and winning the contest at Reverberation 2013. Second goal is to continue winning all the awards we have been winning so far including the most

precious golden gavel. We have created teams for the preparation of our mem-bers for Evaluation speech contest and Humorous speech contest. Our Immediate past president and Division level champion in Evaluation speech contest TM Deepa Bharatkumar is leading the team to prepare our mem-bers for Evaluation speech contest and Humor king of our club, TM Shankar

Milestones are a Habit for CTM

president’s address - TM Sakthi prasanna


is leading the team to prepare our mem-bers for Humorous speech contest. We also want our members to pursue their education goals without hiccups, to ensure that we have created a new mentor-mentee team. Soft spoken but efficient leader TM Sunil Baffna is lead-ing the Mentor-Mentee team. As we have just stepped over yet another milestone, the 400th meeting, it is impor-tant to remember the past. Chennai Toastmasters Club is the mother of all Toastmasters clubs in Tamil Nadu. It is through this wonderful club started by stalwarts like Krishnan Arunachalam, DTM Nina John, TM Chendil Kumar, Prof. Chandrashekar & TM Padmanabha with the support from DTM Indira Jeyaraj and TM Abraham Zachariah the Toastmasters movement started to spread in the State. Started as a Club with minimum number of 21 members, grad-ually the Club grew strength by strength to finally become a colossus of what it is today with more than 70 members.CTM has always been leading from the front in TM fraternity in churning out many leaders who are past and present Presidents of many community clubs, Area Governors, Division Governors and even District Governors. These leaders contributed a lot to the growth of Toastmasters in the State. What more a new club itself has been formed out of CTM and going great guns now. Every member of CTM knows his/her responsibility that being a member of the light house club of Chennai, he/she has a responsibility to pursue the education goals, contributing to the club goals and contributing to Toastmasters in general. Testimony to this fact is that

most of the members of CTM old and new took responsibilities in ensuring the recently concluded magnum opus event Ovation 2013 a grand Success. Not to forget, the man DTM Sastharam who gave us this wonderful event to live in our memories for a long time is a mem-ber of CTM as well!With the goals for the upcoming term in place and with enthusiastic bunch of passionate CTMers being part of the Excomm, future for CTM looks brighter than never. CTM will continue to set high standards and will continue to rock.I would like to thank double DTM Nina John one of our founding members of the Club for her immense contri-bution as a District 82 Governor in leading us all the way to the President’s Distinguished District and in ensuring all the Divisions, Areas and the Clubs under her wing during her tenure have grown leaps and bounds. DTM Kartik Srinivasan’s contribution as a Division G Governor and how it helped every area and clubs under Division G is known to everyone and especially to those who saw the statistics in the District meeting in Ovation 2013. I would also like to thank the Immediate past Area Governor TM Harini Srinivasan in guiding her area and CTM in the right direction and also welcome our new incoming Area Governor TM Sudha Rajesh, both members of CTM.My article will not be complete with-out thanking all the Past Presidents and Stalwarts of CTM who have been the backbone of the Club and a major reason for CTM what it is today. It is because of all your selfless contributions that our Club is shining in its glory today and leading all the way! Coming back to our 400th meeting, as you would have witnessed the build up and the spectacular celebrations, I would like to thank the new, energetic and enthusiastic bunch of new execu-tive committee members who put up a great show to tell the world that we are rocking!Members of CTM you are the best lot

I have seen. Every Sunday it is your energy which is running the Club and it is because of you the Club exists. Keep your energy flowing and your contribu-tion endearing. As we set sights to make our Club to reach even greater heights, I urge you to take part in Evaluation and Humorous speech contests, prepare your best and make it count by winning the contests at Reverberation 2013. As members of CTM, we need to develop the habit of competing at the highest level. In the preparation and participa-tion in contests, you will discover a new you – who is a better communicator and a better leader than what you think. So go on and take the centre stage, it is yours for the taking!! I wish all the members in Toastmasters fraternity a great journey in the days and months to come. Let us all help each other and grow together to become a better communicator and a better leader!!

TM Sakthi PrasannaPresident, Chennai Toastmasters Club – light house club of Chennai

“ in the preparation and participation in contests, you will discover a new you – who is a better communicator and a bet-ter leader than what you think.”


Fellow CTMers,I have been a Toastmaster for two years now. With the

end of this July, I’ll be exactly two years old at CTM.What I have learnt from this club is much more than it can be mentioned in words or quantified. Here are a few of the many lessons I’ve learnt –If you give, you’ll receive manifold times. But what did I give - a warm expression to a frozen speaker giving his ice breaker speech; an encouragement to a speaker who was dumbfounded at table topics; minutes of the meetings that I meticulously jot-ted down and so on.And what did I receive – I won many friends; concerned people who were by my side, when I needed the most and most of all, I became modest.

I understood that people were dif-ferent with different needs and different abilities.I learnt what motivation can do to people by seeing people contest in Division level contests, who were otherwise shy of speaking in public.But the most important lesson I learnt was that my learning is still a work in progress. I am yet to learn many more lessons and acquire more skills before I can rest.I’m a people person and CTM is my nourishing energy drink. I take it once a week to keep myself going for the rest of the week. TM Sudha Rajesh

aRea GoVeRNoR’S

ADDRESS

Congratulations to all the members of Chennai Toastmas-ters Club on successfully reaching the 400th milestone!

Lighthouse club of Tamilnadu, An ATM producing DTMs, one of the finest clubs in Tamilnadu – CTM you are definitely an epitome of inspiration to all the clubs in Tamilnadu.

Thinking of CTM, I am reminded of a story. There was a man taking a morning walk along the beach. He saw that along with the morning tide came hundreds of starfish and when the tide

receded, they were left behind and even tua l l y they would die. The tide was fresh and the star-fish were alive. The man took a

few steps, picked one and threw it into the water. He did that repeatedly. Right behind him there was another person who couldn’t understand what this man was doing. He caught up with him and asked, “What are you doing? There are hundreds of starfish. How many can you help? What difference does it make?” This man did not reply, took two more steps, picked up another one, threw it into the water, and said, “It makes a difference to this one.”CTM has always been like that man who took that morning walk along the beach – nurturing members each time they get pushed aside by tides of challenges. Not only the members became “live” starfishes again, but eventually they are trans-formed into Stars in their own right!

Congratulations and here’s wishing all the members of Chennai Toastmasters a fantastic Toastmasters journey!

Best Regards,Suganthi Periasamy

DiViSioN GoVeRNoR’S aDDReSSDTM SUgANTHI PERIASAMY

TM SUDHa RaJeSH


Thirty years of marketing steel and auto components to OEMs ensured that I was a confident speaker, and my

convent education provided me the base. Yet, as I scaled up and the opportunities to address public forums grew, I realised increasingly that my talks were plain vanilla, or in simple words “dead boring”.I envied speakers who could, hold audience attention and involve them emotionally, make them roar with laughter with their wit. I wished I could make an impact too .I read books on public speaking , saw lots of videos, and even started memo-rising some good lines, yet the improvement was marginal. As a “never say die“ person, I kept trying and did not give up. I dreamt that one day soon, I would be an amazing speaker hold-ing the audience in rapt attention. I recalled a junior officer in the HR dep’t who had once told me about his captivating toastmasters’ experience. I had brushed it aside thinking it was for youngsters or novices. The wish to express better kept nudg-ing me until I met Nina John, the truly magnetic Toastmaster. The moment I met her, the jigsaw in my mind fell in place and all was crystal clear. Next Sunday I was at the Chennai Toastmasters meet as a visitor.

These two hours were one of the most energising and happy moments for me. I heard Speakers talking from their heart, their credibility, emotions and logic was holding the audience spell bound. The evaluators were remarkable as they shared the good and improvement points, objectively without hurting the ego of the speakers. Soon I became one of them, with my men-tor Deepa finding time to guide me with my speech,even when she was in the midst of her Trek.Here public speaking is serious business; the new members are mentored, encouraged and guided to go much beyond their potential. We hear a captivating speech one day and then it’s so difficult to connect that this is the same speaker who was once forgetting his lines, stage shocked and had terrible vocabulary. We are taught to evaluate constructively and this has helped me immensely at work. The table topics are good fun and provide

a lot of excitement .We learn to organise our speech better for impact, we learn to persuade, to inspire, and use visual aids effectively. Listening to researched topics week after week , keeps us on top of the pack .We learn to make up a captivating story around any topic and wow this is the “ Amrit “ which each one of us definitely needs .

Friends, it has been only three months of joining toastmasters, but it has changed my life in so many ways .It has made me think smarter, speak smarter and today I can already see my dreams come true. Today, my thoughts, my words and actions are in harmony and it’s a truly joyful state to be in. Three Cheers for the Toastmasters.

THE LIFE CHANgERTM MEENA gOEL “Here public speaking is

serious business”

Fun Corner On a hot sultry summer afternoon the professor was going through the motions of teaching physics. “What is the result of combining Boyles law and Charles law?”A groggy voice from the back of the class “Power nap”..


If I can’t I must…and If I must I can…Sounds vague doesn’t it? At first glance, it really did sound disconnected to

me, until suddenly an incident flashed across my memory.Well, let me try and explain. This incident happened when I was still a small kid of about 10 or so. During my summer vacations we used to have a family ‘ritual’ of going to our native place, where my grandparents lived.

Being an ancestral prop-erty, the place was a huge two storied mansion with mango trees, palms and hibiscus plants among vari-ous other trees and foli-age in the huge compound. A kitchen garden with a well in the backyard, jack-fruit plantations and a huge pathway leading to the por-tico completed the typical postcard kind of mansions you would find in Kerala Needless to say, me and my cousins enjoyed ourselves running around the trees and prancing around the huge open spaces.So on one such vacation afternoon, doing my sorties in the compound, I sud-denly found myself up on a mango tree. I do not dis-tinctly remember how I had the urge to climb the tree for I was not a particularly adventur-ous kid. But as I was ex-ploring the views and the whereabouts from that huge tree, I remember seeing one of the most beautiful sights in the world! A squirrel’s nest with tiny squir-

rels huddled and cuddled on top of each other. I attempted a count, and for that I needed to get a good view from the top. As I started climbing up, from one branch to another, a weak branch gave way, taking me by total surprise. Suddenly, here I was, hanging by the strength of my arms, the ground literally

slipping from my feet. For a moment I was thankful, that at least my grip was strong enough to prevent the fall.The moment’s euphoria vanished in seconds, as I assessed the situation from up there! Beneath me was a ten feet drop if not more. The nearest branch was too far off for my legs to reach. I knew if I were to fall I would surely break a couple of bones. My cousin had had a fracture on the elbow last summer, and his vaca-tions were pretty bust that time. The prospect of ruin-ing my vacations was even more dampening than the pain I would go through. It was then that I realized that I had to get a handle on the situation, and prevent the fall. The only way out was to somehow hoist my legs and entwine the branch, com-mando style so that my back was parallel to the ground. This was the only way I

could move forward with both my legs and arms to the main trunk.The point is that if someone had told me beforehand that this was the only way, I would have said ‘that’s impossible’. I CAN’T!

iF i CaN’T i MUST…aND iF i

MUST I CANTM RaJeSH UpaDYaY

“The only way out was to somehow hoist my legs and entwine the branch, com-mando style so that my back was parallel to the ground”

CTM Memories - Team JAL:

This is a meeting which many CTM’s present on that day will not forget. That morning many of us felt that the special meeting will surely be called off. But, around 3pm, I came to know that there was no change in the day’s agenda. The JAL Cyclone was frightening the Chennaiites by keeping them confined to their home but around 40 bravehearts decided to call it a day by keeping CTM meeting, going on as planned. Traditional Wear was the THEME for the special meeting.


But this was a crunch situation and there was only one way to prevent broken limbs and a horrible summer. I HAD to get my legs up on that branch.The first attempt was futile. My legs wouldn’t reach that far above. My arms were giving up. I reckoned that if I could swing my legs and build on momentum, maybe I would make it. And so I released my legs as far back as they would go and hoisted with all my might. My legs just about touched the trunk. It was a small victory, but I still hadn’t gotten out of this, nevertheless this gave me just that little confidence to try again! And this

time I MUST, come what may. Again the back lift and the hoist, and I got one foot firmly, the other foot slipped. But the one foot was good enough, to get the other in as well, I just about made it. I had done it!!I MUST and so I CAN.Years later when I pieced it together, it all suddenly made sense, and that too in a very powerful way indeed. I can’t… so I must…and If I MUST…I surely CAN! .Trite but so true. I had motivated myself to overcome what seemed like an impossible situation!


The day gave no scope for

sunshine, it was a dark afternoon and weather forecast predicted for heavy downpour later in the day. But, all these didn’t spoil my plan of attending

the Chennai Toastmasters Meeting. I was the Sergeant At Arms for the club for the second consecutive term. So, I was holding an additional responsibility. Despite my family’s repeated advise of taking a leave for the meeting, I gave deaf ears to it. Around 2PM, I stepped out with the treasures of Chennai Toastmas-ters Club. Unusually, I got a seat to sit and travel from my place to Presidency club, Egmore. “To Kanchi Hotel” and got the ticket from the conductor. That is all remember, even now. What happened to me for the next 1 ½ hrs, I still cannot rec-ollect. Around 3.50PM, I got back to consciousness, not fully though, and found myself at Marina Beach Depot. A gentleman who accompanied me narrated the 1 1/2 hrs drama. He gave me water to drink and to refresh myself. “Stay relaxed, you are fine now”. He uttered. He only asked me one question and that was, “What was that POSTMASTERS, that you kept mentioning repeatedly” but I couldn’t answer him as I was pressurizing my mind to recognize the place where I am and where I want to be. I forgot everything, the bus number in which I travelled? Where was my get down point? He bundled me into an auto and directed the auto driver to Anna Nagar, from where I boarded the bus. It was sharp 4 and I was still not present at the RUBY HALL. Committee members’ anxiety level started increasing but they were pretty confident that I surely would make it and hence, they didn’t call me. In the meanwhile, the auto driver took the Egmore route, just then

I realized that RUBY HALL was waiting for me and immediately looked for the treasure kit. I directed the auto driver to drop me at Presidency Club and rushed to the venue. It

was 4.15PM and I had not a single call in my phone. Back home, my family were not aware of the 1 ½ hrs drama.

As I entered the hall, the reaction of members turned from anxiety to shock. My shirt had blood stains, my forehead was bleeding and I was looking tired as everyone around said. I was struck by fits (epilepsy) that afternoon and that was because I forgot to take my tablets the previous night and in addition to that, stressed myself more than my capability that morning as I had my semester exams commencing from the following day.

The members were more keen in making me feel comfortable than knowing what really happened. The committee members immediately took up the role of Sergeant At Arms and TM Lakshmi, the then VPM took the Sergeant At Arms script and jumped into action by commencing the meeting at 4.18PM. I was preparing myself for doing the assigned roles for the meet-ing being GE and Time Manager. Both the roles were snatched by TM Lakshmi. I was asked to just sit back and take rest. The meeting concluded at 6.05PM and it was time for scrutiny. I was prepared for it. But, members and guests only fired me badly for taking a decision that was highly risky. TM Nina John, the then President dropped me home that evening. Until that day, I was just considering myself as a visitor to Chennai Toastmasters Club but after the concern that the members showed me that day, I started treating the club as my second family. A member who was attending the club meetings due to family pressure till that day was completely transformed into a member whose pas-sion became public speaking and Toastmastering turned from a compulsion to a passion.

I take this opportunity to thank all my friends from the TM Forum for motivating and encouraging me and making me continue my march towards the goal of a good public speaker and a successful leader.

I wish my association with the TM family continues for many more years to come.

FROM COMPULSION TO PASSION

TM KARTHIKEYAN BALASUBRAMANIAN

“as i entered the hall, the reaction of mem-bers turned from anxiety to shock. My shirt had blood stains, my fore-head was bleeding”

CREDITS TO CTM MEMORIES:TM KARTHIKEYAN

BALASUBRAMANIAN


42 - This is the number of friend requests in Facebook I got between 27th May 2013 and 30th May 2013. And many

people I know reported that this number for them had crossed 100. What happened before 27th May? You guessed it – Ova-tion 2013. I was there for one just day – the finale, and on that one day, I met and made friends with so many smart, deter-mined and ambitious Toastmasters from all walks to life – all united by the goal of improving themselves and help others also improve. A new member walks into a Toastmasters club meeting with the objective of improving her/his public speaking skills (I

was no exception). But it is only after attend-ing a few meetings and taking up a few roles that the member realis-es that Toastmasters is much more than public speaking. In fact, the tag

line of Toastmasters is “WHERE LEADERS ARE MADE” and not “WHERE PUBLIC SPEAKERS ARE MADE”. Toastmasters really understand that communication skills are a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition for becom-ing a leader. That is where all the role plays, club and higher level management responsibilities come in picture. These roles and positions help a Toastmaster hone her/his communication and leadership skills. While everyone talks a lot about two benefits of being a Toastmaster– communication and leadership skills, there is a third, lesser talked about and underrated benefit of being a Toastmaster –network building, i.e., enlarging the friends circle and catalysing personal and career growth.

The first part –enlarging the friends’ circle- is quite obvi-ous. As you join a club, you make new friends. And if you participate in other club meetings, you make more friends and you enlarge the friends circle. And now, in the Facebook age, one can increase the number of friends by more than 100 in just one or two days, as I highlighted in the opening paragraph.

M o r e i m p o r -tantly, you have a home-away from home wherever you go in this world. Take the example of our own Past President, Thanigaeswara, who is in Japan right now. He connected with his friends whom he has never met or known before, just by attending a Toastmasters club in Tokyo. Another toastmaster, Chandramouli of Medley Club, has attended several Toastmasters club meetings in Europe and elsewhere, and has made friends everywhere. My Toastmasters journey also started in another country. Just as I flipped through the June 2013 edition of Toastmasters International magazine, I saw this picture, which said it all. How about the second part? Let me share 3 examples herea. One Toastmaster, who was in his final year of college, approached me seeking career guidance and asked if I can help him find an internship. Since I was also looking to hire an intern at that time, I offered him an internship. He got an internship and I got a helping hand in a project. Win-Win for both.b. Another Toastmaster, Varadarajan S, introduced me to his friend who was interested in selling solar products across the country. Since my firm offers advisory services in this space, I immediately offered my services to him. We are still in discus-sions, but here again the point is that I got a potential client solely because I was a Toastmaster and another Toastmaster wanted to help.

CoMMUNiCaTioN,

leaDeRSHip aND...? TM MADHAvAN v

“there is a third, lesser talked about and under-rated benefit of being a Toastmaster –network building”

CTM Memories Meeting #289 Meeting #289 with a couple of Toastmasters from US visiting CTM


c. The third example pertains to personal inspiration. I always wanted to keep myself physically fit by regularly working out, but could never do it consistently due to inertia, or lack of motivation. That changed after I met my first mentor and our Immediate Past President, Deepa Bharatkumar. Both of us go for running in the Marina beach in the mornings, but the difference was that she does it every single day with absolute determination, and I miss the running many days. One day, I saw a picture of her crossing the finish line of a triathlon and that provided me big dose of inspiration. If Deepa can finish a triathlon, I can also do it – if I work as hard as her. Since then, I have been working towards improving my dedication and I plan to run my first marathon (10k to start with) in December 2013. The bottom-line is that Networking, along with Leadership and Communication, form the 3 pillars which support a Toastmaster. Never underestimate the power of networking!!!

TM Madhavan V


A doctor’s son married a priest’s daughter. Soon after the marriage, the poor girl caught a cold and was worried.

The husband consoled her: “Don’t worry, dear, my father is a doctor. He will give you free treatment and you will be well for nothing.”The wife replied, “That is great, darling, but I have good news for you also. My father is a priest and he will tell you for free how to be good, so you will be good for nothing.”Esteemed President, Toastmaster of the Day, Toastmasters, and honoured guests. The late Mr. V.K. Krishna Menon, who made history by his long and powerful speech on Kashmir, was once asked to speak on ‘Nothing’, and he enthralled his audience by his extempore speech, or Table Topics as we Toastmasters call it. The incident has given me the inspiration for choosing the subject of my speech this evening. Yes, I intend to say some-thing, if not everything on ‘Nothing’!‘Nothing’ is a much-bandied word but seldom given its due. It is probably the most versatile and frequently used word than any other. In fact the dictionary gives it twenty different shades of meaning. It is handy in all sorts of situations and substitutes

for men and matters, body and intellect, things existent and non-existent.Thus we may say, “He left nothing for me in his will.”, “I own nothing.”, “I owe nothing.”, “I bring nothing.”, ‘nothing’ here standing for money, gifts, or even gratitude. When we say, “They did nothing for the poor,” ‘nothing’ here covers lots of things like housing, education, jobs, infrastructure, among others. We could also say “Much ado about nothing.”, and understatements like, “He spoke for hours and said nothing.”You will realize, therefore, Ladies and Gentlemen, that ‘nothing’ is not a vacuum; it is not ‘no thing’ but, on the other hand, it is anything and everything.There is a stark truth which everybody knows but everybody chooses to ignore. That truth is that we all have our beginnings in nothing. Whether the universe came into existence by the Big Bang, or by the work of some mysterious power, neither science nor religion disputes the fact that it originated from non-existence, from ‘void’, from ‘nothing’.Yet for millions of years, ‘nothing’ defied definition and remained elusive, in fact, treated as a poor cousin- until ‘noth-

STRENgTH OF NOTHINgTM C T THoMaS CC#2 SpeeCH 2 18.03.07

“‘Nothing’ is not a vac-uum; it is not ‘no thing’ but, on the other hand, it is anything and every-thing.


ing’ was quantified as zero, and our own Indian mathematician Aryabhatta presented zero and the numerals to the world in the fifth century.And that brings me to the pervasiveness of ‘nothing’ to sci-ence. The ingenious method of expressing all the numerals by means of symbols has put Arithmetic in the first line of useful inventions. That invention triggered the giant leap that science made then and is still happening, in the form of algorithms! In fact, the quantification of ‘nothing’ into zero has been hailed as civilization’s homage to the ‘nothing that has made everything’.The role of zero in Economics is far too familiar. We all know that the more the number of zeroes in the right place in the bal-ance sheet, the merrier for the corporates and the entrepreneur, but a misplaced zero shatters the Chartered Accountant. And

a big zero by itself frustrates the student who has not done his or her homework.

Of course, I would caution that the mathematical zero and the philosophical notion of nothingness are related, but not the same. But there is no doubt that zero as a concept originated from the concept of the void – the “shunya” that existed in Indian thought for centuries.To the Grammarian and the English teacher, ‘everything’ may be the opposite of ‘nothing’, but in actual practice; nothing takes care of everything, just as the nothingness of the atmo-sphere absorbs the rays of the sun, the moon and the stars. That is at once, the beauty and strength of ‘nothing’!

Crossword

Across

2. Theme of the Feb 2013 Newsletter4. She wrote about the art of ‘right’ - 375th spl. Meeting5. This DTM had an idea of having Wi-Fi in car.6. _________ said “Effective Communication depends on how crisp, clear and concise our mes-sage is.

Down

1. Organized a Speech Craft Program

3. Editor of the April 2013 Newsletter

Illustration sketching for the articles - TM UNNIKRISHNAN BHASKARA


THE TORCHBEARERS OF CHENNAI TOASTMASTERS CLUBPast Presidents of CTM

Padmini ChandrasekarKrishnan ArunasalamNina JohnIndira JayarajSrikanthRavi BaskaranAditya MaheswaranSastharam RavendranLalitha Giridhar

MayurnathSaro VelrajanRajesh NatarajanPrabakaran RamasamySadayappanKartikeyan SrinivasanThanigaeshwara AnbarasuDeepa BarathkumarSakthi Prasanna


The 400th meeting of Chennai Toastmasters club is indeed a

proud moment for all of us, a milestone to mark the journey that has impacted the lives of so many individuals.As the District Governor, I was privi-leged to attend quite a few club meet-ings in India and Sri Lanka. At one of the milestone meetings of one of our clubs the Past President insisted on say-ing, “I don’t care what anybody else says or thinks, and even if there are District officers here, I am proud to say : Our club is the best in the District!” and he glared at me quite fiercely, daring me to contradict him.

The question then arises, which is the best club and how would we describe such a club? Well, it is good to know that, since around 2010, the title of Best Club in D82 has been awarded to Chennai, CSC, Madras and Medleys Toastmaster clubs, all of which are in Tamil Nadu. And since every one of these clubs has founder-members, officers or leaders, all of whom have been initially in Chennai, nurtured and trained in the Toastmaster principles through CTM, it is safe to say that we are the lighthouse club of Chennai!We started in 2004, a group of 20-odd people, and along the way we have

gathered a motley crowd of people. Many have drifted off, with work com-mitments, transfers and just plain lack of commitment. But the ones who have stayed - what a galaxy of stars, all of whom have gone outside the club and given of themselves to the Toastmasters movement, and received so abundantly in return! Abraham Zachariah, (Late) Ravi Baskaran, Indira Jayaraj, C. T. Thomas, Aditya Maheswaran, Sastharam, Lalitha Giridhar, Rajesh Natarajan, Saro Velrajan, Arna Chugani, Sadayyappan, to mention a few. Sridhar Ranganathan, an early member,who has gone on to great heights in the speaking field, attributes

CTM- THE LIgHTHOUSE CLUB OF TAMIL NADU

DTM NiNa JoHN

“Therein, perhaps, lies the secret of Chennai Toastmasters - the will-ingness to accept all comers and to let all who come realize their own true potential.”

Fun Corner

Two men worked for the municipality. One would dig a hole: dig, dig, dig..The other would repeatedly come behind him and fill the hole: fill, fill, fillA man watching from the sidewalk couldn’t understand why they were doing this. “I appreciate how hard you work, but what are you doing?” he asked the digger. “You dig a hole and your partner comes along and fills it up again!”“Ah yes”, the hole digger replies “The guy who plants the trees is sick today”.


his professional growth trajectory to Toastmasters, and has always given back to the movement, conducting workshops and mentoring newcomers so that they grow tall.Therein, perhaps, lies the secret of Chennai Toastmasters - the willingness to accept all comers and to let all who come realize their own true potential. The club has never been trammeled by considerations of accent or back-ground or age - in fact, the club has had some of the youngest office-bearers as President, and both Sastha and Aditya achieved their DTM’s at the age of twenty-three, far earlier than a lot of senior Toastmasters in other, older clubs and divisions. Elections in CTM are both a serious and a fun affair: serious because members gear up for it and fun because the atmosphere of camaraderie and fellowship within which they are held ensure that there is no bitterness thereafter.But make no mistake - however much fun there is during the elections, every single Robert’s Rule is followed to the letter, with Nomination Chairs being well-versed with all the likely scenarios and required action ready. Even after-wards, committees are totally autono-mous- no attendance by senior members or Past Presidents, only an occasional nudge if a course needs to be corrected. In CTM we truly make leaders.Meetings at Chennai Toastmasters blend the three-part structure of the regular Toastmaster meeting with so much fun

and energy that it is rare to find a meeting where guests do not sign up instantly. Its very success was at one time threatening to derail CTM, and the decision was taken to split the club since the membership had crossed the 100 mark. Today, the spin-off Chennai Speaker’s Forum is both aware of its CTM legacy and consciously treading a new path for itself; membership in both clubs is a healthy 65-plus!What then, are the standards Chennai Toastmasters has that continue to make it the lighthouse club? All the Toastmaster values – respect for the indi-vidual, service, integrity and excellence. Every individual who walks in through the doors of the club as a guest is warm-ly received, allowed to participate and encouraged to grow at their own pace. We have now Madhavan Namboodri who, within three months of joining, took over as an office-bearer when an unexpected vacancy arose, built a web-site that won the District level first prize, and is on his way to complete his CC.Service to others- all our Toastmasters have volunteered to help other clubs, whether at demo meets, contests, com-mittees at Ovation or elsewhere, a trait that has helped each one grow. Sudha Rajesh, for example, is now an Area Governor, and Priyanandan’s Speechcraft was possible only because of the early grooming at CTM, while Kartik Srinivasan’s Walk the Talk was open to all Tamil Nadu Toastmasters.Excellence is the norm in CTM,

for regular meetings as well as con-tests, all meticulously conducted. The International Speech contests used to be legendary, with seven to eight contes-tants of District level – we need to work our way back to that standard and higher, but we can easily do it. Our meetings are properly structured and Minuted, and every process followed as per the manu-als. I still have the Agenda and Minutes of all the meetings with me, and it is such an education to see how the club has evolved!Integrity in actions is visible at every stage of CTM- integrity of principle, process and philosophy. The pride of being in CTM is evident in all the events & actions in the club, a legacy carried forward in all we do.Over and above all these, it is the spirit of caring and sharing that has made Chennai Toastmasters the lighthouse club of Chennai and even Tamil Nadu. May its light continue to shine and on many more Toastmasters and impact their lives forever.


Tell us a little bit about yourself – your family and interests.I’m married and I have an eight years old daughter. I work for Aricent as Director – Technology. I’m passionate about public speaking, mentoring, blogging and traveling.

What lead you to join toastmaster and how long have you been with CTM?Before I joined toastmasters, I had the difficulty of thinking in Tamil, translat-ing that into English and delivering my thoughts. I wanted to overcome that problem and talk confidently in English. Hence, I joined toastmasters. I joined Toastmasters in the year 2006 and I

became a member of CTM in the year 2009.To give you a sample of how bad I was… let me share with you an incident that happened in the year 1996, during my college days. The place was GCT, Coimbatore … one of the class rooms in the ground floor of the main building... It was a Friday evening. I dropped into a meeting of Literary & Debate Society (also called as LDS). That was my first attempt to develop my communication skills. I saw a bunch of students from various classes and years. I knew some of them, but most of them were strang-ers to me. I occupied a seat in a remote corner of the room. The meeting started. Suddenly, one of my seniors called me to

the stage to be part of a group discus-sion. I got very nervous... I didn’t want to say “No!” I felt that “Others may think badly of me”. I went to the stage and sat with a group of other students. The topic that was given to us for group discussion was “Brain Drain”. Those days, a number of Indians were leaving to USA at that time for work/studies. So, that was the popular topic at that time. First of all, I didn’t know “What Brain Drain” means... Second of all, I was not adroit at handling impromptu-speaking situations like that.I assumed that “Brain Drain” means, “Brain losing its memory capacity” and I started talking about “You should eat healthy food for you to have good

UP CLOSE WITH DTM SARO VelRaJaN

AN INTERvIEW BY TM UNNIKRISHNAN


memory capacity” and everyone in the hall started laughing.I was shocked. I started sweating... I didn’t know what mistake I did... how-ever, I knew that I’m not making sense to the audience... My lips were sealed... The flow of words from my mouth completely stopped. I didn’t utter any word after that. That was my first and last visit to Literary & Debate Society in our college. My dreams of becoming a better speaker, shattered into pieces, like a jar that was dropped on the floor

Does it really help to partake in multiple clubs? How?Yes. It does help in participating in multiple clubs. Over a period of time, you get too comfortable with your club members. Speaking in front of your club members may not be difficult at all, because you get a lot of energy & sup-port from familiar audience. You should develop the habit of regularly speaking in front of newer audience. The moment you stand in front of a new audience – your dormant cocoons develop wings and start flying in your stomach again. Participating & delivering speeches in multiple clubs helps you to accelerate your communication journey.

We know you helped start many new clubs. What were the chal-lenges that you felt in kicking off a new club?I learned the most when starting Chennai Communicators Club (CCC), a commu-nity club in Velachery. Starting a brand new club is like starting a brand new company. Some of the challenges in chartering a new club are:• You’ve to identify club officers who are very committed in building the club – one brick at a time. You’ve to keep them motivated enough until the club learns to stand, walk, and run.• Being mediocre is very easy, however maintaining high standards is very dif-ficult. You’ll have to put a grand show even with a handful of members. It requires doing lots of homework and

preparation behind the screens. For ex., starting the club meetings on time, getting all the props for the club in place, ensuring that the quality of speech evaluations is high, ending the meeting in time etc.,• Getting members of other clubs to come to a new club’s meeting itself is a big challenge. Conducting weekly educational sessions is a carrot for existing members to visit a budding club.

What has toastmastering taught you and its relevance in our cur-rent times?The following are some key lessons that I learned by doing various roles in Toastmasters. • If the team WINS, you WIN• Volunteers cannot be fired• Always look at the glass half-full - lead-ers are always optimistic• Small things make perfection, but per-fection isn’t a small thing• None of us can achieve what all of us can achieve together • Small actions x Lots of People = BIG Change• Get committed people, give them responsibilities, and trust them to do their work• When YOU do it, they’ll FOLLOW• Appreciate even the smallest of the accomplishments• Stay connected with people and keep them informed• Don’t just THANK, thank them for a SPECIFIC REASON• Your title is for a year, but the relation-ship is going to last longer (Don’t let your title come in between YOU and YOUR relationship with people)• Advices come for free - Like a “crane”, decide what is appropriate for you• Do not delegate a task to a super star. Create a super star by delegating a task.

What according to you is the most important aspect of being a leader?In a volunteer driven organization, the

most important aspect of being a lead-er is focusing on his/her team. You’ll have to constantly find ways of building your team, keeping your team motivated, work together with the team and recog-nize their performance periodically.

While many of us find it difficult to complete our speech commit-ments, how do you find time for higher leadership roles and men-toring so many people?Good habits come in series. The one good habit that I brought into my life is being part of toastmasters. Eventually, it brought a number of other good habits into my life. Before joining toastmasters, I used to waste a lot of time in browsing Internet, sleeping for a longer time, chit-chatting and in watching movies. After joining toastmasters, I became more disciplined and started using my time well. In about 2 years, I noticed that I’m surrounded by a number of good habits like reading books, writing blogs, reading newspapers, mentoring others etc., It all started with the 1 habit that I brought into my life… joining toastmasters. I would recommend reading the “7 habits of highly effective people” from where I learned my time management skills.

What according to you has been the most important aspect that you have been able to bring in to the toastmaster fraternity?There are 2 key things that I brought into the Tamilnadu Toastmasters fraternity:• Using social media for promoting toastmasters and for sharing the knowl-edge/experience with other members.

“Good habits come in series. The one good habit that i brought into my life is being part of toastmasters. eventu-ally, it brought a number of other good habits into my life.”

Fun Corner

Why do cows have bells?Because their horns don’t work

Fun Corner

Q - Can you swim?A – SometimesQ – What do you mean sometimes?A – Only when I am in the water.


(We learned this from Hyderabad Toastmasters)• Providing opportunity for new people. Toastmasters should provide opportu-nity for every member to participate, learn and grow. I strongly believe in “Do not delegate a task to a super star. Create a super star by delegating a task

Give us a few tips to improve our speech script and vocal variety.Speaking is a skill that is similar to cycling or swimming. You cannot learn swimming by reading a book or by standing near the shores. You’ll have to jump into the water to learn swimming. Similarly, you can improve your speech development & vocal variety by writing more speeches and delivering them. The following are some habits that helped me to develop speech script development & vocal variety:• Listening to podcasts of Americal Speakers (Zig Ziglar, President Obama, Martin Luther King etc.). Lots of them are available for download for free from iTunes.• Writing my personal blog www.saros-corner.com . When I started to write more, I started observing and listening more. My blogging skills helped me to develop better speech scripts• Reading Books provided me lots of knowledge & skills which I was able to apply in developing speeches. I read at least 1 self-development book a month (it used to be 1 book a week, during the first 3 years of my toastmasters career)

Your message to Gen Y? You can achieve the fullest benefit of toastmasters program by following the 3Rs:

Regularity

Being regular is the most important trait of a successful toastmaster. What happens to an athlete, when he/she doesn’t exercise regularly; when he/she doesn’t attend practice sessions regu-larly? Mastering the art of public speak-ing is very similar to sports – it requires regular practice. What better platform can you get to regularly practice your skills than a toastmasters club?

• Regularly attend club meetings• Regularly take a diverse set of roles in the club meeting• Regularly deliver speeches in your club and in other clubs• Regularly participate in contests and benchmark your performance• Regularly take leadership roles in your club and outside your clubs

Research Performing adequate research is impor-tant for any assignment that you do – not just in toastmasters. Charles E. Jones, a famous author said “Five years from now you’ll be the same person you are today except for the books you read and the people you meet”. It is very true.

As a toastmaster, we need to develop habits of reading books, reading news-papers, attending educational programs, listening to podcasts, watching cham-pions’ speech videos, participating in contests and continuously learning new things by research. Research helps us to discover new ways of doing things, it helps us to constantly innovate and dis-cover a BETTER YOU!

Rehearsals

Our District 82 Humorous Speech Champions TM Alexandar Babu, and TM Guruprasad delivered a 7 minutes speech to win the prestigious 1st and 3rd positions respectively in the district con-ference, Reverberations 2012. Can you imagine how many times they would’ve rehearsed before their most memora-ble performance at the District? They rehearsed at least a 50 times for months together, before their final performance at the district. If great champions have to rehearse for at least 50 times before their performance, how many times should we rehearse before giving our speech at the club? A successful toast-master rehearses multiple times before they do any performance in toastmasters.

Follow the 3Rs – Regularity, Research & Rehearsals to maximize the benefits of Toastmasters

Fun Corner

A man walking down the streets sees another man with a very big dog. He asks the man with the dog “Does your dog bite?” Man with the dog replies “No my dog doesn’t”The man pats the dog and has his hand bitten off “I thought you said your dog doesn’t bite” said the injured man. “That’s not my dog” replied the other.

***Joining the Gym is amazing – such an invigorating way to start the day!! Waking up at 7am and deciding not to go is a great feeling.



I have a dream for CTM. If one gets a chance to look at our membership roaster, he/she will find that majority of the

members are new and most of them are young. CTM is in a transition stage and this period is very crucial. We have a bunch of energetic youngsters who want to prove their mettle in pub-lic speaking and we have a bunch of experienced Toastmasters who are going about achieving their education goals and con-tributing to the growth of the new members as mentors.This is the right time to move swift to the next level. This is the right time to create a new identity for every CTMer. I have a dream that every CTMer becomes CTMer 2.0….Yes CTMer 2.0. Who is CTMer 2.0? What are his/her qualities? The CTMer 2.0 is an

Achiever of his/her education goalsContributor to the Club’s growth and Toastmasters in generalFierce competitor in contests participating in every single con-test and winning every single award A toastmaster who always chase Excellence in whatever he/she does

This can be called as CAFÉ for convenience. CAFÉ is the qual-ity of a new CTMer. CTMer 2.0.If every CTMer is a CAFÉ he/she will excel not only in Toastmasters but in personal Life as well. And that is my Dream for CTM.

I HAvE A DREAM FOR

CTM

FINANCE IS RISK

Business of banking Deposits and advances

Business of insurance Premiums and claims

Business of investment Spots and futures

Macro and micro Means are sigmas

Segregate and aggregate Service the risk

LICENCE TO KILL

Financial inclusion isGoal of the government

Borrowing at low cost isDeal of the contestants

Contestants are manyConditions are many

Good sense to fillPromoters and regulators

License to killPoverty and disparity

WORDS OF WISDOMTM NAgENDRA BHARATHI

TM SAKTHI PRASANNA


I remember the day when I delivered my first speech “What’s in Name?”,

Having completed 8 speeches today everybody remembers me not by my name, but through my speeches.I enjoyed every speech delivery with intention to meet/exceed the project objectives and made sure that I am satisfied with my performance at the end of my speech delivery. The key part here is played not only by me, but by my mentor TM Sudha Rajesh and every senior Toastmaster, every Toastmaster who gives valuable constructive feedback .After becoming a TM , I realized that I have a passion for public speaking and thatI have caught the right train to reach my destination. I was like a hard clay, Toastmaster (TM Sudha, DTM Nina, TM CT. Thomas

sir, TM Saro and every TM who admired, apprec i a ted , added constructive feedback) molded me to a good speaker.A good script (meets present and earlier project objectives), mentors input(very important) and incorporating corrected feedback in previous speeches and lots of PRACTICE , PRACTICE, PRACTICE would definitely get you THE BEST SPEAKER ribbon!!!!

EAGER TO CONTINUE MY TM JOURNEY AT CTM !!!!!

pRaCTiCe, pRaCTiCe &

PRACTICE! TM YAMINI DEvI

Vivekananda said:‘Men in general lay all the blame of life on their fellow-

men, or, failing that, on God, or they conjure up a ghost, and say it is fate. Where is fate, who is fate? We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. None else has the blame, none has the praise.’We are all looking for things that make our actions easier, housewives desire gadgets that make their cooking easier and faster, engineers device gadgets that make their work easier etc.The day we realize that nobody but Toastmasters can help us achieve the ultimate in our life we will start moving in the right direction. The day we strive to dive deep in the ocean of knowledge that Toastmastering offers, from that very day we

can start to reap the benefits thereof. Toastmasters is the cause and the phenomenal improvement in the lives of many be it in terms of personality development, writing and listening abili-ties, oratory skills and, leadership skills is the result.

We have to take total responsibility for our actions. The pur-pose of our coming to Toastmasters is to know how it works through me. Toastmastering makes me conscious of how, when, what to say when I am reacting to others, how to face life better for self and others around me. It makes me act responsibly. I can’t blame either society, my company, colleagues, friends, teachers, parents or karma.In simple words, we reap what we sow.

WE REAP WHAT WE

SOWTM RAMESH DASWANI


As I pen my thoughts to convey my gratitude for the institution of Toastmasters International and Chennai

Toastmasters Club in particular, I wish to state the most urging thought, up front, as is: Toastmastering is a boon to me be-yond any measure and it has made a significant impact on me for the better, I am sure the journey of edutainment shall con-tinue for decades to come. I have been, am and will continue to work for mutual betterment which Toastmasters movement holds supreme, Period! I would now like to use some space here to share first some use-ful and interesting quotations which I have collected over the years (some of which I understand could be original coinage of fellow Toastmasters):● Your preparation will be evident in your presentation. (My favorite in this list)● Communication will win you outer world, Silence will win you inner world. A holistic combination of both will win you

BOTH.● Please all & please none.● When it comes to shar-ing of information, just KISS (Keep It Simple and Stupid).● Allocate time for everything (you must) and in time every-thing (you deserve) shall be allocated to you.

I shall also share a few of my favourite books (I urge you to read at least a few of them):1. As A Man Thinketh – James Allen (All-time Numero Uno)2. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey3. The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho4. Kane and Abel – Jeffrey Archer5. How to Read Better and Faster – Norman LewisAs always, Happy Toastmastering!

IMPACT FOR THE BETTER

Why Toastmasters?

1. To become a better Speaker: The Leaders in Toastmasters ensure that we learn the Art of Public speaking through fun and education sessions.

Assignment of a Mentor to each Individual is a real blessing as they provide Valuable suggestions for Improvement.

2. To become a better listener: Opportunity to learn by listen-ing is abundant in Toastmasters. This is one of the easiest & productive methods of saving the time spent for developing

your Public Speaking skills.

3. To develop Strong Leadership Skills.: It’s not just the develop-ment of Public Speaking skills in Toastmasters, there are vari-ous roles & responsibilities available which anyone can utilize

to evolve & become a True leader.

4. To develop our thinking capability: ‘Table topics’ is one section in the meeting agenda which actually kindles the Individual’s creativity and thought process and also helps us to

refine our adhoc presentation skills.Structured approach:All Toastmaster’s meetings are well organized, productive,

engaging & are highly structured with members performing specific roles and responsibilities. In fact, one needs to attend a Toastmasters meeting to understand how a meeting should be conducted.

5. Expand your network : It’s an Opportunity to meet people with High energy & passion for Public speaking and learn from them as well!

To Summarize, Whosoever with whatever Public speaking talent you may have, come to Toastmasters you will see that there is still an Opportunity for Improvement & Toastmasters will help you.

By Hari Ramachandran.

WHY ToaSTMaSTeRS?TM HARI RAMACHANDRAN

TM SUNIL BAFFNA


It was half past five when Sonu returned from school. She was tired

and was swinging the lunch bag in her hand as she walked from bus stop towards home.Sonu’s family lives in the topmost floor in the four storey building. As she reached the fourth floor, Anjali aunty who lives in the opposite house called her. “Sonu, good that you came. I got a call from your mom that she has got an urgent work at office and will reach home a little late”. Sonu just sighed and came near Anjali aunty. “Aunty, is our house key with you? Can you please give it”? This

message is not new for Sonu as she gets the same message at least twice a week.After few initial pleasantries, Anjali aunty let go of Sonu with her house key. She quickly opened the door and threw the bag to a corner, rushed into the bed room and buried herself into a pile of pillows.Sonu was rolling over them, forcing to get to the sleep mode. After ten minutes, she heard some knocking sound. She went to main door and opened to see if anyone has come but found no one. She came back to her bed and heard the knocking sound for the second time.

She went again and found no one at the door step. Sonu was annoyed. However, the remnants of the early stages of sleep dragged her towards the bed and she pulled a bed sheet over her face. She heard the knocking sound again. “Huff, Man this is not done”, she grumbled and started to walk towards the door. When the knock continued, Sonu started to realize that the knocking sound was actu-

ally coming from store room. A voice from within warned her, “Sonu dear, you are alone. Better don’t walk in there”. She started to sing a song very loudly, primarily to avoid hearing to inner voice and secondarily to break the silence in the house.The store room was filled with boxes stacked one over the other. Sonu encouraged herself, “You are a brave girl. You can do it. You can do it.” She started to clear the luggage towards where she could locate the thud. It was down to the last luggage which she needs to remove to finally unveil the mystery. When she moved it, she saw a bright hole underneath. She inserted her hand into the hole and found something climbing on to her palm. She quickly pulled out and was amazed to see a beautiful fairy dressed with a bright blue dress standing on her palm. “Sorry dear, i didn’t mean to scare you”, the fairy said sadly. “I was locked into this store room for months and you have set me free”. The fairy started to fly around, danced and sang songs from fairy world. She was extremely happy that she was free and wanted to gift Sonuwith a wish for helping her out.

JUST BelieVe TM SNEHA SCHOLASTICA

“Sonu heard the knock-ing sound again but now from the main door. She started to rub her eyes and saw the fairy stand-ing before her. Then, she started to rub the eyes more.”

Fun Corner

After a meeting I was coming out of a hotel and I was looking for my car keys. They were not in my bag. A quick search back in the meeting room... it wasn’t there.Suddenly I realized I must have left them in the car. My husband has shouted many times for leaving the keys in the ignition. My theory is, the ignition is the best place not to lose them. His theory is that the car will be stolen. Immediately I rushed to the parking lot, I came to a terrifying conclusion. Cold sweat… His theory was right. The spot I left the car was empty.I immediately called the police. I gave them my location, car number and description of the place where I parked etc. I equally confessed that I had left my keys in the car, and that it had been stolen.Then I made the most difficult call of all, to my husband!!! “Honey,” I stammered; I always call him “honey” in times like these. “I left my keys in the car, and it has been stolen.”There was a period of silence. I thought the call had been dropped, but then I heard his voice. “Idiot”, he shouted, “I dropped you at the hotel!”Now it was my time to be silent. Embarrassed, I said, “Well, come and get me.”He shouted again, “I will, as soon as I manage to convince this policeman that I am your husband.”

***Teacher was checking the four year olds after the moral science class “What must we do in order to go to heaven?”. One child answered “Die”.


Sonu hesitated initially and when the fairy insisted, she said that she wanted her mom to spend time with her and help her in studies. The fairy smiled, sprinkled few golden sparkles on her and granted the wish.Sonu heard the knocking sound again but nowfrom the main door. She started to rub her eyes and saw the fairy standing before her. Then, she started to rub the eyes more. The fairy was little confused to see Sonu’s reaction and enquired. Sonu explained that she is rubbing her eyes to wake up from sleep, so that she can go and open the door. Sonu believed that fairies come only in dreams and wanted to wake up. The fairy started laughing and said, “Sonu, miracles happen only when you start believing in it” and disappeared.Sonu went running to the main door and opened. It was Sonu’s mom waiting outside and entered asking, “Why don’t you open the door soon? Slept again?” Sonu didn’t answer anything. Sonu’s mom continued, “hmm, How was the day? What happened in school? What did you learn today?”Sonu decided to keep the unusual meet with the fairy a secret and replied to her mom’s other questions. Sonu looked at her mom’s bangles. “Wow, very beautiful mommy. Will you buy me also one?”Sonu’s mom smiled and said that she made it over some-time in the weekend. Sonu’s mom is a creative person and has left behind all her artistic work to support running the family.Later in the day, fairy met Sonu alone and requested if she can see few of mom’s accessories that was made by her. Sonu took the fairy to the dressing table and showed few collections. After couple of days, a reporter from a famous magazine came to Sonu’s house and

insisted Sonu’s mom for an interview with her accessories. Sonu’s mom started to get more offers after the interview. She quit the mun-dane tiring job and started to follow her passion. She realized that she will be able to spend sufficient time with family too.Sonu’s life became beautiful overnight after she met the fairy. She thanked the fairy profusely. Finally, time came for the fairy to return to the Fairy world. She bid farewell to Sonu. Sonu had only one question to ask the fairy now. “How did you make this possible? Do we need to be a fairy to get these powers?” asked Sonu.Fairy smiled and said, “People quit when they need to take only one more step to reach success. I just did the same for your mom. I took that last step on behalf of your mom to follow her passion. Just remember the same when you grow up”.Sonu kissed the fairy and saw her flying outside like a bright blue butterfly.Sonu ran and hugged her mom tightly. Sonu’s eyes were search-ing for the fairy and found her smiling at her from outside the windows. “Just believe” uttered the fairy finally and flew away.


MEET THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

PresidentTM Sakthi Prasanna

Vice President - EducationTM Prasanna V

Vice President - MembershipTM Bharath Raja

Vice President - Public RelationsTM Lakshmi Lakshminarayanan

SecretaryTM Monisha Ramadevan

TreasurerTM Naga Reddy

Sgt @ ArmsTM Selvabharathi

immediate Past PresidentTM Deepa Bharatkumar

W e m e e t e v e r y S u n d a y 4 - 6 P M V e n u e : P r e s i d e n c y C l u b , E g m o r e

W e b s i t e : w w w . c h e n n a i t o a s t m a s t e r s . c o m

DO YOU WANT TO OvERCOME THE FEAR OF pUBliC SpeaKiNG?

J o i N U S @ C H e N N a i T o a S T M a S T e R S

Do YoU WaNT To Be a paRT oF THiS FaMilY?

Documents

Speak Out : 400th meeting special