Club Members

Rachit Thirani Amit Maheshwari Anand Kumar

Karan Virani Rahul Manghnani Srinath

Prasanthi Karthikeyan Harison Jose

Vinit Kumar Dhanraj Mittal Chirag Dhingra

Mrinal Kamboj Richa Jain Rohit Pande

Sangeetha Prasraban Mukhopadhyay Nandhish

Sunesh P.G. Islahuddin Khan Gourab Mitra

Harish Kaushik Kavitha Suresh Ayesha Ahmad

Nalin Raj Srikanth Mangipudi Susanta Sahu

Yadu Vamsi Prakriti Saxena Arjun Bhagat

Rekha

Contents

1. From the Area Governor

2. Presidential Address

3. From the Editor’s Desk

4. The bucket list

5. Why I aspire to become a

Philanthropist some day?

6. Dare but do not defer to dream

7. The dream lived

8. Great Memories

9. Executive committee members

From The

Area Governor

1. Your goals for the upcoming new year.

To be a presidents distinguished area

2. The major development you have noticed in the

year 2015 in Toastmasters clubs under your area

2 New clubs, 3 clubs aiming to be GG+ Clubs

3. Any message you would like to convey to our readers.

It’s a great time to be a part of toastmasters right now, we have

able and dynamic leadership and diligent and enthusiastic TMs

4. Your statement on PSN Toastmasters in particular, your reviews

about it and any tips you feels we should develop towards.

PSN Toastmasters is a very focused and structured, for a new club. Its

members have high energy and zeal to learn things quickly. It has

ambitious and hardworking officers and members. Keep up the dream

of getting GG+ in 1st year of charter

5. One quick point/suggestion/activity that can help make the mentor -

mentee relationship better.

Meet the mentor often, build a rapport beside of toastmasters.

Presidential

Address I joined PSN Toastmasters in June 2015 after much hesitation and a lot

of apprehension, but today when I look back, I realize that it is the best

decision I made in my life. It has been a transformative experience for me.

I came to improve my communication skills and I found a beautiful family,

fellowship and friendship. Today I have been elected the President of PSN

Toastmasters.

Being the President has increased my responsibilities by leaps and bounds.

But I am very happy that I have an outstanding Executive committee team,

who are extremely committed and enthusiastic. I am sure we can achieve a

lot of success and accolades for our club. I believe that our life is a reflection

of our actions. I believe that if we want more love in the world, we should

create more love in our heart. If we want a more competent team, then we

need to improve our own competency. If we want a more vibrant and

supportive toastmaster experience, then we need to show our spontaneity

and support to our fellow toastmasters. It is my request to all my fellow

toastmasters to follow this. Life always gives back to you everything you

have given to it.

I wish all my fellow toastmasters a very happy and prosperous new year.

May the New Year mark a successful toastmaster journey for all of you.

Sangeetha Anand

President,

PSN Toastmasters Club

15th Feb 2015, India played Pakistan in the

World cup. Not the best day to have a demo

meeting, but that was the slot we got. A meager 7

people attended it, out of which just 1 joined.

Being the sponsor and founding President of the PSN

Toastmasters Club, I knew that the journey to charter a club

won't be easy. It took over 3 months to get 20 people

together and value the concept of Toastmasters. From senior

executives to housewives, from students to budding writers, everybody

united to learn and excel in the art of speaking. Our strength as a club

is its DIVERSITY.

After the foundation had been laid, we literally flew. We grew to a

membership strength of 47 in just 3 more months, fastest by any club in

whole of Bengaluru. The "Smedley" and the "Fast Five" awards served as a

proof of our hard work and determination to further the interests of the club.

I want to thank each and every member of our club that have been a part of

my journey of Toastmasters so far. The experience to work in an environment

with no natural hierarchy and the importance of giving “the right” feedback

have been my major take-homes during the last 6 months.

Over the past few months, I am proud to say that we haven’t just formed a

kick-ass club, but a closely knit family. We not only contribute to each

other’s voyage of becoming better speakers, but also celebrate each

other’s success and achievements in a grand way.

Signing off for the very last time.

Karan Virani

Past President,

PSN Toastmasters Club

Like always, let us “SPEAK LOUD SPEAK PROUD”

From The

Editor’s Desk If it seems impossible to achieve something, it is another way of

saying that it is impossible to make all possible efforts. To many

members of PSN Toastmasters the desire to scale greater heights with the

best of their abilities is not hard task. I was told just a week ago, during the

executive committee handover ceremony, that I will have to come out with

this month’s newsletter by 28th December, 2015. With now initial plans set for

this task, our first aim was to group together like minds with skills for this

purpose. In an era where one’s mind is always occupied with their own

chaotic living, finding people to come together to make this happen was a

challenge we faced and overcame. With just three people including me in

my newly formed editorial team for this club, burning the mid night oil, we

feel proud to present our very first club newsletter “Speak Loud, Speak Proud”

where we have attempted to capture the great moments spent together

learning and the ideas inked by our club members.

This first edition embarks the path for creativity that ever one has in them,

with better ones to be portrayed in the upcoming editions via learning and

experimenting. It was indeed a great learning while bringing this newsletter

to life along with my editorial team, especially toastmaster Ayesha Ahmad,

without whom I doubt I could have pulled through this newsletter on time.

We all have a torch in our heart that glows with learnings and it is only apt to

share it with others.

Prasraban Mukhopadhyay

Secretary & Editor,

PSN Toastmasters Club

The Bucket List -Karan Virani

I remember the smell of fresh

concrete roads, the warm rays

of the beaming sun and the lush

green forests floating besides me. I

was gliding my motor bike like a

skater dancing on ice. I could feel

the cool breeze pierce my helmet.

It’s safe to say “At 150kmph, I wasn’t

going fast, I was flying low”.

My friends, I am sure you can’t

find these fresh concrete roads

in Whitefield. But trust me, I have

found quite a few in Karnataka. I was

on my way to Kodachadri, 400km

from Bangalore. We had planned to

trek for 14km the next day. After we

reached, some wise man came to us

and said: “You guys look young and

strong. You should try the slightly difficult

version of the trek.” Inspired by the recent Thumps up ad: “Aaj kuch toofani

karte hain”, we replied at once: “Hell ya, why not”.

So next day, we started. For the first 3 km, we were pumped up with energy

and excitement. But slowly, the sun wasn’t pleasantly beaming, it had turned

into a furnace; the breeze was not cool; it was loo now; the lush green forest

had been replaced by barren land. I was gliding…my legs into no man’s

land. We did not realise first 3-4km had been quite steep.

Adding salt to our wounds, the guide said: “Sir!!! This trek one way!! No going

back!” My heart shattered into pieces like a glass bowl dropped onto the

floor. Only I know how I completed that trek. I distinctly remember 2

moments from the trek:

1. When I was exhausted and out of breath, I turned on my iPod and listened

to the song from Lakshya: “

2. At the end of the trek, there was an old man selling lemon juice and

buttermilk. Trust me, being greeted by his drinks, I felt happier than being

welcomed by supermodels. Fellow Toastmasters, I am not here to give my

lecture today. I am here to ask you a very simple question: “Where is your

bucket list?” How many of you are familiar with what is a bucket list? This

term is coined from a popular English proverb “Kicking the bucket”…A fancy

term for “Kicking the bucket” which means to die.

In today’s busy life, we

seldom think of the

memories that we

would want to collect.

The day I completed

the trek I stroke off 2

things of my bucket list

“Biking for a long distance

and completing a long

trek”. We keep whining for

more wealth and more wages but in reality, the happiness lies in the energy

and excitement in such exotic experiences.

Your bucket list can have anything. Ranging from the girl you want to date to

stuff you want to do in your honeymoon to becoming a writer or an

astronaut.

Friends, don’t let your designation, duties and dollars define you. Let your

dreams, your aspirations and your passions scream about who you are and

what makes you special.

Why I Aspire To Be A

Philanthropist Someday -Vinit Kumar Singh

“Is the rich world aware of how four billion of the six billion live? If we were aware,

we would want to help out, we’d want to get involved.” This is a famous quote by

Bill Gates – one of the greatest philanthropist of our times.

Would you believe, nearly half of the world’s population — more than 3 billion

people — live on less than Rs. 100 (2.5 $) a day. According to UNICEF, 22,000

children die each day due to poverty.

Poverty figures are even more alarming in India.

In 2010, the World Bank reported that 75% live on

less than Rs. 100 per day – out of estimated 1.27

billion Indian population, around 1 billion are still

poor. And disgracefully, every third poor person

in the world is an Indian.

To alleviate poverty and related human miseries

huge amount of money and efforts are required, hence Philanthropist are looking

like a ray of hope. Let me try to explain what Philanthropy is. The word

‘Philanthropy’ is derived from Greek word which means love and compassion for

humanity. Philanthropy can be understood as a form of Charity. The words charity

and philanthropy are often used interchangeably, but there is a significant

difference between the two. Charity tends to be a short-term, emotional,

immediate response, focused primarily on rescue and relief, whereas philanthropy

is much more long-term, more strategic, focused on rebuilding. Charity is giving

today…philanthropy is doing forever. Let me take instances of some of the

greatest Philanthropist in the current generation.

The first name that comes to the mind when we talk about Philanthropist is of Bill

Gates – the richest person in the world. He founded the largest philanthropic

foundation in the world – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates has already

given $28 billion to philanthropic activities, and has plans to eventually donate

95% of their wealth. The primary aims of the foundation is to enhance healthcare,

reduce extreme poverty, and to expand educational opportunities and access to

information technology.

I would like to mention the name of the greatest living Philanthropist – Warren Buffet.

He is sort of flag bearer of philanthropy and has encouraged other wealthy

individuals to pool part of their fortunes for charitable purposes, including Bill and

Premji. His thoughts about Philanthropy are revolutionary. He is against dynastic

wealth and calls people who grow up in wealthy circumstances as “members of

the lucky sperm club”.

There are hundreds of similar Philanthropists in western countries who work

arduously for the benefits of mankind. However, we do not find much instances

here in India even though we are one of the most poverty-stricken country in

the World. I tried analyzing the reasons behind it and found that although we

Indians already have some degree of compassion, at present it is very biased

and limited. When our family and

friends are suffering we easily develop

compassion for them, but we find it far

more difficult to feel sympathy for

people we find unpleasant or for

strangers. Wealthy individuals hoard

money for their next generations

instead of giving back to society,

hence, not many people believe in

Philanthropy in India. This is when India

is called the land of most

compassionate people like Lord

Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, and Swami Vivekananda etc.

Philanthropy is also very rewarding. Those who participate describe a

tremendous feeling of satisfaction. That feeling, propels people like Warren

Buffet, Andrew Carnegie, Bill and Melinda Gates, or Oprah Winfrey, Mark

Zuckerberg, Azim Premji to set up huge foundations and try to solve major world

problems. And they don’t do it because they have to, but because they want to.

I also want to do something of real high impact so that I can make this planet a

better place, hence becoming a philanthropist some day is a obvious choice.

Rather, aren’t we all capable of becoming philanthropists?

Dare But Do Not

Defer To Dream -Sangeetha Anand

She was dangling 30 feet high from a tree. The rope of her harness was digging

into her shoulders and legs like a nail slowly being driven into a door. She tried to

control a wave of vertigo that threatened to overwhelm her and gripped her

camera tightly. She could feel the thudding of the huge animals close by ... each

step of theirs sending vibrations into her bones ... She was just moments away from

her dream ... just moments away ...

She was a girl who dared to dream ... who did not defer her dream but followed it.

I am talking about Priya (name changed deliberately on request) , one of the few

women from India who have been featured in the National Geographic for her

achievements on pachyderms ... and who also happens to be a school friend of

mine.

Priya too was born into a conservative Tamil Brahmin family like me. She was

my schoolmate. She was not a very close friend of mine but I always knew her

as a class topper. She never got anything less than the first rank. Some kids even

changed their section so that they could get a chance at coming first in the class.

Like all parents, her parents too wanted her to become a doctor or engineer ...

and what is more ... she got admission for both streams in top colleges.....

But Priya was different ... she dared to dream. She wanted to be a zoologist. She

was always fascinated by animals and birds especially elephants. She wanted to

study pachyderms. Priya fought and refused her medical seat and did her

zoology and went on to do a P.hd from Indian Institute of Science. She wanted to

do her final thesis on pachyderms for which she had to go into the depths of the

Mudumalai forest and make a documentary on elephants and take pictures.

Now no parent would allow their only daughter to traipse off into the jungle and

stay alone there in a tent with a couple of native elephant trackers. So after a

huge round of fights, tears and emotional blackmail, she walked out of her house

with just ten thousand rupees in her pocket and her clothes to live her dream.

Dare but do not defer to dream.

She had to cut off her long hair as short as a boy to go into the jungle. She had to

camp in the jungle battling mosquitoes and insects and she had to make do with

two very inexperienced native elephant trackers because she could not afford to

pay the really good ones ... they were so bad that they made dumb and dumber

look like Einstein and Socrates. Priya had to do everything on her own. Finally after

hanging from 30 feet from a tree and taking the most breathtaking pictures, she

finished her thesis and got her PhD. She was featured in National Geographic

thrice; her thesis got patented as well. Today she is one of the renowned

zoologists in India. Dare but do not defer to dream.

Once when my son was 5 years old, I asked him on a rainy day what he wanted

to be and I was astounded when he said I want to be a “Watchman”. I asked why

and he said that the watchman gets to stand in the rain all day but you never let

me run and play in the rain. I marvelled at the simplicity of his dream and let him

play in the rain that day. What’s more I joined him. I realized suddenly that I too

had dreamt so many things when I was his age and as I became older, I ran into

a wall. A wall named fear. I was so afraid that my dreams would not come true

that I did the logical thing and stopped dreaming altogether. I started doing

what I was supposed to do rather than what I wanted to do.

I never realised the potency of dreams and following them. Many of us here

don’t realise it. It took a small child to make me realise that because children

do not fear dreams, no dream is silly or stupid to them. They are not bothered

whether their uncles or neighbours or friends are going to say “what a stupid

thing to dream for”.

There is no “correct time” to dream. We were born to dream. No one can stop us

from chasing our dreams. If you have let slip any dream of yours, it is never too

late to start again. Overcome your mental hurdles, your critics and relive your

dream.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow

The Dream Lived -Prasraban Mukhopadhyay

Perhaps it’s next to impossible, to find a person who has not heard about our

protagonist’s creation. What’s it? Let’s keep that a secret. Back in 1956, the

company presented to its staff, a golden job descriptions called “The Three Joys”.

The first is the joy of producing and is known only to the engineer. The second joy

is when a seller gets happy because a buyer has got his product. The third joy

belongs to the buyer to have bought a product of quality.

Our protagonist was born in the November of 1906. His mother, a weaver, had

designed her own loom to weave particular complex patterns. His father was a

blacksmith who brought broken cycle at meagre price, repaired and resold them

in weights of gold. Helping his father, he always got dirty with soot but he was very

ingenious. At the end of the quarter at school, all students were handed grade

reports, which parents had to stamp with the family seal. Our protagonist, not

being an excellent student, did not want to disappoint his parents. So he cut family

symbol on an old tire and “stamped” a grade report himself. Not realizing that the

stamp had to be mirror-imaged, he started to make fake stamps for other

classmates. Since his family name is symmetrical, it did not cause a problem, but

some of other children’s family names were not. Soon the teacher noticed that

some stamps were not mirror-imaged. Our protagonist’s father left him without a

lunch for a whole day and he did that not for the forgery but for the fact that he

did not notice the relation between seal pattern and stamp itself.

At 21, our protagonist received a patent for replacing wooden spokes with metal

ones for wheel durability!

He moved on to design and

develop metal piston rings.

He never felt schooling

important. “If the theory

promoted creativity, then all

teachers would have been

the inventors”. He then

joined a technical university

and his heart raced to build

the fastest engine which

wouldn’t explode due to

overheating, the main hindrance then. In 1936, his car raced at a breakneck

speed – 120 km / h but his car crashed into a suddenly stopped car at the finish

and the car turned 3 times in the air tossing him out. The car was lost forever and

his left arm was dislocated and his face damaged badly. His road to sport was

closed forever. Around then he got the bad news that out of the 30,000 piston

rings he had sent to Toyota for quality examination, only 50 were selected.

World War 2 struck, and his company was the sole left to supply those rings to

Toyota. But with his nation’s defeat, his company came to an end. Being in poverty

he sold his company to Toyota for 40,000 yen out of which he bought alcohol for

10,000 yen! A normal man would had given up after such defeats, by not our

inexorable protagonist! In 1945 he founded his another own company, by a name

which endures even now. In one year his company sold 1500 fully working

product. What product is it … we will guess it by the end, if not by now already. By

1950 he manufactured an A-grade quality product and named it ‘The Dream’. In

just 10 years thereafter, his product competed with the world’s top 20!

His company ran on a complete new approach, and not the traditional

management pyramid! Our Protagonist believed that “in general people work

harder and more innovative if not forced to work”. The fact that there was not

natural successor to his seat, and the system being designed to raise the geniuses

to higher positions, including his own seat, gave financer’s the confidence that

the company would pass into the hands of qualified professionals.

At the near end of 90s, having reached the top, he recalled his dream, to

build the fastest car. By designing the world’s first catalytic converter, he

designed the Civic model that was the first and only product then, to handle

poisonous exhaust gases and by 1980 he stood as a leader in 4 wheeler

automobile industry.

He was the ’Mr. Thunderstorm’ for his emotional outbursts. Today I told you only a

few pages of his adventures, 1000s yet remains. Many people dream of success

but its only successful failures and fight backs, that one truly become our

protagonist and his name being …. ??? Soichiro Honda, Company Honda Motors

and the first product was a moped, ‘The Dream’.

Announcements

Great Memories

After session

networking

between

members

Winners of

the 39th

session

How to plan your

goals in

Toastmasters Club

journey by DTM

Chandramouli

The happiness in

the face of

members after

the satisfaction of

improvement in

public speaking

Group

photograph

after session

Past President

Karan handing

over the mantle of

responsibilities to

the newly elected

President

Sangeetha

TM Karthikeyan

winning the ‘Best

Evaluation Award’

at the Club Level

Humorous Speech

Contest

PSN Toastmasters

Club bags the

‘Smedley Award’

and the ‘Fast Five

Award’

TM Vinit

successfully

completes all his

Competent

Communication

Projects

Club Humorous

Speech

competition

TM Vinod helps the

budding toastmasters

learn how to gather

materials for a speech

TM Harish

congratulates TM

Mrinal on winning

the ‘Best Evaluator

Award’

Young

Toastmasters

happy and

motivated after

listening to TM

Vinod

TM Harish

acknowledging

the winners of the

‘Best Table Topic

Speakers’

DTM Chandramouli

and TM Vinod sit

together to help

budding toastmasters

to speak loud and

speak proud by

interacting with the

members

TM Vinit hosting

the Special

Education session

where the great

veterans DTM

Chandramouli

and TM Vinod

motivated the

members of PSN

Toastmasters

Young

Toastmasters

happy and

motivated after

listening to TM

Vinod

TM Karan hands

over the ‘Best

Table Topics

Speaker’ award to

TM Sangeetha

Executive Committee

June-December, 2015

From left:

Rahul Manghnani, Vice President - Membership

Karan Virani, President

Harison Jose, Vice President - Public Relations

Rachit Thirani, Secretary

Karthikeyan Muthusamy, Vice President - Education

Amit Maheshwari, Treasurer (Not in frame)

Anand Kumar, Sergeant At Arms (Not in frame)

Executive Committee

January-June, 2016

From left:

Islahuddin Khan, Vice President - Public Relations

Vinit Kumar Singh, Vice President – Education

Harish Kaushik, Treasurer

Sangeetha Anand, President

Prasraban Mukhopadhyay, Secretary

Susanta Sahu, Sergeant At Arms

Gourab Mitra, Vice President – Membership (Not in frame)

Find us online:

Pay us a visit: Every Saturday (3pm-5pm)

Optym, Floor 15, Tower B

Prestige Shantiniketan Commercial Complex

Whitefield Bangalore, Karnataka 560048 India

Web: http://psntoastmasters.wordpress.com

Email: psntoastmasters@gmail.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs4NcIH18nT2JETxCJshDdQ

Google+: https://plus.google.com/107733944662136256611

Contact us directly –

Islahuddin Khan: +91 95133 96876

(Vice President – Public Relations

Gourab Mitra: +91 77638 07294

(Vice President – Membership