WMC ToasTMasTers#603459 area 35, Division K, DisTriCT 20, KingDoM of Bahrain

eloQuenceeDiTion: 37 DeCeMBer 2013

 

FAITH, BELIEF AND CELEBRATION

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21st October 2013 marked the end of a decade. A decade of growth, of achievements, of raising the bar of Toastmaster Clubs on the Island as WMC Toastmasters Club celebrates its successful 10 year tenure. The club also recently concluded and celebrated its 250th meeting.

Great visionary leaders paved the way for this glorious journey and on this momentous occasion I would like to thank all our members for their tremendous contribution towards this wonderful achievement. Our founder, DTM A S Jose, Mentor-TM Mathew Oommen, Sponsor-Mr. T L Joy and the charter members for their effort in forming the club, nurturing it and molding it to become one of the premium clubs in Bahrain.

As part of the ongoing celebrations, a Spell-Well contest was conducted on 29th November 2013 followed by the Talent Fest-2013, on 6th. December 2013 that brought together the families of our dear members, in a festival of games and showcasing of talents.

Our term commenced on 1st July 2013 and as I pen this, we are at the half way mark, with six months already completed. We are on the threshold of our contest season and our members are gearing up to get ready for it. This is the right time to review our club’s standing as against the DCP requirements. We have already received DCP points for renewals and officer training. We are aiming for the ‘Presidents Distinguished’ Club award. We are inching towards achieving our educational goals in a steady and positive manner with the concentrated effort and collective contribution from our committed and enthusiastic members.

Let us all work together to make our members winners, leaders and most of all, better individuals.

Lao Tzu said “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” This is your journey, our journey and we the WMC Toastmasters family will walk hand in hand, together, towards achievement and success.

Enjoy the WMC TMC journey!!

OFFICE bEarErs 2012-2013WMCTMC

President TM Raveendran

VP Education TM Roshni Pinto

VP Membership TM Khushboo Rajusth

VP Public Relation TM Alka Kumra

Secretary TM Sanjeev Bhalla

Treasurer TM Leena Pillai

Sgt At Arms TM Vikrant Sawant IT Co-Ordinator TM Bhuvanesh Kumar

OUr MEETINGsMeeting time and venue:

First and third Friday every month

4 pm – 6:30 pm at Boardroom

Crowne Plaza Hotel, Bahrain

CONTaCTING WMC-TMCwmc-excom1314@googlegroups.com

President’sMessage

M. Raveendran President WMC Toastmasters Club 2013 - 14

WHERE LEADERS ARE MADE

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Toastmasters International (TMI) is a world leader in communication and leadership development. TMI is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of meeting locations. Ralph C. Smedley the founder of TMI, held its first meeting in 1924 in California and today, the organization’s membership exceeds 292,000 in more than 14,350 clubs in 122 countries.

A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a no-pressure atmosphere.

There is no instructor in a Toastmasters meeting. Instead, members evaluate one another’s presentations. This feedback process is a key part of the program’s success.

Meeting participants also give impromptu talks on assigned topics, conduct meetings and develop skills related to timekeeping, grammar and parliamentary procedure.

Members learn communication skills by working in the Competent Communication manual, a series of 10 self-paced speaking assignments designed to instill a basic foundation in public speaking.

Members also learn leadership skills by taking on various meeting roles and working in the Competent Leadership manual. In the learn-by-doing approach, members are not lectured about leadership skills; they are given responsibilities and mentoring to help. Then they are asked to lead. Membership in Toastmasters is one of the greatest investments you can make in yourself. It is also one of the most cost-effective skill-building tools available anywhere.

For information about Toastmasters clubs, please visit www.toastmasters.org.

TMI - Ten Tips for Public Speaking

Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental.

Here are some proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:

1. Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.

2. Practice, Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.

3. Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.

4. Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.

5. Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. (“One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.

6. Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.

7. Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.

8. Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it.

9. Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.

10. Gain experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you — as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environment.

Toastmasters CommunityToastmasters International

 

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The festive spirit of New Year decided the theme for this edition of Eloquence. As we complete this second quarter of the club year, we look back at it with satisfaction. The entire quarter was a journey of celebrations – a quarter having maximum festivals than any other time of the year and added to that were our various Club events.

On the one hand were the ongoing club charter decade celebrations and on the other the landmark 250th meeting, marked by a spelling contest – the ‘Spell-well’. And then we had a unique club festival, the Talent Fest, where the members and their families show cased their talents enthusiastically.

Festivals are almost as old as the mankind itself. I feel basically, such celebrations reflect humans’ innate desire to socialize, to gather and enjoy each other’s company to break the monotony of everyday life. While most of the festivals are based on religion or revolve around a deity or revered image, it is not uncommon to hear of literary festivals or music festivals these days and even in olden times..

As you read through the articles on the next few pages of this newsletter, contributed by our talented members, you will marvel at the vast variety of festivals celebrated in India and all over the globe, giving a peep into the history and culture, the interesting interpretation of what these festivals mean to a person, especially in childhood, and the obvious as well as latent valuable lessons and morals that these festivals and celebrations convey to humanity.

And as we quote Ralph C Smedley again and again “We learn best in moments of enjoyment”, we feel enriched by all the festivals that we enjoy with family and friends as also the club celebrations, having learnt valuable lessons for personal development, while having a firm belief in ourselves that we will learn and perform to the best of our capability. All the events organized till now are fulfilling our team’s vision to boost our club’s visibility and membership through positive publicity.

From the Editor’s Desk

Alka P Kumra VP – Public Relations

The first Friday of December, the 6th of December, was a clear, pleasant day. And all the WMCTMC members were excited. Everyone was determined it was going to be an enriching day. And truly, our Talent Fest 2013 was a wonderful experience. It gave an opportunity for our members and their families to know each other. It also gave the platform to show their leadership qualities like organizing, cooking and of course, to show their hidden potentials. The performances of all, our members and their children, our young stars, and other family members were amazing and memorable.

The highlight of the event was the enthusiastic participation even by our old members, a special thanks goes to them.

The meticulous coordination and cooperation of the team leaders with the wholehearted support of our members was the hallmark of the event. Thank you one and all for your wholehearted support. WMCTMC always believes in doing things differently. I also do believe that, we should nurture our leadership qualities and talents by experiencing these events.

As our founder president Dr. Babu said “Indeed Our club has come a long way since it started in 2003”. Yes friends, our club has come a long way since its formation.

The food brought in by our members was so delicious, with a great variety, which cannot be experienced anywhere.

WMCTMC is unique on this island and all other toastmasters clubs are looking up to this wonderful club. All members look forward to more such events, which are very essential to strengthen our bond of togetherness.

Together we made it happen and we will continue to do so!

Talent Fest

TM Ganapathy Narayanan

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Makar sankranti (Pongal)

Makar Sankranti or Sankranti Panduga (“Panduga” means Festival in Telugu) or Pongal (as it is called in Tamil Nadu) is a big festival that is celebrated across India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia and Thailand with religious fervour and gaiety. This festival marks the transit of the Sun from Dhanu Rashi (Sagittarius) to Makar Rashi (Capricorn) hence the name “Makar” Sankranti. “Sankranti” means “Change”. This is a harvest festival.

Usually it falls on 14th or 15th day of January every year. In Andhra Pradesh, this festival is celebrated for 3 to 4 days. The first day is called “Bhogi”, second day is called “Sankranti”, third day is called “Kanuma” and fourth day (celebrated only by some communities) is called “Mukkanuma”.

Sankranti also happens to be one of my favourite festivals, because I used to get 10-15 days holidays and I enjoyed flying paper kites (Patang) during my student days. I used to set aside some of my pocket money as a budget for buying the paper kites, 400 yards of plain cotton thread and 100 yards of manja (glass coated thread) and the Chakri.

I used to go to my friend’s house and fly kites from the terrace of his house. We engaged in “Kite Fighting” or “Patang Baazi” as it is locally termed. I used to identify the kite names by their design and patterns - like Namandaar, Doppandar, Guddidaar etc. I and my friend used to go to Gulzar House near Charminar to buy the special manja. We used to shout loudly “AFFAAAAAAAAAAAAA” or “KAAATTEEE” when our kite had cut the opponents kite.

On the Bhogi day, the Du Du Basavanna (village artist) dressed in traditional attires come to every home along with beautifully decorated Oxen, play with their Nadaswaram (a Shehnai like musical instrument) and Mridangam, receive alms in return and bless everyone with good luck. In the evening the women folks of the family pour flowers and Jujube fruits (called “Regi Pandlu” or “Bear ka phal” in the local language) on the head of the kids to ward off evil and bring them good luck as a part of local belief and custom.Family members and neighbours collect a lot of old torn clothes, wooden logs, and other rubbish items, and they place it outside their homes. Then, they burn it and circle around them singing with a feeling of joy and ecstasy. This act is called the “Bhogi Mantalu” (“Mantalu” means “Fire” in Telugu) which symbolises the destruction of poverty and evil. Muggu or Rangoli - with “Sankranti Shubakanshalu” meaning “Happy Sankranti” in Telugu

On the Makar Sankrati day, the women folks get up very early (as early as 3:30 AM), sweep the entrance of their homes to make the surroundings clean. They, then draw beautiful Rangolis (“Muggu or Muggulu” in Telugu) outside their homes with rice flour and decorate them with colours and flowers. In the middle of the Rangoli, a ball made of cow dung is placed to ward off evil eye.

The other family members help the women folk in preparing a Sweet Delicacy called “Shakkara Pongal”. It is prepared by cooking the Rice. Jaggery (Raw Sugar), Milk, Cardamom, Ghee, Saffron, Kishmis (Raisins), Cashew Nuts are the other ingredients used in its preparation. Specially decorated vessels (mostly metal in cities) are used for cooking purpose. In villages, the tradition of using earthen pots in cooking is still prevalent.

 

   

   

   

Patangs, Manja and Chakri

Du Du Basavanna

Regi pandlu or Bear ka phal or Indian Jujube fruits

Gulzar House, Charminar, Hyderabad

Bhogi Pandlu (“Pandlu” means fruits in Telugu)

Bhogi Mantalu

 

eloquence - 6

Last of coldest days of winter

One festival which I loved as a child is the ‘Lohri’ festival which is celebrated in Punjab and parts of Haryana at peak of winter season. This festival celebrates ‘joy of life’ and ‘end of coldest days of winter’. It is celebrated on January 13th each year and it falls on the day before ‘Makar Sankranti’. The first ‘Lohri’ of a newly married couple or newborn baby is celebrated with great fervor. When you grow up, relatives share stories of how your first ‘Lohri’ was celebrated. After marriage, you can see it firsthand.

The origin of ‘Lohri’ festival is disputed as so many tales have changed with time. Some believe that the festival was celebrated in the past as ‘Harvest festival’ and prayer to ‘Sun’ God to bring sunshine back to their lives. But the festival gained prominence in 15th Century during Mughal Rule. The legend of ‘Dulha Bhatti’ from Bhatti Rajput clan in Punjab is told in almost all ‘Lohri’ songs. He was a robber like Robin Hood who lived in Mughal Era. The people of Punjab were fed up with invaders from western region which made their lives difficult. Dulha Bhatti, a Muslim, would steal from rich and distribute the

wealth amongst poor of all religions. He rescued girls being forcefully taken. He arranged their marriages and provide dowry. It is believed that he rescued one girl from abductors and adopted her as his daughter. Later he arranged for her marriage.

Other legends say that ‘Lohri’ was sister of ‘Holika’(there is different holi celebration legend associated with Holika). Some people say that ‘Loi’ was the wife of Saint Kabir, hence name Lohri. Some believe that name is combination of ‘Loh’ (iron plate to cook chapattis) and Rewri (sesame coated sweet which is to only eaten during winter months). Whatever may be the background of the festival ‘Lohri’ celebration in chilling winter has its own fun.

This festival is real fun for children. I remember when I was a child, the celebration would start in the morning with kite flying competitions. All relatives would get together and ladies would prepare special dishes ‘Sarson ka Saag’ and ‘Makke ki Roti’ on Lohri day. During evening time (before sunset) on Lohri Day, when all were tired of kite flying, we, all children in the community would get together and used to go to each house in the local community or mohalla. All children and teenagers would go together and sing songs in heroic praise of ‘Dulla Bhatti’ in front of each house till they opened the door. I never understood the meaning of these songs clearly but the message in the songs is for the youth to protect their families, sisters and daughters. Like ‘Dulla Bhatti’ we used to demand ‘Lohri’ loot from each house and people would give rewaris (sesame coated sugary sweets), Gajjak (peanut and jaggery mixed sweet), popcorns and peanuts to each child.

Even today, in the evening, all relatives and local community people gather and dance around bonfire which is lit with wood and dry cowdung cakes. As a ritual, everyone offers a handful of popcorns to the fire. If it is a special Lohri for any family because of newborn or new wed couple, a feast is organized by that family and each member of that family has to dance around the fire. Celebrations continue till late in the night till everyone is tired.

 

On the third day i.e. Kanumu, rice dishes like lemon rice, sesame rice, curd rice and tamarind rice are prepared. I munch on the Sugarcane cubes and the Palm roots (“Gegulu” in Telugu), which is available in plenty in this season.

All the train and bus tickets are fully booked and people have to book 2 to 3 months in advance. The private bus operators make a killing by charging an exorbitant price for a one way

   

ticket. The streets of Hyderabad wear a deserted look during the festival time as most of the people go to their villages.

After 3 days of fun and Entertainment, I used to get up from the bed reluctantly to go to school. I keep cherishing the memories as the days go by, eagerly waiting for the festival next year.

TM Shankar Prasad

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that special feast if it is a special day in the family or a little bit of everything!

For the last few days, every day when I come out of my house to drive to work, one look at my small garden and the colourful flowers there uplift my spirits. And I want to repeat what Ruth Stout says, “I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.” As I drive, the gentle breeze, the waving trees and the splash of colours in beautiful flowers along the way, soothes my nerves, which are agitated after the morning rush, and by the time I reach my workplace, I am energised to take up the tasks on hand. In the evening, when I return from work, the sun is just fading and the gentle breeze starts to blow again reminding me of the colourful feast for eyes. I am again amazed at the beauty of nature and I feel refreshed, as I remember what I read somewhere that there are not more than five primary colors (blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination they produce more hues in flowers than can ever been seen anywhere else. Spring brings the onset of all hues of weather too. As Charles Dickens says through ‘Great Expectations, “it was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”

As if as a companion of this spring medley of colours, comes the festival of colours, Holi. When I play holi and see the variety of colours splashed around, I feel a kind of oneness with nature. The festival reflects the colours of the beautiful blossoms all around us. ‘Holi’ derived from the word ‘hola’ meaning offering of prayer, began to be celebrated as a festival to signify that those who love God will attain salvation and those who torture God’s devotees will perish, as did the mythical character Holika. This festival also signifies the eternal divine love of Krishna and Radha the famous Holi of Braj, the region where Krishna was brought up by His uncle and aunt.

But I believe it is more famously celebrated to mark the end of winter and the advent of spring, as it is celebrated on the full moon day of the Hindu month of Phalgun, which corresponds to February/ March of the Gregorian calendar. While we celebrate this festival of colours, we need to remind ourselves that: we should live more in harmony with nature instead of trying to destroy her and make her our slave;it is the time of joy, time to love and forgive, to express the happiness of being loved and to be loved through colors;it is a way to remember those who are close to our hearts;it is the means to express love with colors and a time to show affection; andtruth and humanity are the invincible forces of nature.So whenever you splash Holi colours on someone, please do so remembering that you give that person a promise of being truthful always, and shower him/ her with affection and love throughout your life, as these colours are the vibrant colours of mother nature.

May God gift everyone with all the colours of life, colours of joy, colours of happiness, colours of friendship, colours of love and all other colours you want to paint in your life

TM Alka Kumra

Celebrating.... the vibrant colours...

SPREAD COLOURS, SPREAD LOVE

 

Being out of Punjab, I always miss this festival and its attraction. I am not sure what the best part of ‘Lohri’ is. Either it is the chilling weather or fun of kite flying or going to each house for sweets or lavish lunch of makke ki roti and sarson ka saag or dancing around bonfire or

TM Sanjeev BhallaClub Secretary

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It’s the “Festival of Lights” today,It’s again the day of Diwali,It’s time to dress up folks, It’s time to adorn the thali.

It’s the occasion to throng the temples,Pray to the Gods and give them offerings,It’s an opportunity to entreat the deities,To bless us all and rid us of sufferings.

It’s the day to light the diyas,Ignite the rockets and burst crackers,But it’s also the time to be safe,From the fireworks and all the sparklers.

It’s the season to pay a visit, To all our friends and relations,To hand them over sweets and presents,Diwali is our splendid chance.

But while you spend a time of joy,Don’t think it’s merriment all the way,Out there wait many of those,For whom it’s no time to be gay.

Denied of laughter and smiles for days,They know not what it is to enjoy,Can you not share something you have,Can you not bring them a little joy?

When you can make someone else smileWhen you can be someone’s allyThat’s when you can yourself be gladThat’s when you’ll have a HAPPY DIWALI!

Light, bright and Cheers

Anonymous

Nostalgia strikes me as I recall the festival times we had during our childhood days. What festival have I enjoyed most as a child? This is a question worth pondering . My mind fleets through the Christmas holidays, Vishu , New year time ,Pongal and finally it stops at Onam . But why Onam ? Yes, it’s Onam festivities that I wish to write about – not about the Onam of today as an expatriate in the Kingdom of Pearls – but about the Onam of my childhood days.

My friends and I eagerly awaited the last day of the examinations before Onam. This marks the beginning of a ten day vacation. “No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher’s angry looks.” The first picture which comes to my mind is the swing being tied from two trees by my grandfather. Having been brought up in a city, I feel sorry that I had to miss out on the “Athapookalam” (a floral decoration using fresh flowers every day for ten days). We didn’t have that at my house but the swing was an integral part every year. With my friends, we enjoyed the antics on the swing trying to fly higher and higher (reminds me of the poem, The Swing –readers can look it up for enjoying this poem). Cricket matches with cricket bats, makeshift stumps

and a tennis ball, was a daily feature. There was no IPL format – just two teams of five, six or seven players, depending upon the number of people who presented themselves at the municipal office ground at the time of the match. This ground was a grassy one and there was a watchman who was entrusted by the authorities to prevent hooligans like us from destroying the well maintained lawn. Did this deter us? No, we would pitch our stumps, start our game and after two or three overs, there would be a cry “Run” – no, not between the wickets – it was a warning cry from Prasad, whose job was to alert us when the watchman made his presence. Grabbing the wickets, we would run from the scene and sit down on the benches as though enjoying the scenic beauty. Invariably, the watchman would go away and the match continued with similar forced breaks in between. Flashing in my memory now is the traditional Onam lunch prepared by my mother grandmother and aunt. Seated cross legged on the floor beside my cousins, I relished the taste of the dishes prepared “with love”. Mouth watering curries were served on banana leaves and to the accompaniment of incessant chatter from relatives and cousins, we ate to our ‘stomach’s

Down Memory Lane

 

9 - eloquence

TM Dr Babu Ramachandran

 

content’, as Grandma and Grandpa supervised the feast from their armchairs. An old radio blared in the next room (there was no television). Yes, new clothes were a vital part of Onam. My brother, sister and I looked forward to receiving the colourful dresses gifted by our uncle, parents and grandparents.

Memories so sweet – as I travel down memory lane! My grandparents are no more; my father too has left this world. My mother resides in my home town – the capital city of ‘God’s own country’ – Trivandrum.

Onam today is one e-festival in this e-age. Children at the playstation, TV channels vying with one another to get maximum viewership with comedy shows, interviews with celebrities, etc. No more home cooked meals – it’s the age of parcel sadhyas – booked well in advance. This is the case not just here; in Kerala too times have changed. In this rat race of survival, plastic banana leaves have replaced natural ones, parceled food is “in” and Athapookalams are few in number (at least in the cities). The present generation of school children has not seen the great Onam festival of the past but try telling them that they are missing out on all this and the question crops up – The generation gap ???

The Christmas seasonMost of the kids are playing the game ‘Secret Santa’. My daughter’s class was also having one. She was very much excited and explained the game to me. Now an idea popped in my head. Why don’t we have this game in our Flat?

At first we thought that we should have the game for everyone in our flat. That did not seem viable. Then we thought we should have it for families. Then we thought it is always about families or kids. Why don’t we do it for ladies alone? We checked with everyone. There were one or two women who wanted to have it for kids, which others vehemently disagreed -like small kids…… Finally everyone agreed to keep the game for ladies alone. My daughter agreed to be the organizer. We are eight families in the flat. Two families had shifted recently to another flat nearby. So they were not there. One family is new to our flat. When we all met to put up the Christmas tree in our corridor, which we do every year, we put the lot with the names of all ladies. We had to buy a gift for the person whose name you pick from the lot who is your Christmas Child and you are her Secret Santa. The new member, after picking the lot, accidentally said,’ I don’t know her.’ So we all knew it is one of the ladies who shifted.

The next day the ladies who had shifted came and picked their lot from the remaining two chits. We fixed a budget for the gift and decided to distribute the gift on the Christmas Day and to guess the Secret Santa on The New Year Eve which we were to celebrate in our flat. Slowly everyone started to

handover the gifts to my daughter and I was strictly restricted from entering her room. But I made use of the opportunity in settling of scores by doing what she had instructed me not to do. Whenever everyone saw my daughter they started guessing their Secret Santa to get some clues from her facial expressions. She just stuck to neutral expressions and “Yes” to every guess we made. Before the new member could buy a gift, the family had to go Dubai, since her father-in-law fell sick and they were to return only by 26th December. She instructed my daughter what to buy and she went and bought it. One of the ladies came for a short visit to my house on Christmas morning and while we were talking she said, “What I bought can be seen only tomorrow”!!!!! And I just casually said’ “oh yeah, she will come only tomorrow”. Only when we noticed the expression on my daughter’s face, it struck us, she had just revealed who her Christmas Child is.

Another lady told us that her husband has ordered for some special gift. I bought two gifts and wrote quotes related to those and kept them inside. Then the day came. One of the ladies’ mother had arrived from India. So we made her distribute all the gifts. The gifts were opened there itself. When they saw the quotes, everyone understood it was me. The lady who ordered special gift received a photo frame in which her father’s photo was inserted who had passed away last year and she was worried that she couldn’t go for the First death Anniversary since her passport was not ready. In excitement she shouted out the name of the person who

eloquence - 10

Festivals to me, growing up in Kerala were all about food and playing with cousins. Later it has struck me how family centric festivals in Kerala are. There is no social interaction and hence I still feel very uncomfortable if I have to make small talk standing at a cocktail party or a coffee morning. I envy people who move with ease amongst strangers carrying on animated conversations. I am sure that many malayalees will agree with me that we lack the social skills to be the “life of a party”!Most festivals in my childhood were without my father who couldn’t get leave to come for an Onam or a Vishu. Aunts would shake their heads and say “what kind of a father is this who does not come for Onam? Are you sure he doesn’t have a North Indian wife in Bombay?” My mother the strong army wife would smile stoically. It used to irritate me and I would get angry with my father. At 7 years a child is selfish and cares only for her needs! My ire was that we were the only ones who didn’t get new dresses to wear as our dresses would come from Bombay when he came down. Looking back I realize that I wasn’t appreciative of the fact that we had the most fashionable clothes in town. But once the goodies arrive to be gobbled up and the cousins gathered to play all this would vanish.So Onam was this good King returning to see his subjects once a year! A boon granted to him by the Gods as they stamped him down into hell. If he was good Amma, then why was he pushed down to hell? The Gods were jealous of his goodness and insecure about Mahabali’s growing power.

The “Whys” of Childhood.....

 

TM Leena PonnambalamClub Treasurer

could have gifted it and everyone knew that is the only person who could have given it. The special gift she ordered was recognized since it was a laminated photograph of the family of the lady who had given her the photo frame. So, three names were guessed by everyone that day itself. The next day when the new member arrived, my daughter gave her the gift. When she opened it my husband commented that it was nicely packed. My daughter replied by mistake whose packing it was. One more was revealed. Every one made one or the other blunder and by the time we met on New Year’s Eve everyone except one was guessed. We had fun for the whole of one week. We competed like small girls to keep what we bought a secret. And we just tried to misguide each other with our comments, giggling etc. and behaved sometimes as if we know and sometimes as if we don’t know who our Secret Santa is. It was like going back to our teenage. We kept nagging our husbands about what to buy even if we didn’t want them to decide it for us. We completely forgot that we were in our late thirties, or that we were responsible mothers etc. We decided that every year we would hold this game and would buy gifts which in no way gave clues about us. Some husbands argued that the game should be held for them too. But others discouraged the idea since their pockets were already being emptied for their wife’s as well as kids’ Christmas children.

My daughter was very happy and content to see us in a jolly mood, especially those ladies who were otherwise very serious. And I was content that I could teach her that the most satisfying thing in the world is to be the reason for the smile on someone’s face.

Then Amma, why are they called Gods if they are just like us human beings? Shhhh don’t talk about Gods like that. But you said Achan’s Commanding Officer did not like the fact that everyone loved Achan and was worried about his popularity? Will they stamp him also into the underground? Oh this girl and her “whys” go and play now! That was the end to an intellectual query. That night I dreamt that Achan’s CO was dressed like Mahabali and with his army boots was trying to stomp him into the earth. I loved the valiant way my father refused to be pushed down, but still woke up crying and had to sleep with my mom. What is so great about a boon to visit his own subjects once a year if he already was ruling them well and they were happy?These questions were later answered with the whole cosmic drama. Yet somewhere within me that 7 year old still lurks and suddenly bursts out all guns blazing! I am still shhhhhhd away!Then comes Vishu where you have to wake up early morning to see the “Kani” an array of auspicious things which will bring you good luck. Why are they auspicious Amma? Last time I went under that mango tree the red ants bit my toes off. I hate pumpkins…..why will they bring me luck? There is a custom that all the elders will give you money and that was so exciting to count at the end of the day how many paisas each one got. In our simple world the paisas translated into the number of ice lollies it would buy us. What a triumphant

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Today after decades when I look back at those festivals what remain are the warmth of familial love, coolness of the ice lolly, the redness of our lips, our laughter from which the streams learnt to gurgle, still wafting around in the valley of our childhood. The “whys” remain but they are not important because that childhood has spun yarns that weave itself all around us and tie us all in a tight bond called family.

TM Rekha Utham

walk indeed that was when we had spent all that money on ice lollies and with our red tongues and orange lips we wandered around like demons of the past! We had a granduncle who lived 3 kms away from the family house. So we would be told to go to that grand old man and pay our respects. There would be reluctance writ large on our faces. After trudging through cashewnut groves, crossing a stream and climbing a hillock when we stood in front of him panting, he would snarl” Oh the full battalion is here!” From the depth of his betel nut box he would take out thin moon shaped orange candies, one for each and say “ You can go now so that you will be home for lunch” I have not forgiven Amma for this even today! Why Amma, do we have to visit him if he doesn’t like us all that much? Shhhhhh this girl……..

Christmas is the time when we all look forward to have fun with immense warmth, joy and love filled in our hearts. Christ-mas atmosphere creates family reunions, festivities and hap-piness. Christmas signifies acceptance, forgiveness, sharing and of course Santa Claus.On Christmas Eve millions of people are visited by a short, fat guy in a red suit. Where did he come from? why does he do it? and how does he accomplish this seemingly impossible task?The man we know as Santa Claus has a history of his own. Today, he is thought of mainly as the jolly man in red, but his

story stretches all the way back to the third century. Santa Claus... Kris Kringle...Old Saint Nick... We see him on advertising posters, in parades, at departmental stores...who is this guy and why does he have so many aliases? Well, the original St. Nicholas lived in southwestern Turkey. As the bishop of Myra he was credited with doing a number of miracles involving sailors and children. After his death this led him to become the patron saint of both groups as well as for unmarried girls. As a saint he was given his own “feast day” that was celebrated on December 6th. At about the same time Nicholas lived, Pope Julius I decided to establish a date for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. As the actual time of year for this event was unknown, the Pope decided to assign a holiday on December 25th. There had long been a pagan midwinter festival at this time of the year and the Pope hoped to use the holiday to Christianise the celebrations. Eventually, Saint Nicholas’s feast day also became associ-ated with December 25th and his connection with Christmas was established. A tradition developed that he would suppos-edly visit homes on Christmas Eve and children would place nuts, apples, sweets and other items around the house to welcome him. With all this and more it became a great way to begin Christ-mas celebrations and spread more and more love around the world.My children who are almost 10 & 8 years old are aware that it’s their Dada who sneaks in presents on Christmas Eve and they thank him instead of Santa Claus, anyways but the look of Santa Claus at church, shopping mall or the Christmas carols “jingle bells” gets the spirit of Christmas straight right into them.

santa Clauskeeps coming

 

TM Roshni PintoClub VP-Education

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The deities are also bathed with a variety of auspicious wa-ter called abhishek. Finally at midnight they pull out the cur-tains and reveal the freshly dressed deities of Krishna on creatively decorated and colored altar or crib.The excitement builds as all devotees sing and chant Krish-na’s name and welcome him. A devotee cooks a special food which they offer to lord Krishna and then distribute it as pras-adam. Then there is a midnight arthi praising Krishna when he came to save the humans. TJanmashtami is followed by Dahi Handi which is mostly celebrated in Mumbai and Pune. In Maharashtra Janmashtami is called gokulashtami popu-larly known in Mumbai as Dahi handi. It is celebrated with enormous zeal and enthusiasm. Handi means clay pot filled with butter milk that is positioned at a convenient height prior to the event. A human pyramid is made and the top most person of the pyramid tries to break the pot by hitting it with a coconut which is kept on the handi. When the handi breaks, the butter milk is spilled with the entire group symbolising their achievement through unity. Handis are set up around the city and groups of youngsters called govinda pathak travel around in trucks trying to break as many handis as possible. During the day many such Govinda Pathaks com-pete with each other especially for the handis that dole hefty

rewards. It is believed that in recent past, community groups have offer prizes amounting to lakhs of rupees. Some of the most famous handis are Dadar, Lower Parel, Worli, Lal bag and Thane. Cash and gifts are offered to govinda pathak groups to participate. Over four thousand handis in mum-bai and two thousand Govinda Pathaks try to break these handis. Now this Dahi handi festival has spread like a wild fire. Every young boy wants to become a part of govinda

Janmashtami

This is a popular, widely celebrated festival all over India, which is also known as Krishna Janmashtami. Janma means birth and Ashtami means eight. On this day Lord Krishna was born as the eighth Avatar of Lord Vishnu. The great God Vishnu was seen as the protec-tor of the world. In token of his willing involvement with the human race he descended to earth and became incarnate at times when the world of mortals was threatened by evil. His incarnations (avatars) follow an evolutionary pattern in different forms. The number was traditionally fixed at 10 av-atars, of which the 8th one was the birth of the deity Krishna. Janmashtami is celebrated on the 8th day of the Krishna paksha (dark night) of the month of Shravanas. Krishna was the 8th son of Devaki and Vasudeva, based on scriptural details and astrological calculations. He was born on the 19th of July 3228 BC and he lived until 3102 BC.

Janmashtami commemorates the earthly appearance of Krishna who is described in the sacred writing as god him-self. This is one of the biggest religious festivals all over the world. He is the most adorable, attractive and mischievous, the most romantic lover and the most compassionate friend. Hindus celebrate Janmashtami by fasting and staying up until midnight, which is believed to be the exact moment of the Krishna’s appearance on earth. Devotees gather at tem-ples or individual houses for bhajans and kirtanas, chanting of Krishna’s name, drama, dance, full decoration of houses with flowers and a crib where they will keep an idol of ‘bal’ or baby Krishna. Devotees fast the full day and some may not drink even water (nirjala) till Krishna’s birth time.

 

 

 

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pathak groups. During last three-four years, girls have also formed Govinda Pathak groups. These govinda Pathaks start practice a month earlier to prevent accidents. Nowa-days many safety precautions are being taken, the upper most person wears a helmet and an ambulance is always present. Till date the maximum number of layers in the hu-man pyramid is nine.

This human pyramid has a technique which they follow. The base layer are made up of the strongest youngsters and as it goes higher they go lighter weighed and lighter. They tie a belt around their waist so that the person who is climbing can put his foot on the belt and then their shoulder. Their uniform is a T-shirt and half pants. The tshirt that says the group name. And while making the pyramid the band plays drums and dhol which boosts them. Ladies throw wa-ter on them from the balconies. This festival is a symbol of Krishna as Krishna liked butter and so his mother kept

the butter up high so that Krishna wouldn’t reach it. Krishna however was mischievous and called his friends, made a human pyramid and stole the butter. This festival is now a tourist attraction as they feel amazed after seeing the human pyramids. These Govinda Pathaks have now started working commercially and are also spon-sored. So remember whatever way you worship Krishna, on Janmashtami he will reciprocate with you accordingly.

TM Kalpana Patil

Tripped over these words recently and related to it instantly. I have no idea who Mr. Irving was but my close friend ‘Google’ told me about him and The Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Never heard of Mr. Irving but his creations are memories, sparkling like diamonds, forever!Being a part of Toastmasters’ community is a privilege. You witness speeches, performances and analytical thought processes in a very short period of time. Every speech has a message, every evaluation is a lesson and every Table Topic session is a challenge.Going back to Mr. Irving’s message, a lot of speeches have the message which tells us to believe in ourselves and our capabilities. I followed it to the dot! I believed my humorous speeches would always fall flat and it did! I always knew the Table Topic question I feared would fall into my lap and it would! So on and so forth!Lately I realized that to believe in oneself is not to be sure of your shortcomings but to be sure that you would handle them with ease. Self-belief stem from the stories that we tell ourselves. We all tell stories to ourselves. I like movies, I love sushi, I’m a good football player or I can write a blog! Some other stories we have in our heads; I can’t do a humorous speech, I will never finish the article within the given deadline or spicy food is just not my type!We are stories that we tell our minds!Let me tell you a story about a young Victor whose parents took him to paediatric counsellor who diagnosed Victor with weak mental capacity. Victor believed in that story that was told to him and acted accordingly. Few years later, his parents took him for an IQ test where he scored high. How high? High enough to grow up to become the president of MENSA, the largest high IQ society of the planet!We are the stories that we tell our minds to believe in!When I heard about the theme for this edition of our club newsletter, viz., festivals, I thought what better to

write about than life, which is itself a festival. After all festivals too are celebration of stories and myths we believe in! I wanted to work where I could travel and meet people. People from whom I could learn, what to do and (more importantly) what not to do! Try different cuisines and understand how my taste buds challenge my pre-conditioned mind. The story in my mind was that of wearing a jacket and flying out for short meetings where I took decisions. This came true and I understood that I should have told myself a simpler story!I believed that 2013 should be a new beginning for me and decided to leave Bahrain for good. My wife believed we would be back. Both our stories came true, in a matter of 75 days. Life changed in 1/5th of a year. They say time flies when you’re busy with work. For me, those ‘unemployed’ 75 days flew by! If you have fairy tale in your head waiting to come true, time flies by!By October 2013, I was already a part of a fairy tale that came true. My wife and I became parents to healthy baby boy and now I was thinking of stories to tell him at bedtime. Stories narrated to ourselves define our life and stories have no requirements. Now I understand what Paulo Coelho meant when he told us about the cosmos conspiring!Now suddenly, we’re already celebrating 2014 and I’m not done thanking Him for 2013. Such is the power of stories. These are written by only one person – YOU. You are the architect of your future and the author of your life!!

author of Your Life“I am always at a loss to know how much to believe my own stories” – WASHINGTON IRVING

Wishing you a healthy and happy new year full of fairy tales coming true!

TM Abhimanyu

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a distinguished, passionate Toastmaster... moving on... As the new year 2014 dawned, DTM Dr Usha Devarajan, a distinguished member of the Toastmasters fraternity and past President of WMC Toastmasters Club, left Bahrain to be with her family in Kerala, India. Being a passionate and fast learner and achiever, she earned the

May your footprints light the way for those who follow you.....

 

title of Distinguished Toast Master within 3 years of being introduced to the art of Toast mastering. Dr Usha, we will miss your vibrant presence. We wish you all the very best for your future endeavours.

Contest season is here – make sure to participate and bring accolades for the Division, area, Club and above all YOUrsELF.

EVENTS CALENDAR JANUARY-MARCH 20143rd January – Club meeting Evaluation workshop

Humorous speech workshop

17th January – Club meeting Speech Marathon with 10 speeches

7th February – Club meeting Club contests – Evaluation, Humorous Speech

21st February – Club meeting Workshop on International speech

7th March – Club meeting Club contests – Table Topics, International speech

14th March – Area level Area contests

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TM Renjith TM Kalpana Patil

New members

Club charter 10th anniversary celebrations

250th meeting celebrations

250th meeting - Spell Well Contest

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This newsletter became possible with the support of contributions, in the form of articles and pictures, from members and the efforts of the Executive Committee. Eloquence is the official publication of the WMC ToastMasters Club. It includes official notices and details

of activities of the club. However, no responsibility is assumed for the opinions of members who have contributed other articles.

Photo Gallery

Visit to the club by Division Governor

Glimpses of Talent Fest

Editorial TeamAlka P Kumra, VP-PR, Joseph Pinto, PR Sub-committee