January - June, 2016

NewsletterGur gaon Or at or s Toast mast er s Cl ub

Songs of Little Birds

Every Sat urday | 05:15 PM t o 07:30 PM

Club No. 5168041 | Area 1, Division A, Dist r ict 41

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer , i t sings because it has a song"

~ Maya Angelou

I do not know who Maya Angelou is, but what I do know is that Toastmasters is a place where litt le

birds like you and I come together to sing, not because we have to prove a point but because we have

many songs (our life stories & experiences) to share and many more

new songs to write and sing, and hence, become a better version of

ourselves. Our Newsletter, tit led ?Songs of Lit t le Birds? is one such

collection of songs (articles, stories, quotes etc.) of various members

of our club. It might not be surprising to note that the tit le of the

newsletter is inspired from ?Game of Thrones? (A Song of Ice and Fire

+ Lord Varys? Little Birds).

This is the FIRST newsletter of Gurgaon Orators Toastmasters (GOT)

Club. Therefore, although there were no benchmarks set for us (I

and the EC) to reach or exceed, we had the responsibility of doing

justice to so many well written articles, life and fiction stories,

personal interviews etc., by editing each write-up carefully and presenting the overall newsletter in a

way that it?s a smooth read for everyone.

In this newsletter, you will find multiple authors talking about the charter of GOT Club (because it was

special!). This newsletter has a wide range of

articles. From philosophy to love story, from

dreams to dream-come-true, from motivation to

success stories, there is something in store for

everyone.

I hope you all have a great time reading the

newsletter. Please feel free to write feedback at

got.club.ti@gmail.com and help us improve in

future.

About t he aut hor :

Sumit is a student of IIM Calcutta. He has previously

worked as Quality Assurance Analyst at PTC Inc. He

has previously served as Associate VP Education of

GTMC & is currently the Vice President Public Relations

of GOT Club.

Editor 's Note Songs of Lit t le Birds | Jan'16 - Jun'16

Sum it Kat hur ia

~ 2 ~

..........

Megha Gupta

Know your Club

Januar y 1, 2016

Januar y 3, 2016

Januar y 10, 2016

Fir st meeting and char ter EC Elections

GOT Club was established

Mem ber s' In fo:- 20 members at the time of char ter ing- 14 r enewals (Mar '16 - Sept'16 cycle)- 32 Members (as on June 10, 2016)

Bhavya Bansal Pal l av Ver m a

Sum i t Kathur ia

President

Vice President Education

Vice President Membership

Vice President Public Relations

Ji tendr a Kum ar

Treasurer

Anupam Shar m aSecretar y

Execut ive Com m i t tee

Joint meeting and Instal lation Ceremony

FEBRUARY 13, 2016Valentine's Day special meeting

MARCH 05, 2016International Speech and Table Topics Contests

FEBRUARY 27, 201610th Meeting and 'Moments of Truth'

APRIL 02 - APRIL 30 , 2016Allur ing Apr i l Ser ies

APRIL 30, 2016The Grand 'Game of Thrones' themed Meeting

GOT Tim el ine

June 11, 201625th Meeting

GOT Club on web:Websit e - http://gotclub.co.in/

- https://www.facebook.com/GOTClub.TI/

- https:// twitter.com/GOTClubTI

- https://www.instagram.com/got.club/

- https://goo.gl/Y5iSji

http://www.meetup.com/

Gurgaon-Orators-Toastmasters-GOT-Club/ -

~ 3 ~

Subi r aj

Rathor e Sergeant-At-Arms

Songs of Lit t le Birds | Jan'16 - Jun'16

Contents Songs of Lit t le Birds | Jan'16 - Jun'16

Know your ClubPage 3

Leader sh ip i n Toastm aster sMukesh Kulothia

Page 19

Im pedim ents to gr eat publ i c

speak ing sk i l l sPradeep Tokas

Page 20 - 21

Why I becam e a dual m em ber ?Udyan Sr ivastava

Page 21

Al lur i ng Apr i lBhavya Bansal

Page 15 - 18

Special Si x MonthsSonal Choudhar y

Page 7 - 8

Dr eam ing in a dr eamAnshuman Tr ipathi

Page 14

Featured

tête-à-tête w ith Pallav Verma

VPM

Page 22 - 23

In Conver sat i on w i th

Manish Dembla

Page 9 - 13

Pr esident 's Message Megha Gupta Page 6

Edi tor 's NoteSumit Kathur ia

Page 2

The Unfor get table

toastm asterKalyani Vaidyanathan

Page 24 - 25

~ 4 ~

Awar ds & Gal l er y Page 40 - 45

~ 5 ~

Only dead f i sh go w i th the f l owAnkur Yadav

Page 30

Sam pur nadht iShreya Joshi

Page 27

Educat ion System in IndiaAnupam Sharma

Page 31 - 32

I st i l l l ove you...Sandeep Ray

Page 35 - 39

Secr et to the success of a star tup: The Idea or The Leader Swaroop D

Page 26

A stor y of a dr eam , a dr eam of a stor ySinjini Sengupta

Page 33 - 34

Discover Your St r engthJi tendra Kumar

Page 28 - 29

Contents Songs of Lit t le Birds | Jan'16 - Jun'16

Hel lo, I am new her e...Seema Sonakiya

Page 39

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS! It is truly a big deal,

doing spectacularly well within 5 months of

formation of a club. And I would like to thank and

appreciate every single member, new and old for

having helped the club get this achievement of

President ?s Dist inguished as well as reaching

the milestone of 25th meeting. I personally feel

really lucky to be a part of this club.

When we finally passed a motion at GTMC to split

the club, as the then Vice President ? Education, I

was in a dilemma ? whether to be happy or sad,

whether to move to the new club or stay. At

Toastmasters, we ensure that we enter into the

club and do our best to grow, and help the club

grow. When we are able to learn and become a

better version of ourselves, it comes naturally to

give back and help the new members learn (the

same way someone helped us). With this thought

in mind, to help the new club establish its roots

strong and to reach out to more and more people

in the city, I decided to move to the new club.

Today, I am proud of the decision I took.

Inception of GOT was no easy road. As a VPE of

the parent club, the responsibility to find a

venue, name, time and of course, chartering the

club, was on me as well. And hopefully, I was able

to do a fair job at it.

Coming to the club meetings has always inspired

me, specially because at GOT, members have

always been high on energy. We welcome new

members who in turn keep up the structure and

help the club grow. And every Saturday, without

fail, each and every one of you makes sure that

we play some or the other part to make the club

perform it?s function ? to gat her , orat e & t alk .

The commitment and energy really inspires me.

The way each one of you tries to play the role

differently, leaves me awestruck and makes me

realize I still have a looooong way to go.

In these 5 months, we have grown leaps and

bounds & I am sure, with the dedication and

eagerness to improve ourselves, we would

flourish and reach greater heights, as a club. Wish

you all the best.

Happy reading!

About t he aut hor :

Megha has worked as Marketing Manager at

Internshala. She is an ebullient Toastmaster,

currently serving as the President of GOT & Asst.

Division Director, Div. B. In the past, she has served

at Gurgaon Toastmasters Club (GTMC) as the

Associate VP Education for 2 months & VP Education

for 10 months. She has also won the most coveted

Triple Crown Award for the Toastmasters year

2015-2016.

President's Message Songs of Lit t le Birds | Jan'16 - Jun'16

Megha Gupt a

~ 6 ~

..........

Special Six Months

It is said, "Home is where the

heart is." Gurgaon Orators

Toastmasters (GOT) Club, being

my home club, owns a big place

in my heart.

It is still a baby about to

complete its six months since

being chartered. I clearly

remember the day when

members of Gurgaon

Toastmasters Club (GTMC)

voted in favour of splitting

the club and GOT was

chartered on January 1, 2016.

I saw the baby being born

but due to my marriage (

15th January 2016), I could not

in-person see the baby grow as

I had to move to Australia,

where my husband lives.

Still, like a mother, I kept track

of GOT?s progress. Even when I

was on my first trip with my

husband, I followed up about

the club?s progress as well as

COTP attendance by the club. I

did so not only for GOT, but all

the clubs in my area.

All the clubs of Area A1 are

close to my heart, but GOT is

special in its own way. It is the

youngest club in the area and

has grown into a beautiful

six-month-old baby. It is

growing at a fast pace and has

already achieved a lot. I am

extremely proud of the way the

club has progressed.

Our Past International

President, DTM Deepak

Menon says, that the

fundamental attributes of a

good club in Toastmasters are:

1. The people themselves

2. The Fun Quotient

3. Professionalism

4. Mentoring

According to him, when a club

has these four elements, the

club generally has very high

quality meetings.

No doubt, GOT has all these

attributes accounting to

exciting, fun-filled and quality

meetings (for example, the

Valentine?s Day special meeting,

and the Alluring April series).

GOT?s highly skilled and

dedicated EC as well as

immensely talented and

focused members ensured that

it became Select Distinguished

in just a few months of its

inception. The club represented

the area at the Division level

contest. What a

commendable journey for the

first six months. Not to forget,

the club now has achieved the

President Dist inguished

st at us and it will also win the

coveted Golden Gavel award.

These six months have been

my special six months in

many ways. On Toastmasters

front, chartering of GOT, Area

A1 being one of the first two

President Distinguish areas of

District 41, my first time

experience of attending club

meetings in Australia, best

speaker awards in Australia, my

first Triple Crown award,

completion of my ACB

(Advanced Communicator

Bronze), ACS (Advanced

Communicator Silver) and ACG

((Advanced Communicator Gold).

On personal front, I got

married and shifted to Australia

with my husband, experiencing

an altogether new job of being

a home maker. I also go to

perform dance in Australia.

My tenure as Area Director has

made me learn a lot. It includes

the following:

Songs of Lit t le Birds | Jan'16 - Jun'16

Sonal Choudhary

~ 7 ~Continued...

art and importance of collaboration, service

leadership, never-say-die attitude, nothing is

impossible, perseverance, every day is a new day,

believe in yourself and the success will follow,

hard work pays, being confident, and the value of

proper and timely communication.

Apart from all the learning, I did make several

friends and some are like family now.

Toastmasters and especially District 41 is special

for me. Toastmasters is now my passion.

My Area Directorship would end on June 30,

2016, but my connection with GOT and the

remaining clubs of the area will never end. Each

club, each member will remain close to my heart.

Wishing you all a great year ahead and a blessed

life.

Songs of Lit t le Birds | Jan'16 - Jun'16

About t he aut hor :

Sonal has worked for Guavus Network Solutions. She

is currently the Area Director of Area A1. She has won

the coveted Triple Crown Award for the Toastmaster

year 2015-2016. She recently moved to Australia with

her husband.

~ 8 ~

About GOT Club: it 's a fantastic club. It 's place where you always go back home with some

motivation or learning. Moreover, the enthusiasm in the club is infectious. It may probably be

because of the young crowd.

About Sreejit h (in his own words): I view myself as a small child who likes to

explore the world but afraid to face it. A lot of awkward situations, difficulties

and some hard with is what brought me up till here. Hope I would be able to

complete my journey and not halt behind. (Man, t hat was philosophical!)

Well coming to my life, I'm a software engineer working at Indian Oil for the

past 3 years. By designation as Assistant Manager (IS). Been part of Toastmaster

since past 2.5 years. My hobbies include running, playing table tennis. Reading

is something I wish that would be a part of my hobby but couldn't afford any

time for it.

Testimonials Sr eej i th Babu

Special Six Months

.............

Q1 - To begin t h is int erview , could you

br ief ly t ake us t hrough your Journey in

Toast m ast ers? In what all leadership Roles

you have served? Your dream s,

achievem ent s and m ilest ones?

I embarked on my Toastmasters journey in 2012.

A few weeks after I became a

Toastmaster, the Club

President announced that the

club Executive Committee (EC)

needed Associate EC Members.

I took up the role of Associate

VP Education. The incumbent

VP Education was extremely

busy with work commitments

and within a few weeks of

joining Toastmasters, I was

planning the club meetings and

preparing agendas. I also

started a formal Mentorship

Program for the club at that

time in consultation with the

VP Education. About a month

into Toastmasters and being

veteran of one speech, I took

up the Contest Chair role for

the club contest and

performed the same role for

the area contest next week. A few months later,

the club EC elections were held and I was

selected as the VP Membership of the club.

Around the same time, I was also selected as the

Asstt. Division Secretary for Division J (GTMC was

a part of Division J, District 41 at that time).

Thereafter, I performed the roles of VP Education

and President (twice) of GTMC. I was also the

Area Governor for Area C3 during the year

2014-15.

It has been a roller coaster ride. There have been

periods when I have been very active and then

there have been times when I have completely

disassociated myself from all Toastmasters

activities. When I joined Toastmasters, I was only

expecting to hone my oratory

skills but what I received from

Toastmasters cannot be

described in words. It has not

only made me a better

communicator and leader but

also a much better human

being. I have become more

patient, receptive and I listen

more effectively. But more than

anything else, it has given me

many friends and memories to

cherish for a lifetime. I am sure

that in the times to come, I will

receive a lot more from

Toastmasters and will hopefully

be able to give something in

return.

As far as my dreams pertaining

to Toastmasters are concerned,

firstly, I would like to become

the District Champion of all four

contests (not necessarily in the same year!) and

secondly, the ultimate dream for any

Toastmaster ? to be crowned as the World

Champion of Public Speaking. Wish me all the

best! * chuckles*

Yes, all t he very best ! We would love t o see

you At Dist r ict level :)

In Conversation with Manish Dembla

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016~ 9 ~

Continued...

Q2. You siad you have served

as t he President of GTMC

t w ice! What m ade you st and

in for t he post of President of

GTMC for t he second t im e in

July 2015?

For the past many years, GTMC

has followed a tradition of

having Presidents who have not

only been experienced as club

members but have also served

the EC multiple times in

different roles. This ensured

that the Presidents understood

the nuances of various EC roles

and were able to steer the EC

team better. When the

elections were held in July 2015,

the outgoing President ?

Janarthan was moving to

Australia so there would have

been no Immediate Past

President to offer guidance to

the President, the VP Education

? Kumar Goyal had been

deputed to Kenya for a project

and had left in the start of the

previous EC term leaving the

reins in the hands of a relatively

new member at that time ?

Megha Gupta while VP

Membership Piyush Gupta had

indicated that he was not

expecting to be regular for a

few months. In the

circumstances I felt that any EC

which is elected would require

an experienced leadership. In

addition, I felt that I was not

able to serve the club properly

in my previous stint as Club

President since I was also

donning the hat of the Area

Governor at that time. Though

the above mentioned factors

were in my mind, I had decided

not to nominate myself for the

post of President as I

recognized that someone else

should also get an opportunity

to lead the club. It was a

completely impulsive decision

to stand from the floor during

the elections and I don?t know

what really propelled me to

raise my hand when the

question was asked by the

Nominating Committee.

In retrospect, I feel it was the

correct decision. So all?s well

that ends well.

Q3. What goals/ m ilest ones

did you set for t he Club

dur ing your second t erm as

GTMC President & achieve?

Do you t h ink you were able

t o do just ice t o t he role?

As far as achievement of DCP

Goals or winning various

District and Toastmasters Int?l

awards is concerned, it has

always been quite easy for

GTMC. Our focus was to

implement various new

measures which would: (i)

motivate the members to be

more regular and perform

better; (ii) make the meetings

more enjoyable; (iii) get more

guests to meetings; and (iv)

improve the guest conversion

ratio.

We did successfully implement

various measures, including: (a)

introduction of monthly awards

for members in addition to the

quarterly awards; (b) making

sure that the table topics

section of the meeting was fun

& unique. For this purpose, the

VPE had a discussion with the

Table Topics Master well in

advance of the meeting; (c)

regularly updating our website

and Facebook page; (d) sharing

the snaps and names of the

winners on WhatsApp

immediately after every

meeting,

"It was a completely impulsive decision to stand from the floor during the elections and I don?t know what really propelled me to raise my hand.."

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016~ 10 ~

In Conversation with Manish Dembla

Continued...

meeting, (e) changing the

format of the meeting minutes

to make them more enjoyable

and informative, etc.

In addition, we put in a lot of

effort behind making every

meeting successful. Megha

(VPE) and I would fight almost

every week over some issue

because we were so concerned

with every small aspect of the

meeting. Most of the goals that

we had set for ourselves were

met. One thing which I regret

not being able to put into

practice was video recording of

the speeches and uploading

them on a YouTube page.

I feel that this time around I

was able to do full justice to the

role with the help and support

of the other EC Members. I

hardly missed any meeting, was

closely involved with the work

of each EC member and was

able to guide them whenever

needed. Mostly importantly, we

were able to maintain an

unparalleled camaraderie

amongst the EC Members. I

have been a part of the club EC

many times & this one

witnessed the least fights or

disagreements.

Q3. What was t he t hought

behind split t ing GTMC for t he

second t im e? Why do you

t h ink it was im por t ant t o

split ?

The thought was to revive

interest amongst the members,

make the club grow even more

and spread the Toastmasters

movement by having another

club. We had started

the term in July

with a base

membership of

80 and when

the renewal

time came,

only about 30

members had

renewed till

September 30.

We were able to

get some new

members and also

renew some old memberships

during the grace period in

October-November.

Consequently, the club had

about 50 members as on

November 30. This was a huge

drop from the base

membership. The reason was

very clear to me. We did not

have enough speech slots or

roles when the membership

had reached 80 & as a

consequence people became

irregular and dropped out.

Though we had reached 50

members, if we were to grow

the membership again to 80, it

would eventually come back to

50 with many dissatisfied

members. I had experienced

the split of GTMC earlier in 2013

when MCTC was formed. Even

then, though the initial few

months were difficult, both

clubs had been doing

extremely well. I was

quite confident that

splitting the club

was the only

solution to make

it thriving again.

Q4. Did you not

feel t hat t he

news of split t ing

GTMC int o t wo

clubs could sprout a

sense of despair

am ong t he m em bers? If

you did, how did you com bat

it ?

I did feel that the news would

cause despair amongst many

members who had not

experienced any split earlier.

Therefore, I first explained the

matter to the Club EC and from

initial reluctance, we reached a

position where we had

complete consensus within the

EC for the split. It is only then I

sent out an email calling for a

General Meeting to vote on the

splitting of the club.

The club had about 50 members as on November 30. This was a huge drop from the base membership. The reason was very clear to me.

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016~ 11 ~

In Conversation with Manish Dembla

Even in the said e-mail, I clearly

mentioned the reasons

warranting a split at the time so

that members are able to

appreciate the reasons behind

considering a split. We also

received e-mails from some new

members expressing concerns

over the split. The points raised

in the said e-mails were also

specifically addressed. Then

there was a God-sent

opportunity on the day before

the meeting. One of the

speakers had backed out and I

requested the VPE to give me a

speech slot. I prepared a speech

titled ?To Split or Not to Split:

That is the question?, as per my

project objectives, at night and

delivered it during the normal

meeting. I tried to cover all

relevant issues regarding the

decision to split in the said

speech and I feel it helped the

members make an informed

choice.

Q5. What was t he process of

Split t ing GTMC, and as a

result form ing GOT Club?

Were m em bers of t he club

involved in t h is process?

The members were involved in

the process as the decision was

taken in a duly convened

General Meeting of the Club.

The meeting had the requisite

quorum as 30 out of 54

members were present. In the

General Meeting, everyone was

given an opportunity to present

their views which was followed

by voting. We had 21 votes in

favour of splitting the club.

Even at the time of formation of

GOT, the process was

completely transparent and

everyone was involved in all

decisions. We had made

a WhatsApp group for

the members who

wanted to shift to the

proposed new club. All

important decisions

regarding the new club,

including the club

name* , meeting timings, venue,

etc. were taken by majority vote

on the said group. We also had

a nomination committee and

proper elections were held

during the first meeting of the

club in order to select the EC.

* P.S.: Being a Game of Thrones

(GOT) fan, Gurgaon Orators

Toastmasters (GOT) Club was

my idea! & was agreed upon by

many other fans!

Q6. Who m ade t he decision

t hat which m em ber would be

in GTMC and which m em ber

in GOT?

The members were given a

choice to indicate their

preference for GTMC or the new

club. We needed at least 20

members for chartering the

new club. Since GTMC is the old

and established club and

nobody knew how the new club

would perform, most members

wished to stick with GTMC.

While some people were happy

to move to the new club, the EC

Members had to make calls and

convince others to join.

However, even in the second

case, we only tried to

understand and address the

concerns of the members. The

decision to join was left

completely to them.

Q7. How did you ensure t hat

t he t o-be form ed GOT Club

get s enough m em bers and

f inancial assist ance, w it hout

com prom ising on t he qualit y

of GTMC?

We needed only 20 members to

start with and by the time the

split was to be effected, the

membership strength had

reached 60, which meant that

even if a new club with 20

We also received e-mails from some new members expressing

concerns over the split.

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016~ 12 ~

In Conversation with Manish Dembla

members was carved out of GTMC, it would still

have 40 members which is a good enough

number to maintain the quality of meetings. In

addition, various members who had indicated

their preference for GOT also wished to continue

attending GTMC meetings from time to time.

With respect to the finances, the funds of GTMC

were split in the ratio of the number of members

in the two clubs to ensure that both the clubs had

sufficient funds to sustain and grow.

Q9. In ret rospect , how do you t h ink t he

decision of split t ing t he Club has fared out for

bot h - t he Parent Club, GTMC and t he baby

Club, GOT?

I believe that the decision has fared well for both

clubs. GTMC has continued to do well. In fact, I

have seen some members who had become

irregular, coming back to GTMC meetings and the

quality of meetings has become even better. GOT

has also done very well with an enthusiastic EC. I

loved the concept of the Alluring April which they

had implemented. It was really creative and

generated a lot of interest. The fact that GOT

achieved President?s Distinguished status within 5

months of its formation, itself speaks volumes

about the club.

Q10. Finally, on a l ight er not e, since being

relieved of t he President ?s dut ies in Decem ber

2015, which of t he t wo clubs do you prefer t o

visit ? I know bot h clubs are dear t o you but

you have t o choose one and t ell t he readers

why. :)

This is a very difficult question. I prefer to visit

GTMC as I am in regular touch with the President

of GOT and get to know everything about it even

without visiting it. Additionally, for the past 5-6

months, I have been working on most Saturdays,

which makes it a litt le difficult to attend Saturday

meetings. However, as you already said, both

clubs are very dear to me and if they had a

meeting on the same day, I would have never

been able to choose.

About t he int erviewee:

Manish is a lawyer by Profession. In Toastmasters,

he has served twice as the President of GTMC and

has also served as Area Governor for Area C3.

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016~ 13 ~

"The rewards go to the risk-takers, those who are willing to put their egos on the line and reach out to other people

and to a richer, fuller life for themselves."

~ Abhishek MahajanAbout t he aut hor : Abhishek is a Civil Engineering graduate. He is

working in Business Consulting Domain in ZS Associates. He is a sports

and History enthusiast. He has been a Toastmaster for about two

months now.

I Quote ..

In Conversation with Manish Dembla

.............

It?s about a dream of mine which used to recur in

my college days. This dream starts with a first

scene in which I am sound asleep. I seem

peaceful while sleeping. When I closely observe,

the sleeping me is also watching a dream. Out of

curiosity,

I look

inside the

head of

the

sleeping

me.

There I

see

myself on

the top of

a pointed

pyramid. I am unable to judge the elevation

because I am scared and all I can see is a vision

which one sees while sitting in an Aeroplane. As

the pyramid is pointed, so I am balancing myself

on its top with just one leg and the other one is

floating in air. I am trying my best to keep myself

still but it?s getting more and more difficult. Now,

while I am trying desperately to balance myself

there, I think - "What if I fall from here??"

As soon as I think of falling, I see flashes of me

getting awake. I am physically in a real world but

mentally in an elusive one. If I fall from the

pyramid, I will fall from the elusive world to the

physical world. Falling will cost my sleep. So to

physically be in a state of sound sleep, I have to

balance myself on the pyramid. This thought

starts a panic inside me which is making my

struggle to balance even more difficult. I am

soaked in sweat.

At that time, I exactly don?t know how but

somehow I forget this loop. The next morning I

am just smiling because I managed to save my

sleep last night.

About t he aut hor :

Anshuman works as

an Engineer in

Engineers India

Limited (EIL). He is a

guitarist as well as a

singer. Sometimes he

writes songs too! He

loves traveling and

meditating.

Dreaming in a dreamAnshum an Tr ipat hi

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 14 ~

"Sincerity of purpose, unbridled enthusiasm, and

abundant talent..... GOT will go a long way...."

Sanjeev R. Joshi

Testimonials

..........

As we embarked on the Toastmasters journey

with this new club, we were soon face-to-face

with a few problems ? less members and hence,

few volunteers for roles, back-outs and most

importantly, guests did walk in but their

conversion rate was very less despite good

quality meetings. The Executive Committee was

nearing completion of half-term and we finally

came to the conclusion that we need to kick the

monotony out of the meetings for people to

really look forward to attending meetings. That?s

when we came up with the idea of Allur ing Apr i l .

So April was chosen to be a special month with

themes for all the meetings in the month

planned in advance and each with an element of

uniqueness. Here?s what we planned ?

a) April 2 ? Fools? Day was the theme to resonate

with the day before and its celebrations

worldwide. This was a fish-pot meeting with all

roles except TMOD decided on the spot by

picking chits.

Allur ing Apr il Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

On January 1, 2016 Gurgaon Toastmasters Club (GTMC) split, leading to the birth of a new club ? GOT

(No, it is not related to Game of Thrones!) a.k.a. Gurgaon Orat ors Toast m ast ers Club.

Bhavya Bansal

~ 15 ~Continued...

b) April 9 ? The theme was

Back t o School. All the

evaluators had to be dressed

as school teachers and rest as

children. It was real fun to see

members wearing shorts and

cute t-shirts. The agenda was

Time-Table, Break was Recess,

an educational module was

Extra Class and Evaluation

session was Parents?-Teachers?

Meeting!

c) April 16 ? This week?s theme was GOT TV and

the meeting was converted into a TV Channel

with the TMOD as the chief correspondent. She

wore a beautiful saree and talked like a

Doordarshan TV anchor. The sections in the

meeting were bulletins, break was a short

commercial break and Evaluation bulletin had a

panel of evaluators.

Similarly, the table topics participants were

special correspondents reporting from a scene.

d) April 23 ? This day is

celebrated as Wor ld Book

Day by UNESCO and the

TMOD conducted interesting

games like - Judge a Book by

its Cover and the Table Topics

Master brought different

books as Table Topics.

~ 16 ~ Continued...

Allur ing Apr il Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

e) April 30 ? In line with the biggest

phenomenon these days & the

club's abbreviation, this meeting?s

theme was Gam e of Thrones.

Since this was going to be the finale

of Alluring April series, it was

celebrated in a grand manner at a

different venue (Sona Hospitality)

with the meeting having several

team building games like build your

castle using cards, build your army

through arm wrestling and so on.

Similarly, the role players were

characters from the TV series like

Parliamentarian as The Night?s

Watch, Presiding Officer as Khaleesi and so on.

Now this was no magic! We hardly saw audience?s enthusiasm in the first meeting but from the second

meeting itself, we were amazed to see their excitement. Honestly, we

thought this would be a resounding success but still we are quite happy

with what we accomplished. This immensely helped in promoting the

club, adding members and making meetings exciting for them. We

have also decided to make this a regular feature every year, or maybe

half-year and make it even better.

About t he aut hor :

Bhavya is a Quality Assurance Analyst at S&P Capital IQ. Currently, she

serves as the Vice President Education of GOT. She also serves as the

Division PRM for Division A. In the past, she has served as VP Pubic

Relations of GTMC. Bhavya received the most coveted 'Triple Crown' award

at recently held 'Oration', the District 41 event.

ALLURING APRIL ALBUM

~ 17 ~

Allur ing Apr il Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

Continued...

.............

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

Once a bird asked a bee, ?After continuous hard

work, you prepare the honey. But men steal it. Don?t

you feel sad?" The bee replied, ?Never! Because a

man can only steal my honey, not the art of making

honey.?

No matter what honey means for you, by

taking up leadership journey in

Toastmasters you improve your skills

i.e. you learn the art of making honey.

Leadership in Toastmasters starts the

day you join a club and take initiative to

play some role in the meeting. Being a

part of Club, EC is indeed an excellent

exercise to boost your confidence as a leader. It

is a pleasure to help members have quality

meeting experience and take club to greater

heights. If you really enjoy your work as club EC

officer and serve members well, if you are

comfortable going beyond club and serve

members outside its boundaries, with right

attitude and perspective; I am convinced you will

be pushed & pulled in bigger service roles at

Area, Division & District levels.

Every rise in leadership role offers you plethora

of opportunities to connect, communicate and

collaborate with a lot of amazing people for

larger good of the world.

In my opinion, beauty of life lies in balance.

There are very few people who can keep

leadership & communication tracks balanced

and go on to become DTM. However, some

people do it multiple times, thereby, clearly, they

keep on growing as a speaker and leader.

For sure, taking up responsibilit ies in

club and beyond needs some work

and investment of time and energy.

However, if the service is done well,

there is a lot to be gained in terms of

your personal transformation and

above all, it 's a joy to serve the people!

Set goals for yourself in communication &

leadership tracks, get started and don?t stop until

you reach the goals. On the way, you meet so

many wonderful leaders who touch hearts by

their service and support to fellow Toastmasters

and of course, we as Toastmasters have privilege

to hear many life changing speeches.

Wishing you a great journey!

Yours in service.

About t he aut hor :

Mukesh is working in IBM.

He is a Distinguished

Toastmaster (DTM),

currently serving as the

Program Quality Director

(PQD) of District 41

Toastmasters (2015-2016).

He is the District Director

- elect for upcoming

Toastmasters year

(July'16 - June'17).

Leadership in

Toastmasters starts

the day you

join a club.

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016Leadership in ToastmastersMukesh Kulot hia

~ 19 ~

..........

~ 20 ~

Whenever you try to excel some new skill like a

sport, a subject or even public speaking, you

need to know the basic thumb rules of that skill

i.e. its do?s and don'ts. We don?t realize it but

some factors continuously hinder our growth

and act as obstacles on our way to become an

outstanding public speaker. Here are some of

the most common factors which, if taken care of

will boost your performance:

1. Lack of Ent husiasm

You won?t sound confident, believable and

sincere unless you are

able to communicate

your passion,

enthusiasm, and

commitment through

your body and facial

expressions. Pay

attention to the type of

facial expressions you

use and when you use them. You may not be

aware of when you frown, roll your eyes, or

scowl.

Make sure your facial expressions are

appropriate based on your topic, listeners and

objective. When you?re smiling while

communicating a serious or negative message,

you create a discrepancy between your facial

expression and your message.

2. Lack of Focus

Keep your objective in mind.

Think in terms of what your

listener needs to know

about what you want them

to do, not what you want to

tell them. Pay attention to

your listener. Are they

hanging on your every word or are they lost?

3. Verbal St at ic

Excessive use of filler words or non-words like

umm.., uh.., Ah..,you know? etc. is a distraction.

We use non-words to buy ourselves time to think

about what we want to say. These words are

distracting and your listener misses your

message.

4. Lack of Eye Cont act

The only way to build a relationship is through

trust. When you forget what to say, you will look

at the ceiling, floor, PowerPoint slides or

anywhere away from your listener. When your

audience notices that you?re looking at them, it

encourages them to respond using facial

gestures. This can be the difference between a

successful and enjoyable speech and a total flop!

5. Nervousness

Whoever says he or she lacks nervousness

before a presentation is apathetic or untruthful.

The best way to handle nervousness is simply to

tell yourself that you have valuable material to

share with your audience and that you have the

energy needed to deliver it effectively. In other

words, channel your nervousness to a good

purpose.

6. Im it at ing ot hers

Imitating others will not allow you to explore,

utilize your inner potential and evolve your own

personal style of delivery which is in harmony

with your own personality and character

helping you to be more natural, spontaneous

and makes you stand out as a speaker.

7. Unfam il iar it y w it h t he set up

If you have time, think about doing the same

Impediments to great public speaking skills Pradeep Tokas

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

Stupefied reactions happen when I

say I am a dual member (member

of two clubs). Queries (which I

myself once asked) arise as to why I

pay twice the amount when there

are no restrictions in visiting other

clubs, giving speeches and taking

roles therein. I joined toastmasters

to enhance my communication and

leadership skills, thinking I will give

a speech/ play a role in every

meeting. However, I realized that this was not

possible for the club as the said strategy is not

fair to others. So, I started going beyond the club

to give speeches/ play roles but again noticed

that preference is normally given to home

members and the other clubs won?t

accommodate an outside member very

frequently. So, I decided to become a dual

member because then I would be a home

member to two clubs and would get

more speech slots, role playing,

chance to stand for executive

committee posts from two places.

And finally, the biggest benefit of

dual membership is that I will have

two opportunities of participating as

a contestant in the same speech

and/or evaluation contest, so even if

I lose from one club, don?t fear,

because I still can win from the other

club.

Happy Dual Membership!!!

About t he aut hor : Udyan is a lawyer at Delhi High

Court. He owns dual membership of Toastmaster

Club of Dwarka and GOT. He is the President - elect

at TMCD for the term July'16 - December'16.

thing. Visit the place where you'll be finally

speaking, beforehand. You'll be more

comfortable once the actual time comes. In

addition, you might spot issues

with the equipment or setup in

time for them to be corrected.

8. Monot one Voice

A monotone delivery makes your

presentation dull, boring and

ineffective, however great your

ideas or products are. It doesn?t

help listeners to focus on your

speech and this inability to grab

audience?s attention defeats the

vary purpose of your presentation.

So, besides persistent desire and efforts to

improve your speech delivery, one also needs to

avoid these speech impediments to accelerate

oneself on path to be an

outstanding speaker.

About t he aut hor :

Pradeep is co-founder & trainer of

'Focus with Tokas', aimed at

improving communication skills.

He is a member of Toastmasters

Club of New Delhi (TMND).

Representing TMND, he went on to

be second Runner's up at Division

level International Speech contest.

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016~ 21 ~

-----------

Udyan Sr ivast ava

Why I became a dual member?

Impediments to great public speaking skills

..........

..........

First of all, congratulat ions for being elected as

the Program Quality Director for the new

Toastmasters Year.

To begin t h is int erview ,

could you br ief ly t ake us

t hrough your Journey in

Toast m ast ers? In what all

leadership Roles you have

served? Your dream s,

achievem ent s and

m ilest ones?

Thank you! It has been an

enriching experience. It has

been over 4 years since I

became a member & one

thing that stood out for me ?

there is so much that one can

learn from this curriculum,

provided one has the right

attitude. I have served

officially in the capacity of VP Membership, VP

Education, President, Division Secretary, District

Treasurer and Division Director. One of my

achievements in Toastmasters is Noida

Toastmasters Club getting Golden Gavel for the

first time since its inception in 2007 and

membership reaching a whopping 64. I dream to

see all members achieving their goals for which

they joined Toastmasters.

That 's a great achievem ent ! Being a quit e

exper ienced Toast m ast er , why did you

decide t o opt for t he role of

VP-Mem bership of t he brand new GOT

Club?

My only objective of being in this team was that

most of the officers were new and I felt that they

may need support. I would not have minded

taking SAA for I consider all roles as equally

important. One reason for

taking VPM was to enhance

the membership of the new

club and make it a robust

club.

Now t hat your t erm as EC

m em ber of GOT is get t ing

over very soon, how has

been your overall

exper ience? What do you

t h ink went well and what

could have been bet t er

by t he EC?

I have had a wonderful

experience with all the team

members. Each officer was

unique yet committed to

deliver their best. I

appreciate the way everyone supplemented

each other and the results can be seen on the

dashboard. I have discussed the improvement

areas with the EC and they will be implemented

soon.

Since you also are cur rent ly serving as t he

Division Direct or of Division A, how did

you m anage your t im e for t he roles of

VPM and act ive m em ber of GOT? What

challenges did you face and t he m easures

t hat you t ook t o com bat t hose

challenges?

I have always believed that one should respect

the roles one take to the best of their ability and

I have always lived by it.

tête-à-tête with Pallav Verma

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016~ 22 ~

Continued...

Each one of us has 24 hours of

time. We often complain of

time but things which matter to

us always takes precedence. I

personally felt that we should

take only what we can fulfill in

the best possible way. One big

challenge was to juggle multiple

roles alongwith professional

commitments, which led to

missing many meetings in this

term.

What was t he most

memorable moment of your

t erm as an EC m em ber of

GOT?

There are many... but the recent

one was a surprise when my

GOT family gifted me a

congratulatory card on me

being elected as the Program

Quality Director.

What qualit ies do you

expect t he fut ure

VP-Mem bership of GOT t o

por t ray?

VP Membership converts the

guests into members. Few

qualities that he/she should

exhibit are thorough knowledge

of TI and neighboring clubs,

good listening skills, patience in

answering the multiple queries

of multiple guests at the same

time and should be a people's

person.

As Program Qualit y

Direct or for t he upcom ing

year , what 2 m ost

im por t ant suggest ions

would you l ike t o give t he

GOT EC and it s m em bers t o

keep im proving t he

qualit y?

Two of the many suggestions

which are on the top of the list

are :

a) Have a robust mentor-mentee

program ensuring that mentors

and VP-Education understand

the needs of each individual

member.

b) Cultivating a habit (in each

member) of preparing well

before every meeting and

making efforts to go beyond

the role and be creative. This

will not only result in quality

meetings but will also bring

different flavor to meetings.

Last ly, we have enjoyed

every bit of your presence

at GOT. Now t hat , being

PQD, you have bigger

responsibil i t ies. How of t en

would we get t o see you in

GOT Club in fut ure?

I too have enjoyed every

moment that I spent with this

family. I will try my best to

attend at least 2 meetings in a

month, if not more. I am quite

confident that the club

leadership has matured and

will take on the challenges head

on. I will have to help the other

clubs thrive and make them self

sustaining.

About Pallav:

Pallav is the incumbent Division

Director of Division A, District 41

Toastmasters. He is the Program

Quality Director (PQD) - elect for

the upcoming Toastmasters year

July'16 - June'17.

"one should respect the roles one take, to the best of their ability and I have

always lived by it. "

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 23 ~

tête-à-tête with Pallav Verma

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

..........

It was a hot Sunday after when

I visited Toast m ast ers Club of

Pune Cam p at Pune. Pune is a

lovely city full of vitality and a

special charming quality that

somehow makes the city

alluring. I was on a long

pending mini-vacation cum

many of family functions to

attend. Incidentally, I had some

time to kill that weekend and

what better way to spend a

Sunday than visiting a

Toastmasters club!! So I hopped

into a cab along with my

father-in-law, his brother and

his wife. I had already

contacted the TMOD for the

meeting TM Ajit Shah and

secured a spot for speech

evaluation. Ajit gave me

directions to club and told me

that the club was on a one-way

road. We had to get off from

the cab at the end of the road

and walk to the club. At the

entrance of the club, Ajit was

standing waving his hand

towards us. I waved back (I was

not sure if it was Ajit, I waved

back anyway!) and crossed the

road to reach the gate. We

exchanged pleasantries (Thank

God it was Ajit!) and Ajit warmly

welcomed us. My father-in-law

and others were pleased with

the warm welcome, it was their

first time to a Toastmasters

club. They had heard a lot

about toastmasters from me,

but never quite visited a club.

The meeting at the club was

conducted in a very organized

way and Amithabh Bacchan

was the theme of the meeting.

It was fun to hear TM Ajit reveal

so many wonderful facts and

anecdotes by Big B.

Incidentally, the speech that I

was supposed to evaluate by

TM Poonam Kumar was also a

beautiful speech dedicated to

Mr Bacchan. TM Poonam spoke

from her heart about her

admiration and respect for

Amitabh Bacchan, her

preparation and hard work for

this speech was evident.

Poonam?s speech gave me a lot

to think about the huge impact

that big screen actors/actresses

have on the general

population. I presented my

evaluation when called upon by

the General Evaluator and

finally the meeting got over. I

was happy to meet a lot of

enthusiastic toastmasters. We

picked up an

post-meeting-conversation with

many toastmasters there. The

inimical warmth of people of

Pune was evident with

Toastmasters Club of Pune

Camp, which made me feel like

I was visiting my home club in a

new city.

It was sweltering hot and we

went under the shade of the

lone tree in the club premises

where other toastmasters

were standing with their

bikes discussing about

speech slots and district

conference. I started looking

for a cab on the app based

service providers. It was 1:00

PM and not even an auto

rickshaw was in the vicinity. I

was frantically searching for

cabs on my smartphone and

An Unforgettable toastmasterKalyani Vaidyanathan

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 24 ~Continued...

talking with the lovely toastmasters of Pune, I

switched between the conversation and my

phone hoping to get a cab quickly to escape the

heat (even willing to pay surge priced fare).

Unfortunately, no cabs were available; I checked

on my aunt?s smartphone, the

fellow toastmasters?

smartphones? Weird though as it

may sound, smartphones have a

quirky habit of freezing when you

need them the most. As luck

would have it, there wasn?t a

single cab plying on the streets.

I started getting a bit tense about

getting a cab because I was accompanied with

elderly relatives and I did not want them to stay

in the heat for long.

TM Poonam sensed my discomfort and asked, ?Is

there anything, I can help you with Kalyani??.

?Of course Poonam, could you please book a cab for

me?? Without hesitating for a second, Poonam

said, ?Hey, I have a car; I can drop

you home?. Now, I was in a

dilemma. Here, I needed a vehicle

to go home and at the same time I

did not want to trouble Poonam. I

declined her offer and my

father-in-law supported me.

Poonam insisted, ?it's really hot

here and I have a free afternoon, I

can drop you home.?. Poonam told

us where she lived and my

father-in-law figured out that

dropping us home would mean

Poonam would have to go out of

the way just to drop us.

?Poonam, are you sure you can drop

us? It will be quite a distance for you to drop us and

travel back home?.

Poonam did not relent and finally convinced us to

go home in her car. It was a nice Santro with a

number plate registered at Tamil Nadu. That?s

when she revealed her fondness

for the city of Chennai to us.

Poonam hails from Bihar and

spent close to 5 years working at

TCS in Chennai. She had a sort of

natural affinity towards Tamils

and that kind of helped us bond.

She recollected all her wonderful

memories at Chennai. It was

indeed a pleasure listening to her adventures in

Chennai. The fact that we are toastmasters and

we shared a common connection with Chennai

helped us to bond really well. We were touched

by her kind gesture and invited her home for

lunch which she politely declined. However, my

mother-in-law did not let her go without having

at least a cup of hot coffee. My family was

grateful to Poonam for this

utterly unselfish act. She is a

person I am not going to forget

in this lifetime, an

unforgettable toastmaster.

About t he aut hor :

Kalyani is currently working in

Accenture, Gurgaon. She has

been a toastmaster for over 2.5

years now, in various cities. She

is the Mentor of GOT.

TM Poonam sensed my discomfort and asked, ?Is there anything, I can help

you with Kalyani??

~ 25 ~

An Unforgettable toastmaster Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

..........

Is it the idea or the leader that makes a startup

successful?

The answer is both. In fact, most of the times, it

leans towards the ?leader? side because the

?idea? part of the start-up is taken for granted.

For an angel investor or a venture capitalist,

?idea? or the business viability is a necessary

condition even to allocate their time to listen but

the ?leader? and the team the leader builds or

intends to build turns out to be a sufficient

condition to invest.

Building a team and sustaining it is so central to

demonstrate one?s leadership and is desired the

most in the context of a start-up. How the Apple

visionary Steve Jobs lured John Sculley in 1983 to

leave Pepsi and join Apple to change the world

and how N. R. Narayana Murthy of Infosys kept

faith in the company and did not accept to sell

Infosys in 1990 which led the founding team

stuck together are two classic examples of being

a leader in building and sustaining a great team

for success.

Every founder/co-founder is pressurized by the

investors to build and hold back the team that is

important for the sustenance of the start-up. For

this, it is important for the leader to understand

his/her leadership potential and style, which is

paramount to success, especially in start-ups.

Building a strong team is just one facet of a

leader and there are several other attributes of

start-up leadership that will be put to test.

Leadership has been one of the most researched

topics in social sciences and researchers have

been grappling for over 100 years understanding

and interpreting leaders. As of today, IQ and Big

five personality traits are the two most

time-tested instruments to understand and

predict the potential of leaders. However,

primarily the act of leadership can be looked at

from two simple dimensions, one is 'to think' and

the other is 'to act?. Now this does not mean that

if one dimension is observed in a leader, the

other is not in existence. It only means that, one

can be categorized into one of these two, based

on the dominant dimension.

For a leader, the alignment of the start-up idea

with his/her leadership style is critical to the

success of the start-up. A leader who belongs to

?think? category may succeed better in building

innovative products that solves customers?

potential problems. While a leader of the ?act?

class might do extremely well in providing

top-notch service to customers.

Is your st ar t -up idea aligned t o your

leadership st yle?

This article first got published in Entrepreneur

Online Magazine

About t he aut hor :

Swaroop has done

MBA in Human

Resources

Management (HRM)

from XLRI,

Jamshedpur.

Secret to the success of a star t-up: The Idea or The Leader Swaroop D

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016~ 26 ~

..........

At times, I wonder if I?ll ever love someone as

Juliet loved Romeo. Will I ever feel as confident as

a model on the ramp? Will I ever achieve against

all odds like Wilma Rudolph?

I feel betrayed. God did

not grant us all equal

amount of devotion

and determination.

Why don?t I have the

drive that makes

others jump to their

feet and get to work?

The zeal is missing. The

motivation, the

curiosity, the wit? ..

Were these people

born with these gifts?

And then, with a deeper look into this, I begin to

understand that probably God did make some

people extraordinary. He placed them under

difficult situations only to bring a twist in their

fate by giving them the courage to breakthrough.

Yes, life isn?t always fair. Some were born with all

organs intact and some with just a beating heart.

Some with a loving family and some without.

Some physically appealing and some with a

beautiful personality. But do you know what God

did bestow upon us all equally?

The capability to experience an emotion. Yes, that?s

one thing we all have equally. No matter how big

or small, young or old, rich or poor, we all have

the capability to experience the emotions. Then I

start to realize, this is what drives people!

Emotions hold the ability to create or destroy a

person. It?s love that turned two normal people

into Romeo and Juliet. Its hatred that made a

terrorist kill thousands of people. It?s friendship

and trust that makes two people rely on each

other. It?s the determination that made Sachin

Tendulkar score a hundred every time!

Emotions make a great

deal of difference in our

lives. That?s the one gift

God gave every

individual and nobody

except I alone can

decide what I wish to

experience. May be I

don?t want to be Sachin

Tendulkar or

Shakespeare. May be, I

have my own set of

emotions waiting to be

experienced and may be they hold the power to

mould me into a better person. May be?

About t he aut hor :

Shreya is a student of Shri Aurobindo College, Delhi

University. She is a rising Toastmaster who has been

a member of GOT for about 6 months now.

SampurnadhtiShreya Joshi

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 27 ~

..........

Each one of us is a mix of certain strengths and weaknesses in our personality traits. We mainly put our time, energy and resources on identifying our weaknesses and correcting them. This is embedded down in us right from our childhood. Doctors study the disease, marriage counselors study the problem in marriage, and in our schools also we are taught to take the approach of not doing Mathematics the wrong way. Here, all these indicate that we study the wrongs or weaknesses and try to minimize it as much as possible. We seldom give enough attention or time to study the positive aspects of things in life or at work. Good health, successful marriage etc. are never studied.

An elaborate approach to identify our strength themes, knowing the importance of it, working on these themes and how these can be used to achieve success in our life is outlined here. We should emphasize on identifying our core strength area and put our resources to increase our skills and knowledge in that strength area/theme for building a successful life, both at work and at home. It does not mean that we should completely ignore our weaknesses; these should also be addressed so that they can?t damage our success path

or can bring an obstacle in the way of our success.

Success depends on three primary factors namely, Talent , Know ledge and Skil ls.

Talent s are any natural recurring pattern of thoughts, feelings or behavior that can be applied productively. Being persistent, competitive, responsible is a talent. This is God given attribute and seldom changes; it is like somebody has black hair, good height etc. First we should try to get to know what our talents are. The rapid learning curve and high & lasting satisfaction level can be a good indicator to identify our talent themes.

Know ledge can be factual or

experiential. Factual knowledge is the facts about our subject area; like vocabulary is a factual knowledge to learn a language. It does not guarantee excellence but excellence is impossible without it. This is

something that gets you into the domain you are working in whereas experiential knowledge is not taught in a classroom; we have to discipline and enable ourselves to pick-up this kind of knowledge along the way of our job or life journey and retain it.

Skil ls are the steps of an activity which bring structure to the experiential knowledge. A smart person will formalize all the accumulated knowledge in a sequence of steps, when followed, gives the desired result and performance.

Here talent, knowledge and skills combined together define our strengths.If we learn a skill, it helps us perform a litt le better, but it would not cover for a lack of talent. If we built

our strengths, skills will prove more valuable when they are combined with the genuine talent.

Discover your StrengthsJit endra Kum ar

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 28 ~Continued...

Weaknesses or failures contain lots of

information when we self-introspect ourselves

and analyze the cause, reason etc. In most of the

cases, our weaknesses can be managed by taking

the following measures:

1. Addressing weakness: We need to work a

litt le on correcting our weakness so that it does

not cause a substantial damage in our success.

2. Suppor t syst em : Organizer, planner, strategy,

networking etc. can be used to build a sufficiently

strong support system.

3. Use t alent : We should use our strongest

identified talent theme to overcome our

weaknesses.

4. Par t ners: We should always show willingness

to admit the imperfection and ask the capable

and experienced person around us for any help.

Partner with them.

5. St op doing: Take it as last resort, it may be

empowering for

us when for one

reason or

another we are

forced to try it.

Various studies

have indicated

few identified

obstacles in

building our

strengths. These

are:

1. Fear of weakness: This obstacle is most

harmful as it overshadows our confidence in our

strengths. We are taught to utilize our energy to

frustratingly correct out weaknesses.

2. Fear of failure: As failing is never a fun, we

choose not to risk ourselves. With identified and

dominating strength area this fear can be

minimized or controlled.

3. Fear of one's true self: Sometimes we are

reluctant to investigate our strengths as we do

not believe in our true self. We need to be true to

ourselves. We can?t see the picture till we are

inside the frame. We should try to come out of

the frame and see the picture. Our instinctive

reaction is unique and this makes each of us

different.

Finally, working on understanding our core

strength and weakness area and bringing a

focused approach to use the core strengths to

overcome the weaknesses has the potential to

make each one of us

extraordinary and capable of

leading a happy and successful

life.

About t he aut hor :

Jitendra works in Sapient

Corporation as Platform

Specialist. He also serves as the

Treasurer of GOT. In his free

time, Jitendra likes to take up

road journeys.

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 29 ~

Discover your Strength

..........

In last 5 to 6 years, I had been through hell lot of

feasts and famines. I cried, I laughed and smiled.

Lost a lot, gained a lot and learned a lot.

Considering an average age of 60 to 65 years, 26

years are over and last 10

years will not be that much

productive. So, there are 35

years left in which i can

mark my presence.

Two words which

completely changed my life

were :-

1. Think big.

2. Ask why.

Earlier, i wanted to be rich

and famous. What i wanted

to be in my life was

dependent upon the last

movie or news i watched.

But then i started thinking big and asking why for

everything i wanted to do in my life.

I was busy in finding the meaning of life, I was

looking for the purpose of my life.

Does god exist?

What is good and what is bad?

Why does evil exist?

I was looking for the reasons why my friends love

me!

Why my girlfriend loves me?

Why my parents loves me?

Why I should be earn millions?

What I want from my life - money or happiness?

What value addition can I bring to the society? Or

why should I?

I started hating entire mankind and became

misanthrope because we are very selfish and

hypocrite. We moan over the death of human but

not when we kill an animal.

I have been a part of India

against corruption. Joined

dance 4 democracy,

followed spiritual gurus,

read autobiographies,

listened to Ted talks and

had done a lot what people

call unorthodox.

Whatever i did, i used these

two words while doing them

- Think big & ask why.

But i am proud that i never

gave up and i am

crystal-clear about my life's purpose.

I am immune to sentiments, heartbreak,

emotional melodrama.

I don't care when people around me call me a

loser. At least i know where i am going, unlike

them.

About t he aut hor :

Ankur Yadav is a CA

Professional. He has

been an enthusiastic

toastmaster for more

than a year now. He

is highly committed

to improving his

communication

skills.

Only dead fish go with the flowAnkur Yadav

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 30 ~

..........

Education is the most powerful weapon which we

can use to change the world. Education makes

the difference between civilized and uncivilized

person. It is the best investment which gives us

great returns. It plays a key role in human, social

and economic development.

From the day we are born, our education starts.

Mother is the first teacher for her child. It is the

mother who teaches the first lessons to her

children. Mothers tell her children what is right

and what is wrong, what is true and what is false.

As soon as the child grows, he starts his formal

education in school. India became one of 135

countries to make free education a fundamental

right of every child when the Right to

Education Act (RTE) came into force on 1

April, 2010. Free means that no child

shall be liable to pay any kind of

fee or charges or expenses which

may prevent him or her from

pursuing and completing

elementary education.

As per the 15th official census in

the year, 2011 literacy rate of

India was found to be 74.04%.

Even after the RTE act the problem

of illiteracy was seen at large. Female

literacy rate in India is lower than the male

literacy rate as many parents do not allow their

daughters to go to school. They are married off at

a young age instead. Though child marriage has

been lowered to a great extent, it still happens.

Many families, especially in rural areas, believe

that having a male child is better than having a

baby girl. Education in rural areas in India shows

that enrollment in schools is higher but quality of

education continues to decline. Children in Class

V cannot read a text meant for children in Class II;

not even one child in five can recognize numbers

11 to 99, and more than three out of five children

cannot solve simple mathematical problems.

There are many schools especially in rural

areas, which have only 2 to 3 teachers

while classes are from 1st to 5th . I

had a word with one of my

cousins, who is Principal in a

Government school in a UP

village. He told to me that there

is only one class in his school for

1st to 5th and children,

irrespective of age, are class

taught in the same class. So now

you can imagine what will be the

standard of the education there. Also

most of the school teachers are busy in

cooking/ arranging food for children during break

time as per mid-day meal scheme.

Trained and qualified teachers are essential to

solving the learning crisis and closing the gap

between poor and good quality education.

Therefore, it is vital that all children have

As per the 15th official census in the year, 2011 literacy rate of India was found to be 74.04%. Even

after the RTE act the problem of il l iteracy is

stil l at large.

source: Indian Express

Education System in IndiaAnupam Sharm a

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 31 ~Continued...

teachers that are well-trained, motivated, able to

identify weak learners, and are supported by

well-managed education systems. It is important

for the government to not only invest more in

education but to do so more

strategically. Central Government

should invest more resources in

teacher 's education and development,

principal training and assessments.

Relatively poor salaries, litt le

recognition for merit-based

promotions, humiliating working

conditions and litt le protection against

violence by anti-social elements have

driven the best talent to other

professions.

We need public awareness campaigns

in India that are able to effectively

project teaching as a rewarding and

meaningful profession.

Education helps us to be healthy, save

many lives, boosts economic growth, earn

money, raise quality crop, promote peace in the

society, eradicate poverty, remove gender

discrimination and inequality, promote women

and children rights, bring good

governance, remove corruption,

make aware about fundamental

rights and a lot more. A good

education does not mean to

study hard and get good

results. However, it is to

conquer new things for the

betterment of whole mankind.

About t he aut hor :

Anupam is a Technical Manager

at Travel Boutique Online

Company. He is a big fan of

cricket. He is the secretary of

GOT and has been a Toastmaster

for about a year now.

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 32 ~

"Life is all about having an impact on others"

Shamsuzzaman Ansari

About t he Aut hor : Shams is Market Research professional

with significant experience in various segments of health

care market such as health care supplies, diagnostic

devices, laboratory developed tests, novel drug delivery

systems and pharmaceuticals. He is currently employed as

Health Care Analyst in ZS Associates. He has been a

Toastmaster for more than 3 months now.

I Quote ..

Education System in India

..........

I was to deliver a speech on a personal life story.

Now, what are the qualities of a good story? ? I

asked myself. I know some people would find it

easy to answer. They may say that like a speech,

a story should have an introduction, a body and a

conclusion. Some may say, well, not really; a

story should have a backdrop, a climax and a

resolution. And some may say, a story must have

its characters! Well, if you ask me, I do not find it

easy to define what a story should be. A story

may never have a beginning or an end, a

problem or a solution. So, without breaking

heads over what it should be, let us just sit back

and listen to it. If we like it, well, let?s call it a story.

Sit back, as I tell you a story from my own life.

For a long time,

the subject of

dream has

intrigued me

personally. What

are dreams,

really?

Philosophers say

it is a projection

of our own

reality, and

psychologists say

it is our

subconscious mind that builds pictures. But then,

if reality is just a matter of perspectives, as they

say, then why are dreams unreal?

This is two years back from now. It was late night

that day and I was sitting in my office cab, playing

with my Blackberry, waiting for driver bhaiya to

start the car when it?s time. Suddenly a story idea

struck me. Yes, story ideas always strike me at

the weirdest of moments, in the non-quietest of

times. I picked up my Blackberry and started

typing into it a story, making up the plot as I

wrote. It was a few months since I had started

writing, and I was quite in my groove. That day,

that story I was writing was about dreams, and

about parallel planes of reality. It was a story of a

lady and her world of magic realism. Done &

dusted, I mean published and forgotten, just as it

happens!

About a year back, my husband asked me

suddenly, if I remember that story that I once

wrote. I said, yes. Soon enough, it found a space

on our desk in form of scribbled dialogues and

sketched back-drops? He told me that he

wanted to make that into a film - a short-film, of

about half an hour. I wasn?t sure if it?d be such a

great idea, but we decided to give it a try. But

how? Doesn?t it take quite some money? Well,

some FDs were dissolved and some good friends

had volunteered to do their bit too.

But, what about cast? Facebook posters were

created, almost in shape of matrimonial adverts.

Height, build, looks ? come one, come all. Some

audition rounds were arranged, and whoa!

people actually did turn in quite good numbers.

Crew? References were sought.

Recommendations received. Requirements were

sketched-out.

" It was late night that day and I was sitting in my office cab, playing with my Blackberry, waiting for driver bhaiya to start the car when it?s time. Suddenly a story idea struck me. "

A story of a dream, a dream of a story! Sinjin i Sengupt a

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016~ 33 ~

Continued...

DOP ? check. Editor ? check. Music ?

check. And then, in December last

year, leave approval from office ?

check. And sooner than we knew,

we found ourselves in our beloved

city of Kolkata. But then, there we

were, looking up locations, seeking

help and advices, and more than

anything, volunteers. Some

volunteered their apartment, some

their office, and some, their café shop.

Some, even a hospital! That is how things work,

really! if you really, really want them to? Trust

me!

But then, that was a long four months back. Four

days of hectic shoot later, the days then went

into rounds over rounds of iterative post

production, quite a few visits to the sound

studios for the song recordings to

background scores, to voice dubs.

Some more FDs found their way

into the Savings account, and

soon out of it too. Time passed.

And then, about a month back, it

was one fine morning and I was

deep in slumber. My husband

woke me up with an email on his

mobile that he wanted me to read

right away. ?Monsieur?? the mail began.

And then it went ahead to tell us that well, our

film has been selected for screening at The

Cannes Film Festival in May 2016. ?See you in

Cannes? the mail ended, leaving us

dumb-founded, shell-shocked at the other end of

the globe.

Dreams do come true, you see! a dream of a

story, and a story of a dream.

By the way, remember what we were discussing

about qualities of a good story? Well, irrespective

of what anyone tells you, a story must always

have a happy ending. If it is not happy, it is not

the end, yet!

About t he aut hor :

Sinjini is an Actuary by profession, She likes to paint

and of course, write. She has been a Toastmaster

Since September 2015.

?Monsieur ? t he m ail

began. And t hen it

went ahead t o t el l us

t hat well, our f i lm has

been select ed for

screening at The

Cannes Film Fest ival

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016~ 34 ~

A story of a dream, a dream of a story!

"GOT club is awesome! Although I have been active for a very little time, in this time, I have learnt that, here, one is encouraged to take up different roles every

time. This would help us be better in many aspects of our lives."  

Testimonials

~ Manish Kumar

..........

My dream was weird. I dreamt

of thousands of yellow Post-its

stuck on my forehead, cheeks

and all over my body. The

dream became so unpleasant

and frequent that it eventually

turned into a nightmare. The

only person I could associate

with Post-it was Aesha. She was

my girlfriend in college who

broke my heart. The girls who

came later in my life could not

ignite the flame of love in me.

So, Aesha remained the only

love in my life. There was

something strange about Aesha,

she always used to carry Post-it

with her. Whenever she got a

thought, she wrote it on the

Post-it and pasted it on book

covers, note book covers, even

on her handbag. Later she

transferred the ideas in her

'idea book'. I thought my Post-it

dreams were reminiscent of

her.

After completing my MBA from

Bengaluru four years back, I

came back to Delhi to live with

my parents. While in college, I

used to write a blog tit led

?Lovewala Feelings. It was very

popular among college

students. Emboldened by the

response, I chose to pursue a

career in writing and it proved

to be the right decision. In a

span of four years, I wrote two

best sellers and I was happy

with the way my life was going

on. At that time, I was not aware

of the sudden turn my life was

about to take.

It was still dawn when I stepped

out of the cab and walked

towards the entry gate of the

Delhi airport. The early

morning, February air was

pleasantly cold. I was travelling

to Bengaluru to attend a

college friend's wedding. It

had been four years since we

graduated from the same

college. This wedding was

also going to be a reunion of

our batch-mates. But what I

didn't know was that the

reunion would begin much

ahead of time; right in the

queue in front of the airline

counter.

I was almost sure it was she.

Same height! Same long hair!

Same complexion! Curiosity had

my eyes glued to her. And then

about 60-odd seconds later,

when she turned, she proved

me right. My ex-girlfriend stood

two places ahead of me in that

queue. We had never met after

the college farewell and that day

was not a very pleasant one ?

for both of us.

My first instincts said that I

should try to hide. To avoid

facing her, I stooped down

pretending to check out my

shoes. I looked up and saw she

had moved ahead, and then I

purposefully dropped back a

couple places in the queue to

maintain adequate distance

from her. A thought crossed my

mind - she might be travelling to

attend the same wedding. I

quickly took out my phone and

called Anil, who was enjoying

the last few days of his bachelor

life. He confirmed that he had

also invited Aesha and

requested me to refrain from

doing anything silly and reach

his place for the grand reunion

he had planned.

I collected my boarding pass

and started to walk towards the

Security Check-In remembering

my days in college. I had

proposed to her five times in a

month. My 5th attempt was

finally, a success.

" I was almost sure it was she. Same height, same long hair &

same complexion. After a 60 second stare, she turned back

to prove me right. "

I still love you...A short story by Sandeep Ray

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 35 ~Continued...

She said with a dimple smile,

patting my shoulder ?Palash,

your presentation was perfect

this time and you have scored

0.5 more than your nearest

competitor. Logically, I should

give you a chance.? She was

always the dominating partner

in our relationship. Like all

other couples, I wanted a

physical closeness which she

resisted ? I was not sure what

was going on in her mind.

I could never make Aesha

realize how much I loved her.

Her extreme sense of logic

always cut across my over

inflated emotions. To capture

all my emotions explicitly, I

wrote a letter. At the top of the

letter I wrote her name with my

own blood taken out from my

chest. I gave her the letter

expecting a tight hug but was

very disappointed with the

response. She pointed out that

keeping blood stained things in

her room could spread

infection. She returned the

letter to me and asked me to

make a fresh copy written only

in ink.

My frustration with her logic

drove me crazy and I ended up

insulting her in front of the

entire college. I did two

mistakes that day ? got drunk in

the afternoon and called her an

ugly logic Post-It. Since that day,

she stopped looking at me and

she successfully avoided all my

attempts to speak to her. I did

everything to get back her love,

things like ? false suicide

attempts and flirting with

another girl in front of her but

nothing worked out and I

became desperate for her

forgiveness.

The farewell day was my last

chance to revive the strained

relationship. After the function,

I went to her and fell at her

feet, closed my eyes and asked

for forgiveness. She said,

turning away her long eyelids

?You have asked for forgiveness

and I forgive you, don?t expect

anything more.? She walked

away brushing her skirt against

my folded hands. That entire

night, I stood right opposite her

hostel window with the hope of

rekindling any residual feeling

of love she might have for me.

Early morning, I saw her leaving

the hostel with her luggage to

catch the train back home. I

uttered under my breath ?look

back? .look back? .look back?

but even this did not work. She

didn?t even look at me. My

untamed love kept craving for

the lost reins she took away

with her. After that day, I never

met her or contacted her.

I looked around but could not

spot her at the Security

Check-In. In my mind, I was

thinking of how to face her.

While walking towards the

boarding gate, I stopped at the

book store to check whether

my books are available there. I

was about to enter the store

and there she was! Aesha stood

right in front of me - face to

face. She looked the same - slim

body, round face with big eyes

and a dimple on her cheeks.

Then my eyes fell on the book

she was holding in her hand,

that was my book ? ?I Hate You,

But I Love You?.

All my expressions immediately

froze. Aesha also took a couple

of seconds to activate her

expressions. She smiled and

extended the book saying

?Autograph please?. I felt like

pinching myself to know, if it

was real. Her gesture thawed

my frozen expression and I

smiled back nervously at her

while accepting the book. Both

of us were looking for words

while avoiding prolonged eye

contact. With an unsure

movement of my head and

hand I asked if we could sit

somewhere in the passenger

lounge.

We sat at a corner table over a

cup of coffee keeping our

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 36 ~Continued...

I still love you...

our boarding passes on the

table - side by side. She was

happy to know that we were

going to the same place. I got to

know that she was working at

an IT company as a Business

Analyst ? I thought it was the

perfect job for her. I signed on

the first page of the book and

gave it back to her. Aesha

demanded ?Only autograph,

you don?t want to write

anything??

My heart was thudding with joy.

The coffee was never so tasty

and airport was never so

interesting. That day, it seemed

that there was only one girl at

the airport. First time in life, she

asked me to write something

for her. I grabbed the book and

wrote ? ?Hate is a form of love.

Once loved, hate has to

happen. But love always wins.

With best compliments from? ?

She looked at the remark and

smiled. ?I love your books. You

are a good writer.?, she said

keeping the book in her

handbag. ?Thanks?, I said with a

polite smile. ?But I am

surprised, that you read love

stories. During college days you

read only non-fiction.? I lowered

my voice and stated ?You have

changed a lot, Aesha.?

Aesha nodded in agreement

and said ?Yes, I have changed. I

suppose every girl does change

when she is about to start a

family? she said turning the

golden ring on her ring finger.

The world around me stopped

for a moment. My thudding

heart paused to feel an

unknown pain inside it. The

bitterness of the coffee seemed

unbearable. I carefully chose a

descent expression on my face

and said ?Oh you are getting

married! That?s great.

Congratulations.?

?Thanks? said Aesha, with a

brief half smile. ?I realized that

to marry, I need to understand

love more deeply and your

books helped me. Thank you

for writing such wonderful love

stories.?

I looked straight into her eyes

and asked ?What is love, Aesha?

What did you understand from

my books??

She looked back passionately

into my eyes. Our expressions

froze for a few seconds and

within that silence we

exchanged a thousand words.

Then she looked down at her

wrist watch and said ?half an

hour more for the boarding to

start. I am really looking

forward to this reunion after

four long years.? She changed

her expression and asked with a

wide smile ?So, when are you

getting married??

My words came out from the

deepest core of my heart ?I

don?t want to marry to get a

tick mark on my social profile.

I will marry only if I feel I can

give her all the love my heart

can carry till the end of my

life. I will marry only if she can

understand the intensity of

my love? .only if I can keep

waiting for her even if she

never returns? .only if she

stops to look back and offer

her hand.?

Aesha was silent, she looked

away from me. Her eyes

seemed to have moistened.

I repeated my previous

question, this time leaning

closer to her ?What is love,

Aesha? What did you

understand from my books??

A drop of tear rolled down her

cheek. She sobbed out through

her tears, ?Why are you pushing

me to answer? Do you think I

don?t have a heart which can

love? Do you think I don?t have

emotions??

I was shell shocked to see her

erupting emotions. I knew I was

losing control over my untamed

emotions and realized that my

presence would only give her

pain, so I dropped the idea of

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 37 ~

I still love you...

Continued...

going to Bengaluru. I stood up

and said ?What I saw was only

your logic. I never realized that

you can be so emotional. Aesha,

I am sorry if I have stung you

with my emotions. I take back

my inappropriate words.?

Aesha was trying to hold back

her tears, but couldn?t. She kept

looking away from me. Her lips

shook a couple of times. She

was speechless.

I felt like killing myself for

hurting her feelings and

thought I should go away from

her as soon as possible. I picked

up the boarding pass from the

table and said ?Aesha, I am

extremely happy that we met. I

always believed that we will

meet one day. Your thoughts

dominate my dreams and it will

continue to do so. I promise

you, I will never ever come in

front of you.? I turned around

and started to walk. My heart

crumpled in agony while my

eyes welled up blurring the

world around me.

Before I took the third step

forward, Aesha said fighting

back her tears ?Palash, how

easily, you could divulge your

feelings and your emotions. You

believe everyone who is

emotional should act like you.

Have you ever thought about

the person whose heart bleeds

craving for love but no one sees

her tears? Yes, she sobs, she

cries, she wails when she is all

alone and not under the

influence of alcohol. Yes, she

has also got emotions but you

will never understand.?

I wanted to turn back to know

more about her feelings but I

thought, it was too late as she

was going to get married soon.

With all the power I had, I

capped my lava of emotions

erupting out of my melting

heart. I moved ahead slowly,

her sobs fainted away in the

background. There was a

burning sensation in my teary

eyes. I pushed my reluctant

steps to get out of the airport as

soon as possible.

I heard the announcement ?This

is the last call and final call for

Mr. Palash Mathur and Ms.

Aesha Verma, please report at

gate number 1B?. I pulled out

the boarding pass to tear it off

when my eyes fell on the yellow

Post-it sticking at the back of it. I

carefully looked at the boarding

pass ? It was Aesha?s boarding

pass. I realized that I picked up

the wrong boarding pass. The

words scribbled by Aesha on

the post-it were ? ?If I meet

Palash, I will tell him how much I

love him. Its only after my

engagement I realized that my

heart cannot accept anybody

else. I cannot marry anyone

else. My love is only and only for

Palash.?

Immediately I turned around

and started running madly

towards the boarding gate. The

announcement calling out our

names became more frequent. I

ran as fast as I could through

the busy airport, pushing

through the bewildered

onlookers. Wiping the tears off

my eyes, I kept praying to God

that I should see her at least

once.

I jumped down the escalator

four times. Finally, I slipped and

rolled down the escalator

hurting my forehead. I ignored

the thick trail of blood snaking

down my eyebrows, picked up

myself on reaching the ground

and ran towards the boarding

gate. She was there, standing at

the gate holding my boarding

pass, and looking at me with

puffy eyes. The trail of tear was

still persistent on her cheek. I

slowed down as I reached her,

extending her boarding pass.

She took the boarding pass,

plucked off the post-it and

crumpled it to throw it away. I

held her hand to stop her from

throwing it away. She looked at

me with passionate eyes. Both

of us broke down in tears. She

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 38 ~Continued...

I still love you...

pulled me closer and hugged me for the first

time. It was like a dream to me. I closed my arms

on her and pulled her closer. I heard my

throbbing heart beat against her lub-dub. I asked

her in a voice soaked in tears ?Why you never

before came so close to me??

?I was scared?, she squeaked through her tears.

?But why?", I asked.

?I thought I will get pregnant? she said while

controlling her laughter while still crying.

That day I realized that both of us were at the

emotional tipping point. We just needed the small

push to fall in love all over again.

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 39 ~

I still love you...

About t he aut hor :

Sandeep is a Management Consultant by profession. He represented GOT Club at Area Level in both

International Speech Contest as well as Table Topics Contest.

Hello Friends, I am Seem a. Friends, I am 5'10", 38 years old lady, born and brought up in Jaipur and

just 1.5 years back, I came to Gurgaon. I must say, it was a turning point in my life. I am doing many

things which I love, for example - joining Toastmasters, fitness programs and working as a trainer . All

these give me an opportunity to meet new people.

I have learned that our minds are shaped by the books we read and the people we meet. The city has

given me a way to live life powerfully. But when I look back to my life, I find

myself a sort of rebel. When my younger sister came to this world, I found that

something is wrong. My parents? time was divided. That was a trigger to

become a rebel. When I passed class X, I wanted to opt for Science &

Mathematics, but I was forced to choose Science & Biology. My father wanted

to see me as a Doctor. Then I said to myself, "Kar k dikha do" (Show them what

you?re capable of). And you know what, I got the second division in class XII. But

there was an issue - I was clueless about what I want to do in my life. The only

thing I knew was that I wanted to be independent. After a lot of considerations, I

did MCA. I became Software developer and gradually reached to a Project Manager position.  But there

was no enjoyment, it was a routine life - get a project and deliver it within budget and schedule. No

adventure, just boring life.

And now I am here, I am a trainer, I meet new people - I am happy here :) - Thank you!

Hello, I am new here...

..........

+ + MCTC

Joint Meet ing & Installat ion Ceremony

@

Ion Club

&

Dining

L ounge

Jan 10,

2016

09:30 AM

to

02:30 PM

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

Awards & Achievements

Club Awards

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 41 ~

Expand Award

Individual M ilestones

Awards & Achievements

Bhavya Bansal

Mukesh

Kulot hia

Sonal

ChoudharyPallav Verm a

Megha Gupt a

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 42 ~

Educat ional Awards

Triple Crown Winners

ALB

CC

ALBALB

ALS

ALB

CL

CC CL

Bhavya BansalACB

ACS

ACG

CL

Sonal Choudhary

Pallav Verm a

Megha Gupt a

Kalyani Vaidyanat han

Mukesh

Kulot hia

Mont h First Place Second Place Third Place

January Vebhav Kalyani Pallav

Februrary Subiraj Sanjeev Anupam

March Udyan Sanjeev Sumit

Apr il Subiraj Pallav Udyan & Sinjini

May Sreejith Anshuman Subiraj & Kalyani

Awards & AchievementsBest Performing Members (Monthly Award Winners)

Sonal Choudhary

Word Spinner

Award

Spirited Leadership

Award

Rising

Toastmaster Award

Anupam Sharm a Shreya Joshi

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 43 ~

Quarter ly Award Winners (Jan'16 - Mar '16)

Groupfies

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016

~ 45 ~

Valent ine's Day Special Album

Songs of Lit t le Birds | June 2016