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Articles from the Club's Newsletter - 2006 |
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The way forward - some thoughts from our committee members |
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Have you ever "challenged yourself" and won by CTM Zakaria Sulaiman - President |
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The way forward - some thoughts from our committee members Vice President – Education ATM S VN Subramanian
In Toastmasters we have two tracks of development. One is educational track and the other is leadership track. A full fledged distinguished leader will emerge through his valuable and meaningful development through these two tracks.
Education is our business. No, education is our only business. Our business is nothing but education. If there are no members, whom do we educate? So Vice President Membership is also inevitable.
How to get members? Publicity and Public Relations is also equally important to get members. Hence Vice President Public Relations is also significant.
Alas three Wise Presidents !
To control three Wise Presidents we require a dynamic president. Education, members, public relations, control and lead – these are not enough. To track our finances we need a treasurer To keep record all things, there's a secretary. To put everything in order a Sergeant-at-arms. To safeguard and use our books; a librarian Form the vanguard of Manama Toastmasters.
As a Vice President Education, the fulcrum of a Toastmasters Club, I sincerely strive to take all of you to the water. It is up to you, the members to drink from the fountain of education and communication. I am confident and certain that together we will improve, awake, arise, stop not, till the goal is reached.
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Ravi Shankar K B
Thank you for electing me at Vice President – Membership. My objectives and goals for the current terms are as follows:
Outside of the Club meetings Promote the membership goal of 6 members during the term. Follow up and keep track of guests, new members joining and members not attending meetings. Encourage, motivate and strive to convince visiting guests to become members. Arrange for a replacement if I am unable to attend club meetings.
At club meetings Greet guests and make them comfortable Report on Current membership, promote membership campaigns Work with other Executive committee members to serve the club members better.
Sub committee members are : Dr Khalid Amin - TM Jayaraman Gurumurthy - TM Faheem Khan - TM
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Josraj Arakkal
Look forward to an exciting portfolio involving media interface and generating visibility within the public domain as the main challenges.
A meaningful Horizon with contributions from as many members as possible would be an ongoing task.
Sub committee members : Rehna Pinto CTM / CL Khalid Al quod TM
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Bharat Gupta A critical task would be to bring maximum possible transparency into the accounting. I will make sure to have the records ready at all the times in as is state giving almost near to factual position. Sub committee Clement Vinayak ATM-B
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Ivo Borges My Goals : It is a privilege being in the presence of Great Gentlemen such as my fellow Toastmasters. It will be a pleasure being of service to the Club thereby upholding its Ideals & Goals. To help achieve the Goals of the Club, I have prepared my Goals for the current term as Secretary.
I wish my fellow Executive Members the very best in our role as Executive Committee.
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Jayantha Fernando, TM "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." I believe it is a great opportunity to me to be your Sergeant-at-Arms for this term. My main responsibilities are to influence and inspire social and reception committee members and other club members and motivate them to achieve goals. I would focus on the following tasks to carry out my responsibilities:
I will depend on the generous support of all you Toastmasters and especially from my team consisting of TM Sakthivelu Muthusamy and TM Hammad Younus during the term.
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Some thoughts, here and there …. TM Josraj Arakkal
That with so many holidays, very soon we might need an official declaration ahead of a working day. That it never crossed my mind a day will come when cartoons could lead to loss of innocent lives. That at Toastmasters we have some great poets as you will see in this issue. That the Horizon can go only as far as members' willingness to contribute with their thoughts and experiences. That I need to thank all the members who took their valuable time out in offering their 'piece' of mind! That I need to thank Rehna Pinto for patiently wading through all the articles and editing and formatting them in a way only she can. That I need to thank Khalid Al Qoud for enthusiastically taking on the designing and printing of this issue. That I need to warn all the members that the PR committee will soon be on their backs for the forthcoming issue!!
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CTM Madhavi Tiwari Who says toastmasters can not be romantics! Just to prove all those wrong here is a piece of romance (romance – do you notice a sandwiched man???)
In your arms the heaviness in my heart thaws into the soft fluid of life at times your arms from afar curdle my hopes – the distance baring the reality.
Your breath on my face creates a marvelous mist the roses exist again the sky in my palms the rainbow in my hair. A lightness soars. The apple on the highest bough – within the touch of my fingers the fragrance of the silky dawn bathing me to a dreamy freshness the jingle of the twilight inspiring a dancing step – in your arms the sweetest note of life’s musica enters my heart ever so gently.
But once again I find myself bared to the world’s wolf treading on coarse pebbles groping for hopes in despaired darkness nauseated with the stench of emptiness staring at the dismal fruitlessness thunders striking down at my form – lifeless without those loving arms.
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Chandra Liyanarachchi, CTM
1. Wrong - I have only two, three books. Right - I have only two or three books We must always use the conjunction “or” between numbers. e.g. two or three friends, five or six days
2. Wrong It is dangerous, throw it. Right - It is dangerous, throw it away.
“throw it” means to a throw a thing to be caught by someone. “Throw it away” means to get rid of it by throwing it aside.
3. Wrong - Does he resemble to his father? Right - Does he resemble his father?
It is not right to use “to” after resemble, but “resemblance” takes “to” or “between” as, "He has no resemblance to his father"; "There is no resemblance between them".
4. Wrong - You better buy it now. Right - You had better buy it now (You’d better buy it now.)
Means it would be a good thing for you to buy it now. Note the short form of You had as You’d
5. Wrong - Please return back my book. Right - Please return my book.
6. Wrong - He thought he can win the prize. Right - He thought he could win the prize.
“Can” changes to “could” in subordinate clauses when the verb in the principal clause is in the past tense.
7. Wrong - These two boys help one another. Right - These two boys help each other.
“each other” is better used when there are two are concerned. “One another” when there are more than two. e.g. These three boys help one another.
8. Wrong - What is the reason of a sand storm? Right - What is the cause of a sand storm?
A “ cause” is that which produces a result. A “reason” is that which explains or justifies a result. e.g. You have a good reason for doing it.
9. Wrong - The flood caused many damages. Right - The flood caused much damage.
The word “damages” denotes money paid to make good a loss. e.g. The insurance company paid him damages.
10. Wrong - The number of members are increasing. Right - The number of members is increasing.
When “number” is preceded by “the” it denotes a unit and is singular. when it is preceded by “a” it means several or many and is plural. e.g. A number of members are absent today.
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Guraz Wankadia, CTM
In June 2004, Manama Toastmasters club members with their families and friends went on a beach picnic at the Al Dana Novotel Beach Resort.
After an invigorating game of volleyball and satiating my hunger with the lovely food, I decided to get into the water. I got rid of my Sombrero, Raybans, T-shirt & Sandals. Getting into the cool water of the lagoon was a very refreshing feeling - A complete contrast to the hot & humid sand area.
After a while, I saw a speed-boat return into the lagoon from one of its trips and decided to jump in for a ride. Before the boat could start, I shouted out to my wife who was sitting on the sand “Bye Dear – I’ll miss you”. She replied back “Don’t worry!! It’s only a 10 minute ride.” Already in the boat was Sanjukta Pal, Gopi & Rupa Subramanian with their daughter, Jasmine 'Amit' Karani, Sangeeta 'Bhavesh' Gandhi, Isaac Mathew & Dr. Pragati Sawhney.
The Captain of the speed-boat “Benny” was a lean-muscular man with Black tiny-cropped hair. He moved the boat and maneuvered it out of the lagoon with ease and comfort.
As we entered the open waters of the sea, Benny raised the engine throttle to accelerate the boat. The sheer thrust of the acceleration made the front of the boat point skywards & we were in full motion. The shouting & screaming matched the sound of the engine, almost in harmony.
First Benny made a big wide double-left turn to circle around the hotel & went under the two Muharraq bridges & turned left again so as to face towards the Bahrain Financial Harbour.
On our left we could see the silhouettes of the Crowne Plaza, various Ministries & Banks, Hilton (now Golden Tulip) Hotel and of course the very famous Manama Corniche, fairly crowded with people – running, jogging, walking, strolling & some smart ones were sitting on the boundary wall & eating popcorn.
I could feel the sea-breeze brush my face with the power of an industrial blower-fan. In the distance an orange ball of fire, also known as the sun – reflected on the shimmering waters. Benny decided that we had enough of the ride & decided to turn back. And, in an attempt to make a sudden sharp u-turn, he subjected us to a centrifugal force similar to a horizontal roller-coaster. The ladies in the boat screamed. The men begged for more. Benny agreed. And as he went a second sharp u-turn..... ... it happened. Something terrible happened!!!!! The boat’s engine died.
In a single voice all of us asked Benny “What happened??” Benny replied: “I don’t know.” To add to our panic, Benny stood-up on the edge of the boat, and jumped into the water.
Now, I don’t know about you, but in my opinion; when you have 9 people with absolutely NO sea-faring experience, in a boat afloat far from shore and the ONLY hope tells you “I don't know” & then abandons the boat -- it meant deep trouble.
Immediately, I thought: “I should have just stayed at home and away from this whole beach bash thing”.
But to our pleasant surprise Benny emerged back out of the water & climbed into the boat. He said “There is a rope entangled into the propeller & I can’t remove it. If one of you can give me a mobile phone, I’ll call the coast guard & tell them to send us the rescue boat.”
Jasmine said: “Oh My God! We’re stuck in the middle of the sea.” Little Miss. Subramanian said: “He He!! Aunty this is not the middle of the sea, can’t you see Manama Corniche from here.”
All sorts of negative thoughts started running through our minds & we started sharing them with each other. Some thoughts were realistic: what if the rescue boat doesn’t arrive until midnight??? How many table topics or joke sessions can you have anyway??? What if a large Shark emerges from the water & topples our boat???
If by some miracle we did manage to get reach the Manama Corniche, then we would have to walk from there for a taxi. And I, was going to look really stupid hunting for a taxi on the highway wearing nothing, I repeat, nothing but a pair of shorts.
Meanwhile, one of us phoned the luckier Toastmasters on the shore. “Amit, this is Gopi. Listen carefully. Our boat has stalled, but we’re all safe & don’t worry about your wife Jasmine. She is fine.” Amit coolly replied “OK! Take your time. We are enjoying a ladies water–polo match in the lagoon."
We, in the boat, chatted and cracked jokes only to realize that 1hr & 25 minutes had passed without any signs of the coast guard. Now, some of our outright ridiculous negative thoughts seemed to be not so ridiculous now.
Then, out of the blue, four aqua bikes appeared. It was almost like a Hollywood movie where the good guys come to the rescue of the innocent ones.
They approached us & asked if they could help. Our obvious answer was a big resounding “Please”. Benny tied a rope to the front of the boat & the other to Hamad's aqua–bike. “If you have one more rope, we can tie a second aqua-bike to your boat & get you back faster.” Before Benny could 'No' a voice on the boat said “There is one stuck in our boat’s propeller”.
Anyways, with Hamad’s aqua-bike pulling our boat from the front and two other riders pushing our boat with their legs, we slowly inched our way back to the hotel. As our boat entered the Novotel’s lagoon 25 minutes later, a reception committee was awaiting our arrival.
I thought to myself; today we are safely on shore due to the kind gesture of a group of youngsters who decided to sacrifice their sporting and fun-time to help a group of complete strangers.
I later found out the Hamad had himself been helped once when his aqua – bike had failed, by a speed-boat owner off the coast of Sitra.
One good turn deserves another. Remember friends, what goes around comes around.
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TM Khalid Amin
For six months you have been the star of our show During this period you made our minds and our hearts glow So I cannot allow this to simply let go Without revealing how much to you I owe. You might be aware of it or maybe you don’t know But it is an opinion in public speaking you are a pro Your speeches have ignited in me the desire to grow.
In your presidential address sometime ago You said that you felt you were dealt a hard blow Because you couldn’t utter a word after saying hello That situation was not easy, but it kept you on your toes You became determined to overcome this foe You attempted and succeeded in making public speaking an easy show I learnt this from you and have decided from now on giving up is a NO NO!
Thank you President - Nestor Bellano.
With him everything and anything will click If he wants something he is able to get it very quick If for an assignment you are among his pick You couldn’t reject or pretend that you are sick He is convincing and always able to come up with a trick He would get it his way without using a stick
His trick is always to your advantage and helps give your bad habits a kick
After you realize this you end up saying "To your plans I will stick."
Thank you VP - Education Sarath Goonatilleke
On my first visit to the club I asked who you are You said "let me explain to you who we are"
We are dedicated to some sort of art Listening, Thinking and Speaking parts I am sure you realize how vital to leadership, these skills are We help people achieve their full potential no matter of what age they are We help them realize their dreams no matter how big or small their dreams are
After three meetings I was inducted as a new member and with your help I feel I have gone much further You have been great in helping others whose aim is to be a star Such a superstar you are If you were in Hollywood you would be nominated for an Oscar
Thank you VP-Membership Kishan Kumar
In your role you have been like the rook Anything of benefit to the club you kept attempting you didn’t care how long it took.
Your constant plead for the success of Horizon none of us could overlook When you planned the Angel Night it was obvious you had called everyone in your phonebook
The red and black party you organized was much more than what is offered by a juke
Your achievements are vast and could be easily made into a book Your term is over but don’t think that you are off the hook Your importance to the club nothing and no one can revoke
Thank you VP – Public Relations Manal Al-Matrook
Many things about you I can recall I am glad you are with us today in this hall Physically you are not but in your role you always stood tall And made us feel that you have it all As a speaker you used to turn this place into a dancing hall Unfortunately the other day we were struck with appall We were hit by news that was in no way small Your resignation caused our meeting to come to a temporary stall Our hearts will be with you and we wish you the best of all
Thank you Secretary - Mukesh Singhal
His name is recent on the Rota His role is very sensitive and cannot tolerate errata When he was offered this role he did not have enough data But he came to the rescue and did not hesitate an iota
We should thank him for his courage and dedication and wish him una dolce vita
Thank you Treasurer - Bharat Gupta
Thank you for your efforts toward the success of our assembly And for taking care of us whenever we were hungry I personally enjoy being in your company Unfortunately one day you made me very angry I am sure you remember but don’t think of it as a tragedy You have mentioned you are moving to a new company So I wish you a future that is bright and totally sunny
Thank you Sergeant-at-Arms - Khalid Haridy
He is always in a good mood And he is very shrewd His interests are varied but to one thing he is glued Community service is his passion And his dedication to it is always renewed
Any list for his services to the club cannot include Everything he offered there is a big chance this list must be reviewed Having known him for a while I have come to conclude A bright future for him no one could preclude
Thank you Librarian - Khalid Al-Qoud
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An ode to the Incoming Committee TM Khalid Amin
I like to say this to the incoming committee We believe in your ability We support you with sincerity We will make you the stars of our city Our best wishes for you is up to infinity All that provided you organize for us a big party
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Have you ever "challenged yourself" and won CTM Zakaria Sulaiman - President
In each one's life comes a point when an opportunity comes to challenge your ability and your endurance to prove to yourself first and to the rest of the world that you can do it. These challenges come to us in everyday life and what determines our achievement in life socially or professionally is our attitude towards these challenges.
The challenge today for me as President of Manama Toastmasters and for my committee is to lead and to uplift Manama toastmasters club to regain its position of being the "Mother of all Clubs".
Our theme for the term "Challenge Yourselves" is in realizing that the biggest challenge that can stop us from achieving our goals is only oneself. It is only you that can take yourself forward or make yourself stand where you are.
Challenge yourself to take steps that are holding you back from achieving your goals in life, whether to do speeches or assignments or to help others. With self confidence everything is possible.
Napoleon Bonaparte when asked how did he manage to build confidence in his Army, said ""When my soldier says I CANNOT, I say TRY and if he says "I DO NOT KNOW, I say LEARN, and if they say IMPOSSIBLE, I say EXPERIMENT".
Remember, Toastmasters International's mission "To help men and women learn the arts of listening, thinking, and speaking which are the vital skills that promote self actualization, enhance leadership, foster human understanding, and contribute to the betterment of mankind".
Start taking little risks each day. Take a little risk to expand your comfort zone. Phone someone you feel intimidated about calling. Walk proudly into a restaurant where you are uncomfortable dining alone. Not to worry, you will handle whatever happens.
Challenge yourself and win today! |
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