signature magazine.22.08.2012

WHERE LEADERS ARE MADE

DIVISION G, DISTRICT 82 MONTHLY MAGAZINE WWW.toastmasters.org

About Toastmasters International

Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and

leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. Founded in October 1924, the organization currently has

more than 270,000 members in 13,000 clubs in 116 countries. Each week, Toastmasters helps more than a quarter

million people of every ethnicity, education and profession build their competence in communication so they can gain

the confidence to lead others. For information about local Toastmasters clubs, please visit www.toastmasters.org.

Mission of Toastmasters International:

Toastmasters international is the leading movement devoted to making effective oral communication a worldwide

readily.

Through its clubs, Toastmasters International helps men and women learn the arts of speaking, listening and think-

ing—vital skills that promote self-actualization , enhance leadership potential, foster human understanding and con-

tribute to the betterment of mankind.

It is the basic to this mission that Toastmasters International continually expand its worldwide network of member

clubs, thereby offering ever-greater numbers of people the opportunity to benefit from its programs.

Mission of the Club:

The Mission of the Toastmasters club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which

every individual member has the opportunity to develop oral communication and leadership skills, which in turn fos-

ter self—confidence and personal growth.

Vision:

Toastmasters International empowers people to achieve their full potentialand realize their dreams. Through our

member clubs, people throughout the world can improve their communication and leadership skills, and find the

courage to change.

Values:

Toastmasters International’s core values are integrity, dedication to excellence, service to the member, and respect

for the individual. These are values worthy of a great organization, and we believe we should incorporate them as

anchor points in every decision we make. Our core values provide us with a means of not only guiding but also eval-

uating our operations, our planning, and our vision for the future.

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Who’s who in Division G, District ��

Areas & Clubs under Division GAreas & Clubs under Division GAreas & Clubs under Division GAreas & Clubs under Division G

Area G1 Governor -TM Harini Area G2 Governor -TM Suganthi Area G3 Governor - TM Satish Clubs under Area G1Clubs under Area G1Clubs under Area G1Clubs under Area G1 Chennai Toastmasters Club Amazon Chennai Toastmasters Club Dow IEC Toastmasters Club Verizon Toastmasters Club Shell Toastmasters Club Clubs under Area G2 Clubs under Area G3Clubs under Area G2 Clubs under Area G3Clubs under Area G2 Clubs under Area G3Clubs under Area G2 Clubs under Area G3 TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club Flextronics Toastmasters Club TCS Orators Toastmasters Club CAT - EDCI Toastmasters Club TCS Insurance Toastmasters Club Ford Toastmasters Club KCG Toastmasters Club TCS Maitree Alpha Toastmasters Club TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club Brisa VIT Toastmasters Club Clima VIT Toastmasters Club Tera VIT Toastmasters Club

District District District District ––––82 82 82 82

District Governor District Governor District Governor District Governor ---- DTM Nina JohnDTM Nina JohnDTM Nina JohnDTM Nina John Lieutenant Governor Education & Training - DTM Kumaran Pethi Lieutenant Governor Marketing - DTM Yusuf Juvenjee District Governor Public Relations Officer - DTM Mala Mary Martina District Treasurer - TM Abraham Zachariah District Secretary - DTM Lalitha Giridhar Webmaster - TM Prasanna

Division GDivision GDivision GDivision G Division GovernorDivision GovernorDivision GovernorDivision Governor ---- TM Kartik SrinivasanTM Kartik SrinivasanTM Kartik SrinivasanTM Kartik Srinivasan Asst. Division Governor- Education & Training - TM Prasanna Asst. Division Governor -Membership - TM PraveenRaj Asst. Division Governor -Public Relations - TM Jananee Division Treasurer - TM Thanigeeswara Division Secretary - TM Guruvayurappan

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Editorial Team SISISISIGGGGNATURENATURENATURENATURE

iii

From the Desk of Editor:

Dear Toastmasters,

As Toastmasters, as Communicators you churn out your own ideas and share it as speeches. The appreciation and

applause that follow the speeches are for you and for your own ideas. People remember your ideas and associate

with you. By giving a speech, you reach out to a select group of audience but by freezing your ideas on print, you

can reach out to a diversified audience!

Magazine is a great platform where different and various innovative ideas are readily available at one place for

sharing

It is something that you can carry and share across persons. It creates an identity for you and for Toastmasters. This

information repository ignites your mind and increases your knowledge base.

It motivates you to create your own “SiGnature”. It expresses you better than you ‘Express Yourself’.

I am very happy to be the Editor of the first Edition of Division G, District 82’s Monthly Magazine –

“SiGnature” (Express Yourself). Kindly share your experience after reading the “siGnature” and provide feed-

back about the same.

Kindly fill up the Feedback Form enclosed with this magazine and hand it over to the respective Vice-President

(Public Relations) of your club.

With kind regards,

- TM Madhavan.M.K

Editor

Editorial TeamEditorial TeamEditorial TeamEditorial Team Chief Editor Chief Editor Chief Editor Chief Editor : TM Jananee: TM Jananee: TM Jananee: TM Jananee Editor Editor Editor Editor : TM Madhavan M.K: TM Madhavan M.K: TM Madhavan M.K: TM Madhavan M.K CoCoCoCo----Editor Editor Editor Editor : TM Selva Bharathi: TM Selva Bharathi: TM Selva Bharathi: TM Selva Bharathi

Table of Contents SISISISIGGGGNATURENATURENATURENATURE

Division G Governor’s Address

Area G1 Governor’s Address

Area G3 Governor’s Address

Some Ideas to conduct a TT Session innovatively

The Mentor Program

English: Simply Yours

Laugh Lines

Nothing Funny

Being 10, Teen & Beyond

News Corner

Enclosure: Feedback Form

Page Number

01

02

03

04

06

08

10

11

12

14

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Division G Governor’s Address SISISISIGGGGNATURENATURENATURENATURE

Since its inception in the year 2007, the Division has produced hundreds of Leaders dedicated to the cause of

‘mutually supportive’ environment for learning and development. At any given point, we can look back at our history

with pride with a sense of achievement and accomplishment. YES, we have been successful this far and we have

stamped our success on the TMI map by producing three Divisions out of the one Division ‘G’! While this is a

GREAT achievement, what we have to constantly bear in mind is the fact that effective 01st July 2012, Division ‘G’

is no longer the ‘leading’ Division of District 82! We are only a third of what we were a few weeks back, just 12 Clubs

to our name!

This fact brings with it a huge opportunity; the opportunity to introspect, the opportunity to consolidate & the oppor-

tunity to re-build. This is an opportunity for every single one of us to bring out our fullest potential as a Communica-

tor & as a Leader, by adding more Clubs to our Area/Division, by adding more Members to every Club and by pro-

gressing on our own individual development by achieving more Educational goals. The journey, my friends, has just

begun!

The joy of any journey comes in the sharing and caring, and that comes out of a sense of belonging. While in Divi-

sion ‘G’,we have always grown with that sense of belonging, the purpose of ‘SiGnature’, your new Division ‘G’

Monthly Magazine is to enhance and nurture that sense of belonging, that of sharing and caring, to a much higher

level. With our daily busy lives, it is not practical for us to meet one another regularly, not even through mail, phone

calls or text messages, with our doubts, problems and queries. SiGnature is intended to provide that additional

platform for the entire Division to meet with their deliberations and doubts; & together we move forward to build a

stronger Division ‘G’.

To quote ‘Habit 6’ of ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen R Covey, “Synergize – Combine the

strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person could have done alone”.

Cheers!

TM Karthik Srinivasan

Division G Governor

Fellow Toastmasters & Friends!

It is my proud privilege and honour to be coming out with the very first

Division ’G’ Monthly Magazine – “siGnature!” along with my team. If your ini-

tial reaction is, “oh…oh…, not another lot who are going to bug me for articles &

contributions!", it is quite understandable; but please do think again.

Till the end of last month, Division ‘G’ stood tall as the leading Division in District

82- 33 Clubs strong where every Area, Club & Member strived relentlessly to

better themselves and the Division.

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Area G Governor’s Address SISISISIGGGGNATURENATURENATURENATURE

Similar to the human New Year, the Toastmaster New Year has also dawned with high hopes, dreams and expecta-

tion. The hopes and expectations are higher because we are three instead of one.

On every New Year Day, it was customary in my family that we write our dreams in our Dream Diary. Each of us will

pick one dream that we want accomplished by the end of the year and write it down in the dream diary that we main-

tained.

I would like to bring in the same custom here, I urge all of you to think of who you want to become at the end of this

Toastmaster year, what you want to achieve – it might be anything – right from speaking without grammatical errors

to becoming a DTM. Write it down in your Dream Diary and let’s make the dream come true…!

My dream for this year is this – “Every guest who walks into a toastmaster meeting room seeking support shan’t be

left alone, every member inside the toastmasters meeting will continually progress towards his/her goal.” Come, let’s

join hands and work towards becoming the speaker and the leader we want to be…

Best Wishes,

TM Harini Srinivasan

Area G1 Governor, Division G

Good Beginnings...

Birthdays are special occasions in the life of every individual – a day one looks

forward to as a day of new beginnings. If there is one day the whole world looks

forward to, to celebrate as their own birthday, it is the New Year. Every Year

dawns with a lot of hopes, dreams and celebrations.

For special human beings in this world called TOASTMASTERS, the New Year

is on July 1st – the year when there is a change of guard all over the world, in all

districts, divisions and areas, when the experienced leaders make way for the

new ones to take their first step in the leadership journey.

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Area G! Governor’s Address SISISISIGGGGNATURENATURENATURENATURE

Being the inheritors of Division G we have the privilege of maintaining the status quo. Over the last few years

I've made so many friends within and outside the Division. We share our experiences, goals and parts of our

lives together and myself and quite a number of you.

Wouldn’t you agree?

As the term of 2012-13, commences, this is my Promise to you, I'll help those 'yet to be strong', As the term

of 2012-13, commences, this is my Promise to you, I'll help those 'yet to be strong', AND those are 'Strong' to

be Stronger. Let us commit to reach down to people who want to rise, and reach out to people who have ris-

en. Because when it comes to Toastmasters Where Leaders are made– it’s never too lonely at the top. So

set your Goals and Targets high, and keep taking one step after another and promise never to stop. As the

saying goes "Taking Chances to Share", I would too encourage you to take EVERY chance to share. I 'm

looking you to achieve the same.

Regards,

TM Satish Vachaspathi,

Area G3 Governor, Division G

Greetings everyone,

Welcome to the exciting term for this year. Being the exceptional

toastmasters that we are, we are all excited to achieve the goals which we

have set for ourselves. Last year Division G was the best Division. And

this term shall be no different.

Division G is great simply because of You.

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SISISISIGGGGNATURENATURENATURENATURE DIVISION G, DISTRICT 82

This is a list of ideas for Table Topics Sessions. Feel free to

use one of these for your next session!

Interview with Wrong Skills:

Pick someone and have them describe their job and what

would be the most important attribute to excel in that position.

Then pick some one to speak about why they would be the

best candidate for the position, having the exact opposite skill

explained before. For example, someone says they are a

sales person, and the best skill might be being out going, or friendly. The speaker would then have to explain in

interview style, why they would be the best candidate for a sales job, when his best attribute is being shy or

unfriendly. Works best if the skill or attribute picked is specific and not something general like 'attention to de-

tails'. Fun answers should ensue. Other examples include being a actor but having poor diction, race car driver

or a pilot but not having depth perception, painter with color blindness.

Twenty Questions:

• The Table Topics master chose five subjects

• Then he played 20 questions with the club until they finally deduced what the subject was.

• At that point, the designated speaker had to stand up and give a talk for 1 to 2 minutes about the subject.

The subjects were things like: Encyclopedia Brittanica; Camembert cheese; the Internal Combustion Engine;

Winter; and (of course) Toastmasters International.

Celebrity dry cleaners

We had one envelope with a bunch of celebrity names, and another envelope with

some ordinary service occupations.

The speaker picked a name and an occupation, and then had to explain why they

would recommend that person to do the job, as if they were referring him to a friend or as if they were a job

reference.

For example:

Oprah Winfrey would be an excellent beautician because she loves to talk about…

Tom Cruise would be a great pool man because…

Michael Jordan is a great gardener because he can..

SOME IDEAS TO CONDUCT A TT SESSION

INNOVATIVELY

4


Rules for Just 3 Minutes:

Two teams of three players are pitted against each other. The topic which they are to talk about is chosen by

the Just 3 Minutes Master.

The team which is the first to speak is chosen by lot. The teams shall nominate the first, second and third

speaker. Teams continue to use this order until the time has been used up. The winner of the contest is the

team which is still speaking when the allotted three minutes has run out.

The team which is NOT speaking can challenge the speaker for various faults.

When a challenge has been made by a team member, the clock will be stopped

until the challenge is adjudicated by the J3M-Master. If the challenge is successful,

the next speaker for the challenging team takes over the subject; otherwise, the

challenged team continues.

Faults include -Hesitations - ums and ahs, etc .

Pauses - which are too long or too frequent.

Repetitions - of words of phrases.

Tautologies - saying of the same thing using different words - such as 'myself' or 'Next, following 'that' or 'The

reason why...'

If a player challenges unsuccessfully 6 times, that player cannot speak or challenge again, and the other mem-

bers must continue without them.

- TM Vignesh Swaminathan VP - Public relations, Chennai Toastmasters Club.

5


"Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person."

- Mother Teresa

Teaching others and learning in the process is one of the most gratifying gift man can experience. Toastmas-

ters International lets you understand that experience hands-on with our own mentor-prodigy program. The

process is very simple; each new member is assigned Mentor (usually a veteran member) at random or of his/

her choice.

What does a mentor do?

A mentor takes a personal interest in and helps an inexperienced person. The mentor serves as a role model,

coach and confidante, offering knowledge, insight, perspective or wisdom useful to the person being. A mentor

takes a personal interest in and helps an inexperienced person.

The mentor serves as a role model, coach and confidante, offering knowledge insight, perspective or wisdom

useful to the person being mentored.

Membership in Toastmasters offers many opportunities, but none as rich and rewarding as the chance to work

with a mentor. Your early stages in the club can be a little confusing and that’s where your mentor comes into

action.

Mentors help new members become familiar with the CC and CL manuals, club meeting roles and opportuni-

ties available through membership. Mentors familiarize new members with the resources available to them and

coach them with their speeches, enabling the new members to advance faster.

More importantly your mentor is that person in the club whom you can always count on. Whether you need to

prepare a speech or critically analyse it later or even if you’re in need of some self-motivation, your mentor will

always be at your side.

In the end that bond one develops with his/her mentor is priceless. I remember when I won my first award in a

session; my mentor was more elated than I was on hearing the news.

THE MENTOR PROGRAM

6


You always know that you can go further than you thought you could when someone else believes

you can and that’s exactly the kind of a figure the mentor provides.

A mentor is not your teacher, rather he is your friend who guides you and in the process learns himself.

At Toastmasters-VIT we do not wait for one person to stand up and take centre stage, on the other hand we

all get involved equally and propel each other forward.

And that is the spirit of a Toastmaster!!!

-TM Venkat Sundar,

VIT Toastmasters Club

7


Have you noticed that people are most comfortable when allowed to interact in their mother tongue?

They are able to express themselves freely and the clarity of thoughts is evident. One then often wonders why

should He/she learn English at all!

Well in my opinion it’s not because English is the most widespread language in the world and is more widely

spoken and written than any other language. Nor because 75% of worlds mail, telexes and cables are in

English.

Its simply because “One should not make a fool of himself in front of others” .Usually when someone asks

something in English, people have the habit of constructing the sentence in their mother tongue and then con-

vert it into English.

Bad option!! Considering that it is English that we are talking about! People often say that English is a beautiful

language. I have come to understand that they term anything beautiful that they don’t understand. Can’t blame

them, can we?

English is a language which has rules for everything: subject object agreement, verb agreement, tense agree-

ment to name a few; but fails in helping us know why “s” should not be uttered in “aisle”. Not just that, this arti-

cle focuses on many such funny aspects of English: If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian

eat? Well definitely not humans I hope! This is just like one of those “If electricity is because of electrons, Mo-

rality is because of”???

In what language do people recite at a play, and play at a recital? Well still scratching my head. We have a

nose that runs (running nose) and feet that can smell.

Sadly that’s not all! When a house burns up, it burns down. Yes they couldn’t figure out on which one should

they concentrate: fire or house.When the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are

invisible. Now I am starting to love physics. All it has is one switch. Either on or off.

What more there seems to a lack of words for expressions? How else can you explain the following expression:

Yesterday the weather was hot as hell and tomorrow it would be as cold as hell. Reminds me of Delhi.

Even if I am willing to give English the benefit of doubt, English is ready with much more surprises!

Sweetmeats are candies, while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat!

Boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig And worst, English muffins were

not invented in England or French fries in France.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we see that we have a long way to go! No, we

don’t have to speak or write like Shakespeare. But lets just ensure that we are not laughing ignorantly without

realizing that we are the butt end of the joke.

PS :Oh no! My watch has stopped working. Let me wind it up... along with this article.

-TM Srinath Guhan

TCS Maitree Insurance Toastmasters Club

ENGLISH: SIMPLY YOURS

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It has been an exciting and fruitful term(2011-2012) for the Ford Chennai Toastmasters club

(FCTC). The club has been winning accolades one after the other under the presidency of Toastmaster (TM)

Sivasankaran. The start of the term saw TM Shankar Dhakshinamoorthy donning the role of Area Governor

having 5 clubs (including the FCTC) under him and from there it has been a nonstop success journey.

FCTC members represented the Club in both Area and Division level. Contestants had the audience double up

with laughter in the Humorous speech contest, moved them to tears in the International speech contest and

challenged them in the Evaluation and Table Topics contests.

FCTC has produced 4 Competent Communicators, 4 Competent Leaders, 2 Advanced Competent Communi-

cators and 3 Advanced Competent Leaders this term. This has helped in achieving all the targeted educational

goals and winning the “President’s distinguished Club” Award for the second time in a row. The club has pro-

duced its first Advanced Communicator silver this year(TM Sivasankaran). Three members have obtained the

coveted Triple Crown Award by completing 3 educational awards within a year. For the first time in FCTC histo-

ry, TM Sai Gautam has completed 4 educational awards within one year.

The club members are also mentors/Sponsors to others clubs like Flextronics, Shell, Coimbatore Community

Club and TCS. Division G awarded the STAR awards to TM Sai and TM Satish; and TM Kavitha received the

Super Star award. The FCTC was also recognized at the Annual event conducted by Toastmasters in Colom-

bo.

The FCTC is all set to carry the baton further with its new set for office bearer for the term July 2012-June 2012

along with its new Area governor TM Satish Vachaspathi. Kudos to this team and may they scale greater

heights!

Members of the Ford Chennai Toastmasters club (from l to r).

Top Row: V. Satish, Mateen, Muthukumar Nagarajan. Bottom Row: Jaya London (Bobby), Lokesh, Durai Anand, Sai Gautam, Shankar Dhakshinamoorthy, Sivasankaran, Sara-

vanan Ponnusamy, Kavitha Karunakaran

Ford Chennai Toastmasters Club Goes Further

9


Everyone in the wedding ceremony was watching the radiant bride as her father escorted

her down the aisle to give her to the groom. They reached the altar and the waiting groom;

the bride kissed her father and placed something in his hand.

Everyone in the room was wondering what was given to the father by the bride. The father could feel the sus-

pense in the air and all eyes were on him to divulge the secret and say something. So he announced "Ladies

and Gentlemen today is the luckiest day of my life."

Then he raised his hands with what his daughter gave him and continued, "My daughter finally, finally returned

my credit card to me." The whole audience including priest started laughing...but not the poor groom!

********************

Announcement in University:

"The students who have parked their cars on the driveway, please move them"

Another announcement after 20 minutes:

"The 200 students who went to move 9 cars please return to their respective classes"

********************

Phone rings; little boy answers.

Salesman says “Can I speak to your father?”

Little boy whispers “He's busy.”

“What is he doing?” Talking to the firemen.”

“Okay, can I speak to your mother?”

Little boy whispers “She's busy.”

“What is she doing?” Talking to the policemen

Salesman says “Let me get this straight-- there is no adult I can speak to right now because they are all talking

to the police or the firemen.

What's going on?”

Little boy whispers “they're looking' for ME!”

----TM Rammohan Reddy,TM Rammohan Reddy,TM Rammohan Reddy,TM Rammohan Reddy,

SAA, Chennai Toastmasters Club

LAUGH LINES

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What is life without fun?

It’s absolutely a non-sense. Did you ever know that an average person in

his / her lifetime spends an estimated 20,160 minutes kissing!

It is 336 hours!! 14 days!

Are you worrying how to reduce your body weight?? Then try smelling ba-

nanas and green apples.

Smelling bananas and/or green apples can help you lose weight!

You should not eat them but only smell.

India has a large number of doctors and engineers yet most of the Indian guys like wasting their time going af-

ter girls and hanging out with their friends. The National game of India is Hockey. But Cricket is the most popu-

lar game in India. Indians believe cricket is their religion.

India's film industry is called Bollywood and it makes the largest number of movies

in the world.

Although, most of the Bollywood movies are copied from Hollywood! Indian movies are believed to be more

romantic with its main emphasis on the LOVE part. Bollywood movies generally have three main characters,

"Actor", "Actress" and "The Bad Guy".

Did you know that two out of five people in the world marry their first love? Blessed or cursed we really do not

know. Did you know that two out of five people in the world marry their first Love? Blessed or cursed, we really

do not know.

In Quitman, US, it is illegal for a chicken to cross the road. We totally don’t know why it is to know that Walt

Disney, the creator of Mickey Mouse, was afraid of mice. Another stunning fact is that drivers kill more deer

than hunters.

Charlie Chaplin once entered a "Chaplin look-alike" contest and did not make the final round.

In the period before World War II, Albert Einstein was well known in America and he would be stopped on the

street by people asking him to explain the theory of relativity.

He finally figured out a way to handle the incessant inquires. He told his inquiries “Pardon me, so Sorry! I am

always mistaken for Professor Einstein. While getting into the train people would always like to get in only to

the particular coach, they never realize they can get in to any coach and walk to their coach. At railway station

in Chennai, the train stops only for 2 minutes but people try to get in through only their coach door and never

through nearby door even if the nearby door is free. Only in America to the fitness center people take escalator

than taking the staircase.

The message to you is even if you are a big shot or a busy boss have fun whenever and wherever possible.

Don’t be serious always.

-TM Liza Mohanty

TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club

Nothing Funny

11


It was about quarter past six, on a breezy Saturday evening. After hours of drizzle, I decided to take a stroll

along the road to relish the evening bliss.

Right after I walked a few yards, I heard little twin boys running down the road, screaming with joy. They ran as

if they were the first to run on this planet and no one had done it before.

Their Father was a few yards behind with somewhat of an embarrassed look on his face as if to say "I don't

know

these kids. They are really not mine!."

The two little boys found a puddle down the lane, and started to stomp their foot resembling a march. They

stomped each foot down, first the left, then the right and so on. As they continued to do so, I noticed an unpar-

alleled level of excitement on their face, like they had discovered a treasure of gold. It was then; I found having

developed an unnoticed smile on my face. I could not stop but was smiling my way while looking at those two

little boys who were unleashing their freedom.

Even after I had walked ahead of that place, I had been still thinking about those little kids. I was just

wondering, how I have missed that freedom in recent days of my life. I just pondered if I had really lost that trait

of mine or had that changed by compulsion. I wondered when the last time I was so was self-expressed that it

didn’t matter who was around and why they thought. I then discovered the real feel of the moment, Gash, I re-

ally I missed that kind in me.

It is to be noted that Lord William Shakespeare had rightly pointed out in his epic sonnet. “All words a stage”.

There are seven stages of men life. We start our life as a child and end in the same.

“Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,

that ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”

There lies a huge disparity between the child and what we call ourselves ‘the adult’. What we would dismiss is,

nothing holds great interest for them and they can be at it for hours, days without trace of monotony or

tedium. We wonder how they never get bored of things that appear lame to us, and they probably wonder how

we do, Infants have their innate ability to regard everything they see with a renewed sense of appreciation, a

wide eyed wonder that is normally reserved for the first time we look at something. Given that most of what we

see is new to them, they are still able to carry that sense of wonder even later.

BEING 10, TEEN & BEYOND

12


All ordinary and mundane happenings can trigger excitement and laughter that might seem terribly exaggerat-

ed to us. A few years later, there is someone stating you down from the mirror-s serious, supposed purposeful

and practical individual; who means business – Get done with this, get done with that – you know there is al-

ways something to attend to.

But somewhere along the process of growing up, becoming an adult, trying

to make sense of the world, we let these indispensable entities for living a

fulfilling life differ with practical life and we tend to lose them entire-

ly. We do manage to retain some percentage of them, but it is hidden

somewhere deep within us.

It is a tough battle from the child’s perspective. A child wants to grow up, as

do the adults around him and in this ardent effort to deconstruct the world

around him, he manages to remove the sense of mystery as well.

The magic about life is reduced to reality, to instill a practical approach. In urge to keep up to the fierce social

expectations, the brutal urgency with which it demands that a child grow up and become mature, we tend to

confuse the childlike with childish. Very few manage to escape the social expectations and live on their own

terms.

Everyone grow up to become achievers at some point, but most at the cost of losing their happiness and peace

of mind. And then every stress management workshops laps up the basic concept of “Connecting the child

within you”.

And we start over, driven by a renewed motivation and purpose to become again what we once were buoyant,

happy and peaceful. The challenge is to remain like a child and achieve like an adult. That child is alive within

us. Some of us need to dust a little; some of us need to dig to find those sparkling eyes filled with wonder.

-TM Ram Nishanth.B,

TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club

13

News Corner

14

⇒ New Inclusions:

The following clubs are newly added into Division G

Verizon Toastmasters Club

TCS Maitree Alpha Toastmasters Club

TCS Maitree Champion Toastmasters Club

Brisa VIT Toastmasters Club

⇒ Demo Meetings conducted tin his month:

Demo meetings were conducted for the following companies:

Scope International - 10th July,2012

Symantec - 19th July,2012

FEEDBACK FORM

SISISISIGGGGNATURENATURENATURENATURE MONTHLY MAGAZINE Express Yourself

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DIVISION G

DISTRICT 82