TOASTMASTERS
DESERT DIVAS
DECEMBER | 2016 CLUB #3373392 | AREA 33 | DIV J
REFLECTIONS
NEW YEAR, NEW BEGINNINGS AND NEW JOURNEY… The New Year for toastmasters is a harbinger of changing tides
Building Bridges BINDU KRISHNAN
SOWMYA RANGARAJAN
Just Go on!
ANJU CHHATWANI
FROM EDITOR'S DESK..
As we leave another year behind us, I hope we leave behind things that weigh us down and carry ourselves high with a positive outlook into 2017. Cheers to the magic of New Year, New beginnings and a New Journey‌ Settling down after all the festivities of December and celebrations of New Year, It is now time to get back to action and do some work. The contest season for Toastmasters is just round the corner. So divas, Let's gear up!!! -REENA SUJIL BOSE
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CONTENTS 4
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
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MY TOASTMASTER JOURNEY
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The New Year for toastmasters is a harbinger of changing tides." “
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JUST GO ON!
HI GOOD TO SEE YOU" By Krishnakumari venkat
By Sonal Anjanvatikar
By Anju Chhatwani
ACHEIVEMENTS
THE TABLE TOPICS MASTER By Pari Sagar
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BUILDING BRIDGES By Bindu Krishnan
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
“Warm wishes for a very Happy,Promising and Peaceful New Year" Cruising along calmly through regular club meetings and riding the gentle waves with growing confidence, we have seen the first half of the year sail past. The New Year for toastmasters is a harbinger of changing tides, a cheerful usher of a season of adventure and excitement. It enthuses us to give wings to our thoughts and go parasailing or charge our fertile imagination and set off jet skiing, as we ready ourselves for the annual contests.
A sea of opportunity beckons us, to take the plunge and embark on a voyage of exploration, be it as a contestant or judge. Gear up ladies; it’s time to go scuba-diving!
-SOWMYA RANGARAJAN
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MENTORS Toastmasters International Mission: We empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders Mallika Ramanathan
Anupama Parkar
Sumita Narayan
Ranjani Jaidev
EXCOM 2016 - 2017
Sowmya Rangarajan President
Sonal Ajvantikar Secretary
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Radha Hari VP Ed
Sailaja P Venkata Treasurer
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Sujatha Bhatt VP Membership
Nisha Sawhney SAA
Reena Sujil Bose VP PR
Padma Ramji Imm Past President
Club Mission: We provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self confidence and personal growth
My Toastmaster Journey BY SONAL ANJANVATIKAR .
The bad news is, time flies but the good news is, you are
the pilot!
It is yours to take and make it worthwhile. I found the best use of mine When i joined toastmasters. Before becoming a toastmaster I was a homemaker who gave home tuition to children. That did not expand my horizons as I was longing to have a group of like minded friends who came together to do something creative and challenging as well. I found what I was searching for in toastmasters. It provided me with the intellectual and social stimulation I needed, where I could spend quality time. I googled and found a toastmasters club near my residence. Upon enrolling I found that joining toastmasters is one of the greatest investments you can make in yourself. I have made so many friends and have got a perfect forum, where I can improve my communication skills.
Sonal
is the club secretary in the year 2016 17. She
is a lawyer by qualification.She loves classical music,regional food delicacies and to travel.
I am happy to be part of such a great organization. When I first went on stage, I was really scared. I then realized that it was not failure but the fear of failure that paralyzed me. I have since then completed nine speaking projects and today I am going to deliver my tenth and final project from the Competent Communication Manual. I enjoyed every aspect of my project speeches from selecting an apt topic, building a story, adding relevant phrases, quotes and getting mentored. My mentors helped me a lot in this journey of learning. Ever since I joined toastmasters the environment in my home has changed. My family speaks with a well thought of opening, body and a strong conclusion. I learnt through toastmasters, that if you put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your everyday chores you will achieve success. It is perhaps this attitude and not aptitude that gives us altitude in life.
Those of you , who have taken part in cultural shows, will be aware of the rigorous practice one needs to put bef the show. A musician practices his score over and over, a dancer goes over and over the steps necessary for flexibility. An actor plays his part till he masters his dialogues.What we see in the end is just the refined final output. We the audiences aren’t aware of the hard work that goes behind the screen. Talent crisis arises because we are not tapping our individual strength and we do not have enough faith in our ability to rise above mediocrity.
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We love reading about super achievers but when it comes to us to enter the arena we have doubts about our own ability. We doubt our ability to achieve high goal.We dream big but hardly believe in them, as we are afraid of failure. A good practice is something where you have a well defined goal to aim at. It should neither be too easy nor be totally out of your reach and you should have the opportunity to make and correct mistakes and some kind of feedback mechanism to correct your flawed steps. Toastmasters are testimonial to it. In toastmasters no one is ridiculed or downgraded . This institution finds your strengths and gives you the confidence . It helps you to find your qualities and not your faults . No matter what you do today you can take something out of it for your tomorrow . “ Success always comes when preparations meet opportunity ” says Henry Hartman . So be ready with the tickets called practice so that you don't miss the opportunity bus which takes you to the destination called success . Desert Divas Toastmasters Club is the perfect place where you can develop yourselves ! Join me and share dream to create history !
IDIOMS OF THE WORLD
We use idioms to pepper our speech and writing, often without even realising we’re doing it. These odd little phrases are used to express a sentiment other than their literal meaning.Here are some foreign idioms; 1 | "Into the mouth of a wolf" is an Italian idiom meaning 6 | "To let a frog out of your mouth" is a Finnish idiom "GOOD LUCK" meaning "TO SAY SOMETHING WRONG" 2 | "Not my circus,not my monkey" is a Polish idiom 7 | "To have a wide face" is a Japanese idiom meaning meaning " NOT MY PROBLEM" "TO HAVE MANY FRIENDS" 3 | "To have midday demon" is a French idiom meaning 8 | "To give someone pumpkins" is a Spanish idiom meaning "TO REJECT SOMEONE" "TO HAVE MIDLIFE CRISIS" 4 | "To feed the donkey sponge cake" is a Portugese 8 | "To have a stick in your ear" is a Danish idiom idiom meaning "TO GIVE GOOD TREATMENT TO meaning "TO NOT LISTEN TO SOMEONE" SOMEONE WHO DOES'NT NEED IT" 5 | "A cat's jump" is a German idiom meaning "A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY" Courtesy au.hotels.com
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SUPPORT TEAM 2016 - 2017 retsambeW
Vijaya Sukumar
rehpargotohP rehpargoediV
Pragati Shenoy
Sowmya Rangarajan
Vandita Ramesh
Sujatha Dilip
Radha Hari
Radhika Devireddy
Usha Mohan
Vijaya Sukumar
lairotidE
Sharon Kuruvilla
Usha Mohan
OUR MEMBERS IN DIVISION J TEAM
Usha Mohan Assistant Area Director PR
NEW MEMBERS
Maria Chandavarkar
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Shompa Kumar Madhuri Kolla
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Shobha Murthy
Vrushali
Lulua Hitawala
CLUB ACHEIVEMENTS 1 | Smedley Award 2 | Under the District 20 awards our club won the Lead and Win Award (for renewing more than 25 members by Sep 10th)
4 | 2nd Place Div J Debate Contest Sowmya Rangarajan,Usha Mohan and Vijaya Sukumar
3 | Under the District 20 awards our club won the Membership Maximus Award ( for adding 5 new members between Nov 1st and 31st Dec)
MEMBER ACHEIVEMENTS
1 | Outstanding Toastmaster Award Nisha Varghese won the outstanding Toastmaster award 2 | 3 of our members completed the CC Manual Sailaja Perumala, Bindu Krishnan, Sonal Anjanvatikar completed their CC manual
3 | 2 of our members completed the CL Manual Sailaja Perumala and Bindu Krishnan completed their CL manual
Divas At Other Clubs
Moving out of their comfort zone, many members have realized what success and personal growth is all about.Here are a few snapshots of members attending other club meetings and winning.
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Our members winning speeches, Evaluations, Table Topics and performing GE, Grammarian roles. 1 |Anju Chatwani at BOATS TM General Evaluator
9 | Nisha Varghese at Petrofac TM Debate Contest Judge
2 |Nisha Varghese at I Speak TM Debate Contest Judge
10 | Bandana Jain at Arabian Dreams TM Best Evaluation
3 |Usha Mohan at BOATS TM Tall Tale Contest Judge
11 |Sowmya Rangarajan and Vijaya Sukumar at Div P Debate Contest judges
4 |Nisha Sawhney at BOATS TM Tall Tale Contest winner
12 |Anju Chatwani at Judges Training
5 |Reena Sujil Bose, Sowmya Rangarajan, Sailaja Perumala, Radha Hari at COT and Judges Training
14 |Usha Mohan at BOATS TM Panel Evaluation.
6 |Nisha Varghese at Al Nahda TM Debate contest Judge 7 | Padma Ramji at Eros TM Best Evaluation
13 |Nisha Varghese ICAT TM Guest 15 |Reena Sujil Bose at I Speak TM Debate contest Judge 16 |Usha Mohan BOATS TM Best Speaker
8 | Nisha Varghese at Spice TM Best Evaluation.
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The Table TopicsBYMaster PARI SAGAR I started my journey as a toastmaster last year. Here I learned how to build a speech and take up different roles in club meetings. Every time I take up a role it leaves me with a different experience. For one club meeting I was asked to take up the role of Table Topics Master. I found it extremely interesting and exciting. It was a learning experience that taught me so many new things. I would like to share with you a few tips to keep in mind when you take up this role: 1.Prepare a variety of topics which are in sync with the theme of the meeting; making sure to keep the topics short and sweet.
PARI SAGAR
2. Call guests and members who are not doing any roles to
A passionate artist and numerologist.Loves to travel and
speak. This gives an opportunity to everyone to speak. 3. When you are the topics master, enjoy your role and encourage the speakers when they are nervous. explore.
4. Make sure the speaker is aware of the time he or she is allowed to speak on the topic. Inform the audience that they have a minimum of one minute and a maximum two minutes to talk. The green light goes on at one minute, amber at one and a half minute and red light at two minutes. To qualify for voting the speaker needs to talk for at least one minute. 5. Everybody is encouraged to use the word of the day. Why do we have Table Topic Speeches? Most people find speaking spontaneously in front of an audience difficult. Though it is challenging, it is an exciting part of a toastmaster meeting. Table Topics tests your ability to think on your feet. It gives you the confidence to speak in front of an audience. It also helps you to speak spontaneously. How do you become a great Topic master? It depends upon the preparation one puts in before the meeting. Coordinate with the Toastmaster of the day to ensure that your topics are in sync with the theme of the meeting. On the day of the meeting get in touch with members who don’t have a role in the meeting and guests, making them comfortable with the idea of speaking in the Table Topics segment. Announce the topic then the name of the speaker then the name of the speaker and the topic once more. In the end, it should be a fun and encouraging experience for all.
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Hi, Good to see you" - Desert Divas Time BY KRISHNA KUMARI VENKAT
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Toastmasters International offers a program of communication and leadership projects designed to help people learn the arts of speaking, listening, and thinking. Our Desert Divas toastmasters club is even more special since it’s an all-women’s club and we groom each other; to excel not only in our club but also in other clubs.Every meeting fun filled and educative . Do find out how we divas go about it. Hi & hello time - Hi! Hello! It's been a while - smiley time! Wow time - Wow! You look gorgeous! Appreciating each others appearance. Greet time - A diva circulates around the hall and greets everyone with a lovely smile and occasionally a small gift, saying "I am the greet master today”. It is Greet time! Sweet scream to order -
Sergeant at arms Time- SAA calls for attention and the meeting starts with rules .
President's Time - Our President wishes, announces, demands and declares the meeting open by hitting the gavel. TMOD time - Happily talks about the theme of the day and introduces the silent role players and guests, Continues along with her theme with apt script and slides Word master/grammarian time -The word master pops a new word, explains its meaning and calls for a round robin session. Divas wrack their brains to use the word in the session. Also the grammarian, she listens notes down errors , corrects grammar and commends good language. Timer time - Timer is important for the smooth flow of a session. Like a traffic signal she moves from green to amber and then red and finally declares who is qualified. Murmur/whisper time Little whispers through the session sometimes go unnoticed. Speaker time - Time to deliver projects with hesitant smiles and knotted nerves looking at the timer silently. Shoot time - Time to shoot perfect pictures some posed and some candid(opportunity to change the profile pic) Break time -
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Fuel time with yummy snacks and a hot cuppa.
WHERE LEADERS ARE MADE
Table Topics time - Looking at the TT master innocently and nodding “do not call me please”. After TM V.P.Menon’s “Try me “ session Divas are now all set to attack any topic. TT Speaker time - For any given topic, words tumble out with the minds creativity and imagination. They peak till green light, ease at amber and stop at red. Some go excitedly even beyond that…Divas are unstoppable! Evaluation time - Evaluating the speech in an apt and encouraging manner. Divas take the suggestions and recommendations in a sporting way. Ah time - The funny role where a report of “ah” and “um” brings forth laughter giggles. The Counter
KRISHNAKUMARI VENKAT An engineer and toastmaster since a year
GE Time -
helps to reduce the “ah’ and “um” and ensure a perfect speech.
Its judgement time with appreciation followed by subtle“ifs" and "buts ".
Closing and awards time - Results are declared and the award goes to...!The show is over and the gavel struck again. Group click time - The fun time to pose with “EE’s ,aah’s , pizzas and cheese”. Gossips time -It’s never ending and
fun! See you time - Until next meet and its bye !! The meeting ends and the mind is filled with refreshing thoughts and rejuvenating ideas for the next session.
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Just go on! BY ANJU CHHATWANI
What would you do as a toastmaster if you had to leave the club after being a member for three years? Would you try to find out ways to continue or just quit? Yes I found myself in the same situation when I got a job. From a free bird I was now a time bound person. A tough decision had to be made keeping in mind my working hours. I was feeling bad that I could not attend my regular club meetings and was missing all the learning fun. I had never visited any other club other than mine. It was now time to think about how to continue with toastmasters!! And this urge made me go out and look for ways to continue. I started visiting other clubs that meet in the evenings or on weekends. Yes I had found a hidden treasure in these clubs.I could take up roles and give my project speeches too. It was a totally different experience to attend meetings at other clubs than my own. I got to learn a lot, make new friends from various cultures and nationalities. And the best part was I could continue my journey as a toastmaster. I even got a chance to visit a toastmaster club in my hometown at India. The urge in me to continue made me push myself and even use my vacations at India to complete a few of my CL projects. The members of that club were a group of college students. It was an enriching experience to visit their club. Yesss it had been proved, Where there is a will there is a way! Had I given up after getting a job, I would not have been able to continue and my journey in toastmasters would have come to an end. I would request all to stay strong, and try to find solutions in adverse situations. Giving up is easy, take a tough road and just go on!!!
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ANJU CHHATWANI A teacher at Indian High School and an ardent toastmaster
Building Bridges
BY BINDHU KRISHNAN
Hepellopo thepere!,,
By grade nine I was relieved to get rid of Marathi
How pow mapanypee opof yo opoo Capan speak
and chose french. It so happened that as I
this language?
finished college my family moved to Thane, a
"Bindu, what is this pee pee poo poo you are saying?
Marathi dominated area. Trust me , it happened
Who can understand it here ?
like magic... I managed to learn to speak in
It's the secret language of girls thatha, P language,
Marathi in a months time
you won't understand.
So the first step to learning a language , I
Amma talks to her sisters in Telugu and Chacha
realized, is to Listen and Emulate. Just the way
and chachi only speak Gujarati, so why can't i? My
small babies do.
dear, we live in India, the land of a thousand
Research shows that the wiring in women's
languages . So why not learn Telugu and Gujarati if
brains is such that our language skills are superior
you want to know their secrets. After all ,Language
to men. With this in mind and dreams of becoming
has been created for communication only. The
an interpreter , I joined the Goethe Institute for
more languages you speak , the more friends you
learning German after college hours.
can make. Really?..I was only 10 yrs old and so devoted to my
Coming from an English medium school, my
grandfather. I took his advice and got on with life.
brain was trained to think in English or my mother
Edmund de wahl said
tongue, Tamil. That was my biggest impediment
" With Languages, you are at home anywhere." Living in Mumbai, we were compelled to learn Marathi at school and I was totally clueless. I learnt my answers by heart and if I forgot a word, I left a blank.
to learning a new foreign language At class, it was a game of Dumb charades everyday, playing the guessing game. The instructor only spoke German , she totally ignored our English replies, so no go but to speak in German.
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It was an absolute fun experience with comic actions and even more funnier guesses. The students were were from all walks of life... Some men from German firms , college kids, homemakers and one really special lady, Frau Khandekar. . She was an elderly ,retired bank employee who came from a remote western suburb all the way to south Bombay in the afternoon , five days a week to learn German. She was doing the course to be able to speak to her young grandchildren when she visited them in Munich. She floundered and struggled with the grammar rules, but she was always ahead or in fact the best at Conversational German.So it means that the drive or the motivation to learn has nothing to do with age. Thinking in the language you are trying to learn is the key to learning it. After college, newly married and full of romance,, hubby and I enrolled ourselves into a short term course at the Franco Omani cultural centre, just to enjoy studying together. When you say " I love you" in English and say, " Monamour, je t'aime!", in French. You are the best judges , tell me which sounds more romantic? This will certainly ensure a holiday to Europe and an Evening in Paris. We moved to Salalah from Muscat and I grew really anxious about life ahead in a small town. More locals meant I needed arabic , of which I could only say "schhwe schwe maloom" but i instead I got the shock of my life. We entered a shop ..and the question hurled at me stunned me completely .." Malayalee aa"? Cleaned bowled !!! Watch 3 Malayalam movies everyday, one each with breakfast, lunch n dinner was what we prescribed ourselves. Less than a month , we felt
BINDU KRISHNAN
A homemaker,Ex Librarian and a fun
at home speaking in Malayalam . We made some very good friends too merely by breaking the language barrier.
loving person
So you have to agree with me when I say that , knowledge of multiple languages helps us understand and appreciate culture and cuisine better. It can be a real enriching experience if you are able to read and share recipes in many languages. Better still , order food at an Italian restaurant saying Alio e olio instead of just pasta. See the difference in treatment then. If you speak in the local language wherever you go you are always treated better.Say "Maney do roti Aapon ne " in Gujarat and you will get 4. Most of us here are music lovers. Understanding the meaning of an abhang in Marathi or a Thyagaraja keertana in Telugu is soul stirring and so relaxing. We are at that age when forgetting is common. Learning a language now will stimulate your grey cells and mind and improve your memory. Friends, I believe in " practice what you preach" , so have started learning Sanskrit recently from none other than our very own Sowmya Rangarajan, our President. It's no secret that Sowmya is the smartest of us all and her brains are the best. Sowmya, " Aham Tvaam Premam Karomi " Seriously, it has worked wonders on my self esteem- for once you learn something new and different , you feel more confident to face uncertainties . With kids ready to go to college , languages are a sure shot win for better prospects in college and career. Relocation is sure to be stress free. And the much feared dementia can be kept at bay.
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We are all already aware of the ways to learn so I'm sure that with a few initial glitches it's going to be a cake walk for all of us on our toastmaster journey. An old Chinese proverb says, " Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere." So you can predict what my next plans are... From golden Dubai to China...
PARAPROSDOKIAN Paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently humorous. Winston Churchill loved them. 5 | War does not determine who is right - only who is 1 | Where there's a will, I want to be in it. left. 2 | The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But 6 | Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is it's still on my list. not putting it in a fruit salad. 3 | Since light travels faster than sound, some 7 | To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal people appear bright until you hear them speak. from many is research. 4. | If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong. 8 | I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you. Courtesy www.englishforums.com
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Desertdivas Toastmasters Area 33, Division J, District 20 Public Library, Mankhool
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