March-April 2016
Manama Toastmasters Club, Area 3, Division C, District 20
Featured Article: Happiness eludes when goals become an obsession
Learn How to kill those fillers
How did one Railway Trade Union invest their money
Improving Communication ‌..Empowering Leaders
● President’s Desk
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● Editors Note
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● Crosswords
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● Happiness
eludes
when
goals
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become an obsession
● How to kill those fillers.
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● MTM At BTAC-C
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● Railways Trade Union
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● Quotes
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● Treasures of Manama Toastmasters
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TM RASHID MAYMOON
Sometimes it takes a wake-up call, doesn't it, to alert us to the fact that we're hurrying through our lives instead of actually living it; that we're living the fast life instead of the good life. For most it may be a tragedy, illness, death, or failure that happens to you that makes you act, behave or do something different. It is that moment of realization that you find that what you have been doing so far is not working, and you need a change. Our fast pace lives makes us going in circles, we get accustomed to that boring routine of life, not able to realize our goals and not trying to achieve our dreams. We are waiting for that special moment, where the time will become right, when all the stars all aligned, all the circumstances are suitable, but the truth of the matter is that time may never come. There will be no shooting stars, no one knocking on your door or waking up one day to find all your problems have gone away and dreams come true. If you are looking for a sign, this is it, and there is no time more suitable for change than now.
“Determination is the wake-up call to the human will� Anthony Robins
One of the people who followed their dream and worked hard to achieve it is TM Biljana Davceva. She only joined the club one year ago, but through her determination and dedication has become the Evaluation and International speech champion at the Division level. I am sure that she will make us proud at the District level in Abu Dhabi and beyond. Her win was a proud moment for me as a MTM member, and more so as the President of the Club. She has not only made us proud, but as I saw she has inspired other members and they are from now on dreaming to become a champion like her. So don’t wait for a tragedy or the right time, consider this your wake-up call and start living your dreams, and stay focused, sharp and diligent. Never give up on your dreams and your dreams will never give up on you. 3
Editors desk March 8th is the day we celebrate International women’s Day. We in Manama-Toastmaster also celebrated this day, through the contest season. It was very exciting, the fever of Winning, Enthusiasm of participating, and the collective Team work during area Contest and BTAC-C 2016, brought us together. This was another opportunity for bonding and feeling united, and become a passionate MTM member. Since then ,TM Jeena and TM Biljana showed, that women power was the strongest. I would like to Thank them both on behalf of MTM family. TM Jeena‘s journey although short, but was remarkable and we can expect more from her in the future. Biljana’s journey to success has just began, and she looks all set for many more victories. The energy of both the ladies have rekindled and inspired the members to actively participate. All the participants did very well. And, I must take this opportunity to congratulate you all for all your hard work...! When I joined MTM, I had planned to come only for 2 Saturdays, but being in this organization is like an addiction, and I’m proud to be addicted. It’s a great pleasure to be part of MTM.
I like to thank all the members for their contributions. Editor’s choice: Do see the Treasures of MANAMA TOASTMASTERS from 1964, and the MTM crossword. learn and re-learn from our own members articles. Ameena VPPR JAN –JUNE 2016
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Find Some of Our Manama Toastmasters Members Can you find all the hidden words in this word search? Words can go in the following directions
RASHID KISHORE MUNA AMINA SHEELA
ATHAVAN THURAYA FATIMA CHRIS HANNAH
JOEL GURAZ SOMAYA LAXMAN RATINDER
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Goal setting is not a modern clichÊd management jargon nor is a new mantra for success. At every stage of our lives we have been taught to set goals and achieve them. When we were children, the goal of getting straight A’s or 90% plus was either set by ourselves or by our parents. When we entered the corporate life, our bosses set goals for us. Every goal that was set came with a reward for achieving it. When we achieved our academic goals as kids we were rewarded with gifts or heaps of praise. When we made our grades as adults, the rewards came in the form of a good job with better salary. Every time we achieved our goals in corporate life, we were rewarded with bonus, better salary or promotion. We always received rewards for achieving our goals; well, most often. We learnt this at every stage in life. Therefore, setting our own lives’ goals happened with certain expectations of rewards. Rewards became the yardstick of our success and not achieving the goal. Bigger the difficulty in achieving the goal, bigger the reward has become our mantra, so much so that we keep aiming for more and more. No wonder, we have created a huge industry of inspirational speakers who capitalize on our need to achieve our goals telling us the same things in different words.
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You must have heard or read the story of Socrates and his disciple who came to him to understand the secret of success. Socrates took him to the bank of a river and made him lie on his stomach at the edge of the bank, such that his face almost touched the water. Then he suddenly grabbed him by his neck and shoved his head under the water until it became unbearable for the disciple to breathe. When he came out of the water gasping for breath, Socrates asked him what he wanted the most when he was unable to take his head out of the water. The disciple said that all he wanted to do was to breathe. I too heard this story being narrated by one of the very famous motivational speakers with a lot of passion in it.
Focus” on your goals, he didn’t know he was asking his audience to “be obsessed”. Obsession will surely help us in achieving what we want to but it leaves us with a greater risk of losing what we are not focusing on. And, that may be equally, if not more, important to us. Our obsession can drive us to make more money because we think it’s important for our family but in doing so, we
In the fervour, he also mentioned that if you want to succeed go on an over drive. Sleep less because you waste time sleeping. Every waking moment just keep thinking about your goal and how to achieve it, how to be successful in whatever you want to do. Every time you talk, it has to do with your goals. Create a circle of friends and relationships that help you in achieving your goals. In a nut shell, just do nothing else but eat, drink and breathe your goal. He was walking the talk by delivering the speech with an exaggerated sense of purposefulness and passion. I must admit, the speech was very motivating and applause continued well after the contents were digested by the audience.
may not be giving enough time to our family which may be more important to them. Our obsession to get to the top of the ladder may lead us to trample on a few toes and some of those may belong to people who care for us. Our obsession for fame may lead us to lose out on our relationships. When our goals become our obsession, they can come in the way of our happiness.
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Join me in wishing all of them a very happy birthday
MARCH
TM Claire Cosgrove TM Prashanth Gudibande TM Kishore Babu
TM Azza Abdulla Bakai
APRIL
TM Fatima Saleh TM Guraz Wankadia TM Maisa Sheikh
TM Mohammed Sohail TM Bilkais Khan
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• Yeah, like, so ... • What's new? What’s up? • Well, now for some inspiration Um, Err, Like, Yeah, You Know, Eh, Uh, Like, Yeah, Um... And the list can go on and on . . . You know what I mean! Being put on the spot to say a few words with no fore-warning and so no preparation, can be a nightmare. We all encounter this experience in workplaces, at social gatherings and where ever. But how we react and respond makes all the difference. But what we MUST avoid is that disease of interjecting our ideas and thoughts with those dreaded gap fillers. Not words, not even sounds, but meaningless, irritating, useless noises. Such useless, meaningless, benign sounds are even entitled to a name and copious pages of writings and investigations and studies. They are called disfluencies because they interrupt the smooth flow of our thoughts and ideas expressed in verbal communications.
These utterances weaken what we have to say, make us look unprepared (which we are) but foolish and unknowledgeable (which we are not).
TM Claire Cosgrove
They send a lour signal that we are anxious and ill-at-ease and unsure at a time when we should exude confidence and command control over the audience listening. Don’t know whether you partake of this speaking habit? Then find out. Join Toastmasters, we love to count the ahs and report them at the close of the meeting. We really love to dub the King or Queen of the Umhs and Aahs for the night. So before you come to the meeting, break the habit. Its great to hear you name called out as the “Best Speaker” but not as the “Aah, Best Um and Aah Speaker, right?” Record yourself and see how you actually do sound to others? [Then I will never speak again in public]. Seriously, attend Toastmaster meetings regularly. Take up the opportunity to speak impromptu. Be keen to speak. Raise questions on the spot. Put forward motions in the business session. Talk to the members during the break rather than eating the sweet and delicious cakes. Together we can get rid of the umhs and aahs – however you wish to spell them.
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MARCH MEETINGS AND AWARDS MEETING /DATE
TMOD/theme
2553 5th March 2016
TM Ameena Nathani
12th march AREA CONTEST
2554 19th March 2016
TM Prashanth Renghe Cultures
2555 26th March. 2016 Special meeting
Mary Sharon and Bilkais Khan Unity in Diversity
Best speaker
TM Subhashree Srinivasan
TM Azza Bakai
TM Mohammed Saleem
Best Evaluator
TM Claire Cosgrove
TM Maisa Sheikh
TM Tabish Shoaib
Best Table Topics Commentator
TM Younis Yousif
TM Abdul Rahman Awadhi
TM Victoria Cox
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Winners of Area contest
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In the news
TM Sheela Pai’s garden salad
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It was indeed a proud moment for Manama Toastmasters as our very own TM Biljana Davceva, won the Division-C contest in both Evaluation and the International Speech contests.
What an amazing moment...
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Solution TM Claire Cosgrove
(Over, Down, Direction) RASHID (1, 1, E) ATHAVAN (3, 10, W) JOEL (11, 1, N) KISHORE (14, 8, N) THURAYA (6, 13, E) GURAZ (7, 15, E) MUNA (2, 2, S) FATIMA (11, 6, S) SOMAYA (7, 5, E) AMINA (12, 7, N) CHRIS (3, 4, E) LAXMAN (1, 9, E) SHEELA (6, 14, W) HANNAH (6, 12, W)
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By: TM Abdul Rahman Al-Awadhi
During the late 1980’s, one of the well organized Railway’s trade union had a surplus budget of 7 million sterling pounds, where they decided to invest the accumulated capital amount. Therefore, a special meeting was organized by the General Body and the Board of Directors to discuss what could be the best possible use of that amount with a highest return on investment. During the meeting, every unionist tried to propose his/her numerous opinions, where one of them suggested buying famous artists’ paintings, while all others made fun of him and said that he wants to sacrifice with the employees’ money, assuming that paintings are just luxury stuff and related to the affluent members of the society. Subsequently, a committee was formed to study and evaluate various proposals, while during the evaluation one of unionist suggested that the idea to purchase paintings should be removed from the proposed options, while others decided to take the advice of an expert in the field of painting tender processes before ruling out this option. The expert advised that the proposal to buy paintings is one of the best proposals among others and
he was willing to help them too. Finally, a decision was taken and few paintings were bought at the amount of 7 million pounds. A few years later, rather on the completion of two boards of directors terms, where the new incoming board members decided to find out as to what expected value of those paintings (assets) is? And what should be done about it? Mainly for the benefit of company’s employees. A decision was made to offer the painting for sale, and to their utmost surprise, they found that the price has risen to 24 million pounds in just a few years’ time. To conclude, we all need to appreciate everyone’s opinion irrespective of his/her colour, creed, and position either in the work place or in the society.
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APRIL MEETINGS AND AWARDS
MEETING /DATE
2556 2nd APRIL 2016
TM Athavan Pallani
TMOD/ Theme
WAKE –UP CALL
Best speaker
TM
Best Evaluator
TM Biljana Davechva
Best Table Topics Commentator
TM Amina AlHajeri
2557, 9th APRIL 2016
TM Shubhshree Srinivasan
TM Guraz wankadia
2558, 16TH APRIL 2016
TM Avneesh Mishra POWER OF MIND
TM Bharat Patil
TM Fatima Saleh
TM Victoria Cox
TM Tanaji
TM Anup Sudhakaran and TM Fatima Saleh
2559 23RD APRIL 2560 2016 30th APRIL Special 2016, meeting Debate TM Mohammed. Saleem VACATION SPOT
TM Shubhshree Srinivasan
TM Asrar Merchant
TM Maisa Sheikh
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Impromptu Debate Debate Moderator: TM Khalid Amin
MEN team
WOMEN team
TM Guraz Wankadia (Team Leader)
TM Claire Cosgrove (Team Leader)
TM Avneesh Mishra
TM Amina Al Hajeri
TM Prashant Renghe
TM Azza Bakai
TM Mohammed Saleem
TM Bilkais Khan
Best Debater: TM Guraz Wankadia
Winning Debate Team:Men’s Team 21
“Good friends are like stars. You don’t always see them, but you know that they are always there.”
By: TM Azza Bakai
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” – Elbert Hubbard
“Never too old, never too bad, never too late, never too sick to start from scratch once again.” – Bikram Choudhury “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Milne “No man succeeds without a good woman behind him wife or mother, if it is both, he is twice blessed indeed. “ -Godfrey Winn
“The Two most IMPORTANT days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out WHY” -Mark Twain “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations” -Author unknown
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The Toastmasters Club Mission The mission of a 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 foster self-confidence and personal growth.
The Mission of Toastmasters International Toastmasters International is the leading movement devoted to making effective oral communication a worldwide reality. Through its member Clubs, Toastmasters International helps men and women learn the arts of speaking, listening and thinking - vital skills that promote selfactualization, enhance leadership potential, foster human understanding, and contribute to the betterment of mankind. It is 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 program.
The Vision of Toastmasters Toastmasters International empowers people to achieve their full potential and realize their dreams. Through our member Clubs, people throughout the world can improve their communication and leadership skills, and find the courage to change.
Toastmasters International 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 evaluating our operations, our planning, and our vision for the future. 26
RASHID MAYMOON PRESIDENT
AMEENA NATHANI VP PUBLIC RELATION
BILKAIS KHAN SGT@arms
HANNAH KARANJA VP EDUCATION
TM JEENA JHON SECRATARY
BILJANA DAVCEVA VP MEMBERSHIP
SHUBHSHREE SRINIVASAN TREASURER
VP Education Subcommittee: Khalid Amin, Thuraya Jumma, Tanaji Omer VP Membership Subcommittee: Mohammed Saleem, Sheila Pai VP Public Relations Subcommittee: Avneesh Mishra, Chris Noronha, Guraz Wankadia, Claire Cosgrove, Mohammed Saleem, Tosin Arowoloju Secretary Subcommittee: Chris Noronha, Claire Cosgrove, Tanheem Riyas Treasurer Subcommittee: Claire Cosgrove Sgt@arms Subcommittee: Mohammed Saleem, Muna Alawi, Athavan Palyandi 27
Meetings When?
Every Saturday
What time? 7:00 to 9:00 pm Where?
At the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain
For more information:
facebook.com/manama.toastmasters @MToastmasters50 www.manamatoastmasters.org
HORIZON - Newsletter of Manama Toastmasters Club Proof Reader: TM Rashid Ahmed Maymoon Editor: TM Ameena Nathani