Communiqué December 2020

TCS MAITREE TOASTMASTERS CLUB

COMMUNIQUÉ DECEMBER 2020

JOURNEY OF COMMUNIQUÉ

CONTENTS

Editorial Team

4

President's Address

5

Excom ke mann ki baat

6

The term that was

8

The Toastmaster who swam the English Channel

10

Keeping fit in covid lockdown

11

The process of working through appreciations

11

On the edge of comfort zone

12

It is fine

12

Can you hear me?

13

Desh ki pukaar

13

Am I learning?

14

Improve your story telling by removing 'AND'

15

Level completions

16

TMTC hall of fame awards

18

New Members

19

The story of TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club

20

Executive Committee Jan - Jun 2021

23

3

EDITORIAL TEAM March 7th 2020, we had our last physical meeting. None of us foresaw what was in store ahead. As we moved from physical to virtual, greeting each other with a simple 'Hello' was no longer enough. 'Good morning' & 'good evening' were no longer the most important phrases. 'Hello, Am I audible?' became the most used phrase.

Life is about changes because change is the only constant. Some changes are welcome and some are not. But no matter what, we humans are equipped to adapt.

Together we know that we will overcome.

This issue of Communiqué focuses on changes. On the first page, you will find how Communiqué has changed over the years. In the article - The story of TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club, we highlight all the changes that the club has gone through in its past 16 years of existence. In one of the articles, we interview Sameer to understand his love for swimming and how he trained and changed himself to become the 46th Indian to swim across the Indian channel. We have Ranga tell us about how he changed his daily routine to get the required exercise in lockdown.

Kshitija talks about getting out of the comfort zone and Akshay tells us how one should learn and adapt themselves. We hope this issue of Communiqué provides an interesting read.

Talking about changes this newsletter is also the first Communiqué to be Toastmasters International brand-compliant! This newsletter is also different from its predecessors in one more way - this time we decided to have a timeline to highlight all the events of the term rather than have articles dedicated to each event. Instead, we gave writers a choice to write on any subject. We hope you have a great time reading it!

Happy Reading!

Aaliya Ali Editor-in-Chief

Ihsaan Muhiyadheen

Tuba Mansoor 4

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS They say each term is a unique term. Each ExCom brings a different level of energy to the club.

When you start a new term, you try to identify the sectors where improvement could be made. Last term the meetings went virtual, we had to learn to accept the fact that the change was real. This term we had time to ponder and think about how things could be made better in a virtual environment.

One major loss that we had faced after going virtual was we were missing out on ways to interact with our club members.

Honestly, the time we spent in the canteens and the cab rides back from Thane to Powai was something that I was missing a lot. To encourage interaction we started with the activities for the 650th meeting. Treasure hunt and other activities were performed as groups, to give members a chance to interact with one another, talk, and have fun. The idea was not to let members feel that they were missing out on the fun due to lockdown.

Everything has its pros and cons. The best way to deal with any change is to try to take advantage of the current scenario.

With meetings going online we could have a variety of joint meets. We had two joint meets with clubs in the USA, something that would not have been in the physical environment. We also had a debate competition and an impromptu speaking match with other clubs. One more advantage to virtual is that you can have a lot of celebrations - this term we celebrated our 650th, 666th & 675th meeting. We celebrated Independence Day, Halloween & Children's day. We even played housie and had fun.

Talking about changes, we let go of the pride point system, since it was proving too tedious for the executive committee to keep a track of all the points. Instead, we started the Hall of Fame awards. The idea was to recognize individuals for their contribution to the club every month and provide gems to encourage them. And speaking of gems, we did give away a lot of gems to participants of IPL, 650 meeting winners & organizers, housie winners, contest role players, etc. We hope this encourages members to stay active. We also started with the education committee to help interested members learn more about Pathways & easy-speak. And while we continued PR & Membership committees, those were fairly inactive. We have tried our best to create TI compliant posters & newsletter, which led to less variety in colors and other limitations. We changed the layout of the MoMs -trying to keep it simple yet effective. Our VPE Ihsaan created the agenda generator and other tools to automate agenda creation, something which is used by other clubs as well. We started our LinkedIn page and the YouTube channel and revived the Twitter handle. Since a lot of club videos were getting uploaded on mine and Ihsaan's channel, we felt it better to have a YouTube channel for the club. We made the shift from Zoom to MS Teams and other changes came about with it. And while we could not campaign in the canteens this term, we still managed to have two membership campaigns and a demo meeting. We leave you with the Kasoor project - an initiative by Ihsaan. It's a great video, something that will want you to start your Toastmasters journey all over again and never leave the club! In short, we had a great term!

Now to thank the team who made this possible Ihsaan - who is smart and always ready to help. Getting people to give speeches is not easy, especially with work from home. But he never gave up. He automated a lot of things too like the agenda creation process.

Kshitija - she is sincere and hardworking. It's not easy talking to so many people and get them interested in virtual meetings but she did it!

Aaliya - she is the creative one. She would sometimes create posters at 3 am.

Jinesh - he was the quiet one. A very responsible person. Even during the strict lockdown, he managed to get receipt books printed.

Smiriti - she is the superfast one. Never had to worry about MoMs. Most of them were ready immediately after the meetings.

Aatif - With meetings going online, Aatif was always ready when asked to take upon more tasks.

Naveen - the silent one but the one I always turned to - my last resort!

I would also like to thank all the members of the club especially Neha, Raj, Akshay, Sameer & Faraz for being there and helping us out whenever we needed them. We could always count on them.

These past 6 months have been filled with a lot of learnings. It helped me get one step closer to not only understanding others but also myself. It has been an honor to serve as the President of this glorious club. I am glad to have been given this chance to make a difference. I am filled with happiness and pride to see the baton being passed on to the new executive committee because I know they too will do a wonderful job. God Bless.

Signing off, Tuba Mansoor, President (Jul - Dec 2020)

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EXCOM KE MANN KI BAAT When I first took charge as the VPE of this prestigious club, I was told by many colleagues that this is the most challenging role in the

Ihsaan Muhiyadheen (Vice President Education)

Executive Committee. What I wasn't told was about the plethora of opportunities it brings along to grow, to learn, to network, and to serve the club that has done so much for us.

The last 6 months have been a memorable journey with a team of 6 self-motivated, highly-charged Executive Committee members who ensured that we always have smooth and on-the-edge-of-your-seat meetings. I am also thankful to the members of the Education Committee - Neha, Raj, Misbah, Prerana, and Shraddha for their invaluable contribution in introducing the new club members to Pathways, Easy-Speak, and other Toastmasters tools. We have also seen record-breaking level completions and participation from our club members this term.

I thank you all for the trust, support, and guidance!

Being the VPM has been both a privilege and a pleasure. From day one, the term has been exciting. Adapting to online meetings was a challenge but the incredible support and enthusiasm of the Executive Committee made all the difference. I wish to take this opportunity to thank them from the bottom of my heart. Over meetings, campaigns, trainings and contests, I got the opportunity to connect with a lot of interesting people. Introducing new members and seeing them add their own spice to the vibrant vibe of the club was truly a joy. Organizing, planning, interacting with members and guests was an amazing learning experience. I am better off and wiser with it. Thank you again for the tremendous support and patience!

Kshitija Suryavanshi (Vice President Membership)

As a VP of Public Relations, there is so much to learn. With Toastmasters International Brand guidelines, designing good posters is always a healthy challenge. Apart from that, I loved working as a team. With Toastmasters the learning never ends. There's always something more. I had a great time here and it is with great happiness that I hand over the post to the next VPPR.

Aaliya Ali (Vice President Public Relations)

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EXCOM KE MANN KI BAAT

Smriti Rajpal (Secretary)

Toastmasters in itself is a phenomenal platform where day by day and week by week, you can see yourself improving, learning, and growing. And being a part of the executive committee has indeed added a lot more to this incredible journey. Everything being on the virtual platform, it wasn't an easy ride for any of us. Last minute changes, connectivity issues, lack of actual interaction. Yet we all managed to deal with the uncertainties and have been successful to take the club further. Being a part of the executive committee, allowed me to work with some of the most creative and talented minds of TMTC. Not to miss, it helped me conquer procrastination and manage my time efficiently. The journey with Toastmasters and ExCom has indeed been an amazing one. At the end of these six months, all I want to say is three cheers for all the club members for coming out of this shift stronger, better, and brighter.

I thank you all for the trust, support, and guidance!

It’s truly said by someone, “Success in life is the result of good judgment Good judgment is usually a result of experience, and an experience is usually a result of bad judgment.” When I joined TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club, I never thought that I could also be a part of an Executive Committee. I had a very good experience with all the members of the committee. Let me go one by one with each Role Bearers.

1) Madam President Tuba – She is the most enthusiastic, exuberant personality whom I have ever seen.

2) VP Education Ihsaan – A very knowledgeable, humble, and helpful person who is ready to help at any moment in time.

3) VP PR Aaliya – A person with whom I use to work and had never known that she will take Toastmasters this seriously.

4) VP Membership Kshitija – A sweet, bubbly, and helpful person to know and always has a sweet smile on her face.

5) Secretary Smriti – A person to be known for her apt timings when presenting Minutes of Meetings and other necessary reports.

6) Sergeant At Arms Aatif - This person seems to be quiet but when it comes to toastmasters, he is very active and takes all the responsibilities very actively.

Jinesh Vasa (Treasurer)

In all, my experience with this committee was very awesome and I enjoyed being a part of the same. I would love to take more roles in the committee if at all the position is vacant for me.

As a member of the Excom and playing the role of SAA, I learned how important it is to manage everything before the meeting. I realized that time management skill is very important when you are a member of any club. There are many other things like taking up the responsibility and fulfilling it successfully, becoming proactive, improving yourself day by day. I have realized when I am busy, the other members help me to complete my task also without complaining. It is so exciting to know other members and had so much fun.

Aatif Momin (Sergeant At Arms) When this term began we had already moved into the virtual environment for our sessions, but I didn't know what to expect out of a full term of online meetings, planning, and term.

Well... what I witnessed was an amazing set of Executive Committee members getting together, beating the heat, and making most of the online Toastmasters. This term the meetings have been full of energy, creative themes, amazing posters, and while it was tough to pitch - two first of its kind online Membership campaigns. It's been an extraordinary experience being part of this term Executive Committee as the Immediate Past President.

The learning and new ideas I've witnessed have been absolutely superb!

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Naveen Jagdish (Immediate Past President)

THE TERM THAT WAS 4th July – Term begins July – Dec term starts with a bang. The new term had its first session on 4th July.

11th July – First online membership campaign With Toastmasters moving online, the club conducted its first online Membership campaign. The campaign was a total success with 85 people joining the meeting. Kudos to our VP Membership Kshitija!

14th July - 650th Meeting Activities commence To celebrate its 650th Meeting, the executive committee decided to hold various activities. These activities included Toastmasters quiz, identifying members from their childhood pics, guess the movies, guess the logos, etc. These activities were aimed at member engagement.

31st July– 650 Meeting Activity 9 Treasure Hunt To give the ongoing activities a twist, a treasure hunt was organized. Members were divided into three teams and teams had to complete a series of activities.

1st August – Evaluation Educational session.

Nikhil Halwalkar, the defending district Evaluation champion gave a session on how to conduct effective evaluations.

2nd August– Humourous Educational session.

Past Humourous champion from the club, Deepak Ramnani gave a session on how to write a good speech for the humorous contest.

9th August– Panel Discussion As part of his level 4, Abhishek had a panel discussion with Mayank Naidu, Shayak Chandra & Abhijit Roy on the topic ‘Learning & Leading in Toastmasters’ 16th August – Moment of Truth The club conducted its Moment of Truth session.

First Impressions = 26 Membership Orientation = 27 Fellowship, Variety, and communication = 27 Program Planning and meeting organization = 27 Membership Strength = 28 Achievement Recognition = 24 22nd August - Mock Evaluation Contest DTM Pramod Mohandas gave tips on how to conduct evaluations. Subbu Sir and Pramod then provided feedback on evaluation for the participating members.

23rd August – 650 Meeting Celebrations ends with Activity 14.

650th Meeting ended with a celebration with past and new members coming in together in teams and competing with each other.

13th September – Humorous Speech Contest The club conducted its Humourous contest. Ranga was the winner with Raj as the first runner up and Tuba as the second runner up.

20th September – Evaluation Contest The club conducted its Evaluation contest. Tuba was the winner with Akshay as the first runner up and Sai as the second runner up.

27th September – Joint meet with Fond du Lac On 27th September the club had a joint meet with Fond du Lac from District 35, USA.

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2nd Oct – War of Words The club had its second joint meet with a twist. This was a debate competition with Goregaon Speakers Community & Agnel Toastmasters Club.

17th Oct – Membership Campaign 2nd Online Membership Campaign went underway with Toastmaster Sameer.

24th Oct –Halloween celebration.

Best costume - Kshitija 31st Oct – Joint meet with Mumbai Toastmasters.

Impromptu Premier League match 'Clash of the Titans' between TMTC headed by Shashi Chandra and MTM headed by Dimple Mehta.

7th Nov - 666 Meeting Milestone meeting was celebrated with a game of housie. Winners- Raj, Sameer & Namrata.

14th Nov - Children's day celebration Childhood memories were shared and cherished with Toastmaster Mihir.

28th Nov- Joint meet with Crossroads Storytellers TMTC held a joint meet with Crossroads Storytellers, an advanced club in District 19, USA. 29th Nov - Panel Discussion Neha conducted a panel discussion on what we were not taught in school with Sameer Patil, Ranganathan Ramani & Ihsaan Muhiyadheen. Raj conducted a panel discussion on effective speech writing with DTM Brillian SK, Avinash Singh & Pinky Bahroos.

5th Dec - Club elections Club Elections were held and excom for Jan-June 2021 were chosen.

16th Dec - Demo Meet The first online demo meet was held.

25th Dec - ExCom Installation 26th Dec - 675 Meeting celebration.

Kasoor video & newsletter were released.

Joint meet with Fond du Lac Toastmasters Club from Wisconsin, US.

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THE TOASTMASTER WHO SWAM THE ENGLISH CHANNEL On 16th September 2017, our club member Sameer Patil became the 46th Indian to cross the English channel. We were curious to know the details of this amazing feat.

Here’s what we discovered.

How did the idea of swimming about the English Channel come about?

I had always loved swimming. Growing up I used to hear about people setting records in swimming. That inspired me to do something challenging in the world of swimming. I started swimming for hours and then I thought of what next. I swam 13 kms from Elephanta caves to the Gateway of India. Next year I swam 36 kms from Alibag to Gateway of India and it took me 9 hours.

And then the idea of swimming across the English Channel came about.

Didn’t you get tired swimming for such long hours?

It’s all about training yourself for such long swims. I used to swim for 12 hours continuously in the

What was your backup plan in case something happened?

I was not worried much about things going wrong.

There is a process for swimming across the English channel. I booked a pilot 2 years before I was to swim.

They then give you a slot at the time when the channel is less turbulent. There are four slots available everyday.

On the day of the swim, there was a boat with an observer to make sure I was following all the guidelines – like costume and I am not touching the boat etc. I swam alongside the boat. So I was not worried about the ocean because there was a boat with an observer and the pilot. The biggest fear is death due to hypothermia. But they are there to keep a check on you. The second biggest fear is that if you are in the lane of an incoming ferry going from Britain to France then you have to stop. But overall all was well, since I had been practicing for a long time.

swimming pool. I would get in the pool at 7 am in the morning and get out only at 7 pm in the evening.

Slowly your body becomes accustomed. For English channel, I trained myself for about 2 years.

At what age did you start swimming?

When I was young about 10 years, there were no swimming pools. So we used to swim in the wells. Then I came to Mumbai to work for TCS. I took membership of a pool. I realised I was not swimming the correct way, so I taught myself to swim. Over the years I got better.

How wide is the English channel?

It is about 36 kms. But we don’t swim in a straight line trying to avoid the turbulent sections. about 15 hours 19 mins to cross it.

It took me

How was the feeling when you became the 46th Indian to cross the English channel?

Haha, I did not feel anything. After swimming for 15 hours, you don’t feel much because you are too tired.

But once I was back, I started receiving a lot of messages and then it felt like I had done something really cool.

What are your plans for the future?

Well, swimming across the Northern channel is oneit’s much colder and tougher.

How did you celebrate this accomplishment in the club?

Pramod, Nayan, Faraz & Raunak came to the airport to

Path swam by Sameer

receive me at 2am in the morning. I felt very welcomed. I felt really good.

- Interviewed by Tuba

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KEEPING FIT IN COVID LOCKDOWN Change is the only constant is an oft-repeated cliché and IT folks agree readily, given that the rapid technology changes are considered business as usual. However, no one could have been prepared for an abrupt change that was imposed on us as part of the COVID lockdown. We TCSers responded with resiliency and adapted to SBWS quickly in the early days of lockdown.

With all forms of outdoor activities being curtailed, fitness enthusiasts found it challenging to maintain their workout and were staring at extra layers of pandemic induced fat around their abdomen. I loved my swimming, outdoor jogging, and walking and lockdown meant, I had to suspend my routines. On a normal Pre COVID day, I used to log 10K steps on an average and this was threatened for sure. Further during the lockdown, we used to log in to never-ending online meetings at least thrice every day, each lasting 60 to 90 minutes. Working from home meant more collaboration and longer working hours than a normal pre-COVID workday.

It took me a few days to realize that I was mostly on listen mode and my providing updates was for less than 15% of the time. Restless feet took control and the team's meeting was transferred to mobile from laptop and ensured that one need not be glued to the chair. After barely a week into lockdown, I was pleasantly surprised that I was logging 14000 steps on an average and was able to peak 20000 steps on some days.

I thought it must be a gadget error of Amazfit, as I couldn’t believe that I can clock 10 KMs a day, by simply moving about inside the house. But weighing scales don’t lie and at the end of the first month, I had indeed lost almost 3 Kgs. To elevate the heart rate, I supplemented walking with simple to do squat exercises. Since Gymnasium was not an option, 2-liter water bottles served as dumbbells. I increased the repeat count to compensate for smaller counts that I do with 5 KG dumbbells in the Gym. By the third month frequency and duration of leadership meets reduced but I continued the walking routine.

However, the count of client connects, Townhalls and webinars increased and most of them required presentations to be viewed/shared. That meant moving around with mobile wasn’t much of an option and again required more time in front of the laptop. That is when I discovered the immense potential of spot jogging and spot walking which I believe is 80 to 90% efficient as outdoor walking and jogging.

This indoor routine that I followed wasn’t without its hilarious moments. Multi-storey apartments are not meant for indoor jogging and I was always expecting a knock on my door from a neighbor downstairs. But none came.

Maybe I was too pussyfooted to have been a bother. Maybe I had an understanding neighbor but walking across the hall interrupting the TV viewing wasn’t taken kindly by my better half. So I had to quarantine myself into a room and had settle for spot walking. Working from home isn’t such a bad option, so it seems.

- Ranganathan Ramani

THE PROCESS OF WORKING THROUGH APPRECIATIONS What is the one thing that comes to your mind when we think of accomplishments? Instant gratification, epiphany, the feeling of completion, etc. The thing which adds flavor to this emotion for a vast majority of people is the word of appreciation. It has become so involved in our lives that even before completion of a task, we tend to develop the fruit which might get awarded post achievement. Well, there is nothing wrong with this approach but as hasty homo sapiens, veering into overdoing is also very common.

As a result of inflated efforts what we lose is the sense of responsibility and run over emotions in a snap.

Appreciation should be considered as an add-on.

Something which is good to have but if it is absent, conclusions shouldn’t be any different. If a mountaineer reaches the summit only in anticipation of praise and fame they’ll get upon fruition, the real taste of feat will be lost in the snow. The sense of accomplishing a goal should be such that it creates a bridge between mind and soul. A bridge that should resonate with efforts put in the right direction.

In the times of cutthroat competition, many times the results are derived on the basis of toxic reward/recognition arrangement. The hierarchy practices this and weighs down the efforts put in, leveraged against promises of appreciation. Sometimes it is imparted directly and in other cases, it is done by overshadowing counterparts. This concept of give and take creates friction and erodes the quality. The purpose of completing a task becomes attached to multiple factors. It also creates room for the inclusion of malpractices. They do not directly affect anyone or anything but develops a state of commotion. At a later stage, this builds the foundation of a dilapidated structure which can turn into dust at any moment. To be on the balanced side, without bothering anyone much, keep working towards your goal. With the sense of completing it as a primary one and not thinking about barter. It is not a great thought to lower others in the process of building an emotional structure for yourself. As the wise lot says, keep on doing the good deeds and forget about cherishing accolades which you may get for them.

- Sarthak Raizada

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ON THE EDGE OF COMFORT ZONE Making decisions is an uphill task we do every day. But what if it is the wrong decision? Do we hold on tenaciously or do we let go for a new start?

Recently surfing across the net, I came across a term called escalation of commitment. It refers to a human behavior pattern in which an individual or group facing increasingly negative outcomes from a decision, action, or investment nevertheless continues the behavior instead of altering course. People tend to persist in spite of the losses suffered, with the hope of future success.

I was once a medical aspirant looking forward to a career in MBBS. I had studied diligently for years and biology was one of my favorite subjects. Just a couple of months before I was to give my medical entrance exam, my 4year-old cousin Niharika got a deep cut on her forehead while playing. Me and my uncle rushed her to the nearest hospital. While I helped to hold my struggling sister, the doctor competently cleaned the wound. The up and close view I got of the oozing blood and the skin tissues within was too much for me. I fainted. The next thing I remember is waking up on the opposite bed seeing Niharika bandaged up and facing everyone’s concerned gaze. That was the moment I questioned the future I had planned. There were signs which I had ignored. My affinity towards the plant kingdom of biology, the distaste of watching live videos of operations, and the sheer revulsion of smell and fluids while dissecting insects. Theory and practical are two very different things after all. In my heart, I no longer wished to be a doctor and deal with such things for a lifetime.

However, I had put in too much time and effort in studying for the exams. All of it would mean nothing if I stopped and I felt compelled to see things through. I studied hard and managed to get a great score. The future I had originally planned was within reach.

Another name for escalation of commitment is ‘Our boys didn’t die in vain’ syndrome which seemed more appropriate. People choose to stay in jobs they secretly hate as they have put too much effort climbing up the ladder to start over again. People choose to remain in toxic relationships because they’ve already put in the time, commitment, and effort, and maybe they are afraid of heartbreak and starting over. Maybe the devil you know is better than the unknown and persistence in face of obstacles will pay off. Or maybe sometimes, it could be worth it to take a moment to re-evaluate our goals and adapt ourselves to a new path. Rather than admitting defeat, it’s easier to believe that if we just put in a little more effort, we’ll be successful ahead. It's equally important to know when things aren’t working out and get out of a never-ending spiral. I chose to let go.

Focusing on my next favorite subject mathematics, I am now an engineer and developer in IT industry. Life will always bring surprises and there will always be more choices to make. Consistency is familiar and kind of a comfort zone. What I have learned is being on the edge of it, being open to new beginnings will add interesting stories to life.

- Kshitija Suryavanshi

IT IS FINE "Life is all about trying to find and feel the light in pitch dark Life is something more or I should say very much more than being bothered by small things" SO, It is fine whatever happens around It is fine if you feel impassed, feel it, and then revert back It is fine to feel hurt, that will make you more strong It is fine to feel done with this world as it is the point when you start thinking about yourself It is fine to be treated badly as it is the time when you value the importance of goodness in life It is fine to be scolded as it helps you inculcate the importance of politeness.

It is fine to feel hated by someone as it is when you feel the importance of love.

It is fine when you want others to hate you as it is the time when you have crossed the threshold of self care.

It is fine if you are angry head it will keep people away from you and you will learn to value people.

It is fine if no one understands you, you will start understanding yourself.

It is fine when no one cares for you, you will start caring for yourself.

It is fine to feel pathless, you will Hustle to find one!

It is fine to be misunderstood as it will help you understand yourself without a mirror It is fine to be ignored you will stop ignoring yourself So it is just fine!!!!

Live in today without worrying about tomorrows' Be happy today without being sad about yesterday.

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- Simran Chauhan

CAN YOU HEAR ME? A mother’s love endures through all – Washington Irving She was crying out loudly. Her skin bruised, all wounded, yet she did trust her children to listen to her cries.

In despair, she could hear the harsh words reverberate, “Mother, give me everything you have. It is never enough.”

“Child, your greed will kill you and your children too.” She tried her best to make him understand.

“But, before that, you will be killed”, he retorted back without any mercy.

In his anger, he took his enormous, powerful, speedy four-wheeler out on the country road.

She stood still as she saw him sped past. Her beautiful face was covered with the soot, smoke, and fumes emitted out of his favorite roaring machine.

Her heart ached when she thought about days gone by of a sweet Lil lad who played innocently in her lap. His hands and face were covered in the rain-drenched mud.

His clothes had the sweet smell of her fragrance.

As he grew up into a handsome young man, she was hopeful he would be kind and caring just like her. But he grew up to be otherwise. She made him realize his mistakes during his few months of lockdown. Meanwhile, her skin was healing from the wounds he had inflicted on her.

She longed to see her loving, caring child back. He came back with a vengeance. She had never seen any other being as merciless as him. Even animals were better, they killed for food. But he destroyed and killed for his pleasure.

He stomped into the field, hit her hard, and stamped on her bosom, the bosom that once lovingly nurtured him.

“Can you hear me?” she called out in pain to the universe as he ordered the excavation machinery to continue with their job.

Her cries fell on his deaf ears.

The old banyan tree with the branches bowing towards her said, “I bow to thee, my mother Earth.

Your children, the humans will never understand you till their cold bodies dissolve in your warmth for eternity”.

The clouds grew dark as if expressing their anger in support of her, (The ever-loving Mother Earth) and thundered as if chanting the Bhoomi Sukta excerpts (Atharva Veda 12.1) Yasyaam Samudra Uta Sindhur-Aapo Yasyaam-Annam Krssttayah Sambabhuuvuh | Yasyaam-Idam Jinvati Praannad-Ejat-Saa No Bhuumih Puurva-Peye Dadhaatu ||1|| Meaning: 1.1: (Salutations to Mother Earth) In Her is woven together Ocean and River Waters; in Her is contained Food which She manifests when plowed, 1.2: In Her indeed is alive all Lives; May She bestow us with that Life.

“May we learn to love and respect not just our Mother, but our Motherland and Mother Earth” - Manju Jacob

DESH KI PUKAAR Sadiyo se Andhe hue hai hum lekin Chaand ki roshni aaj fir humein

Yea to apni cycle par kunki hum hai eco friendly yaron Desh ka vikas ye vaada tha

Uni raaston par le jaa rahi hai Ek Khwaab jo mera tumhara sabka hai

Chalo chale aaj vikas ki aur firse Holi ke rangon ki tarah tumhara unka sabka

Uspe Chandni roshni Roshan ho kr pukar rahi hai Mere Bharat ke deshvasiyo yaad karo

Saath Milega bina bhedbhav ke Chalenge hum sab saath Bharat ke vikas ki aur

Vaada hai jo india ke logon se Dil se pucho dil se kaho Aaj to hum chalenge firse chaye to pairon par hi

Chalo Chale Badaye kadam se kadam - Akshay Singh

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AM I LEARNING? Most of the organic species on the rocky planet - the third from the yellow star, the Sun adapts for survival. As it is said, "It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change". Indeed from the lens of Nature if one sees to manage change is to adapt like color blue is to the sky.

Each one of us must have asked the question AM I audible?

But have you ever asked yourself the question Am I learning? We all set out to explore experience and then express in the journey of life, learnings, work, and passion.

But the most important question of the year may be Am I audible but let me tell you the most important question of the decade is AM I learning?

Let me share with you all three instances where I asked the most important question of the decade and found the answer yes. This is the story of a transgender named Sakne who went out to explore the deepest forests on the rocky planet earth. Sakne was super excited about this journey.

Sakne had to leave all loved ones behind and venture into the forest for a week all alone. This journey of many life lessons is part of their culture and traditions, where one had to explore the forests and re-discover themselves. Sakne set out into the forest bidding adieu to all loved ones. Sakne knew not an easy task as there had been stories that many went into the forest never returned or some faint-hearted ones gave up in a day or so. Sakne determined and excited went into the forest.

Sakne realized it was a lot tougher than the stories shared back in the family and preparation Sakne had done. But Sakne was focused and knew the importance of this journey. The next two days went by in the forests and at the dawn of the third day. Sakne was thirsty with no water to quench the thirst. Thirst made Sakne lose the will to continue and Sakne started to walk slow. After a few steps, Sakne tumbled upon a log and fell deep in the valley. While falling Sakne got covered in soil, leaves, and twigs. But in end, there was a pond. Sakne walked up to the pond and saw the reflection of Sakne not what Sakne remembered.

Pond water being still was able to reflect Sakne state muddy, leaves and twig. Sakne quenched thirst but also reflected on initial goals set while venturing into the forests and remembered the enthusiasm. Pond reflection let Sakne have a conversation with Sakne's mind and heart.

Similarly in our own journey how many times do we reflect?

When you reflect on your journey you can instill in yourself the enthusiasm and the will you had when you started the journey. Reflection of a clear pond can only be possible if the pond water is still which means when you want to reflect do it with focus as it is very important. I Reflect as much as possible and keep reminding myself. Next time if you are asked Am I learning? You can answer yes by reflecting on your journey so far.

Sakne's time in the forest was almost about to end. On the fifth day, Sakne was sitting below a tree enjoying the shade.

Sakne noticed how all the leaves of other trees around.

Trees of different shapes and variety were losing their leaves. Sakne felt sad but then saw all trees stood tall yet even when they were losing leaves. Do you know why? Well, the leaves of trees were shedding as they will grow again in Spring. Sakne realized after inspecting leaves closely. Their colors were not green but shades of yellow-orange and red.

Sakne remembered from Stories about Spring and Autumn Seasons. Sakne realized that though day 5 but all that learned in the past few days will need to be unlearnt as the state of the forest was changing and it will be difficult to find a way back home.

Similarly in our journey of learning when you have reached a pinnacle, remember like trees shedding leaves we also must unlearn what we have learned. If you want to relate to this then check your pathways. Every Path starts right from the basics and then moves to advance projects. After a path, one needs to think about which will be next but also like leaves of trees be ready to unlearn basics and relearn or to learn and master new things with changing time. I have started my unlearning and relearning journey what about you? Sakne was spending the last day in the forest and the forest had one more lesson left to teach Sakne. Because if ever Sakne asked the question Am I learning? Sakne's response should be Yes. As the journey through the forest was to re-discover oneself, that only happens when you learn to adapt and manage the change. Sakne while enjoying moonlight noticed how moonlight brightens up only a part of the forest while the Sunshine in day brightens up the entire forest in sight. This lead Sakne to thinking and Sakne concluded one must know the right time to work on their goals. Like in forest goals that require longer duration must be done in the sunshine and goals that require lesser time must be done in the moonshine. Longer goals require more time and more line of sight to see the broader picture while shorter goals require less time and can be done with a limited line of sight. Similarly, remember dear friends in Toastmasters or Work each must have longer goals and shorter goals. You must know the right time to work on them and put in the required amount of effort such that goals are completed without you wondering have I selected the wrong goals? I too plan now as per my time the goals so I make the most of time on hand. Sakne learned three lessons of life while exploring through the forests. These are important for one to adapt and manage change. They are Reflect, Learn to Unlearn and Relearn, Plan Goals for the Right Time. Hope next time you are asked the question of decade Am I learning? You can answer yes and apply these 3 learnings as Sakne did. As I am doing and I continue to explore more ways to learn and be inspired by Mother Nature, the oldest teacher with an abundance of experience of life.

- Akshay Singh

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IMPROVE YOUR STORY TELLING

BY REMOVING "AND" If your audience is not paying attention to your stories, it’s because they aren’t compelling. Maybe the ideas are good. But you’re having a hard time keeping your audience engaged. They pay attention at the beginning and drop off after some time. Why? What can you do to keep their curiosity throughout your speech?

It would be wonderful if we had a magic device that told us what sentences dropped listeners. We could then focus on fixing those sentences. But we don’t

Which of these two stories is more compelling? Which one does a better job of holding your attention?

In good story-telling, events have causality. Something happens because something else happened, which causes something else to happen. Do you see the culprit? It’s the word “and.” When it sneaks into your writing, you’re no longer writing from causality. You’re listing a sequence of events, paragraphs, words. They have no relation to each other. The word “and” kills the suspense. It makes your stories feel arbitrary. To avoid “and the syndrome” is to think about your characters’

have this device. We can’t walk up to our audience, tap them on the shoulder, and ask them what they think.

needs. What do they want? What would they do to get it? How would they react to somebody in their way?

“Hey, are you still engaged?” Stats can help, but there’s a more straightforward way to test your storytelling skill.

What’s the trick?

Let’s write a story and see how it works. We’ll do two versions — one that uses the trick and one that

The simple fix: I came across an article that reveals a writing trick from Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of South Park.

After they write an episode, they have a simple rule when they edit: replace every “and” with a “but” or a “therefore.”

doesn’t. See if you can spot it.

Version A:

“Whenever you can replace your ‘ands’ with ‘buts’ and ‘therefore,’ it makes for better writing.” — Trey Parker

One morning, a young woman left her apartment to

Simple right? You can try it right now. Take out the last

walk her dog. It was a cloudy day, and she decided to go to the park. On the way, her dog — a miniature poodle — saw a squirrel and lunged for it. The woman

thing you wrote, Control-F for every “and” and see how many you can replace with “but” or “therefore.”

dropped the leash, and the dog took off through the park. It started to rain, and the woman ran through the

Another easy trick to keep your stories interesting is the “meanwhile” approach. Alfred Hitchcock uses this

park looking for her dog. A man approached and offered to help. Together, they found the dog, and all

a lot. George R.R. Martin uses it well in A Song of Ice and Fire. The technique is simple — write one plotline,

three of them returned home, soaking wet.

but as soon things start to get slow, shift the focus elsewhere. To either a different location or another

Version B: One morning, a young woman left her apartment to

place in time. Even better, make the switch just as things get interesting, leaving your audience on a

walk her dog. It was a cloudy day, but she decided to go to the park anyway. On the way, a squirrel appeared

cliffhanger.

in their path. Her dog — a miniature poodle — lunged for it, but when the woman, looking anxiously at the clouds, tried to pull the dog back, the leash slipped

These are simple tricks, but it works.

from her hands. The dog disappeared. As it started to rain, the woman feared for her dog’s safety and therefore approached a strange man for help. He offered, but on one condition — that she give him her number if they find the dog. The woman was surprised by his confidence but agreed because she found his smile trustworthy. Together they found the dog, and all three of them returned to her place, soaking wet.

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- Mihir Trivedi

LEVEL COMPLETIONS LEVEL 1

Ashish Khandelwal

Kshitija Suryavanshi

Namrata Keni

Devendra Mouli

Misbah Siddiqui

Ihsaan Muhiyadheen

Shruti Agarwal

Saurabh Kumar

Simran Chauhan

Tuba Mansoor

Raj Bharat

Aatif Momin

LEVEL 2

Ashish Khandelwal

Sameer Patil

Mihir Trivedi

Tuba Mansoor

Saurabh Kumar

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Prerana Ukey

LEVEL COMPLETIONS LEVEL 3

Abhishek Maurya

Neha Kirve

LEVEL 4

Tuba Mansoor

LEVEL 5

Abhishek Maurya

Neha Kirve

Abhishek Maurya

CONTEST WINNERS HUMOUROUS SPEECH CONTEST

Ranganathan Ramani Raj Bharat

EVALUATION CONTEST

Tuba Mansoor

Tuba Mansoor Akshay Singh

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Saikumar Iyer

TMTC HALL OF FAME AWARDS The TMTC Hall of Fame awards was given to 10 individuals from the club who have been actively contributing to the club activities. Winners were felicitated with TCS GEMS.

AUGUST

Ihsaan Muhiyadheen

Kshitija Suryavanshi

Devendra Mouli

Shruti Agrawal

SEPTEMBER

Namrata Keni

Akshay Singh

Raj Bharat

OCTOBER

Prerana Ukey

NOVEMBER

Saurabh Kumar

Neha Kirve

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NAYE TAARE

Piyush Dudhatra

Parul Goyal

Nikhil Atram

Shashi Chandra

Kirti Bendigiri

Suyog Mankar

Divya Dialani

Hozefa Sadriwala

WELCOME BACK

Uday Pednekar

Toshi Khare

Mihir Trivedi

Mansi Rungta

Sharique Ahssan

Nevathika Narendran

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Sarthak Raizada

Simeen Khan

THE STORY OF TCS MAITREE TOASTMASTERS CLUB Ever wondered why TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club is so special? Well because it was one of the initial Toastmasters clubs to be chartered in India. It holds the special place of being the oldest club of District 98. And we wanted to know where it all began?

2003-2004 The idea of chartering a club began from an account in Seepz. Parag Parikh one of the first 20 members, who chartered the club says, “the idea of starting Toastmasters in TCS evolved after a client complained about the lack of communication skills in employees. To solve the problem, the managers in the account got together and chartered the club”. The meetings started somewhere in 2003 and on June 02, 2004 the club was chartered.

Mehul Kothare, currently the head of Maitree, who was responsible for the spread of the club in other locations, says ‘it was a conscious effort to get TCSers enrolled to enhance their communication skills. It was noticed that many employees while technically strong lacked the basic communication skills needed to talk to clients. 2-3 years after the club was established, it was decided to include Toastmasters in the L&D department so that members could claim for reimbursement. Later on, we started TCS Maitree clubs in Kolkata etc.’

Now to understand how the club functioned then, put yourself in their shoes. The members at that time were more driven by the need to have a platform wherein employees could become better speakers. With the lack of WhatsApp and other social media that the club uses today, those were different times. The second oldest club in the district Mumbai Toastmasters did not come until 2 years later in 2006.

2006 – 2008 Mukund Ramaswamy who was the VPM in 2006 says he pushed more towards the meetings in Yantra Park.

Yantra Park, itself was established in 2004-2005. Even though meetings were held in other locations, it was not much coordinated. So we had meetings being held in different locations. But no one was keeping a track of the meetings. In fact, there were no meeting numbers used. The club was focused on promoting Toastmasters and helping members improve their communication skills. Trying to get a clearer picture of the events of that time, we spoke to Jayesh Anandpara who holds the distinction of being the President for the longest amount of time (2006 to 2008). He later became the area governor (Area director) of the area which included TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club, Mumbai Toastmasters & Bombay Toastmasters. He was actively involved in chartering Bombay Toastmasters. Among the people who were involved in the chartering of the club, we had Arvind Nair, DTM. 2009 In the first half of 2009, Jayesh went to meet his boss Nikhil Kapadia in Malad and spoke about Toastmasters and how it could help the team. Nikhil then introduced Anurag Sinha to Toastmasters. Anurag Sinha wanted to train his team members in public speaking and he started pushing for meetings in Malad. Malad at that time was an upcoming work location. Finally, with his push, the strength of the club increased reaching about 86 at one point. Anurag connected with Arvind to help improve the meeting structure. Arvind fondly recalls ‘Those days I would visit corporates to promote Toastmasters, hold demo meetings and help to sponsor or mentor a club. In the olden days, I was seen very frequently at TCS that I was often asked: which dept. or project I was in!!! The security at TCS knew me!!’

At this time we had Mohit Chhabra joining in as the VPPR and the team figured in on at a meeting number.

About how they arrived at the meeting number, Mohit says ‘We considered the current meeting frequency and then based on that plus discussion with some other members assumed the frequency of meetings (bare minimum) from 2003-2009. By this logic, we arrived at the particular meeting number in 2009. The assumption was around 1 meeting per month’. Mohit also created the Facebook page. The first Communiqué newsletter also was published.

2012-13 Soon other locations like Powai etc. got the push. Many active members like Pramod Mohandas, DTM, etc. were based out of Powai. Anurag sir & Pramod Mohandas help in the formation of TCS Be@t Gandhinagar. In 2016, Anurag sir helps in the formation of TCS Nagpur club.

2015 District 98 is established with Brillian, DTM as its first District Director. TCS Maitree Toastmasters club became the oldest club of District 98.

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Compiled by Tuba Mansoor with Inputs received from Anurag Sinha, Akshay Singh, Parakh Kukreja DTM, Mohit Chhabra, Jayesh Anandpara, Mukund Ramaswamy, Mehul Kothare, Parag Parikh, Kannagi Mishra, Raunak Kulwal, Sameer Patil & others

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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE JAN - JUN 2021

Raj Bharat President

Kshitija Suryavanshi Vice President Education

Saurabh Kumar Secretary

Ihsaan Muhiyadheen Vice President Membership

Simran Chauhan Treasurer

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Mansi Rungta Vice President Public Relations

Aaliya Ali Sergeant At Arms

HELLO, AM I AUDIBLE?

TCS MAITREE TOASTMASTERS CLUB COMMUNIQUÉ DECEMBER 2020

HELLO, AM I AUDIBLE?