Club Members
Rachit Thirani Amit Maheshwari Anand Kumar
Karan Virani Rahul Manghnani Srinath
Prasanthi Karthikeyan Harison Jose
Vinit Kumar Dhanraj Mittal Chirag Dhingra
Mrinal Kamboj Richa Jain Rohit Pande
Sangeetha Prasraban Mukhopadhyay Nandhish
Sunesh P.G. Islahuddin Khan Gourab Mitra
Harish Kaushik Kavitha Suresh Ayesha Ahmad
Nalin Raj Srikanth Mangipudi Susanta Sahu
Yadu Vamsi Prakriti Saxena Arjun Bhagat
Rekha
Contents
1. From the Area Governor
2. Presidential Address
3. From the Editor’s Desk
4. The bucket list
5. Why I aspire to become a
Philanthropist some day?
6. Dare but do not defer to dream
7. The dream lived
8. Great Memories
9. Executive committee members
From The
Area Governor
1. Your goals for the upcoming new year.
To be a presidents distinguished area
2. The major development you have noticed in the
year 2015 in Toastmasters clubs under your area
2 New clubs, 3 clubs aiming to be GG+ Clubs
3. Any message you would like to convey to our readers.
It’s a great time to be a part of toastmasters right now, we have
able and dynamic leadership and diligent and enthusiastic TMs
4. Your statement on PSN Toastmasters in particular, your reviews
about it and any tips you feels we should develop towards.
PSN Toastmasters is a very focused and structured, for a new club. Its
members have high energy and zeal to learn things quickly. It has
ambitious and hardworking officers and members. Keep up the dream
of getting GG+ in 1st year of charter
5. One quick point/suggestion/activity that can help make the mentor -
mentee relationship better.
Meet the mentor often, build a rapport beside of toastmasters.
Presidential
Address I joined PSN Toastmasters in June 2015 after much hesitation and a lot
of apprehension, but today when I look back, I realize that it is the best
decision I made in my life. It has been a transformative experience for me.
I came to improve my communication skills and I found a beautiful family,
fellowship and friendship. Today I have been elected the President of PSN
Toastmasters.
Being the President has increased my responsibilities by leaps and bounds.
But I am very happy that I have an outstanding Executive committee team,
who are extremely committed and enthusiastic. I am sure we can achieve a
lot of success and accolades for our club. I believe that our life is a reflection
of our actions. I believe that if we want more love in the world, we should
create more love in our heart. If we want a more competent team, then we
need to improve our own competency. If we want a more vibrant and
supportive toastmaster experience, then we need to show our spontaneity
and support to our fellow toastmasters. It is my request to all my fellow
toastmasters to follow this. Life always gives back to you everything you
have given to it.
I wish all my fellow toastmasters a very happy and prosperous new year.
May the New Year mark a successful toastmaster journey for all of you.
Sangeetha Anand
President,
PSN Toastmasters Club
15th Feb 2015, India played Pakistan in the
World cup. Not the best day to have a demo
meeting, but that was the slot we got. A meager 7
people attended it, out of which just 1 joined.
Being the sponsor and founding President of the PSN
Toastmasters Club, I knew that the journey to charter a club
won't be easy. It took over 3 months to get 20 people
together and value the concept of Toastmasters. From senior
executives to housewives, from students to budding writers, everybody
united to learn and excel in the art of speaking. Our strength as a club
is its DIVERSITY.
After the foundation had been laid, we literally flew. We grew to a
membership strength of 47 in just 3 more months, fastest by any club in
whole of Bengaluru. The "Smedley" and the "Fast Five" awards served as a
proof of our hard work and determination to further the interests of the club.
I want to thank each and every member of our club that have been a part of
my journey of Toastmasters so far. The experience to work in an environment
with no natural hierarchy and the importance of giving “the right” feedback
have been my major take-homes during the last 6 months.
Over the past few months, I am proud to say that we haven’t just formed a
kick-ass club, but a closely knit family. We not only contribute to each
other’s voyage of becoming better speakers, but also celebrate each
other’s success and achievements in a grand way.
Signing off for the very last time.
Karan Virani
Past President,
PSN Toastmasters Club
Like always, let us “SPEAK LOUD SPEAK PROUD”
From The
Editor’s Desk If it seems impossible to achieve something, it is another way of
saying that it is impossible to make all possible efforts. To many
members of PSN Toastmasters the desire to scale greater heights with the
best of their abilities is not hard task. I was told just a week ago, during the
executive committee handover ceremony, that I will have to come out with
this month’s newsletter by 28th December, 2015. With now initial plans set for
this task, our first aim was to group together like minds with skills for this
purpose. In an era where one’s mind is always occupied with their own
chaotic living, finding people to come together to make this happen was a
challenge we faced and overcame. With just three people including me in
my newly formed editorial team for this club, burning the mid night oil, we
feel proud to present our very first club newsletter “Speak Loud, Speak Proud”
where we have attempted to capture the great moments spent together
learning and the ideas inked by our club members.
This first edition embarks the path for creativity that ever one has in them,
with better ones to be portrayed in the upcoming editions via learning and
experimenting. It was indeed a great learning while bringing this newsletter
to life along with my editorial team, especially toastmaster Ayesha Ahmad,
without whom I doubt I could have pulled through this newsletter on time.
We all have a torch in our heart that glows with learnings and it is only apt to
share it with others.
Prasraban Mukhopadhyay
Secretary & Editor,
PSN Toastmasters Club
The Bucket List -Karan Virani
I remember the smell of fresh
concrete roads, the warm rays
of the beaming sun and the lush
green forests floating besides me. I
was gliding my motor bike like a
skater dancing on ice. I could feel
the cool breeze pierce my helmet.
It’s safe to say “At 150kmph, I wasn’t
going fast, I was flying low”.
My friends, I am sure you can’t
find these fresh concrete roads
in Whitefield. But trust me, I have
found quite a few in Karnataka. I was
on my way to Kodachadri, 400km
from Bangalore. We had planned to
trek for 14km the next day. After we
reached, some wise man came to us
and said: “You guys look young and
strong. You should try the slightly difficult
version of the trek.” Inspired by the recent Thumps up ad: “Aaj kuch toofani
karte hain”, we replied at once: “Hell ya, why not”.
So next day, we started. For the first 3 km, we were pumped up with energy
and excitement. But slowly, the sun wasn’t pleasantly beaming, it had turned
into a furnace; the breeze was not cool; it was loo now; the lush green forest
had been replaced by barren land. I was gliding…my legs into no man’s
land. We did not realise first 3-4km had been quite steep.
Adding salt to our wounds, the guide said: “Sir!!! This trek one way!! No going
back!” My heart shattered into pieces like a glass bowl dropped onto the
floor. Only I know how I completed that trek. I distinctly remember 2
moments from the trek:
1. When I was exhausted and out of breath, I turned on my iPod and listened
to the song from Lakshya: “
2. At the end of the trek, there was an old man selling lemon juice and
buttermilk. Trust me, being greeted by his drinks, I felt happier than being
welcomed by supermodels. Fellow Toastmasters, I am not here to give my
lecture today. I am here to ask you a very simple question: “Where is your
bucket list?” How many of you are familiar with what is a bucket list? This
term is coined from a popular English proverb “Kicking the bucket”…A fancy
term for “Kicking the bucket” which means to die.
In today’s busy life, we
seldom think of the
memories that we
would want to collect.
The day I completed
the trek I stroke off 2
things of my bucket list
“Biking for a long distance
and completing a long
trek”. We keep whining for
more wealth and more wages but in reality, the happiness lies in the energy
and excitement in such exotic experiences.
Your bucket list can have anything. Ranging from the girl you want to date to
stuff you want to do in your honeymoon to becoming a writer or an
astronaut.
Friends, don’t let your designation, duties and dollars define you. Let your
dreams, your aspirations and your passions scream about who you are and
what makes you special.
Why I Aspire To Be A
Philanthropist Someday -Vinit Kumar Singh
“Is the rich world aware of how four billion of the six billion live? If we were aware,
we would want to help out, we’d want to get involved.” This is a famous quote by
Bill Gates – one of the greatest philanthropist of our times.
Would you believe, nearly half of the world’s population — more than 3 billion
people — live on less than Rs. 100 (2.5 $) a day. According to UNICEF, 22,000
children die each day due to poverty.
Poverty figures are even more alarming in India.
In 2010, the World Bank reported that 75% live on
less than Rs. 100 per day – out of estimated 1.27
billion Indian population, around 1 billion are still
poor. And disgracefully, every third poor person
in the world is an Indian.
To alleviate poverty and related human miseries
huge amount of money and efforts are required, hence Philanthropist are looking
like a ray of hope. Let me try to explain what Philanthropy is. The word
‘Philanthropy’ is derived from Greek word which means love and compassion for
humanity. Philanthropy can be understood as a form of Charity. The words charity
and philanthropy are often used interchangeably, but there is a significant
difference between the two. Charity tends to be a short-term, emotional,
immediate response, focused primarily on rescue and relief, whereas philanthropy
is much more long-term, more strategic, focused on rebuilding. Charity is giving
today…philanthropy is doing forever. Let me take instances of some of the
greatest Philanthropist in the current generation.
The first name that comes to the mind when we talk about Philanthropist is of Bill
Gates – the richest person in the world. He founded the largest philanthropic
foundation in the world – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates has already
given $28 billion to philanthropic activities, and has plans to eventually donate
95% of their wealth. The primary aims of the foundation is to enhance healthcare,
reduce extreme poverty, and to expand educational opportunities and access to
information technology.
I would like to mention the name of the greatest living Philanthropist – Warren Buffet.
He is sort of flag bearer of philanthropy and has encouraged other wealthy
individuals to pool part of their fortunes for charitable purposes, including Bill and
Premji. His thoughts about Philanthropy are revolutionary. He is against dynastic
wealth and calls people who grow up in wealthy circumstances as “members of
the lucky sperm club”.
There are hundreds of similar Philanthropists in western countries who work
arduously for the benefits of mankind. However, we do not find much instances
here in India even though we are one of the most poverty-stricken country in
the World. I tried analyzing the reasons behind it and found that although we
Indians already have some degree of compassion, at present it is very biased
and limited. When our family and
friends are suffering we easily develop
compassion for them, but we find it far
more difficult to feel sympathy for
people we find unpleasant or for
strangers. Wealthy individuals hoard
money for their next generations
instead of giving back to society,
hence, not many people believe in
Philanthropy in India. This is when India
is called the land of most
compassionate people like Lord
Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, and Swami Vivekananda etc.
Philanthropy is also very rewarding. Those who participate describe a
tremendous feeling of satisfaction. That feeling, propels people like Warren
Buffet, Andrew Carnegie, Bill and Melinda Gates, or Oprah Winfrey, Mark
Zuckerberg, Azim Premji to set up huge foundations and try to solve major world
problems. And they don’t do it because they have to, but because they want to.
I also want to do something of real high impact so that I can make this planet a
better place, hence becoming a philanthropist some day is a obvious choice.
Rather, aren’t we all capable of becoming philanthropists?
Dare But Do Not
Defer To Dream -Sangeetha Anand
She was dangling 30 feet high from a tree. The rope of her harness was digging
into her shoulders and legs like a nail slowly being driven into a door. She tried to
control a wave of vertigo that threatened to overwhelm her and gripped her
camera tightly. She could feel the thudding of the huge animals close by ... each
step of theirs sending vibrations into her bones ... She was just moments away from
her dream ... just moments away ...
She was a girl who dared to dream ... who did not defer her dream but followed it.
I am talking about Priya (name changed deliberately on request) , one of the few
women from India who have been featured in the National Geographic for her
achievements on pachyderms ... and who also happens to be a school friend of
mine.
Priya too was born into a conservative Tamil Brahmin family like me. She was
my schoolmate. She was not a very close friend of mine but I always knew her
as a class topper. She never got anything less than the first rank. Some kids even
changed their section so that they could get a chance at coming first in the class.
Like all parents, her parents too wanted her to become a doctor or engineer ...
and what is more ... she got admission for both streams in top colleges.....
But Priya was different ... she dared to dream. She wanted to be a zoologist. She
was always fascinated by animals and birds especially elephants. She wanted to
study pachyderms. Priya fought and refused her medical seat and did her
zoology and went on to do a P.hd from Indian Institute of Science. She wanted to
do her final thesis on pachyderms for which she had to go into the depths of the
Mudumalai forest and make a documentary on elephants and take pictures.
Now no parent would allow their only daughter to traipse off into the jungle and
stay alone there in a tent with a couple of native elephant trackers. So after a
huge round of fights, tears and emotional blackmail, she walked out of her house
with just ten thousand rupees in her pocket and her clothes to live her dream.
Dare but do not defer to dream.
She had to cut off her long hair as short as a boy to go into the jungle. She had to
camp in the jungle battling mosquitoes and insects and she had to make do with
two very inexperienced native elephant trackers because she could not afford to
pay the really good ones ... they were so bad that they made dumb and dumber
look like Einstein and Socrates. Priya had to do everything on her own. Finally after
hanging from 30 feet from a tree and taking the most breathtaking pictures, she
finished her thesis and got her PhD. She was featured in National Geographic
thrice; her thesis got patented as well. Today she is one of the renowned
zoologists in India. Dare but do not defer to dream.
Once when my son was 5 years old, I asked him on a rainy day what he wanted
to be and I was astounded when he said I want to be a “Watchman”. I asked why
and he said that the watchman gets to stand in the rain all day but you never let
me run and play in the rain. I marvelled at the simplicity of his dream and let him
play in the rain that day. What’s more I joined him. I realized suddenly that I too
had dreamt so many things when I was his age and as I became older, I ran into
a wall. A wall named fear. I was so afraid that my dreams would not come true
that I did the logical thing and stopped dreaming altogether. I started doing
what I was supposed to do rather than what I wanted to do.
I never realised the potency of dreams and following them. Many of us here
don’t realise it. It took a small child to make me realise that because children
do not fear dreams, no dream is silly or stupid to them. They are not bothered
whether their uncles or neighbours or friends are going to say “what a stupid
thing to dream for”.
There is no “correct time” to dream. We were born to dream. No one can stop us
from chasing our dreams. If you have let slip any dream of yours, it is never too
late to start again. Overcome your mental hurdles, your critics and relive your
dream.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow
The Dream Lived -Prasraban Mukhopadhyay
Perhaps it’s next to impossible, to find a person who has not heard about our
protagonist’s creation. What’s it? Let’s keep that a secret. Back in 1956, the
company presented to its staff, a golden job descriptions called “The Three Joys”.
The first is the joy of producing and is known only to the engineer. The second joy
is when a seller gets happy because a buyer has got his product. The third joy
belongs to the buyer to have bought a product of quality.
Our protagonist was born in the November of 1906. His mother, a weaver, had
designed her own loom to weave particular complex patterns. His father was a
blacksmith who brought broken cycle at meagre price, repaired and resold them
in weights of gold. Helping his father, he always got dirty with soot but he was very
ingenious. At the end of the quarter at school, all students were handed grade
reports, which parents had to stamp with the family seal. Our protagonist, not
being an excellent student, did not want to disappoint his parents. So he cut family
symbol on an old tire and “stamped” a grade report himself. Not realizing that the
stamp had to be mirror-imaged, he started to make fake stamps for other
classmates. Since his family name is symmetrical, it did not cause a problem, but
some of other children’s family names were not. Soon the teacher noticed that
some stamps were not mirror-imaged. Our protagonist’s father left him without a
lunch for a whole day and he did that not for the forgery but for the fact that he
did not notice the relation between seal pattern and stamp itself.
At 21, our protagonist received a patent for replacing wooden spokes with metal
ones for wheel durability!
He moved on to design and
develop metal piston rings.
He never felt schooling
important. “If the theory
promoted creativity, then all
teachers would have been
the inventors”. He then
joined a technical university
and his heart raced to build
the fastest engine which
wouldn’t explode due to
overheating, the main hindrance then. In 1936, his car raced at a breakneck
speed – 120 km / h but his car crashed into a suddenly stopped car at the finish
and the car turned 3 times in the air tossing him out. The car was lost forever and
his left arm was dislocated and his face damaged badly. His road to sport was
closed forever. Around then he got the bad news that out of the 30,000 piston
rings he had sent to Toyota for quality examination, only 50 were selected.
World War 2 struck, and his company was the sole left to supply those rings to
Toyota. But with his nation’s defeat, his company came to an end. Being in poverty
he sold his company to Toyota for 40,000 yen out of which he bought alcohol for
10,000 yen! A normal man would had given up after such defeats, by not our
inexorable protagonist! In 1945 he founded his another own company, by a name
which endures even now. In one year his company sold 1500 fully working
product. What product is it … we will guess it by the end, if not by now already. By
1950 he manufactured an A-grade quality product and named it ‘The Dream’. In
just 10 years thereafter, his product competed with the world’s top 20!
His company ran on a complete new approach, and not the traditional
management pyramid! Our Protagonist believed that “in general people work
harder and more innovative if not forced to work”. The fact that there was not
natural successor to his seat, and the system being designed to raise the geniuses
to higher positions, including his own seat, gave financer’s the confidence that
the company would pass into the hands of qualified professionals.
At the near end of 90s, having reached the top, he recalled his dream, to
build the fastest car. By designing the world’s first catalytic converter, he
designed the Civic model that was the first and only product then, to handle
poisonous exhaust gases and by 1980 he stood as a leader in 4 wheeler
automobile industry.
He was the ’Mr. Thunderstorm’ for his emotional outbursts. Today I told you only a
few pages of his adventures, 1000s yet remains. Many people dream of success
but its only successful failures and fight backs, that one truly become our
protagonist and his name being …. ??? Soichiro Honda, Company Honda Motors
and the first product was a moped, ‘The Dream’.
Announcements
Great Memories
After session
networking
between
members
Winners of
the 39th
session
How to plan your
goals in
Toastmasters Club
journey by DTM
Chandramouli
The happiness in
the face of
members after
the satisfaction of
improvement in
public speaking
Group
photograph
after session
Past President
Karan handing
over the mantle of
responsibilities to
the newly elected
President
Sangeetha
TM Karthikeyan
winning the ‘Best
Evaluation Award’
at the Club Level
Humorous Speech
Contest
PSN Toastmasters
Club bags the
‘Smedley Award’
and the ‘Fast Five
Award’
TM Vinit
successfully
completes all his
Competent
Communication
Projects
Club Humorous
Speech
competition
TM Vinod helps the
budding toastmasters
learn how to gather
materials for a speech
TM Harish
congratulates TM
Mrinal on winning
the ‘Best Evaluator
Award’
Young
Toastmasters
happy and
motivated after
listening to TM
Vinod
TM Harish
acknowledging
the winners of the
‘Best Table Topic
Speakers’
DTM Chandramouli
and TM Vinod sit
together to help
budding toastmasters
to speak loud and
speak proud by
interacting with the
members
TM Vinit hosting
the Special
Education session
where the great
veterans DTM
Chandramouli
and TM Vinod
motivated the
members of PSN
Toastmasters
Young
Toastmasters
happy and
motivated after
listening to TM
Vinod
TM Karan hands
over the ‘Best
Table Topics
Speaker’ award to
TM Sangeetha
Executive Committee
June-December, 2015
From left:
Rahul Manghnani, Vice President - Membership
Karan Virani, President
Harison Jose, Vice President - Public Relations
Rachit Thirani, Secretary
Karthikeyan Muthusamy, Vice President - Education
Amit Maheshwari, Treasurer (Not in frame)
Anand Kumar, Sergeant At Arms (Not in frame)
Executive Committee
January-June, 2016
From left:
Islahuddin Khan, Vice President - Public Relations
Vinit Kumar Singh, Vice President – Education
Harish Kaushik, Treasurer
Sangeetha Anand, President
Prasraban Mukhopadhyay, Secretary
Susanta Sahu, Sergeant At Arms
Gourab Mitra, Vice President – Membership (Not in frame)
Find us online:
Pay us a visit: Every Saturday (3pm-5pm)
Optym, Floor 15, Tower B
Prestige Shantiniketan Commercial Complex
Whitefield Bangalore, Karnataka 560048 India
Web: http://psntoastmasters.wordpress.com
Email: [email protected]
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs4NcIH18nT2JETxCJshDdQ
Google+: https://plus.google.com/107733944662136256611
Contact us directly –
Islahuddin Khan: +91 95133 96876
(Vice President – Public Relations
Gourab Mitra: +91 77638 07294
(Vice President – Membership