Session 79

Have you noticed this interesting phenomenon? The harder it rains, the higher is the attendance! One can only ascribe it to genuine enthusiasm among members and a very favourable word of mouth that draws in guests in large numbers.

The SAA TM Suvojit started the session on time with his usual infectious energy, with an exposition on sunlight and the uses of energy.

President TM Ashish Baid declared the session open with his usual smoothness, giving an inspirational message based on the SAA's opening salvo. He also meticulously introduced the guests to the gathering.

TMOD Kushal Batabyal had taken on a face-off proposition as theme: "Village life vs City life". Illustrated graphically with his usual humor and intelligence, the subject of childhood roots was close to many people's hearts. As he introduced the role-players he also mentioned their predilection towards  either and the reason thereof. Thanks for bringing up an out-of-the-box theme, TMOD.

The General Evaluator TM Suvashree Behera, sweetening the seriousness of her role with her infectious smile and soft words, introduced her team members - Ah Counter, Grammarian, Timer and Parliamentarian - and went on to hand the baton back to TMOD for the prepared speeches. The word of the day was declared to be CITIFIED, in keeping with the theme.

Three speeches are par for the course at Elite, and today we had three speeches from Level 1, two of which were ice-breakers (which are always interesting because the speakers speak from the heart).

TM Abhishek Daga delivered a speech from a project on Research and Development, titled "The Two D's". Delivered by a wonderful communicator, the speech was a treat to hear, with effortless audience interaction, two real-life stories and a lesson as a takeaway, viz Dreams are fulfilled through Decisions.

TM Shikha Sanganeria delivered her icebreaker, titled "What's in a name?". Entertaining us with a play on words with her name, she effortlessly took us along her life journey, with its twists and turns, keeping us spellbound. We eagerly await her further speeches, if only to know what she did in her official trips abroad, as promised by her!

TM Basant Daga delivered his icebreaker, titled "Have come a long way... a long way to go." Here was another speaker who touched all our hearts as he shared his struggle to establish himself, his young family and his dreams. May all your dreams come true TM and your genuine heart find its reflection everywhere.

TM Tushar, the Table topic master, presented various situations to the speakers to apply their minds on, including a hypothetical ride on a hot-air balloon. Both members and guests lent fair substance in their speeches - not hot air at all! As usual, it was lovely to see so many people volunteering, even from guests.

The GE took over the session again. The speech evaluators - TM Ishika Agarwal, TM Daliya Thacker and TM Rupashree - did their job happily and diligently, encouraging the speakers while pointing out relevant points of improvement.

The other evaluators submitted their reports meticulously - Timer TM Riti, Ah counter Ruqaiyah, Grammarian TM Muskan and Parliamentarian TM Akash (he's very strict, don't be misled by his looks).

The GE TM Suvashree, apart from giving additional tips along with the speech evaluators, now gave individual feedback to the table topic speakers. Doing this part effectively is indeed commendable and an indicator of excellent listening skills and memory, and the GE did it flawlessly. She closed with brief comments on the conduct of the session on the whole.

President TM Ashish Baid closed the session after taking feedback from the guests, all of which were very positive. 

The day's awards were:
  • Best Role Player (aux):   TM Akash (Parliamentarian)
  • Best Role Player:             TM Shubhasree (GE)
  • Best Speaker:                   TM Abhisek Daga
  • Best Table topic (members):  TM Avishek Mitra
  • Best Table topic (guest):        Mahima
  • Best Evaluator:                 TM Ishika
  • Most Improved speaker:   TM Shikha
See you all on 17th August, same place same time.



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