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MINDSparkMINDSparkMINDSpark
In This Festival Edition
Solecism A fresh new look at some common Grammar mistakes.
Club Round Up What? When? Where? Who? How? Need we say more?
Voices Compositions from the Toastmaster’ Club Members
I, think. Write what you think. Don’t think much on that!
Gathering Paradise Something. New. Period.
Black & White An argument for the sake of an argument.
Q3 Autumn
2014 The Quarterly Newsletter of the Orator’s Club, Pune
2
The Editorial Team
Editor
in-Chief: TM Ankur Editors: TM Diana
TM Deepthi
TM Jasmine
TM Nitesh
3
Dear Reader,
“What man can be, he must be!” maintained Maslow in his Need Theory that befuddled psychologists for an intemperate amount of time. This one elegant sentence suddenly required of man to go beyond his cogwheels of work and live life the way he had wanted to in order to be what he could be. That is, if he knew what he could be in the first place? What first taught man to achieve, go beyond his usual self, do his
duty and transgress the hitherto restricted boundaries of humanity to expand them? It was religion. Theology has had the power to drive people in the directions that people wouldn’t otherwise think. What else, for example, could implore Emperor Ashok into giving up the annihilation of fellow humans and make peaceful co-existence state policy? And what prompted Gautama Siddhartha to abrogate prince-hood and wander in the woods despite the welters of worldly callings?
They each connected their individual dilemmas – bereavement, ephemerality of beauty, etc. – to the issues of the larger world – peace, co-existence, abnegation of the extreme, etc. – and extracted the essence which they finally promulgated to the world; ditto for writers about the pantheon of Hindu Gods – Valmiki, Ved Vyas, Tulsidas, etc. – and the icons of Semitic religions. What was learned by them, in turn was taught by them.
This sociology of scale – like the economics of scale – was called the sociological imagination by C W Mills in his seminal essay The Promise. Promulgators of religion are masters of this imagination and can extrapolate it into spheres that are inconceivable for others. They ask, as he did, but three questions:
1. What is the structure of this society and what are its continuous features?
2. Where does this society stand in the course of human history?
3. What kind of men and women exist in this social structure and what kind of characteristics of theirs are manifested in this?*
And when their imagination, based on facts prima facie, conceives an answer to these questions, it becomes enlightenment which is understood by all. Wonderfully though for the adherents of all religions, the people who made them were indeed Gods and worthy of being worshipped. As a rationalist, I think if some people in flesh and blood could at several independent times in history conjugate such marvels of societal understanding, anyone can. Ask any mathematician and he’ll tell you how.
Therefore I argue that festivals are important. They celebrate – besides the cosmic – the societal forces that drove the people who made religion an inextricable part of anthropological evolution by codifying it into neat sets of do’s and don’ts which gave mere humans paths to move on in order to achieve that vicarious sense of sociological imagination. That, is the most powerful gift of religion and worthy of being celebrated every single day. Happy celebrations, every one!
-TM Ankur Mathur, CC
*Parap
hrased
from
The So
ciolo
gica
l Ima
gin
ati
on
, Ch
ap
ter On
e: The P
rom
ise, C. W
. Mills (1
95
9)
The The
EditorialEditorial The Triumph The Triumph
of Manof Man
4
CONTENTS The Editorial
TM Ankur Mathur, CC …………………...3
President’s Message
TM Sunil Pawar, CC, ALB …………………...5
Club Round Up
TM Shashank Jha, VP-Education …………………...6
Solecism TM Diana Davis
…………………...7
I, think: Public connect (Complied by: TM Jasmine Musa)
…………………...9
Voices: My Adrenalin
Pratik Chimane …………………...11
Black and White:
TM Nitesh Pachwarya …………………...12
Gathering Paradise: PPS TM Ankur Mathur, CC
…………………...13
The Word List TM Nitesh Pachwarya
…………………...14
5
The President’s Message -TM Sunil Pawar
The theme for this edition of
newsletter is FESTVALS! And along-
with the whole of our country, our Ora-
tors Toastmasters Club is also in a fer-
vent mood of celebrations. We are not
only celebrating of the numerous festi-
vals of this vibrant country of ours but
we, as Toastmasters, have a few more
reasons to be part of the revelries.
Deepthi Valsan’s speech was pub-
lished in The Hitavada (a newspaper
circulated in Central India, including
Nagpur). If her sixth speech could
achieve this, imagine what’s in store as
she moves forward. I request you to read
the speech linked here.
Our club held two club-level con-
tests, both of which helped us not only
witness enthusiastic competitions but
also find out club nominees for the next
level of contests: the Area-level contests.
And the reasons to celebrate are not fin-
ished yet…both of our club representa-
tives – Amit Jha and Ankur Mathur -
won at the Area level too! I won’t divulge
too much of the details…read the rest of
the newsletter to find out. Amit and
Ankur would be representing Area – E3
at the Division-E contest to be held at
Infosys on 11th October. We all wish
them the best of luck and let’s try our
best to support them with our presence
at the competition.
Enjoy your read!
6
--TM Shashank Jha, VPTM Shashank Jha, VP--EducationEducation
C LUB R UND UP
Amit Jha and Ankur Mathur have come out on top in Hu-morous speech contest and Speech Evaluation contest re-spectively at the Area Level competition. The duo is going to represent our club at the di-vision level on 11th Oct. We all wish them to succeed at the di-vision level and represent our club at division level.
As a part of learning program, Orator Toastmaster had organ-ised a unique workshop on “email-etiquettes”. As a club we received a great response and seeing the enthusiasm of the people, Orator toastmaster club intends to conduct many more
educational ses-sions.
As a part of our PR campaign, we have achieved a new height. For the first time, we are partic-ipating for the poster contest as part of the run up to the Divi-sion Level contest.
The club officers of Orators Toastmaster club attended the Officers training program, which resulted in a vital DCP points for the club. The Orator Toastmaster club added 5 new members and as a club we are excited to have new Toastmas-ter and wish them all the best in their toastmaster journey.
TM Deepthi Valsan published her speech as an article in the Hitvada (Nagpur) on 27th Au-gust 2014. We are proud that her written word was published and read by thousands across the nation.
There has been a re-alignment in the club area. We have been shifted from Area F to Area E, which means no further travel to Goa.
7
What is tense?
Tense is a method that we
use in English to refer to
time - past, present and fu-
ture. It comes from the Latin
word time, tempus.
The Present Tense
It denotes a tense of verbs
used when the action or
event described is occur-
ring at the time of utter-
ance.
The Past Tense
It denotes a tense of verbs
used in describing actions,
events or states that have
been begun or completed
at the time of utterance
The Future Tense
It denotes a tense of verbs used when the action or event described is to occur after the time of utter-ance. Simple Tense
The simple tenses are used to
show permanent characteris-
tics of people and events or
what happens regularly, ha-
bitually or in a single com-
pleted action. It does not
therefore, involve the use of
any auxiliary verb in addition
to the main verb.
MAKING MAKING MAKING SENSE OF SENSE OF SENSE OF TENSETENSETENSE ---TM Diana DavisTM Diana DavisTM Diana Davis
Progressive Tense
It denotes verbs that are
used to express the progress
by steps or degrees. In other
words it can also be ex-
plained as prolonged or con-
tinuous activity as opposed
to momentary or habitual
activity.
Perfect Tense
It denotes a tense of verbs
used in describing an action
that has been completed by
the subject. In English this is
a compound tense, formed
with have or has plus the
past participle.
Sometimes you need to give
just a little bit more infor-
mation about an action or
state...and that is where the
perfect tenses come in
Conditional Tense
It consists of a clause, con-
junction, form of a verb or
whole sentence expressing a
condition on which some-
thing else is contingent.
Continuous Tense
Continuous tenses are used
to say that something contin-
ues without interruption, a
prolonged pattern, an unbro-
ken series.
8
Simple Tenses Affirmative/Negative/Question
Simple Present A: He speaks. N: He does not speak. Q: Does he speak
Simple Past A: He spoke. N: He did not speak. Q: Did he speak?
Simple Future I A: He will speak. N: He will not speak. Q: Will he speak?
Simple Future II A: He is going to speak. N: He is not going to speak. Q: Is he going to speak?
Progressive Tense
Progressive Present A: He is speaking. N: He is not speaking. Q: Is he speaking?
Progressive Past A: He was speaking. N: He was not speaking. Q: Was he speaking?
Progressive Future I A: He will be speaking. N: He will not be speaking. Q: Will he be speaking?
Progressive Future II A: He will have been speaking. N: He will not have been speaking. Q: Will he have been speaking?
Perfect Tense
Present Perfect Progressive A: He has been speaking. N: He has not been speaking. Q: Has he been speaking?
Past Perfect Progressive A: He had been speaking. N: He had not been speaking. Q: Had he been speaking?
Conditional Tenses
Conditional I Simple A: He would speak. N: He would not speak. Q: Would he speak?
Conditional I Progressive A: He would be speaking. N: He would not be speaking. Q: Would he be speaking?
Conditional II Simple A: He would have spoken. N: He would not have spoken. Q: Would he have spoken?
Conditional II Progressive A: He would have been speaking. N: He would not have been speaking. Q: Would he have been speaking?
Continuous Tenses
Present Continuous A: He is speaking N: He is not speaking now. Q: Is he speaking?
Past Continuous A: He was speaking. N: He was not speaking when he was told to. Q: Was he speaking while you were listening?
Future Continuous (with “Will” and “Be go-ing to”)
A1: He will be speaking. A2: He is going to be speaking. N1: He will not be speaking. N2: He is not going to be speaking. Q1: Will he be speaking? Q2: Will he be going to speak?
9
A Reader Connect Initiative by MINDSparkA Reader Connect Initiative by MINDSparkA Reader Connect Initiative by MINDSpark
---TM Jasmine MusaTM Jasmine MusaTM Jasmine Musa
Crackers lighting the nights, sweets raising the glee
With blessings showering from heaven here comes Diwali…!
This is what we feel about Diwali. It’s not just a ritualistic festival but its yearly time to get re-charge for a new fresh year ahead. Diwali is the biggest festival in every Indian household and family. It’s a yearly reunion time for families separated by thousands of miles.
Similarly for my family it brings a special joy every year. Diwali preparations start from “Nauratri “itself. We start cleaning our house painting and rejuvenating it to welcome goddess Lakshmi with both hands. This festival carries a special meaning to us as it is believed that god-dess Laxmi comes to bless on the first day of Diwali called “Laxmi Pooja “ on this day we pray worship goddess Laxmi with seasonal flowers fruits and garlands. We have special ambrosia of puffed rice and sugar for her. On all 4 days of Diwali we get up before sunrise, it is a tradition which is followed across the length and breadth of India. All the family members have special bath called “abhyangsnaan” which includes fragrant oils and potions. The next day is for hus-band-wife and father-daughter relations. On that day a father blesses his daughter and gifts her something precious. Also, a husband has to gift something to wife and give her a trust and com-mitment that I’ll stand by you in good or bad equally. This day reminds us of our family duties and how we value our near and dear ones. The final day is dedicated to the relationship of brother and sister on this day both the brother and the sister gift each other something and re-mind each other of a lovely bond they share.
Diwali carries a lot of significance in the Indian culture, it means inner enlightenment, victory of divine over evil and a celebration of wonderful relations we have. I cherish and love this tra-dition because it gives me some extra energy to tackle the problems I face around the year. It reminds me of the importance of various relationships I possess. Finally it compels me to intro-spect and find the inner light which guides me in tough times.
Every year I and my family celebrate Eco Sensitive Diwali by saying “NO” to fire crackers and “YES” to life…!”
-Pankaj Pagare
10
Here’s a unique story of Diwali that I think very few people
would know:
According to the Skanda Purana, the goddess Shakti observed
21 days of austerity starting from ashtami of shukla paksha
(eighth day of the waxing period of moon) to get half of the
body of Lord Shiva. This vrata (austerity) is known as
kedhara vrata. Diwali is the completion day of this austerity.
This is the day Lord Shiva accepted Shakti into the left half of
the form and appeared as Ardhanarishvara. The ardent devo-
tees observe this 21 days austerity by tying 21 threads on a ho-
ly urn and 21 types of offerings for 35 days. The final day is
celebrated as kedhara gauri vrata.
-Rajshree Borkar
On the second day after Diwali, we celebrate Annkut
which confirms the festival also as a harvest festival.
We make a pulses and rice porridge and a curry of sev-
en vegetables to be offered to the Gods before it is con-
sumed. On the second day after Diwali, at my home,
we pray to anoint the inkpot and an ink pen by tying
the holy thread around them and a special offering of
puffed rice, chick peas and coriander seeds is prepared.
A new year of education and abundance is wished for
and this lends the festival a unique touch.
-Ankur Mathur
If you have
a story
about
festivals...
...mail them
@
m and we’ll
feature it!
During Ganesh Chaturthi, which celebrates Lord Ganesha's birthday, another deity who is wor-
shipped is Goddess Gauri. Goddess Gauri is Lord Ganesha's mother. And considered to be one
of the many forms of Shakti, the Mother of the universe, with lots of power. Goddess Gauri is
symbolic of fertility and motherhood and of the victory of good over evil. On the day of “Gauri
Aavahan (Invocation)” we invite Goddess Gauri to our home. First her footsteps are symboli-
cally drawn at the threshold of the home with kumkum (vermillion). A married woman of the
family brings the idol inside the home. We create Gauri idol at home with the help of a stand,
body parts. We drape a sari on to the stand and body. And then keep face part onto it. Then be-
decked in gold jewelry and decorate the place. Goddess Gauri is then worshipped with an aarti
and prayers. The next day “Gauri Poojan”, a special meal called “Naivedya” (holy offering) is
cooked for Goddess Gauri and this cooked food, along with sweets and fruits are offered to
Goddess Gauri. On the same day ladies called for “Haldi (turmeric, considered auspicious
among the Hindus) -Kumkum” function to home. Then on third day of Gauri Visarjan
(immersion) detach all things and keep it at a careful place. It’s a great feeling to establish Gau-
ri and worship Her.
-Sheetal Kenjale
11
MY ADRENALIN
-Pratik Chimane
VOICES
My father gifted me a pair of wheels on my 12th birthday and since then hardly anything has stopped me – exceptions being some chance encounters with pigs. That was the time when the learning itself was the adrenalin. They say smart peo-ple learn from their own mis-takes while wise people learn from others’ too. I guess I was just smart enough so I had to fall, I had to trip, I had to get hurt badly to learn. I once tripped with my friend who was riding pillion. We were riding down the slope and I had to bypass a car that suddenly stopped in front of us. Then tripped with another friend (that’s what friends are for, to trip with) when I was teasing him, we were both riding alongside each other and the C-shape handles got entangled. Once I was riding pillion on the carrier with a friend when my ankle got stuck in the spokes of the moving wheel. All these in-cidents notwithstanding, my adrenalin just grew with me.
In college days, one wishes to find his/her adrenalin. Well, I knew mine and gifted myself another pedalomotive on my 19th birthday. That’s when I de-cided to explore Pune. I got myself the big map of Pune city and would just draw up some route from the hostel to some adrenalin and back.
Now I have a faster one which I gifted myself on my 23rd birth-day. It is a joyride to and from office every day. It is just a joyride because the adrenalin takes more now. These days I find my adrenalin outside Pu-
ne, on the way to Saswad, Chakan, Tikona and further and farther.
Sometimes I get bad dreams, like I was mugged on the way by some thugs, the gold-chain-snatching-goons (guess they got tired of the gold and now snatch just any chains). My adrenalin gets stolen and I am lost somewhere far away from home. There is no way out and there’s no one to help, like I lost my breath.
I get nervous the night before every ride. But some things are more important than fear. It’s the belief, it’s the thrill, it’s the toil, it’s the breeze, it’s the adrenalin. After conquering a steep gradient, when I start de-scending, the breeze caresses my face as if Mother Nature is touching my cheeks and kissing my forehead, asking, “Are you alright son? Does it hurt? ” and I reply, “I am ok mom, as long as you’re with me.”
It has taught me so many things like hope, patience, en-durance, humility, and letting go. Hope, that I will find a way to my destination no matter what hurdles come in my way, be it the rain, the sun, the dark-ness during a night ride, the tough gradient of the road; I know I will triumph. Patience, giving me the sense that I can-not rush, that things will work out somehow, that time heals the toughest wounds. Endur-ance, that the hardship, the pain is nothing before my con-sistent effort. Humility, that Nature is the ultimate force and when I surrender to it, I will be
at peace. Letting go memories both good and bad and starting afresh every day, every time.
It has taught me that ups and downs will come and go in life, but at the end of the day, it will all even out. Believe me, it does even out literally too because no matter how high I reach in terms of altitude, when I return home, I am at the same altitude I was before, and after all the pain and perspiration, the delta altitude is still zero! (Apologies! That’s the engineer in me.)
Zero reminds me of its syno-nym, cypher. We are all caught in a cypher. Life gives everyone his/her share of joys and wor-ries. Life is such a vicious “cycle” that you think you are growing but the cypher is grow-ing with you. You grow from stroller, into bicycle, into mo-torcycle, into a car; but be it anything, the cypher is some-thing common, something uni-versal among them. The bigger the joys are, the bigger the wor-ries will be. When you realize this, you will look at life from a better perspective. It will help you understand others. It will make you a better person.
Apart from being philosophical, I like numbers too. I want to complete 1000 km within 11 weeks on this new faster one I have, and am very well on track. For me, be it any destina-tion, it was and always will be just the journey and its adrena-lin. I wish I could get more.
This is a Cyclist for life, keep going.
12
BLACKBLACK && WHITEWHITE Q. Is it advisable to plan leisure trips during festival times?Q. Is it advisable to plan leisure trips during festival times?
Don’t agree with what is written? Then worry not! Write into
us at [email protected] or [email protected]
FOR
-TM Komal Mahajan
Life is too fast these days; people
get vacations only on Festivals in
offices and schools. I think this the
best time to go for a holiday with
family and spend some quality
time with them.
It’s not necessary to go a place
where there is lot of rush, I agree it
will be unsafe.But,we can plan ac-
cordingly and select a destination
where there is peace and safety.
If we are enjoying each and every
moment with your family it is a re-
al festival indeed.
Money can’t buy Happiness. At the
end of the day, you will enjoy the
memories with your family.
People here in India like to go for
Tirth Yatra’s after their retirement
and when all the responsibility of
life is over. I don’t think they face
any health issues at that time. They
just enjoy it.
AGAINST
-TM Milind Sabardande
People are more important than
places. I must say the quality time
can be spent at home, relaxing and
sharing the workload of your
spouse or helping children in their
study and caring for parents.
Ultimate destination where you
can get peace and safety is your
home sweet home.
You can celebrate the festival at
home and do all the rituals re-
quired on a specific festival. Even if
the festival is of other religion, you
can learn their culture and enjoy
with them.
You can save all the hassles like
ticket booking, accommodation
and above all the extra amount re-
quired. This can be spent in a right
way.
Parents might be left out at home
and they are a part of family. They
might feel uncomfortable travel-
ling long distance and this can ruin
the whole outing. Better to travel
when everyone is in good frame of
mind and there is relatively low
rush and hassles.
13
members’ at-
tendance in eve-
ry meeting, since
November 2013
when it started,
Pune Poetry
Slam has made a
mark. What draws a lot of
people is the fact that it
doesn’t cost anything to at-
tend. Nandini says that the
event is financed by her and a
group of other individuals
from their own pockets.
“Since the number of people
volunteering to fund is high, it
doesn’t pinch much”, she
says. The other advantage is
the format of the Slam ses-
sion. It requires people to pre-
sent original poems of less
than 4 minutes in a competi-
tion format that gets voted
upon at the end. If you don’t
want to compete, there is a
free-for-all session called
‘open-mic’ at the end. But
what attracts people most is
that they got to meet like-
minded people in casual sur-
roundings where each one
understands and appreciates
the talent of a particular genre
that s/he brings to the club.
This not only makes it an ec-
lectic mix of people and ideas,
it betters everyone as they all
learn mutually.
As a Toastmaster, there are
several things to learn from
participating in this venture.
First, presenting a poem is
much like presenting your
speech. You are nervous and
it helps you build confidence.
While writing speeches isn’t
always possible on each and
every topic, poetry writing,
even on pedestrian topics is
possible and quite acceptable
GATHERING PARADISE
THE PUNE POETRY SLAM
What happens when some
free spirited individuals, with
a penchant for storytelling
channelize their creativity to
creating a restricted medium
of expression and invite the
whole world for free to experi-
ence it? The answer, ladies
and gentlemen, is the Pune
Poetry Slam! Emily Dickin-
son, that most difficult of all
modern poetesses, describes
poetry as a “fairer house than
prose”. However, PPS main-
tains that there is nothing at
all that betters poetry than
prose, insofar as comparison
goes. That should give heart
to all those prose lovers since
paragraphed words are given
among canton bound lines as
well, since poetry recited by
poets/poetesses at the PPS
need not always rhyme.
“There are people who come
to us from several back-
grounds, some from the pro-
fessional, published world of
poetry and still others who
just come to appreciate the art
and listen to quality stuff”,
says Nandini Varma, one of
the coordinators.
What is interesting though, is
that for all those who want to
graduate from being mere
spectators but are hesitant to
write their first poem, volun-
teers from the Airplane Poetry
Movement conduct work-
shops too. “Although we’re
not tied up with any other
club and PPS functions sepa-
rately, members from APM do
join us and they run clubs in
New Delhi, Bangalore and
Bombay”, maintains Ms Var-
ma. PPS is held monthly.
Averaging over twenty-five
as well. This was indicated by
the New York School of poets.
Secondly, it is important to
bear in mind that creativity
within the boundaries of re-
straint that happens while
writing poetry makes one
more comfortable with un-
known situations and territo-
ry – something that as a
Toastmaster, comes handy
especially while giving Table
Topics. Analogous to the
boundaries of metre, rhyme
and lyricism are those of con-
volution, cogence and content
in a speech.
While analysing speeches may
oftentimes not be as challeng-
ing for the more accustomed
Toastmaster, try evaluating a
poem and you will open a new
treasure trove of perspectives.
Right from ferreting meaning
to scrutinizing subtlety in-
clined towards political cor-
rectness, poetry will expose
you to the kind of evaluation
– albeit mental, not actual –
which will challenge conven-
tion.
And finally, because we live in
this world of prosaic formula-
tions all day, as working pro-
fessionals and as speech writ-
ers/presenters, isn’t it time to
unwind with our fellow breth-
ren from the “fairer house
than prose?” Think about it.
It’s only fair.
Next session: 27/09/ 2014
Venue: Artsphere, Kal-
yani Nagar, Pune.
With inputs from Ms. Nandini Varma.
14
15
TO WHOMSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN:
Here’s a list of all the sources, significant that were used in the making of several illustrations in
this edition of the newsletter.
1. http://dontgiveupworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/wallpaper-gautam-buddha.jpg
2. http://darkroom-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/2013/02/REU-INDIA_2.jpg
3. http://realbharat.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Mohtashemi17102013T185649.jpg
4. http://www.kombination.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/vintage-microphone-setsiri-
silapasuwanchai.jpg
5. http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/192273ag5jds5jpg/original.jpg
6. http://vistahigherlearning.com/media/catalog/product/cache/2/
image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/h/e/he-spanish-grammar.jpg
7. http://www4.ncsu.edu/~hubbe/MyMuseum/Tour3.jpg
8. http://old.ianlord.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/1bigjpg1.jpeg
9. http://i01.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/848939763/100-hand-painted-free-shipping-Tropical-
plants-shrubs-font-b-banana-b-font-font-b-leaves.jpg
10. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KGFrjKAe5h4/UWaReSgW4NI/AAAAAAAAKuY/AiBmIJ5bQ0I/
s1600/Vallamkali.jpg
11. https://www.coupa.com/images/content/blogs/procurement_conversation.png
16
For electronic circulation and public distribution.
Not for profit.
For membership contact: TM Amit Jha, VP-Membership