Having a best buddy is always special. And I had five -- Lavanya, Santhoshini, Gowtham, Dhinesh and Jafer -- attending MBA preparation classes together. When the session was coming to a close, we felt the pangs of separation. How to stay in touch at least on a weekly basis and have some fun? We decided to start a club. Fortunately one among us was a Toastmaster from Bangalore who gave us ideas.
So one Friday evening two winters ago, we friends met to elaborate on the idea of starting the club and never looked back. On January 16, 2014, we announced our first meeting and have met ever since week after week as more friends joined us. The venue was provided free by my father in his office building and within a month’s time we had a record number of guests dropping in to check out our proceedings. It was possible because of the hard work put in by all the founder members and finally we were chartered in April 2014.
As more members began to enrol, it boosted us to carry forward the journey with renewed vigour and enthusiasm and today we are still going and growing strong after two years. This is not to say we did not face any challenges, particularly when our key motivator Lavanya had to leave for another city for higher studies, we thought we will have to give up. The membership count took a toll and we were clueless. If not for the guidance of our Club Mentor TM Kumaran and few gritful members like Rathi Devi, Yogarajan and Vinodhini we wouldn’t have turned it around. Bouncing back from the tough time was the biggest leadership lesson for us -- not giving up and clinging on to the right motto leads you to the shore!
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Today we have reated a strong alumni network for us. Our members are now in Singapore, France, UK, USA, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai pursuing different professions but have the Toastmaster’s passion alive in them. We have been ably helped by Toastmasters from Chennai to charter our club. Purposefully it has always been pushed further to see if we can sustain as a club. Our dedicated members always ensured to live up to the expectations.
In many Toastmasters clubs that I have visited, I have found the members to be people with good command over the language and confidence on stage. Most are teachers, trainers, lawyers, etc. But Madurai mostly brought members who were not confident about the way they spoke English. Grammar, syntax was always a problem as much was the fear of holding a mike. The weekly meetings were a learning process for all and the shy speakers found a voice. Members were able to frame sentences and speak with a flair. From running away from stage, members were now happy and comfortable being centrestage. In a way, I feel, the Madurai Toastmasters have solved the real purpose of making good speakers.
Last week, on the On January 8 this year we chose the same venue – the Chamber of Commerce -- where our late President and great visionary Dr.A.P.J Abdul Kalam gave his last talk in Tamil Nadu, for our second anniversary celebrations. It also marked a milestone – our 100 consecutive meeting. And once again we conducted it smoothly with his blessings.
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A new committee was put in place with Yogarajan as the president of the club and Prasannna, Sukumar, Astutosh Sharma, Nivetha, Bala and Pratap Thomas as the able officers.
Madurai club also has started and mentored two other clubs in these two years. One at Bharathidasan Institute of Management Trichy and the other in Virudhunagar. Every move that we have made has been an experience of its kind. The club today has become home to people who were introverts, poor communicators, grammar-challenged and haters of the microphone. Today, they have all turned into better speakers and communicators. The stage is a hotspot for them now and the microphone their best buddy. I too, am one among them.
For an earlier article on Toastmasters Madurai, click on https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/a-toast-to-the-speaker/article5662118.ece
“As we step into the third year of Toastmasters in Madurai, we have elected capable leaders to take the movement forward and are confident that more Maduraiites will benefit from this and emerge as better leaders and communicators in the future” – Sachin Sundar N.