Toastmasters Division E annual conference was held with the theme ‘Embracing Excellence’ under the leadership of director Nirmala Raghuraman and chair Krishnamurthy Nair.
District director Ravishankar J, programme quality director Sabeena M K, club growth director Alarmel Mangai, past district director Manzoor Mohiddin and Rajeswar were present.
Special guest Fatima Sultan al-Kuwari in her keynote address concluded that “embracing excellence is not about what we achieve but what we become in the process and thereby motivating others to do the same.
“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” she added.
The speech contests followed. The winners, in the order of first, second and third, respectively were: Evaluation – Amina Khanum, Mohamed Ajmal, Tariro Dorcas Matibiri; Humorous – Rabi Chandra Lamichhane, Shahinaz Kadavil, Vasuki Sathiyababu; Table Topics – Narendra Aryal, Thancy Ijas, Amina Khanum; International – Sonali Ghosh, Sudha Bhuvaneswaran, Mohamed Nayeem.
The chief judges were Philip Cherian and Azeez Mohamed. The contest chairs were: International – Area 19 director Jawed Ahmad; Evaluation – Area 20 director Pooja Malhotra; Humorous – Area 18 director Pradanya Umrani; Table topic – Area 17 director Priya Shembekar.
The first-place winner from each category will represent Division E in the District 116 Toastmaster Annual Conference in May 24 and 25 in Doha. Division newsletter, Echo, was released. A banner parade was conducted by Bindu Singh and Deepak Talreja.
Special awards were given to the individual contributors. The role players were recognised.
