IT’S NOT FINAL

The slightly low spirits of regular members on seeing only a few committed toastmasters in the meeting did not last very long as the room filled up slowly but surely with several guests. The ambiance of the room was very casual and friendly with the guests also feeling at home. It was one of the finest meetings from many aspects including novelty, creativity, collaboration, inclusion, and intellectual growth. 

The ever-ready and charming TM Rayees Syed opened the meeting as the Sergeant at Arms and made everyone in the room feel welcome. His jovial demeanor never fails to lift people’s spirits. He called the Area 38 champion and presiding officer TM Omar Khan to carry the meeting forward. The proud Stallions were congratulated for bagging the first place winner awards in all 4 categories at the area level with TM Omar for International Speech, TM Viquar Hussain for Humorous Speech, TM Naqi Rizvi for Table Topics, and TM Jibran Mohiuddin for Evaluation Speech Contest. 

The Toastmaster of the Day (TMOD) was none other than the indefatigable (word of the day) TM Syed Faisal who beautifully articulated that nothing in life is final until and unless we declare it to be so. Even death is not final as there is a life after that too. The last words of an individual on his or her death bed are also not final as the spoken words may not be the last. Success, without exception, is also not the destination and is actually very relative.

The timer was TM Taqir Hussain with TM Omar Khan as the ah counter. The grammarian was TM Viquar and the vote counter was the diligent DTM Syed Waqas. The meeting was a complete event as there was a prepared speech session, table topics, and general evaluation. Furthermore, the conduct of the meeting was very innovative particularly with regards to the table topics. 

The first speaker of the evening was TM Mohammad Alwan who talked about “your body speaks on your behalf”. Like always, TM Alwan educated the audience with a very informative and relevant topic and talked about the importance of harmonizing our words with our body so that there is no disconnect in what we say and how we act. He also spoke about how different body gestures mean different things in various parts of the world. 

The second speaker was the naturally funny TM Taqir Hussain who’s speech titled “what goes around comes around” talked about a story in which he helped a young aspiring gentleman in his job and had the favor returned to him a few years later. His speech was filled with great humor that left the audience in roars of laughter. 

The most awaited session of the evening was the table topics segment that was conducted by the indefatigable TM Viquar who’s innovative ideas always leave the audience stunned. He called a guest (Firoze Khan) and asked him to talk about what he would do if Albaik were to come to Riyadh. Each subsequent speaker had to pick a line from the speech of his predecessor and use that as his table topics speech title. The line-up of the speakers included TM Sajid Abdul Rezak, guest Amjad, guest Abdulaziz Zamil, TM Dr. Fayez, and TM Kaleem. Each of the speakers spoke well and tried his best. The session started with the discussion of free food and ended at the same point!

Following the novel table topics session was the heart of any toastmaster’s meeting (evaluation) that was headed by TM Naqi Rizvi who had assumed the role of a General Evaluator (GE). He spoke about the difference between success and fulfillment and the relationship between happiness and success. He emphasized that one should aspire for fulfillment as the feeling of contentment is arguably the most satisfying feeling. In addition, he mentioned that it is not success that leads to happiness but happiness that acts as a precursor to success. After his short prelude, he invited the first evaluator TM Omar who gave a constructive evaluation to his target speaker TM Alwan. He was followed by DTM Waqas who also commended TM Taqir’s speech and suggested some improvements that could make his speech better. The last in the line of evaluators was TM Rayees who evaluated the table topics speakers and encouraged the speakers by praising them for their courage and suggesting minor areas for improvement.

The meeting reports were not taken because of the shortage in time and the general evaluation of TM Naqi started with praise for a club he calls home. He commended the members and guests for making the meeting so special. He also suggested that the club should focus on punctuality more than it does presently and should fill vacant positions of meeting leaders right before the start of the meeting to avoid changes in the agenda. 

The TMOD, who likes to stand behind the lectern for reasons unknown, concluded his session and handed the control to the presiding officer. The president took guest comments all of which were very pleasant and ensured a busy week for the Vice President Membership TM Fayez as some guests showed interest in becoming members. 

The awards were distributed with TM Omar and the guest of honor guest Feroze Khan giving away the rolling trophy to the winners of the evening. TM Tauqeer was declared the prepared speech winner, TM Kaleem as the table topics champion, TM Omar as the best evaluator, and TM Naqi as the Big 3 winner. The final award was shared between the 3 most important role players of the evening as TM Faisal, TM Viquar, and TM Naqi did their best to make the show the success that it was.