Page 11 - Eloquence 2017

DTM. Dr. Babu Ramachandran

Founder President
WMC Toastmasters

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

"Babu ,when you move to Bahrain look up
Toastmasters. "

"Toastmasters???What's that? Some good eat- plined set up ,not to forget the warm welcome
ery "
of the Manama Toastmasters. Realization
"No Babu ,it's an international organization dawned on me that I was just an infant on the
helping people to improve their communication shores of the ocean of communication and
and leadership skills. See I am an ATM". leadership which stretched out in front of me.
"Gopi ,the only ATM I know is the one at the "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the
bank " first step"-This famous Chinese saying is a fa-
vourite of mine and on April 1 2000 I took my
The above was a conversation I had in the ear-
ly nineties with my childhood friend Gopi during first step in my Toastmasters journey. Well
one of his visits to the capital city of God's own April 1 was just a coincidence and not because
country ,Kerala in India from where I hail. Gopi it was "All fools day ".
was based in San Fransisco. TM Clement Vinayak took up my mentor ship.
To brag about my friend, Gopi Kallayil which is Much water has flowed under the bridge and I
his name, is an ardent toastmaster. He has as I travel down memory lane,I am flooded with
completed Advanced Communicator Silver and the beautiful enjoyable Toastmastering mo-
is Google’s Chief Evangelist for Brand Market- ments that flash across my eyes.
ing and a TED speaker . He featured on the I am sure the readers of this article who have
cover of Toastmaster magazine April 2017.
come this far might be thinking "What - Seven-
I decided to take Gopi's words seriously and in teen years to become a DTM. ? Isn't that too
the year 1990 I walked into the meeting room long ? Yes dear friends it's a long time but I de-
of Manama Toastmasters at the Holiday Inn cided at the very first meeting to take things at
(today's Crowne Plaza). A galaxy of well my own pace. In today's era where we have
dressed dignified ladies and gentlemen greeted Fast food, Instant noodles ,Quick fix remedies
me. This was my first introduction to etc. mine has been a journey on the slow lane.
"Toastmasters ". Having had my foray in the We see Toastmasters around finishing their
field of public speaking in India as a student DTM in 18 months ,14 months or even lesser.
union leader in university Just a Minute cham- Projects in the morning and evening at different
pion for three years (Sorry for blowing my trum- clubs and then reaching the DTM mark..... I
pet ), have nothing against this fast track approach
but my advice to budding Toastmasters is to
I sat there in the Holiday Inn thinking - “What
more can I learn about communication?" The enjoy the Toastmasters program and to take it
meeting started and at the end of two hours at a slow pace.
When Toastmaster Nasreen,PRM Division
I was literally blown away with the inspiring
speeches ,the impromptu comments ,the disci K .asked me to write on my DTM journey, I
pondered-what advice can I give -To be a tor-
toise or a hare. Well my journey is penned be-
low:

There is no such thing as work-life balance-it is all life.
The balance has to be within you

11