By Chathuranga Amunugama
“There is something romantic about the way raindrops fall to the earth. They slowly cleanse it, make it new and nourish it to grow its beauty organically, even when it appears like the sky is crying”. Gloomy afternoon, the sound of the raindrops, a white board full of topics, and a room full of Gaveliers: that’s more than enough you can expect from a Gavel meeting. After singing the national anthem led by Rochelle Silva it was time for the Toastmaster to lead the meeting. The Toastmaster had ironically chosen the topic as “Rainy day” for the round robin session as it goes with the vibe which was outside the ENTC seminar room. After a successful round robin session, it was the time for Rochelle to introduce the Madam Table Topic Master, Wimali Galgamuwage.
Amor animi arbitriosumitur, non ponitur (“We choose to love, we do not choose to cease loving”). Wimali had chosen a variety of topics which mostly gave a romantic fragrance to the meeting. The first Gavelier who broke the silence was none other than our Gavel president Vibhanu Arachchige, AKA “Love Guru”. Using his recent experience regarding romance and Speechmaster 2015, he pointed out that “It’s not about winning the competition; it’s about becoming a better speaker than yesterday”.
“Success is the ability to bounce back when you hit the rock bottom”. Starting his speech with a dramatic entrance, Praveen reminded us how the Sri Lankan cricket team bounced back after being defeated by the Indian team in 2014 and won the 2015 world cup defeating the same team, India. He successfully talked about the future of the Sri Lankan cricket at the same time giving a valuable advice. Then it was Chathuranga who shared his personal romantic experience regarding the topic “To fear love is to fear life”.
“Love is the one thing that transcends time and space”, it was Arshad who pointed out the fact that the “Interstellar” movie is not just another sci-fi movie but a very deep movie which focuses on love and sacrifices.
“When the things get really messed up you have to get up and try again”.Ravidu added value to the topic “no matter what, you are going to mess up sometimes” through his personal experience about his 1st crush story.
“A good friend will bail you out of the jail, but a best friend will sit right beside with you and say “Damn!! That was fun””. That was an interesting story about how Tharika met her best friend and how a simple stranger becomes someone so close and important in your life. Next it was purely words of wisdom! Athif pointed out that it is really important to control our words every time we speak.
“Pain is one thing that makes us human. Let the pain transform you, so you can be a miracle”. After an awesome speech about wisdom, it was Rochelle who took us through the memory lane of Speech Olympiad 2015. Wimali was able to fill the silence with her story about Hillary Clinton about giving people a second chance.
Well, it was indeed really nice to hear Piyumi speaking. As usual with a shining smile, Piyumi stated that “it’s ok to mess up sometimes; mess a little, learn a little and enjoy”. After Poorna’s speech about friendship Malaka came up with a really interesting idea about the animal he wanted to be if he was an animal. It is…… wait for it……. BATMAN! He came up with an amazing motivational quote from Bruce Wayne: “People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy and I can’t do that as Bruce Wayne. As a man I’m flesh and blood. I can be ignored. I can be destroyed. But as a symbol, as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting“.
It was Insaf who stated that “no matter what you do, you are gonna mess up sometimes, but preparation is worth millions.” As the last speaker Shenali came up with an interesting speech about a movie called “Wake up Sid”. Wimali did a tremendous job being Madam Table Topic Master and after an impressive table topic session, the 260thGavel meeting was adjourned.
The role players for the day
- Toastmaster-Rochelle Silva
- Table topic madam-Wimali Galgamuwage
- Timer-Sandaru Seneviratne
- Ah counter-Theshani Nuradha
- TT Evaluators-Piyumi Bandaranayake and Vibhanu Arachchige
- Grammarian-Ama Kalpani
- General Evaluator-Ravidu Lashan
- CL evaluator- Vibhanu Arachchige