By Rochelle Silva
Father, a son’s first hero and a daughter’s first love,
Father, a man turned to a hero for love.
Dark clouds on the horizon, impending semester end exams and vacations: none of these could deter the determined Gaveliers from attending the 330th Gavel meeting to pay homage to our beloved fathers and father figures.
The meeting kicked off with a noble thought by President Piyumi Bandaranayake. “Why do we have a special day to celebrate Fathers or Mothers? Don’t we love and respect them every day? Even though I had these questions myself, I realized that we sometimes take family members for granted. Having a special day to celebrate them is another occasion to admire them” she said.
Then the Gavel was handed over to the Toastmaster of the today, Himesh Siriwardana, whom Piyumi introduced as “a talented speaker who was also a reserve finalist at Speech Olympiad X, and the one with a foreign girlfriend”. During the Round Robin session, Himesh requested us to speak of what we would tell our fathers on the upcoming Father’s Day. Many speakers took the time to thank their father for being a pillar of strength. One of them said that he wouldn’t say anything at all. We wondered why. Then he went on to say that “Though my father doesn’t say he loves me, I know he does from the bottom of his heart. I hope he’ll understand the same about me”.
The lovely Madam Table Topicsmaster, Ruwanthie Gajadeera, brought a vivid blend of topics ranging from thematic ones to a recently held cricket match. Love and gratitude permeated the air as the Gaveliers recalled fond incidents involving their fathers. For Piyumi, her dad’s idea of apologizing to a lecturer with “80% genuineness” saved the day. A brilliant advice given by Himesh’s dad saved him from nearly ten train station officers who were furious about a ticket issue.
Udayanga expressed how he sees his father as a real superhero who he wishes to emulate. Ever had a day on which you went somewhere totally new and your parents kept calling you to ask how things were going? Chiranthi used a similar experience to elaborate how the simple, yet heroic deeds of her father means so much to her.
Chathuranga enthralled the audience with funny anecdotes of how his father advised him when he was dizzy with an overload of “chocolate cake”. For Shenali, her dad is the cool and practical saviour whether it’s a situation involving a boy asking her out or not being able to find the CSE seminar room. Rochelle recalled how dabbling in designing helped her understand that though we may not fully understand the efforts of our parents until we become one someday, we should admire them.
The day wasn’t all about fathers. We had a variety of speeches to add spice to the meeting. Dinuka surprised us by telling how he revels in a serendipitous life because “life goes on” as once said by Robert Frost. Did you ever have a doubt about watching cricket matches? Vimukthi went on to deliver a delightful narration about Facebook cricket dramas and how his disappointment at cricket ultimately made him a football fan. He wasn’t the only anti-cricket fan. Haritha’s eloquent speech of how his disinterest in cricket landed him in trouble and how he manages to survive thanks to Facebook cricket dramas entertained us.
The meeting took another turn when Sachini said that she disagreed with the topic “happy girls are the prettiest”. She confidently pointed out that appearances can be deceiving. The final speaker of the day, Tharindu Ranaweera (aka Tharindu junior), bravely stepped out to speak on an impromptu topic and urged us to follow our dreams no matter how impossible and intimidating they are.
The proceedings of the meetings concluded after a heartening set of speeches and evaluations, and the Gaveliers dispersed with the intention of gathering again at another joyous meeting.
Role players for the day
Project chair – Himesh Siriwardana
Toastmaster – Himesh Siriwardana
Table Topicsmaster – Ruwanthie Gajadeera
Timer – Haritha Jayasinghe
Ah counter – Kanishka Hasun
Grammarian – Shenali Welikala
Table Topics evaluators – Piyumi Bandaranayake, Rochelle Silva
General Evaluator – Sachini Perera
Word of the day
“Homage”: special honour or respect shown publicly
Table Topics
1. Father, you’re my favourite superhero
2. I may find a prince, but my dad will always be my king
3. Dedicated And Devoted
4. “Don’t tell mom”: the best advice you gave me
5. Stars can’t shine without darkness
6. Serendipity
7. Happy girls are the prettiest
8. Go Sri Lanka! We are great at fielding