Feeling the pulse

I thought a lot about it before sharing my plan with the six Area Directors and club mentors in July 2019. I wanted to visit all clubs, first existing 18 and thereafter every new club as they opened. Learning from the AD role I took up two years ago, I wanted to understand directly from […]

A Super Year for Division A

What a year it has been. Term 2019-20 has been a year that transformed us. From a fledgling that Nepal was in District 41 aspiring to be noticed, we have come into our own. Covid-19 pandemic lockdown did make us recalibrate our goals by a bit. However, what we have achieved collectively has been nothing […]

Good effort knows no boundaries

For humanity, April 2020 was a month to forget. The spread of Covid-19 pandemic worldwide, increasing fatalities, and the extended lockdown have resulted in grim statistics for many nations. The virus knows no boundaries and we, in Nepal, are feeling the negative impact psychologically and economically.  No one was prepared for such a situation to […]

Stimulated by difficulty

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato is credited for the quote ‘necessity is the mother of all inventions’ as mentioned in his work, ‘Republic’. I have believed in the quote for long and acted upon it, as inventiveness, imagination, and ingenuity are all stimulated by difficulty. Two of my current initiatives have been a result of […]

Sustaining New Clubs

Nepal is on a roll. 14 clubs have opened this term. Another 4 clubs are in the pipeline just about ready to send their charter fee. At Division A, with 18 base clubs, many tongues are wagging. Is it too many? Will the new clubs survive? Will the quality be maintained?  The work starts ahead […]

Pathways @ TLI

When regular members asked me ‘why attend TLI again? I have attended TLI last year and the trainings are no different,’ the answer was easy – ‘Every member had taken a different role last year. While the module may appear the same, the interactions are different.’ However, the question ‘why attend TLI again within six […]

13 Clubs in 6 Months

An old Facebook post of July 01, 2019 popped up in the news feed recently where I had shared my first day in ‘office’ as the Division A Director for 2019-20 and my plans. I had made a public commitment to add 12 clubs in my term of 12 months. We did better. Division A […]

Only Winners at Citation 2019

The Division A conference ‘Citation 2019’ planning meeting in July went very well but not without many question marks, doubts, and concerns; targeting 300 participants, inviting the International President Deepak Menon, DTM to Nepal and chartering at least 10 clubs by Dec 07, 2019. Winners never quit and quitters never win. As the event date […]

Learning Through Evaluation

Everest Toastmasters Club, established in 2004, is known to have a beeline of membership request. Maintaining 50 members, the club is in a constant dilemma to accept or suggest other clubs. It honestly submits that it cannot provide equal speaking opportunities if it starts accepting all requests.  Members from Everest Toastmasters Club have opened 90% […]

Insightful Club Visits

Toastmasters clubs are mushrooming at a fast clip in Nepal. Earlier, it was easy to connect with members amongst a handful of clubs. Since its inception in 1991, we grew to 8 curated clubs by June 2017. In 28 months thereafter, we added 14 more. New members, new aspirations, and new challenges dot the Toastmasters […]