The organisation marked its 300th meeting while earning the title of
President Distinguished Club for the fifth time. By Umer Nangiana
One of the only four clubs in town to reach the milestone, AlKhor Toastmasters (AKTM) recently celebrated its remarkable 300th meeting. It was also the fifth time that the club earned the title of ‘President Distinguished Club,’ the highest level of recognition since the club was established in March 2002.
The club also earned the title of ‘Beat the Clock’ this year. “It is a great honour and a wonderful success story. We have completed 300 sessions of the meetings at our club. I believe it is the result of consistency, commitment and hard work,” Shabbir H Siddiqui, the president of AlKhor Toastmasters Club, told the audience while addressing the gathering of members and guests.
The highlight of the ceremony held to celebrate the achievement were the speeches by guest speaker Koka Prasad and Toastmaster Abdul Kadher Sheikh. This time Prasad spoke about “values you live by” and amused the audience with is characteristic style and selection of words.
Sheikh addressed the audience with his humorous speech ‘My love story.’ The ceremony also witnessed two new special awards introduced this year. TM Subbiah was presented with the award ‘Toastmaster of the Year’ and ‘Golden Idea Award’ was presented to Toastmaster Khawar Nadeem.
Siddiqui thanked all the guests from Doha, Dukhan and other parts of the country for travelling to Al Khor and joining the celebrations. The community management has given continuous support to the club, he said, and latter presented a souvenir to the management representative as a token of thanks.
Presenting the annual report of the club, ‘The Journey Of Excellence’, TM Shabbir Siddiqui recapped all historical events of the club showing selected pictures from historic events. He acknowledged TM Anilson Varghese for his dedication and support during his tenure, until he left the country in March 2015.
Quoting a famous couplet from Pakistan’s national poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal, he thanked the current excom for their support, dedication, hard work and team work. He specifically mentioned the names of Toastmasters Rana Anwar Ali, Salah al-Huwari, Omar Sheikh, Subbiah, Esakki and Balkrishna Karande for their efforts to achieve the targets. “Iqbal, in his lines, has given the message that achieving a milestone in the life is not to be considered as the ultimate goal, but keep looking forward for more achievements; you have to struggle more and more, to achieve further milestones,” said Siddiqui.
Addressing the audience, Rana Anwar, the VP education of AKTM said that today is a big day for the club members and it warrants celebrations. TM Sundar recalled the story of the club right from the start and mentioned the names of Toastmasters who made a real difference in the development of the club along the way. They included George Thomas, Shoaib Kasem, Sonny Varghese and Liaqat Amin Satti.
DTM Saquib Raza Khan addressed the audience and mentioned AKTM achievements. He said it was the 4th club in Qatar which reached 300 club meetings. He appreciated the arrangements of the celebration and thanked TM Thomas Philip as Area 69 Governor for his efforts to start three new clubs in Al Khor.
Division E Governor Naseemudheen A Hameed thanked the community management for their support. “Al Khor has enough potential to add more Toastmasters clubs in the community,” said Hameed.
Toastmasters Ram Mohan Roi, Virandranath, Khosi Sam, Saleem Kapoorwala, Ashraf Siddiqui, extended their well wishes for Alkhor Toastmasters during their speeches.
A recognition award was presented to the current excom as a token of appreciation and for meeting the targets of the year. Club President TM Shabbir Siddiqui thanked all guests, gaveliors, families and members, the echo of this colourful celebration will stay in our memories for very long time he added.
President of the club Siddiqui mentioned the names of senior Toastmasters, including T M Mathew Jacob, Krishna Kumar (KK), Sarma Naimani, Abid Hussaini, Saleem Kapoorwala, Badar Sohail Khan, Liaqat Amin Satti, Sundar, Atul Srivastava, Mahadevan Natarajan, Madhukara Kalmaday, Rajeswar, Manzoor Moideen, Sonny Varghese, Vicky Mustafa and George Thomas for their contribution towards the club.
The ceremony ended by cutting the cake followed by a photo session.
RECOGNITION: The Alkhor Toastmasters excom with the guests at the ceremony to mark 300 sessions at the club.
