Sadia Irfan Khan
JUBAIL — Empowering youth with skills to succeed in present day’s cutthroat competitive world is a mission that has been passionately pursued by Jubail Toastmasters’ Club (JTC) since the last 14 years by organizing Toastmasters International’s Youth Leadership Program.
Twenty-six students from Grades 8-11 took part in its latest three-month-long young leadership-training program. JTC President Masood Asif, YLP Chief coordinator D. R. Pai with his team Imteyaz Khan, Natraj Babu, Pyarimohan Mallick, Ramanthan N. S., Jose Pekattal, Distinguished Toastmasters Sadagopan, Koteeswaran, Venkatesan D, A. K. Das, Jamil Akhtar, Zainudden and Jagadeesan Kumar, coordinated the program diligently.
The training of youth leaders included number of workshops conducted by seasoned Toastmasters Koteeswaran, Sadagopan N. Zainudden , A. K. Das, Aziz A. Siddique, Suresh Kumar, Dr. R. J. George, Sushil Agrawal, Venkatesan Devarajan, Jamil Akhtar, Abdul Rahim and Asif Siddique.
The youth leaders were put to test as well their learned skills showcased in the grand finale held at the Recreation Hall of Al Jude Village. The exhilarating performances were witnessed in two key contests and a debate.
The JTC YLP 2016 championship title was won by Ayesha Siddiqua. The second and third place winners were Arindum Jena and Sandra Mary George. Maliha Javid was the winner of the Table Topics Contest with Sreelakshmy and Zeeshan Ilyas coming second and third respectively. Youth leader Sadaf Fateema anchored the finale with aplomb. Mohammed Sabil and Zoya Zafar Siddique anchored the speech contests. Debate speech Master TM Arun Kumar conducted the contest and winners were team led by Mohamed Sayeed Ejaz, with team members Risel Thomas, Aditi Agarwal, Abdul Raheem. The best speakers in the debate contest were Abdul Raheem and Zeeshan Ilyas. A panel of senior Toastmasters led by Dr. R. J. George picked up the best of the best from among the participants.
Toastmasters Jayakrishnan, Aziz Siddiqi, Venkatesan, Sadagopan, Sushil K. Agrawal, Jamil Akhtar, Kunkun Das, Sima Shibu, Richa Tripathi, Koteeswaran, Masood Asif, Imteyaz , Ramanathan were among those who mentored the youth leaders.
P.J.J. Antony delivered a keynote speech and Vijay Kumar shared his youth leadership experiences.
The success of the mega event, according to the D. R. Pai, was largely due to the solid support from their patrons, including Dresser Al Rushaid, Dialog Services, AMC Logistics, AL Muzain Contracting, Khusheim industrial development, Guidance consultancy, Azmeel Travels, Ashcroft Al Rushaid Instruments. They played their roles in the organizers’ mission to help the youth leaders explore and hone their communication and leadership talents.
Many educators and leaders of Toastmasters fraternity were present to cheer the young leaders. Pai was all praise for the JTC YLP 2016 team that included Imteyaz Khan, Natraj Babu, Masood Asif, Koteeswaran, Sadagopan N. “They all devoted their precious time in conducting the Youth Leadership program for more than 3 months. They were very impressive.”
