The international guest experience: How walking into a foreign club broadens perspectives – The Himalayan Times – Nepal’s No.1 English Daily Newspaper

Every happening in our life happens for a reason.

It was around 2021 when I was introduced to the Toastmasters platform by Mr. Niroj Maharjan. I couldn’t continue then because of some personal reasons. Later, when I actually realized the importance of this platform, I rejoined. I took the membership orientation on 7th September 2024 and became an official member of Bodhi Toastmasters Club on 30th September 2024. The day I officially joined Toastmasters, I never knew that I would be in touch with so many wonderful people and get a platform for international friendship.

Bodhi Toastmasters Club is a community-based Toastmasters club located in Kathmandu under District 41. It was officially chartered on January 5, 2018. In its initial days, the club primarily comprised educators from Kathmandu. Over time, the club expanded its membership beyond education professionals to welcome individuals from diverse sectors. Bodhians meet every Monday.

In the month of August, I dared to step into a previously unfamiliar international Toastmasters meeting in Sri Lanka. The Colombo Toastmasters Club is one of the more historic Toastmasters clubs in South Asia. It was chartered on November 1, 1983, making it the first Toastmasters club in South Asia. It operates under District 82, Division A, Area 01. With a rich history of nurturing communication and leadership, it has played a significant role in the growth of Toastmasters in Sri Lanka. The club has over 70 members, of whom 48 are active. Visiting the club presented an opportunity for cross-cultural Toastmasters learning, networking, and sharing experiences between Nepali and Sri Lankan Toastmasters.

Prior to the visit, I had got in touch with the Club President, Toastmaster Thushan Mahagedara. I came to know that they also had one member of Nepali origin. My visit to Sri Lanka and their meeting schedule luckily matched-the club meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month. The meeting was held at the Marino Beach Hotel in Colombo.

The welcome ritual was actually overwhelming for me. The President of the club not only came to welcome me at the gate but also guided me throughout the entire journey. It is their belief that any guest to Sri Lanka is automatically their guest too. This was something that made me feel deeply connected to the Sri Lankan people.

They didn’t only guide us within Sri Lanka, but even from the beginning of the journey-from the moment we landed, helping us with buying a SIM card, exchanging Sri Lankan Rupees, hotel booking, sightseeing in Negombo and Colombo, booking a bus to Kandy, sightseeing in Kandy, and finally helping us on our journey back to our country. This was something I learned to value: the importance of being a gracious host and making a guest feel genuinely cared for.

Talking about my learning from the Colombo meeting, it was truly a new and insightful experience. The club started its meeting from 5:30 PM onward, with the first 30 minutes dedicated to refreshments and networking. It made me feel immediately at home. The meeting was organized around the theme “Echoes of Generation.” It was pleasant to see members from different generations coming together and participating actively.

I discovered new meeting cultures, including the extensive use of technology-from sharing the agenda to voting for the better speaker. I experienced the Round Robin Session, where everyone participates. The host gives a topic, and everyone has to speak for 20 seconds on that topic. But the twist was that they had to continue from the sentence or words with which the previous speaker had ended.

This session gives an opportunity to listen, think, organize and speak in no time. It was a wonderful exercise in impromptu speaking because you had to listen carefully to the previous speaker while simultaneously preparing your own response.

I also noticed several other practices that were different from what we usually experience. They award the Table Topics speakers, and the winner gets to take the gavel and pass it to the person who takes the session ahead. They also conduct Speechcraft sessions and have sponsored a Gavel Club with more than 100 students.

I even saw them distributing business cards to the executive members. They celebrate each other’s successes through social media and organize casual meetings, even during walks. They treat every event as a grand event. I also witnessed an insightful keynote speech on “Being a Good Evaluator.”

Toastmasters is established with the mission to provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills. This international club visit strengthened my overall perspective of the Toastmasters fraternity beyond the boundaries of my club. I am hopeful that I will be able to bring my learning to my community in Nepal, therein enriching my contribution and growth.