Notes on the meeting of September 15

Dear Friends, 

President Kurian Abraham mentioned about how the Tamil Sangha of Kochi asked the state government to improve the roads and the infrastructure of the city. “Very few business organizations have shown similar initiative,” he says. “In fact, many groups lose hope fast that they can do anything to improve the city. It is a negative scenario. We have to develop a positive attitude in order to get results.”

Table Topics was by me. Subjects: Is Pratibha Patel a good president? Why is Kashmir burning? Will the Commonwealth Games be a success? Why has US President Barack Obama not lived up to his potential? Which is the best hotel in Kochi?

Vengupal gave the introduction to the main speaker George Johnson. He spoke about the changes he would bring about if he was the president of India.

He wanted to introduce a political accountability bill, in order to regulate the behaviour of politicians. Promote agriculture. Improve the infrastructure: builds roads and bridges and upgrade the railway system. There should be compulsory military training for two years to instill discipline in the youth.

The speech was widely appreciated and there were many additional points which were suggested by members, including interlinking all the rivers in India and having a retirement age for politicians.

Thanks Johnson for a nice and vibrant speech.  

There was an interesting discussion among members on how to improve the functioning of the club.

Here are the suggestions:

The silent prayer should be of 30 seconds duration

Invocation should be done by all the members by turn

A new concept: The soapbox where you discuss any interesting incident that took place in the last one week. Or you could do a book or film review. Each person can take 3 minutes.

For the main speech, there will be two persons who will evaluate it. Questions about the content of the speech will be asked to the speaker following the conclusion of the talk.

Once a month, there will be a debate. This will be in place of the main speech.

There should be a guest speaker once a month.

A public discussion on a suitable topic. Outsiders will be welcome. Notices will be published in the media.

By the 15^th of October, every member should bring one new person to attend our meetings. The aim is to increase membership.

Letters can be sent to MPs and MLAs or the Cochin Corporation regarding the subject matter of our discussions.

There should be a letterhead and logo.  

We should try to improve our vocabulary and correct our grammar mistakes.