Rotary Orator of Goa 2018-19

Mushtifund Aryaans Higher secondary school received an invitation to participate in the Rotary Orator of Goa 2018-19 which was organized by the Rotary club of Panaji Mid-town to be organized at Gaspar Dias, Miramar on the 13th of October 2018. Each contestant representing their school was supposed to speak for of five minutes on the topic “Be the inspiration”, with emphasis given to Opening remarks, Voice modulation, Content, Gestures and overall presentation.Many ofthe studentsjumped into the fray, especially when they heard of the cash prize of Rs. 10,000 for the winner & Rs. 5,000 for the runners up.

To select the school representative, an audition was held in school and after a lot of deliberation amongst the teachers; I was finally chosen. I prepared my speech and my English teachers helped me in improving in areas like the pace of my speech and in  my oration.

13th of October 2018. The day was finally here.

The competition was slated to begin at 4:00 PM and we were expected to be at the venue by 3:30.On arriving all participants were then assigned numbers. The rules of the competition were then explained to us. 23 contestants from 23 schools from all over Goa were present. The contestants ranged from standard 9 students to standard 11 students. The contestants were then put in an adjacent hall so that they couldn’t hear the speeches before their own and were called by the lot number assigned to them during registration.

Being 20th in the sequence, it warranted in a lot of tense waiting for me. Over an hour and a half later,I got the chance to step into the main hall, a bit nervous but determined. I delivered my speech and with great relief took a seat in the hall. I got to see a few contestants speak after me and was impressed by the quality of their speeches. Once all participants were done with, a little 8 year old 3rd Standard girl stepped up to the dais and gave an amazing speech which left the audience in splits and left us thoroughly impressed with her speaking skills. We were later told that she was the daughter of one of the organizers who just wanted to test her oratory skills and wasn’t actually a contestant.

The chief guest gave us a rousing speech, and then one of the judges Mr. Pravin Sabnis gave us tips on how to improve our speeches and congratulated each one of us on having the courage to come up on stage and speak.
Then came the eagerly awaited results.They first declared the name of Runners up, the contestant from Manovikas Schooland then under the huge round of applause the name of the Winner…..from Mushtifund Aryaans Higher Secondary School…..I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!

In a bit of a daze, I walked up and collected my award and cheque, smiling goofily around still trying to absorb what had just happened.

I went to the judges later, to know ways in which I could improve. I then went home, happy and content with my parents beaming at me, capping off an eventful day.

-Prithwij Sinha, Student of STD XI – M.A.H.S.S.