Page 7 - Voices Feb 2018

COVER STORY
2016 District 7 Spring Conference

Where Leaders

are Made

Balraj Arunasalam, DTM
International President

Balraj Arunasalam My Toastmasters journey began 28 years ago when
shares his journey I was inducted into the Colombo Toastmasters club,
to International the only club in Sri Lanka at that time. I was then
President in
excerpts from his a chubby young man (not that I am old now). What
Inaugural Address attracted me to the club were the cakes and pastries
August 2017 in being served before the meeting began.
Vancouver, BC
I never spoke a word either at Round Robin
(evaluations by all members) or Table Topics. I suffered
from extreme stage fright, and was particularly shy of
senior members who were excellent speakers. When

I eventually started speaking, it took me 8 years to
complete my first 10 projects from the CTM manual,
It was not my fault; it was because a 5-7 minute speech
was evaluated for 10 to 14 minutes. Presenting a

project speech in my club at that time was almost like
appearing for an oral MBA examination. Gradually
my confidence grew and I was elected as the club
president in 2002.

Then along came my fellow countryman, Dilip
R. Abayasekara, one unique individual. At my very
first convention in 2005 in Toronto, Dilip was the
incoming International President. He took me into

the board room a few minutes before the meeting
was to start. He showed me the well lit, impressive
board room, and said, “you have everything it takes
to be in this room.” At the time, Sri Lanka and India

were not even a provisional district! I thought he had
gone crazy!

VOICES! | FEBRUARY, 2018 7