Best speaker Magazine Issue 2 - December 2017 | Seite 51

that made me come to Kelaniya to achieve
such an old dream. It proved that when
we truly want something and go after it
without limiting ourselves with disbelief,
the universe will make it happen. Some
people call this the ‘law of attraction’.
People say that a university has a
subculture. Well, so does Gavel. In Gavel
you will meet new people with new titles,
Toastmaster, Table Topics Master, VP-
Education, VP-Membership etc. The OC
meetings, Gavel Ekka Avurudu, the Best
Speaker contest, all the organizing work as
well as the team spirit are so valuable to an
undergraduate. Personally, my sole remedy
to a worried, disappointed and unkind
week at university is the Gavel meeting
on Thursday evening. Each meeting is
a new lesson and a heap of experiences
filled with friendship, brotherhood and
sisterhood. The memories you have of
Gavel are like a box of chocolates. When
you finish one, you have started another,
even without your knowledge. Among
all these chocolates, one chocolate I love
very much is Gavelier Himansa’s saying
“You have one life, so don’t hesitate to do
what you love. If public speaking is the
question, Gavel is the solution because if
you are not going to speak here today you
are not going to make it somewhere else,
this is the threshold to Public Speaking!”
Some people say that the entire life is full
of lessons, so I like to call Gavel, a life. Now
it is not too hard for me to guess why the
World Spirit guided me to the University
of Kelaniya.
Long live Gavel!
Gavelier DILMINI
ABEYRATNE
Faculty of Social Sciences
WHAT MADE ME SPEAK OUT
I
t was Thursday 30 th of March 2017,
when I first stepped into the Career
Guidance Unit Training Centre for an
educational meeting of the University of
Kelaniya Gavel Club. There was a person
called the ‘Toastmaster’ who explained
about a session called the ‘Round Robin
Session’ and I delivered a speech in the
Round Robin Session. Then came another
person called the ‘Table Topics Master’
who introduced a session called the
‘Table Topics Session’. Everyone smiled
at me with friendly expressions and I was
touched. Even though I had delivered
several speeches in front of an audience
back in my school days and even though
I have lots of friends, I still feel nervous
when I speak in public. It’s no wonder
why, I am a proud introvert after all. But
I always knew the importance of public
speaking and after the Gavel meeting that
day, I suddenly knew that I had found
a perfect place with friendly people to
improve my public speaking abilities.
Once in the first semester of 2017
academic year, we received a short,
unexpected vacation. The Career Guidance
Unit Training Centre was unavailable
for the weekly educational meeting.
However, Gaveliers were able to organize
the Gavel meeting outside the university
premises for a change and it was held at
the Kiribathgoda temple premises. There
had been several educational meetings
outside the university but this was my first
experience. Due to inclement weather
conditions, only a few Gaveliers were
able to participate for that educational
meeting. That day, I was the first to arrive
at the venue and after Gavelier Thushan
joined me, we prepared the hall for the
educational meeting.
After the beginning of the meeting, the
Round Robin Session was completed in
the usual manner. When the Table Topics
Session started, every member present
could deliver a speech because there were
only 13 Gaveliers at the meeting that day.
I always spoke during the Round Robin
Session but I had never done a speech
during the Table Topics Session before.
I hesitated almost every time to do the
Table Topics speeches telling myself that
“I will do it in the next semester.” But the
truth is that I was very nervous to do a
speech before an audience. So I prayed
to god, “Please not today” and sat on the
last bench hoping that the Table Topics
Master, Gavelier Chrishari, would not be
able to see me and invite me to deliver
a speech, even though she could see me
very well.
Unlike the other days, my heart rate
accelerated as each speaker finished
delivering their speeches. I never
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