What a ride
2
1.in late jan she was Informed that she may be selected. And she wanted it so bad. Then was selected.
2. Went for training on 15thAuygust. Loved it. Saw this small cute boy from bedok green and was wowed.
3.got fi rst topic. Naatu patru. learned they were against bedok green! Panic. Was to be 2nd speaker. Struggled with speech writing. Hand written. Too long. Exhausted. Wenw3t for pasta mania just the two of us, first of such special meals.
Learned to type speech. Practised. Was the most outstanding of the three much to surprise of everyone ! Including herself and us.
4. Had alt week training online. Dance piano drama thevaram all on hold. Life on hold!
5. Next topic. Meelum thanmai. Made 1st speaker. 2 speeches! ( coz wowed in 1st round. Teacher said in confidence to me she is best speaker!) Thought kids dont have meelum thanmai. Worked thru that and made it the opening. Iyya gave idea about how vacccines work. Added that to last speech. Again she thrilled. Was best of the lot. Got special mention by judges.
6. Next speech into quarterfinals! thought wont be first speaker. Thought its about taking turns! But uh uh. All liked current format. Wrote speech. About thondooloyam. Was tired of memorising yet a other speech like 3 days after last one!
Rajini to the rescue with his ettu ettu song and happening poetic ending for 2nd speech. But went on holiday. No mood to practise. Most stressed. Poor thing. Did well despite exhaustion but not as well as could have. Had impromptu as well. On why girls should not do ns!!!handled it as well as she could. Slept 4 hours that aft.
7. Now onto semifinals! Samooga udangagal. Fired up. 1st speech excellent..but got ready late by teachers. 2nd speech super late. Still rocked it! Worked in a planned rebuttal for confidence. Killed it in impromptu! Was best experience of debating yet! Parents could watch this time. And they got to observe other debating pair too.
Judges said in private to me it was a tough choice between aishu and lakshanya for best speaker! Thrilled. Pity they didnt award in earlier rounds. Would have got it then.
Along the way fell sick three times. Headache for 2nd round. Used time to rest and memorise speech
Violently Upset stomach 2 days before semi finals
Upset stomach again the week before the finals
Had dance exam day after semifinals
But didnt do as well as hoped. Coz not supoerwoman lah
8. Onto the finals. Tough topic. Panam and manathalavil ilamai! Vetti. But got speech sorted early, both. Practiced and polished. Absolutely slayed it in finals. Got cheers and claps. Sang acted spoke everything. Impromptu was a killer though. Vegetarianism vs non veg. Didnt get the words. Gave away her cards . But still did it. Recalling neelum thanmai speech without realising it! Didnt win. Fought disappointment.
First time worked this hard for anything and did not win. Took 2 days to recover. So many self reflective qn. Could she have done better. Had she let her side down. How come they lost. Heartbreaking. But nec process to go thru in life. But god was listening. She wanted most of all to be in the papers and then on a plaque in school. God made it happen just for her.even if they didnt win the papers printed both finalists throughout! She skipped to school today!
Thank you god for this wonderdul experience.
Humbling. Electrifying. Educating.
I was humbled by teachers level of hard work. We had to work together as a team to prep the speeches the girls. I was humbled by their brilliant structure for semifinals.
The thrill..i think we never felt as happy as we did after semifinals! Felt the elusive chanpionship within reach, despite out shaky start.
And Tamil! Love of language has indeed grown. So many songs introduced to aishu now. And seiyuls, thirukural moothurai. Beautiful indeed. And i discovered love for tamil, flair for tamil, speech writing skills in me i didnt know i had ! Saro teachers all surprised at thr scripts i wrote!
Thank you thank you thank you god!
Malar and Mira, and Devi ans Kaavya came to support Aishu, icing in the cake truly
