By TM Vansh Rungta
There are some meetings in Toastmasters you remember because they were well planned, perfectly structured, full house, smooth roles, polished speeches, spotless execution. And then there are some meetings you remember because nothing went according to plan… and yet, somehow, they became the reason you discovered what you are capable of.
For me, that meeting happened in June 2023.
We called it Bollywood Night — a theme meeting built not on conventional agenda, but pure enthusiasm, creativity, and the simple intention to make every member feel like a star.
Looking back today… that night became a turning point in my leadership, my confidence, and my belief that meetings don’t shine because they are perfect — they shine because people don’t give up on them.
Bollywood Night was meant to be big.
We had spent almost three weeks preparing it. Members were new, but passionate. Many had just joined Toastmasters recently — bright eyed, curious, excited, eager to belong.
We had singers. We had a guitarist. We had a synthesizer player. We even planned a skit.
Nothing professional. Just normal students, working professionals, and young members — but full of talent, heart and fire.
This was the beauty of it: talent was discovered, not imported. We created a special segment where members would enact iconic Bollywood dialogues and use voice modulation like real cinema voice artists. We planned fun Q&A style movie trivia that would allow even the shyest members to participate without fear.
The dress code was Bollywood inspired — something dramatic, quirky, loud, glamorous, heroic or even retro nostalgic.
We even decided to have the senior-most and most engaging speaker as Toastmaster of the Day — because he had the charisma and the voice to elevate the room energy instantly.
Everything felt set.
We were excited. We were proud. We were ready.
Or at least… we thought we were.