Happy Diwali was the greeting at our meeting on November 9th. We learned about Diwali, the Festival of Lights and the celebration of light over darkness. Diwali is a five-day celebration that includes good food, fireworks, colored sand, and special candles and lamps. It is one of the most significant festivals in India. During the Travel Topics session lead by Kit Myers, we learned about Diwali traditions from Sini and Judith. Samantha shared a recipe for Onion Pakora which is one of many foods eaten during Diwali celebrations.
Our speaker, Helen Josephine, presented a speech about how planting a garden can nurture us by providing inspiration and beauty, neighborhood improvement, and habitats for insects and wildlife. She encouraged us to join community gardens, lobby our public officials to re-green vacant lots, and add flowering plants to our own gardens to attract pollinators. She reminded us that if we love strawberries, then we need to help save the bees!
Our Destination Master, Tym Myers, provided these clues about a city in India that is currently named Chennai. He asked us to guess the name of the city before it was officially renamed as Chennai in 1996.
- Chennai is the “Detroit” of India. India is the 5th largest producer of automobiles in the world and Chennai accounts for 60% of its exports.
- In Chennai, eight-mile long Marina Beach is one of the world’s longest urban beaches.
- Many kingdoms have ruled over Chennai including Pavalla, Chola, and Pandya Dynasties, the Vijayanagara Empire, as well as the Portuguese, Dutch and British Empires.
- Chennai is known for the famous cotton fabric manufactured here, which was also the previous name of the city.
If you guessed Madras as the former name of Chennai, you are correct!
Join us for our next meeting on November 16th from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-7 UTC). The meeting theme is Discount Trips. Have you ever found an amazing deal on a dream vacation? A cheap underrated destination? Or a location where the off-season is discounted and is still a great place to visit? Let’s hear all about it at our November 16th meeting. Guests are always welcome to attend our meetings. If you would like to join the club, contact Helen Josephine for an application form.
Register for the meeting: https://tinyurl.com/TravelTalkersZoomLink
RSVP on MeetUp to let us know you are coming to the meeting. Guests are always welcome!
Looking forward to hearing your travel stories! Join us to be inspired to take your next trip.
Helen Josephine,
Travel Talkers Toastmasters
Travel Talkers Toastmasters 
Leave a comment