Three families of Gavel unite under one roof

The cold and crispy morning of 12^th February 2023 soon became warm, as the gaveliers of the University of Colombo, University of Mora日本藤素 tuwa and the University of Sri Jayawardhanapura flooded into the zoology auditorium of the University of Sri Jayawardhanapura. The air of the auditorium soon became a lively one with loud giggles, big hugs and shouts of surprise as old friends reunited and new friends were made. It was a special day for all the gaveliers. It was the day of the much speculated Trio Meeting, a milestone waiting to be set in the history of Gavel.

The 284^th educational meeting commenced at 9.30 am with the President of Gavel USJ, GV Loshini calling the meeting to order. After welcoming all the gaveliers and greeting the meeting, she handed the controls of the meeting to the Toastmaster of the day, GV Sayuri. The theme of the meeting “A Love Confession”, was introduced by GV Sayuri through a small act of calling her father each night to say “I love you Thaththi”. She then read out a poem titled “Remember?”, composed solely for the meeting. After the brief introduction of the theme, the Toastmaster of the day, introduced the General Evaluator for the day, GV Sathmi (only after struggling with the name for about a minute). GV Sathmi introduced herself, her role and then proceeded to call upon the TAG team to explain their roles to the meeting. The Ah counter, GV Hansika and the Timer, GV Ashfaaq distinctly described their roles and then the Grammarian for the day, GV Mahisha revealed the exciting word of the day, “Ardent”.

Next, the meeting progressed on to the ice-breaking portion, the Round Robin session. With the title question “Is everything fair in love and war?”, GV Shibly conducted an eye-opening session, where everyone’s personalized opinion was disclosed. Ideas were presented in logical, statistical, emotional and even psychological perspectives. What’s more, a few passionate individuals, who would do the extremes in the name of love, were exposed as well! Following the enlightening Round Robin session, a game was conducted by GV Hansika. The game required all the members to get into different groups and enact a short play on different stages of love, using a specific set of words provided on the screen by the game host. What took place during the game were short drama scenes acted out in a hilarious manner by the gaveliers, showcasing various forms of love. Hidden talented actors brought out during the game left the audience screaming with laughter and happiness and the session itself helped the three universities bond even more within their respective teams.

The Table Topic session took place soon after the game, with GV Odil providing incredible topics to talk on. GV Vinuk revealed a love story filled with sacrifice and understanding, interwoven with his own experiences, under the topic “The beauty of someone who asks for nothing but company”. A love story with a scientific turn of dissections was related by GV Ashfaaq, under the topic “A scientist’s definition of love”. A unique situation, where a plot twist took place within a confession of love, with a gas cylinder, was expressed by GV Thulasithan, under the topic “A memorable love confession”. Then GV Sankaja came up with a beautiful speech of affection for the topic “A leap of faith for love”. Giving a significant message for life, GV Hansika spoke under the topic “A love story that taught you an important lesson. At last, the topic “Deep in my heart I’m concealing things that I’m longing to say…”, allowed GV Naamina to share his newly acquired knowledge of poodles, with the family of gaveliers. Each and every speaker bared out their hearts and souls for their respective topics, leaving the audience flabbergasted and entertained at the same time.

Then came the evaluation portion of the meeting where GV Sathmi called upon the Timer, Ah Counter and the Grammarian for each of their reports. After the reports were delivered, GV Asmitha, GV Naethree and GV Savin evaluated the Table Topic speakers in very encouraging tones, providing them pointers to improve on and praising them for the best features of their particular speeches. Finally, the General Evaluator herself gave a report on the meeting as a whole. Following the detailed evaluation section, the controls of the meeting were handed back to the Toastmaster of the day, who concluded the session singing a small portion of an emotional song, before handing the controls over to the President of UOC and the President of UOM, GV Naethree and GV Suthira. Both Presidents gave delightful remarks about the meeting and together sounded the gavel to mark the end of the 284^th educational meeting.

What followed after the meeting was a warm bonding time of the three universities with yummy cupcakes and juice as snacks. Of course a group picture was mandatory, so all gaveliers sat together under the scorching sun to capture the beautiful moment of unity among the universities. Both University of Colombo and University of Moratuwa were taken on an interesting tour around the University of Sri Jayawardhanapura. I personally loved the sweet mixed fruit beverage I had at the juice bar during this small tour! For a fact, I know that all gaveliers await yet another joint meeting to make new memories with new friends.