Ashir was constantly walking in dysphoria. He was so keen to mug up all the important points, but every time he forgot to read out the quotation enthusiastically.

“Wow! Ladies and gentleman presenting you Mr Ashir, the pride of our school, who is a genius at everything and now he is here to present you his wonderful piece of writing,” Ashir’s younger brother, Faizan teased him with a smirk on his face.

“Mama! See Faizan is getting on my nerves again. Just tell this crazy monkey to stay quite. I am concentrating on my speech,” Ashir complained.

“Oh! Mama’s little boy!” Faizan came up with another teaser for Ashir. “Will both of you Tom and Jerry stop fighting for a while. I am discussing some important points with my friend on the phone and he thought some noisy beggars had come in the house. Disgusting how both of you are fighting!” Affan, the elder brother, interrupted them while he kept his palm on his phone to avoid unnecessary transmission of noise.

“You better press that mute button on the phone, if you know the use of that option,” Faizan teased Affan.

“Beggar! Yes, Ashir is begging for some applause!” Faizan said while holding his cereal bowl like a begging bowl.

“Don’t show me your ugly teeth,” Ashir hit Faizan with a cushion which accidentally hit their maid Maham Bibi.

“Oh Almighty God! Where have I got stuck with these noxious brothers,” Maham Bibi kept on whining and rubbing her head dramatically as usual.

“Oh! Maham Bibi! Did you get hurt? Ashir why did you always forget that our cushion is made of iron? See you broke Maham Bibi’s head,” Faizan said sarcastically as he widen his eyes to show fake concern.

“No problem at all. I was really amused yesterday when you hit me with the carpet cleaning brush and before that I enjoyed a lot when you hit me with your plastic drum,” Maham Bibi said ironically.

“Maham Bibi, why are you making a mountain out of a molehill? You know their callowness very well. Now wind up your work, I have taken out some rice and curry for you from the fridge, don’t forget to take it with you. Come early tomorrow as we have to leave by 10 O’ clock sharp in the morning,” Mrs Ahmed said meanwhile giving her further instructions.

“Oh yes, madam! I will be on time as tomorrow is a very big day. Best of luck to all the boys, especially Faizan beta,” Maham Bibi grinned and then cover her mouth with the scarf to hide her uncontrollable laugh.

“Why did that woman gave me such ugly expressions?” asked Faizan curiously.

“You better learn some manners,” Mrs Ahmed chided Faizan. “You have made it a routine activity to tease and trouble us. Well, how much have you prepared for tomorrow? Since morning I haven’t seen you practice,” Mrs Ahmed interrogated Faizan “Practice? Practice for what? What I have to do now?” Faizan asked innocently.

“That’s the main problem with you. You don’t remember anything and show up with such an overweening attitude. Faizan, where is your speech which Affan has written for you about two weeks ago?” Mrs Ahmed asked distraughtly. “Don’t you know tomorrow you have an ‘Inter-Schools Debate Competition from grade six till grade eight and as per rules, every student has to participate like you all did last year,” Mama explained to Faizan.

“And you went blank on stage, remember!” Affan said sarcastically while putting his phone on charger.

“And you were trembling and sweating,” Ashir came up with another disturbing memory for Faizan.

“Tomorrow! Why tomorrow came so early?” Faizan dropped on the sofa. The feeling of being on stage was always an unpleasant experience for him. Faizan was dexterous by all means, but what gave him nightmares was the fear of being on stage. In short Faizan had Glossophobia, stage anxiety, where a person can’t speak on stage.

Last year, Faizan couldn’t utter a single word like he was oblivious of the competition and stood silently until the bell rang. That was quite embarrassing for Mr and Mrs Ahmed. Mr Ahmed was fastidious about his children. Whatever there was a competition, he always urged his sons to participate. He had great hopes from Faizan, but he had glossophobia. In every class, he avoided speaking up and always found an excuse to avoid competitions such as debate and speech, but this time it was compulsory for every student to participate.

“No Mama, I can’t. The stage is a kind of hell fire for me and the audience is like raging monster,” Faizan said seriously.

“So, my boy is not ready to face the raging monster,” Mr Ahmed remarked.

“Daddy you came early today,” asked Affan while he went in to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water. Meanwhile Ashir came and took the laptop bag from his father along with the packets of snacks. Faizan still sat silently, bending his head down as he could still feel the nervousness he experienced in last year’s debate competition.

“You better freshen up, I will make some tea for us,” said Mrs Ahmed. “I will, but after watching my son debating like no one else can,” Mr Ahmed said gently.

“No daddy, I can’t. It’s impossible for me. I don’t know why, but I can’t even tell you how terrible I felt on stage last year,” said Faizan sadly. “That is why we are here, to allay your stage fear,” said Mr Ahmed while he held Faizan’s arm. “My boy, there is something imaginary, we are the ones who nourishes it inside our souls. If we keep on seeking our goal, concentrating and believing in ourselves, then there will be no space left for the fear to reside in our personality.

“My boy is a dapper little man, I believe that you can do it. Haven’t you observed that impossible itself says that ‘I’m possible’,” Mr Ahmed said graciously.

Faizan smiled confidently, went into his room to get the written sheet of speech. Meanwhile Mrs Ahmed came with the trolley of tea and delicious snacks. Faizan started his debate with the quote by Kobe Bryant, “My parents are my backbone. They are the only group that will support you if you score zero or you score 40.”

Affan set the timer for five minutes and Faizan left everyone flabbergasted with his confident delivery of words. Everyone lauded him for his speech as they enjoyed their snacks.

Published in Dawn, Young World, September 11th, 2020