I must fight, and I will

It was Wednesday morning, and Shaila was seated in the classroom. It was time for a presentation. One of the best orators, Mala, was to present, and everyone waited eagerly for it. Mala had a command over the chosen topic, and her presentations were always engaging. No one remained in doubt after attending such presentations.

"I must pay attention to every detail, for tomorrow is my presentation day." thought Shaila as she waited with her book open and pen in hand. She wanted to take it all down.

Anil was one of Shaila's classmates, and he and his friends trolled the one who presented mercilessly. As Mala walked towards the center of the class to present, one of the boys passed a snide remark, "let's make sure she cries during the presentation. Friends let us continuously ask her difficult questions. 

"Mala would have prepared well, and she will have the answer to each and every question," thought Shaila. Casting a sideward glance at the boys, Shaila thought. "Little do they know!"

The presentation began, and to Shaila's utter shock, the boys kept asking questions. They distracted Mala, and Mala was frequently at a loss for words. And then Anil raised his hand up and asked a question. It was something Mala did not know how to reply to, and she began stuttering.

She tried her best to answer at first but then finally gave up, saying she did not have an answer to his questions. As she burst out crying, she fled from the class. The whole class was petrified. Then knew soon each one of them would have to present, and they did not know how they would face Anil and the gang. 

Shaila felt fear rising inside her. She had to present tomorrow, but how? Shaila walked out of the class with her friends. She was preoccupied with her thoughts that she left her book on the desk. But thankfully, a few steps away from the class, she remembered and walked back to the class. She was at the door of the class when she heard Anil tell the others, "tomorrow, we'll ask such questions to Shaila that she will never be able to complete the presentation. She should leave the class in tears," as they left the classroom from the other door.

She was grateful that they had not seen her there, but she froze when those words fell in her ears. Shaila quickly picked up her book and rushed out of the class because she did not want to risk any meeting with Anil's unruly bunch. Her heart beating so hard in her chest that she could almost hear it. Her first reaction was to fake illness, skip class altogether, and escape from the presentation.

Shaila walked towards the open area in front of her college. She wanted to be alone, and she had to think and decide her next course of action.

She sat in her favorite seat in the garden. She knew her friends would be in the cafeteria and would not disturb her for some time. She could see flashes of Anil questioning her friend Mala today and how they ridiculed her when she had no answers for them. 

Shaila had met Mala later on in the day and noticed a significant change in Mala. The confident Mala, the best orator in her college and had won many laurels, had lost all confidence. 

"What about me?" Shaila thought, "I am no orator, and how do I handle this?"

She thought of Mala again and thought, "will she be able to gain her confidence back? There is an intercollegiate competition in two days, and will she participate, or will she give it all up?" That's when she heard voices, and her friends had come looking for her. "Look, there she is!" Saira called out. They were a gang of ten friends, they gathered around her, and one of them, Vidya, asked, "Hey why didn't you join us for lunch?"

Shaila's friends read her well. Before she could reply, one of them said, "you are presenting tomorrow, right?" When Shaila nodded, another one said, "Is that what is bothering you after what happened today?" And then, one after another, they began abusing Anil and the gang. 

As they continued talking, they were joined by Mitra, one of the ten friends. Shaila had not noticed that Mitra was not in the group, and she was too disturbed by what had happened earlier in the day. As Mitra approached the group looking troubled, Saira asked, "Mitra, what's up? Why did Ma'am call you? But you look disturbed. Is something wrong"

"Not something. Everything," Mitra said. When ten pairs of eyes looked at her waiting for her to elaborate, Mitra continued saying, "Mala had refused to participate in the intercollegiate competition. She is totally shaken, and Ma'am expressed a fear that we would ever see Mala competing again. Her confidence is totally lost."

One of the girls asked, "who then will represent our college in the competition-" Even before she completed what she said, Saira angrily muttered, "better to send Anil or one of his chelas!" 

Shaila felt a strange joy fill her heart and mind. "Some relief this is," she thought. "I must go tell Ma'am that I can't present tomorrow!" As these thoughts came to her mind, there was another burden, "what about the internals! I will lose 20 marks, which can impact my overall score!"

She looked at Mitra, who appeared burdened as she said, "Ma'am wants me to do it! The competition is in just two days, and how can I prepare and perform," Mitra said, shaking her head.

Suddenly Shaila felt anger rise inside her. How can we allow Anil and his friends to thrash us like this, and we accept defeat. Shaila thought, "this Anil and his gang have shaken Mala's confidence and that of the whole class." then, on an afterthought, she decided, I must do something to restore my classmate's confidence, but how?

As if reading her thoughts, one of the girls asked Shaila, "Hey Shaila, it's your presentation tomorrow, right? What's the plan? Are you going ahead with it, or are you backing it out?"

Shaila said, "I will present tomorrow, "without blinking an eyelid. Her friends seemed shocked but did not say a word. "I am taking the afternoon off, and I must prepare. See you tomorrow, girls." So saying, she rose and walked out of the college gates. 

Her aura had changed by her newfound confidence. "I must fight, and  I will," she thought. "And that will not be only a personal victory, but a morale booster for an entire class." she thought. She walked back home, going over the steps of the presentation.

Once she got back home, she locked herself up inside her room in preparation for the presentation. She continued to perk herself up with a line that she kept saying aloud like a mantra, "thank God for Anil's warning. I will only prepare better." Her positive attitude helped her to prepare better.

The next day morning, Shaila gathered her papers and walked to college. On the way, she went over her 5-minute presentation a couple of times. She stepped into college to find Anil and his gang waiting confidently to roast her.

Shaila kept her head high as she walked toward the table next to the podium. She found the laptop there, and she set it up so that she could present without a hitch. Shaila knew that Anil was watching her, but she ignored him.

Soon the Professor walked into the class and looked at the register. He then looked up and said, "it's your turn to present, Shaila." Mala sat in the corner of the class, expressionless. Shaila's friends seemed tense, and they wished her the best.

Shaila took her place, "Sir," she said. When the Professor looked up at her. she said, "Sir, I know its only right for my companions to clear their doubts by asking a question. But I have a request. Why not wait till I finish the presentation and then ask?" Anil stood up, ready to protest. But before he opened his mouth, the Professor said, "That would work fine." And then, he addressed the class and said, "yes, asking questions during the presentation is a waste of time. probably if we wait for the end of the presentation, many doubts will clear up on their own." Anil tried to protest, but the Professor sternly told him to be seated and gestured to Shaila to begin.

More confident now, Shaila began the presentation. That was one of the first complete presentations in a long time. Mustering all her courage, she asked, "any questions." Soon the boys started asking the questions. But Shaila confidently answered them all. Finally, Anil stood up and asked a question, and Shaila did not have an answer for it. She confidently walked toward Anil but stood a safe distance from him and said, "sorry, Anil, I don't have an answer to your question."

Anil began to argue, saying that her research was not complete. Shaila continued looking Anil in the eye as she said, "Anil, you know nothing about the topic, and I could have said anything, and you would have thought that to be the correct answer, but I did not want to insult your intelligence." But Anil angrily said, "I am thorough with the topic!"

"Really, Anil, that's wonderful because I have some doubts, and I would be happy if you could clear them for the benefit of the class." Before he could refuse, she said, "why don't you start with the answer to the question you just asked me." Anil did not know anything about the topic, and he had googled a few questions and would use them to roast his classmates. Red in the face, Anil did not know what to say. 

"Anil, the question you asked does not pertain to my topic," Shaila said. Anil quickly sat down and gave Shaila a standing ovation.

My Thoughts

How easy it was for Shaila to escape from the presentation. The situation was challenging, but Shaila overcame it with her positive attitude and hard work. She did what the class needed most, and Mala competed in the intercollegiate competition to win the first prize.

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