B5: The day when I gave a speech on Friends

“I’ll be there for you (when the rain starts to pour)
I’ll be there for you (like I’ve been there before)
 I’ll be there for you ( ‘cause you’re there for me too)” 

The day when I gave a speech on FRIENDS

So basically today I woke up with a fever. Well, there is nothing to worry about, it’s just a normal flu. But the main reason behind it is “The Speech”. I have been asked by my Principal Sir to deliver a speech on Friends of course for our Friendship Day event. Now you guys would be wondering “What type of school conducts a Friendship Day event? Ours doesn’t ”. Well, neither did my school. So let’s see the back story of this whole situation. 

 

(Flashback) 

     

 Today is the morning of the 30th of July, I woke up early for my school, and as a part of my daily morning routine, I shall check my mobile phone. Something unusual caught my eyes, instead of just “GOOD MORNING” texts the following texts were adjoined “It’s the end of July! Happy international friendship day”, “Yee August is here. Which means FRIENDSHIP WEEK !”, “omg! FRIENDSHIP WEEK guys!” and blah blah. My whole chat group was filled with friendship day wishes and greetings. I reached my school 15 minutes before the time so we could share all the gossip in the market. 

“Okay folks, so what is it that we are discussing? Seems important? I asked in a very confused tone.

“Oh Hena, we are just talking about the Friendship Day event”, Tina replied casually.

“ We are actually planning about approaching our teachers with the proposal of hosting a Friendship Day Event. Now come on it is our last year we all want good memories don’t we?”, added Seema with full confidence. I too had confidence in her and that she’ll get us this event.

“Good afternoon respected teachers, we really hope we are not intruding on your lunch. We surely don’t mean to disturb you. We are here with a small proposition and we honestly expect that our kind teachers will permit it”, Seema was very good with words. She knew how to convince people and get what she wants.

“No, no, you are not disturbing us. Please carry on. Tell us about your proposition”, said Miss Sharma.

We all got a positive vibe, Seema began explaining, “As you all know, every year the first Sunday of August is celebrated as friendship day, and yes Sunday is a holiday so we can shift it to Saturday.”

“What exactly do you want to shift to Saturday?”, asked Mr. Patil    

“Friendship Day Event. She means we want a Friendship Day Event in school on the first of August, teachers”, cleared Mohit.

Teachers were unimpressed and uninterested in whatever we said. They looked at each other and laughed proudly. As if they knew we would be coming or this request has already been made. We were clearly losing and then entered Principal Sir. He was cluelessly about the discussion we were having and so he asked,   

“Good Afternoon teachers and students, to what do we owe your presence here students?”

The bravest leader of our group went speechless, our Principal Sir does has that aura. I looked at everyone and no one whispered a word. My friends had filled me up with all fantasies of the event and I don’t want to lose it now. So I, the least brave of them all spoke up, “Good Afternoon, Principal Sir, we are here for the permit of having a Friendship Day Event”. As the last word ended I took a deep breath. 

“Oh, I see. Well history has it, every time students like you come up with such plans of indiscipline, we have rejected them”, said Principal Sir.

“Well sir, not to offend you, but it won’t be an event of indiscipline or disturbance. It will be a small cultural event of us celebrating and respecting the relationship of friendship. We will just share a few friendship bands, chocolates, and gifts with maybe a few dance-music performances and a few games. Maybe even some photographs. We will conduct it with full decorum, sir”, I said in defending our plan.

“I must say I am intrigued with the way You presented the offer, Miss Hena, as I hope I am not wrong you happen to have a phobia of speaking in front of more than 5 five people at a time”, said Principal Sir, maybe it was a taunt. I don’t really know.

“Um... I guess it is because of my friends…. Yes definitely because of my friends, they give me the power and strength and support in front of you all and this is why we want to celebrate Friendship Day, Sir”, I replied to him bravely.

“HAH!”, he laughed. “Okay fine Miss Hena, I have a better proposition to you all, if Miss Hena, delivers a ‘SPEECH ON FRIENDS’ in front of everyone in the morning assembly, the day after tomorrow then we shall ourselves organize the event you all crave for. Do we have a deal here Miss Hena?”, there he did a number on us, he asked me something I couldn’t do. So yes we lost. I am saying “N…”.

“Yes sir, she takes the deal. She will give a speech in the morning assembly”, Seema closed the deal on my behalf, of course she did.  We came out of the staff room and Mohit confronted Seema, “Dude why’d you do that, you know that Hena doesn’t like doing that?”

“Well of course I know that Mohit. Hena listen to me, our Principal knows how phobic you are when it comes to speeches but he knows that you have ample of knowledge you can share but you are just afraid to do that”, Seema explained.

“I think I’ll agree with that. And I think it is high time you overcome your fear and give a speech. This is the best opportunity for you. And then you will get him off your back and we will have our event”, Rahul added.

“You can do it!!”, cheered the whole group out loud. 

Creator: happy8790 | Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

(Present day) 

I feel sick. And I even threw a bit, of anxiety and nervousness at its best. I am ready with my uniform on, plates done, and a bit of light makeup. Stage appearance matters. My friends met me at the school gate. They said that they are with me, they believe in me and I have their full support. Well “thank you”.

I blinked and then here I am on the stage, there are a lot of people……a lot, I think we must all work on the population of our country seriously. I look at everybody’s face and smiled as advised by Mohit, I gave a small glance towards the staff and took a deep breath (it really helps). 

“Good morning, respected Principal sir, teachers, and my dear friends”( oh my god my legs are shaking )“I am Hena from standard 10 and  I was asked by our respected Principal Sir to give a speech on FRIENDS” (my heart is beating faster than ever, I am gonna die), “I hope you all like it. So friends, um.. friends do you all know um….” (I am going to collapse I know. I am going to throw up here right in front of everyone, I don’t even remember my speech. Where are my friends, where are those idiots? Oh, there they are. What are they saying, “YOU CAN DO IT HENA. COME ON. KEEP GOING. HENA, HENA, HENA!” Oh my god, they are all cheering for me. Alright, here we go again…. )“FRIENDS, they are more than just a family we choose. They are the people we connect to without an elderly force and compulsion. We take each other’s plus and minuses and create a forever ongoing equation. We make a subconscious vow to support each other, just like my friends do; we are always there before time on the day of Mohit’s performance, we scream our voices out cheering better than our cheer team when our friend Rahul is on the ground and yes, he is not a cheater, we help Tina in promoting her designs online and offline both, we help Seema in getting her scores up. And they helped me come here on the stage and face my fear. And we believe one must always celebrate this gift mankind has. We must celebrate a relationship where one stands up for the other, supports you emotionally and physically, and makes you happy and strong. What would one do if they have no friends? With whom to party, to share secrets or sorrows, to play and enjoy, to laugh and cry, to dance and sing, to walk in this difficult world. Friends make things easier for us. They say it is a modern times thing; being friends, having best friends, and that friends are not always forever, but is it? Then why do we celebrate Jay-Veeru, Munna Bhai- Circuit, Batman- Robin, and Power Puff Girls, and the list won’t end. Maybe not all friends are meant to be forever, and maybe not all friendships last longer but all of the people whom we called our friends since our childhood have played certain important roles in our life. Maybe be a role of an advisor, supporter, partner, or even a betrayer. Friends are the first social group we create on our own and even though they don’t all stay with us for a long time but their impact on our lives stays with us forever. Friends know when you are upset and they can make you feel better in 100 ways no one else can imagine. They are always there for you, good or bad. And in this competitive and wild world, we need friends who have each other’s back support us in every big step we take, and stand right beside us in our success or failure. We ask nothing but only a day to make this bond strong and marked. I believe if we remove our friends from our lives we’ll be left with no fun memories. I feel blessed to have you people in my life, my friends, if not forever but for now.”

 

Holy mother of God did I just give a complete speech in front of the whole school!!!!! I glazed over the crowd and saw my friends screaming and cheering and clapping for me. “Yee you did it, we are proud of you!”, they screamed. I peeped towards our Principal Sir and teachers’ direction, they looked back at me and smiled with a thumbs up. I went back to my friends.

“Good morning young students, firstly I will congratulate Miss Hena for overcoming her fear and also for her friends for helping her. And as promised I may declare the celebration of Friendship Day this coming Saturday”, announced Principal Sir.

The crowd went crazy. We all went crazy. This was the first-ever Friendship Day Event to be held officially in our school. We looked at each other and smiled the victorious smiles of our life. 

“No one could ever know me
No one could ever see me
Seems you're the only one who knows
What it's like to be me
Someone to face the day with
Make it through all the rest with
Someone I'll always laugh with
Even at my worst, I'm best with you, yeah”

By - Humaira Kazi.

                                      (song by The Rembrandts)