have you felt like an ostrich lately?

If there is one thing in this world that I abhor, as much as moths and butterflies and horror movies, it is public speaking. There is something about this task that makes me almost want to bury my head in the sand and hope no one looks my way.

I remember back in Welham, Mrs Salaria, our English teacher would have these Just-a-minute sessions where everyone had to stand in front of the class and speak on a topic for a minute.
Everytime it was my turn, I would just stand in front of the class, beet-root red cheeks and eyes all watery, and stare at the floor.
She would coax me to piece together at least one sentence, and to her credit, she did finally manage to get a sentence or two in the last few classes, but that was all..

Now that I am here, I think back to those days a lot.. In my Manchester years, I managed to dodge a couple of presentations- either through some sort of bartering whereby I wrote 1000 words in a report for a friend in exchange of her speaking two minutes on my behalf, or by preparing all the material needed for the presentation and what not..

Since coming here to SOAS, I have had to give presentations and participate in group discussions.. Needless to say it's pure torture, the feeling I get when more than half a dozen people are staring right at me, expecting to hear me say something intelligible.. It's that moment when I wish a flying carpet would come flying in through the door and take me to a land far far away where there are no presentations and where everybody minds their own businesses and don't expect anything from you..

But of course this is life, not Aladdin.. London, not Africa where there is sand to bury my head in..