Manual: Competent Communicator
Project/Assignment: Speech #4 “How To Say It”
Comments: This speech won my 1st Best Speaker award at my toastmasters club.
Today I want to share with you an experience I had when I was in the 7th grade. As a disclaimer, let me point out that I do not intend to offend any religion or culture with this speech. This speech is based on a true story. This is my story – the dreadful 20 mins of my life.
I have lived in the Middle East for many years. My dad was working for Singapore Airlines who was posted was in the gulf region. My brothers and I went to school there. It was a luxurious life but a restricted one due to the rules and regulations any expatriate family had to abide by.
The incident happened one Thursday night sometime during the 20 mins after 8pm. In the muslim world, shops and all public establishments must close for prayers 5 times a day. The longest prayer time is the last one from 8pm to 8.20pm. There is not a soul on the street. There are no cars zooming by. All one would hear are the prayers from the nearby mosque.
It was the weekend. Two of my friends had come to visit me. We went out that night to a nearby residential community. We were having a party. Around 7:45pm, I asked my uncle for his permission to go back home with my friends. We were getting bored. He agreed and asked us to be careful while crossing the main road. He knew it was safe especially since it was the prayer time. What he did not anticipate was what was about to happen.
Riyaz and I were on bicycles while Rajaneesh was on my roller skates. He was not good at skating but he managed pretty well for a first timer as he stumbled along. My apartment was hardly 2 miles from where we were. Cross the main road, go past the open land to the first of the cluster of buildings. We raced our way to the main road. Rajaneesh was slow on skates so we waited for him. When he caught up, we looked both sides and crossed to the median in the center. I don’t recall where the white Corolla came from. With a screeching halt, the 4 Arabs parked next to us. The smell of burning rubber filled the air.
“How much?” one of them asked pointing to my bicycle. I think I said 300 Riyals as I signaled to my friends to move along quickly. We crossed the main road. My heart was beating fast. My instincts told me that there was something wrong. Something was about to happen. I sent silent prayers to God and cycled on. My friends followed. None of us talked. Maybe there was a telepathic communication going on between us, each of us saying the same thing.”We need to get home. We need to get home fast.”
Riyaz and I were quick enough to cycle past the Corolla as it crossed us and parked diagonally in our path. Rajaneesh fell behind. Rajaneesh fell down. 2 Arabs got out. They were both dressed in traditional white robes. One of them grabbed Rajaneesh by his legs and tried to pull him towards the open backdoor of the Corolla. The other one made sure we could not come close enough to rescue Rajaneesh. I could see from the distance that Rajaneesh was not making it any easy for them. He kicked them hard and fast. The 2 Arabs in the car were getting restless and were shouting some words in Arabic. A few mins later, I saw Rajaneesh skating towards us. I don’t know how he got away but the 3 of us were together again at the end of the long stretch and now closer to home. We were too scared to look back at what the Corolla was doing. A few mins later, we were home behind closed doors; safe.
The next thing I remember was switching off all the lights and air conditioning. All we could hear were the prayers from the nearby mosque, now coming to a close. Then I looked outside the window and saw a white Corolla parked outside. There were 4 Arabs in the car. Tears ran down by face and I started to tremble with fear. We ran into the bedroom and locked the door behind us. Rajaneesh urged me to call my parents. I managed to utter out some words of help to my dad’s voice on phone. He asked me not to worry. I don’t remember how long it was before my parents and uncle got home but it seemed like a lifetime and when they walked in to the bedroom, I knew the ordeal was finally over.
The memories of those 2o mins after 8pm remind me how 3 childhood lives would have changed forever that night.
It also reminds me how Rajaneesh learnt to skate.
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