That Damn Spotlight!
Mumbai, 30th March 2022 Phone in hand, I froze. Suddenly, every face in the audience became clearly visible to me, all looking at me. Talking to people was my profession, but today, I was talking about myself, my creation, my poem, the hook line was coming up, and I had stumbled on the previous line. This needed to go well, otherwise, the entire fun of the poem would have gotten lost. Hands shaking, I took a deep breath and continued. -- Glossophobia- the fear of public speaking, affects about 75% of the population. Some individuals feel slight nervousness, while some experience outright fear. Those staring eyes, those mocking faces, those uninterested looks, and those dreaded yawns! I was a glossophob too. Image Courtesy: https://images.app.goo.gl/CrPL8r2TCYf74K126 Let alone public speaking, I was uncomfortable talking in family gatherings! My modus operandi was to sit in the farthermost, discreet corner of the room, and gaze at a corner, cooking up stories (some of which are now