Abdur-Raheem McCarthy – Funny story lecturing in India

			That's your fault. For turning off the AC, you have a white man and the middle of India in the
middle of a tent in the middle of the summer with his heat and you turn off AC Yes, it's your fault.
		

			I know it's a bit of a delay, the technical problems they happen for us as international speakers,
it becomes second nature to have technical issues. We've done complete TV shows. And we find in the
end, there's a technical problem, we have to do it all again.
		

			And as I sit here in front of you today, and I see this box of tissues, it reminds me of a technical
issue we had, or maybe not so technical, but an issue we had. When I was filming for Peace TV in
India in 2009.
		

			It was my first public lecture in India, it was the middle of the summer. And the public lectures,
they actually make them into TV shows. So they'll make a theme like segments, 20 minutes, 20
minutes, and what have you. So as I'm about 15 minutes into the lecture, every minute, the brother
in charge on the bottom, which shows me the science is supposed to be telling me five minutes left,
10 minutes left. But every like minute, he comes with a sign that says wipe, wipe, meaning wipe the
sweat, because I'm sweating very, very bad. So I keep taking him wiping and wiping. I'm like, bro,
I'm wiping but it's not working, as you can see. So about 15 minutes into the lecture, I hear the
		

			sound.
		

			And the AC starts. So I Subhanallah here I am. In India in this tent, I have 10s of 1000s of people
in front of me. It's the middle of the summer. It's hot, you know, and they turn off the AC.
Anyways, Hamdulillah. I continue my lecture. And then the producer comes on the lecture. It's a live
lecture, just like I'm speaking to you. Now. He comes on the stage, he goes a timeout, which I
didn't know you could do in a public lecture. But apparently you can. He goes to timeout, we make a
huddle on the side. And he starts to explain to me, because as I was lecturing, I'm getting hot. I
had a jacket on the blazer and had to throw him underneath. So I take off the blazer. And I throw it
		

			on the chair that's in the back and I come back and I continue with X ray. So he comes up on the
stage.
		

			And he goes there.
		

			We go to the side in the huddle. And he says brother, I need you to go back 12 minutes ago to where
you were wearing the jacket and continue from there.
		

			And as your boy said, I have no idea what I said 12 minutes ago, I have the iPad or the papers in
front of me the notes. It just points. I don't know what I said 12 minutes ago, how can I go back?
He said if you don't go back the filming will be ruined. I said that's your that's your fault. For
turning off the AC you have a white man and the middle of India in the middle of a tent and middle
of the summer with his heat and you turn off ACS and it's your fault you turn it off. So now you
have to pay the consequences. Anyways, handily he was able to save it somehow because I know they
put it on TV that lecture will hamdulillah so the brothers they thought that it's going to be a long
		

			night so they asked him for one handkerchief and they gave me a whole box just in case and
hamdulillah but so far mashallah the weather's nice