Big No

In the school playground, Pooja heard the voice: “Look at her, tiny fellow. Look, look she is coming here. but we will not include her in our group and when she’ll come here, we all together will say- Oh baby go and play with toys.” 

(Pooja to herself) :- “Oh god, it is still happening, everyone is bullying others for some or the other reason but one has to raise their voice against this, for themself, for their self-respect. ( Pooja is narrating her experience) It happened to me as well, when I was in grade 8. (Flashback) It was the first day at my new school and I was very excited about my new classroom, new teachers, and my new friends. I stepped into the class and said good morning to all but all my classmates were staring at me. I had the cheese touch from “Wimpy Kid”. My teacher welcomed me with a big smile on her face, I felt happy. ( Pooja with a confused state of mind) After 2-3 days I felt my classmates are ignoring me, they had not accepted me and so I decided to talk to them. 

 On that day I found they were laughing at me and they said you aren’t like us. You look older than us. You look like our didi. I did not understand what to say, but I said “ we can be friends” and I went away. ( Pooja with Serious expression) After two three days during lunch, I found some of my classmates were planning to go for coffee. And I went there and asked them if I could also join them. They told me that they don’t want an aunty with them and started laughing at me ( Laughter sound ) and again said , look at your hair-so oily, look at your clothes-so simple, you don’t apply nail paint, you don’t look like a teenage, it seems like you don’t belong to this grade  . I felt very bad. (Pooja started walking in a sad mood and started talking to herself ) This hurt me that how one can bully others like this. And at that moment I decided to be strong and stand for myself. ( Pooja with confidence and strong body posture)Yes……., I have to stand against bullies. I turned back and said, Yes I am tall, taller than you all, yes I’m healthier than you all but it is not my fault. I’m not an alien, I am normal like you all are. My father is a wrestling champion and so he is tall. My mother is also tall and she is a basketball player. And so I have a strong built like my mom and dad. But how does my height or weight matter to our friendship? Even though I am a basketball player, I can be a good member of your basketball team and I can even help you in your physical training. Along with sports I am good with math and debates, you will surely be proud of me if you make me your friend. Even I can learn many things from you all….( silent for a few seconds ) but for this you will have to accept me as I am. And what is the problem if I oil my hair, pin my hair, I don’t wear earrings or paint my nails or even my simple clothing? How is this a matter of shame, this is the school dress policy and I believe we should follow it. I’m coming to school to learn, not for a party. Even though I love to do makeup or wear fancy dresses, there is always a right place to do all this. I know you all are good but you should also accept others rather than bullying them. Please stop bullying me or others. I say a BIG NO to you for bullying, otherwise I will have to talk to the principal. ( Pooja will close her eyes for seconds and will take a long breath) After all this I calmed myself and looked at them. They were looking at me with their wide eyes and mouth open, like a statue. (Pooja started moving with a smile on her face) I was satisfied and was hoping that everything would be better the next day. You know that a miracle happened the next day. When I entered the class, one of my classmates stood up and said sorry to me and I accepted with a smile. I asked them to forget everything and start a new beginning by being friends. I said them that we’ll have fun but not over the limit or by hurting others. And this was a happy ending and a new beginning.