Since a few days this had been going on. Every time Shiny would go to play, the older girls led by Preeti would come to her, apparently to greet her but they said such horrible things, they made her cry. She would retreat as soon as she saw them now.
Her mother noticed it that day. She was wondering how to help Shiny, take a stand for herself and not cow down. Bullying was such a bummer. The one at the receiving end, at times was scarred for life, while the bullies thought nothing of it.
Priya, Shiny’s mother recalled her own close skirmishes with a bully and his friends. As usual he would come closer, laughing saying mean things; Till someone passing by would enquire what was going on. But one evening, after school, as she hurried to the gate, the good for nothings spotted her. They came up to her and demanded she hand over her bag… Knowing that they meant nothing but trouble, she turned around to take the other path out, but one of them cut her off.
“Did you not hear me?” said Mehul. Though he was merely in grade six, he seemed to be a giant to petite Priya. She was wondering what to do, as she kept backing off. She was calculating how far she would be able to run, rather outrun before someone could come to her rescue.
“Hey Priya! Dad is calling you. He said he will come in himself if we were not in the car in 5 minutes!” panted her younger sister as she came up to her, pushing her way through that unruly gang.
That was enough to disperse them.
As she ran with her hand held in her sister’s, tears trickled down her face. Their father never came to pick them, neither did they have a car. That night, she hugged her sister tight, “You are a real hero, you know!” “You are no less Priya. You face them everyday and have not complained. But you should tell someone, your teacher or the games teacher, else I will.”
“But how did you think of scaring them away like that?”
“ I knew we could not physically beat them, though I was prepared for that too; But I wondered what would make sure they retreat… That’s when the idea clicked! So glad it worked.”
They hugged each other knowing they would always have each other’s backs.
Next day Priya confided in her teacher and the rest was history. The school did not care for bullies and would not tolerate any such
students.
As Priya tucked Shiny in bed that night, she chose to narrate a story. She told her about a baby crow and a baby eagle. They were friends. But one day a big black crow came where they were playing and started pecking the baby eagle. “Your parents troubled me a lot. I will teach them a lesson now.” The baby didn’t know what to say. It made no sense to him. “I will make you do all my work,” he said. “ But I am just a baby. See I cant even fly high like my parents.” “Never mind, You go and get me the best fruits from the top of that tree. Or else…” The poor baby just flew away, with his friend in tow.
They went and hid in a hollow of the tree. Both were pretty frightened. Now what to do? “Idea” said the baby crow, “Let’s tell your father. He will scare him away.”
“But he is not here now!”
“OK! Lets stay here till that crow goes away.”
That evening, they cautiously peered out and went home, once they were certain the crow was not there. In their relief at seeing their parents, they forgot to tell about the day’s events.
Next day while they played, the big black crow came and scolded the baby eagle. He was about to catch him and shake him, when the baby crow said… “Look! Father Eagle is here…He looks angry too! After what you told him yesterday, I guess he wants to kill this crow.” The crow didn’t wait to see anything, off he flew!
Shiny had been holding onto her mom’s hand for dear life. She burst into laughter, relieved at the happy ending.
“Mom,” she said “There are these girls who trouble me and make me cry. What should I do?”
“Tell them to let you be! Don’t retreat, stand your ground. In case they don’t listen, you can tell them, you have told your mother and she will be coming to check on you soon. You wave your hands three times and I will reach there in a minute. OK?
We are a team and no one can worry you.”
Next evening Priya went to the park maintaining a discreet distance she watched. It made her proud to watch her child standing her ground, and not retreating. That confidence… where had she seen it?
