By Kumar Rishi:
How easy is it for someone to hurt others, even when the person who’s hurting someone, is the one who has experienced the same?
It is understandable that everyone cannot be friends, and if we look at it, we’ve created “special” doors for each person in our lives. For some, the doors will be locked and some will be open for others. The problem is when you break that door to get in somebody else’s personal space, even when they had no intention to ever break your door. There’s a word for it, and it’s called bullying.
While you are reading this, I’d like you to do me a favor, as a reader. Go on any search engine, and type “I am bulled”. You will get to know the amount of bullying children, teens and even adults have gone through in their daily life. It’s horrific, and it makes my blood boil.
Today, while I write this, I have to leave my comfort zone and tell my brain to stop suppressing those terrible memories of the way I have been bullied, and express them to you, the reader. As I’ve mentioned, I have been bullied, never physically, but trust me, getting bullied mentally can be as bad. The things a person can say can really ruin your day. I still remember, I was new to school, when I forgot to cut my nails one day, and they were longer than the other kids in my class, everyone started talking about it like it’s their business. Some girls told me to put nail polish, while the boys were asking me to ask out a boy for prom the following year. Now, this may not seem like a really big deal to some, and most of you probably thought, why didn’t I say anything, or why didn’t I show them “who’s the boss”. Well, honestly speaking, I didn’t know anyone, and I was one little ant among twenty three other dinosaurs.
Things eventually do fade away, just like this one specific incident, but it can taunt your mind like a shark having you for dinner. Another one is when people start using your contradiction to them, to make fun of you. The chromosomes are the cells that make you who you are, not somebody else. It’s the worst way to bully someone as you are actually making fun of uniqueness. People are different, people may not understand who you are, and there may be a possibility for you to be all alone, but remember, you are what you’ve made of yourself from the day you are born, so don’t lose yourself. We are social animals, and we will judge people, even if we try not to.
“People will break you, rate you and hate you. But you better show them they can’t even face you.”
I eventually went to my teacher and told her all the specific incidents on my humiliation, and eventually, it was me who won the battle. It’s never easy to share things or stand up for yourself. But always remember: “Being a tell tale, and asking for help are two completely different things, so use your voice, it has power”.