When I was in class 6, I was teased for having a dark complexion. I was bullied because my height was short and because I was not that strong physically. Not only that, I also had mental health issues. I had no friends.
I feared to share all of this with my parents and gradually, this affected my growth, my confidence and most importantly, my academic performance. I started keeping my thoughts and feelings to myself. Many people found this to be an opportunity to annoy me more – on social media, in class and in the school bus. I found myself in isolation.
For me, my grades were very important. The things I had achieved from class 1 to 5 were totally gone from my mind. I lost control over myself and finally decided to end everything. Yes, I thought of committing suicide. I felt that I had nothing to do in this world and maybe God also didn’t want me to go any further.
Since I had two sisters, I thought that my parents would be happy and my absence wouldn’t matter a lot. I was in class 8 when this thought came to my mind. I was neither good in academics, nor in co-curricular activities and was hated by all. I started thinking of how to end myself. I thought of consuming rat-killers, drinking detergent, hanging myself (as seen in the movies) or stabbing myself with a knife.
Well, nothing worked for me. I felt like I was about to burst. Then, one fine day, my English teacher gave us an article to write. Considered a dumb student, I was expected to be the first to write narrate it to the whole class. I was planning a nap for another 45 minutes and this teacher wanted me to write an essay of around 100 words. With no option left, I started.
The teacher asked me to get up and narrate what I had written. My topic was – how should students of the 21st century be taught in school. As I stood up, some random students started laughing behind my back and I got nervous. But the teacher encouraged me to start. I held my breath and started speaking.
When I finished, I could see that all eyes were on me. Everybody was impressed. My teacher had never expected a child like me to write something so good. And that was the last day I felt bad about myself. A major turning point for me was when I took part in a poem recitation and bagged the first prize.
From that day onwards, I have been considered one of the most confident people in my school. I have been running a website for two years which is soon going to turn into an organisation. I have won elections in school because of my speech. I’ve been asked to conduct various workshops and I’ve won various debate competitions.
I’ve also told everything to my parents and now they support me in every walk of life. Nowadays, I am surrounded by a lot of people and I have a lot of friends.
