Wednesday, February 22, 2012

A note to all the bullies out there

Dear cool kids,

The ones everyone wants to be friends with. The ones who can afford to be mean to others. The ones sitting in class holding court and passing judgement on everyone else. You know who you are... you are the perfect specimens. The ones blessed with the right clothes, the right "attitude" and the right kind of taste in music. The right...well...everything. The generic wonderkids who remain exactly the same through school, college and beyond. Well, here's the understatement of the century - I was never one of you.

And like me, are tons of others, who are different, who don't colour within the lines and who can't be further from
normal even on times they tried. It's ok. I survived all of you. I wanted to let the universe know that exactly a week before my 24th birthday, when I assume I will end up wiser and more mad than ever.

I survived the jabs, the raised eyebrows and your mocking. I survived your irrational hatred, your uncondinitional need to conform and your belief that there is only one way of living life. I am writing this note because I recently saw a trailer for this documentary called, Bully and in the span of two minutes I saw the lives of young kids with no friends in school feeling like there was no hope. I can't pretend I know what that feels like but I do know what it feels like to be bullied (I was bullied in High School in a little school called Balalok). I entered a new school with no friends and no one to offer me a smile and for two years, it was truly hell. I have since forged tentative friendships with some of my former classmates but the school itself brings back memories of being and feeling utterly helpless and alone.

It didn't help that I ended up doing my Masters in the ultimate school of cool aka SIMC. Fortunately friends were at hand and I had grown enough to wear my idiosyncrasies like a badge of honour. And as I continue to step into adulthood, I grapple on why people act so mean to one another. Sure, some kids dress differently, so what? Some kids like to read...so what? Some kids don't know anything about pop culture...so what?

Unfortunately the cool kids always seem to be untouched by the pain they cause. Perhaps it's because they were never at the other end of the jab. Even a casual comment can cause someone to toss and turn for days. So what if someone has gained weight? Why point it out like it's a joke? So what if someone does not have the right haircut? How is that a crime? So what if someone raises their hand in class to answer a question? They are probably excited to be learning something new... Why mock? Why spread the hate? Why hurt?

This seems to be a vicious circle that never ends... and that's not ok. So, here is a sincere plea... if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all. Not everyone has to get along but why segregate and hurt? You may never know... the unique ones are the ones who will end up ruling the world. That kid you mocked in school? He might just become your boss one day. Because kids who survive bullies, can pretty much survive anything. They create an armour early in life.... but here's the connundrum... they can break too...why break them? Life is too short for this bullshit man...

http://veryaware.com/2012/02/trailer-the-mpaa-has-stupidly-slapped-bully-with-an-%E2%80%98r%E2%80%99-rating/
(A link to the trailer of Bully)