A sweet child aged nine, with a smile on his face
and gleam in his eyes,
He looks forward to meet his classmates at school,
But little did he know that his friends are not true.
He treads to his class with curiosity unbound,
‘Why is the school building built this way,’ he thinks aloud.

Suddenly, a classmate plays a prank;
struck out his feet-the child toppled and fell.
The corridor echoed with the laughter from the mischievous peers,
‘You can’t even walk straight, dumb boy,’ they yelled.

A teacher came and scolded the child,
‘can’t you be cautious even after wearing a spec on your eyes?’
He is embarrassed and wanted to speak,
but before he could utter,He was sent to his seat.

He sat quietly with tears in his eyes,
making sure that no one else sees him crying.
The so-called friends whispered and mocked him off,
‘Why can’t the teacher see them chatting,’was what the child thought.

For rest of the day, he peeped outside through the window glass,
His unanswered query buried somewhere deep inside.
He was tagged ‘funny’ is something he knew,
but none could see the fire burning through.

The last period was his favourite one, computers and technology
is what he loved. Alone he walked to the computer lab,
the murmurs behind him made him sad.
The wise teacher could sense something was wrong;
the child has always been an excited sort.
She tried talking to the child but he didn’t respond
and few students somewhere shamelessly retort.

On knowing what has happened, the teacher kept mum.
She told the class, ‘let’s have some fun.
Today won’t be a class; we will watch a movie instead.’
The whole class was excited;the child at the corner did not budge.
He kept sitting alone and refrained from acknowledging the world.

The movie was about friendship and love; to help fellows
and abstain from teasing others.
Subtly, the wise teacher put across,
how bullying may ruin someone’s life forever.
Silence has taken over the class;
they now feel ashamed to look at the boy on the last bench.

The teacher embraced the child sitting alone;
Along came few students who courageously accepted their fault.
They hugged the child and apologized,
promised to be with him and not be unkind.
Seeing the affection of his peers,
the child became happy and confidently declared.
’When I have love of my friends, I will never despair.’

-TR