It’s fine to have fun and have a great time. But let’s not get into the habit of having fun at the expense of others! That is not fun. That is meanness – pure and simple! Do read this naive boy’s story….
I don’t know whether this is a funny or serious experience. I can laugh about it now. But the whole thing was very painful and embarrassing at that time.
I was studying in a big school at that time. There were 7-8 divisions in each class. All the students were shuffled and put in different divisions every year. But we knew most of the students in our class because we met one another whenever we had extra-curricular activities. Our school had reopened after the summer vacation.
It was the first day of the new academic session. We had a new Math teacher called Mr Vittal Sharma. He was a tall man and had a scholarly look. He entered the class and introduced himself first. He then looked at all of us and said, “I would like to know all your names first. I’ll start teaching you after that!”
So all the boys stood up one by one and started introducing themselves. A fat boy was sitting next to me that day. I saw him sharpening his pencil while the others were introducing themselves. He even showed me the sharp tip of the pencil. I said, “It is really very nice and sharp. You will be able to write neatly with it!” He smiled at me. I did not notice the mischievous glint in his eyes.
The boys in front of us had finished introducing themselves. The fat boy then introduced himself. It was my turn to introduce myself now. I stood up, introduced myself and started sitting down. And I cried out in acute pain the very next moment! The entire class turned around and looked at me. They were all wondering if something was wrong with me!
The fat boy sitting next to me was holding the sharpened pencil upright below my buttocks as I was sitting down. The pencil had snapped into two under my weight. But the sharp tip of the lead pencil had pierced through my left buttock! Most of the boys were concerned about me because I was howling with pain. But I could see a few boys giggling amongst themselves too.
A few friends of mine and Mr Vittal Sharma immediately came closer to me to check if I was bleeding. The wound wasn’t bleeding too much. I just put my hanky against the wound and said, “Its fine. It does pain a bit.” My eyes had filled with tears by now. I was very embarrassed about the whole thing. I looked at the fat boy angrily but did not tell him anything.
I wondered how he could do such a nasty thing to anyone. I thought that he would learn a lesson only if someone played an even nastier prank on him someday! I tried to sit down. But I couldn’t.
Mr Vittal Sharma stepped outside the class and called the school attendant. He asked him to take me to the medical room immediately. The wound had started bleeding continuously now.
The nurse in our medical room had a close look at my wound and said, “A long piece of lead is still embedded in the wound! Poor child! You must be in acute pain. Just lie down sideways for a while. I’ll speak to the principal and come back within a few minutes.” I just nodded my head and tried not to cry.
The nurse returned within a couple of minutes and asked me if I could walk for a few minutes. I nodded my head and said I could. She held my hand and escorted me to a goldsmith’s shop near our school. She quickly told him all that had happened to me and requested him to remove the lead that was embedded in my buttock using his pincers! The goldsmith was shocked to hear the story and was concerned about my wound.
He left all his work and immediately asked me to lie upside down on the sofa inside his workshop. He switched on all the lights in the room and asked the nurse to hold a huge torch near my buttock. He put on his spectacles and using his pincers, he removed the piece of lead very carefully from my buttock. It was a long sliver and luckily it had not broken into two pieces inside my buttock!
The nurse had brought along a wad of cotton and some antiseptic with her. She cleaned the wound, applied the antiseptic, placed the wad of cotton against it and bandaged it. Both of us thanked the goldsmith for his timely help and returned to school.
The nurse asked me not to attend the classes that day. I wondered if I could sit but was too scared to try. I was feeling quite tired so I slept in the medical room till the school broke up. I did recover completely within a day. And everyone forgot about it after a few days too.
But it was an extremely unpleasant experience. Maybe that is why I still remember it even today. I knew I would never play such mean pranks on anyone! But after that day I stopped associating with boys who did such mean things to others too! As for the fat boy, I never spoke to him after that!