Have you ever heard of the word “Bully”? B U L L Y – this must be one of the most hated word in the life of a child. If there is anyone a child fears the most, it is not his/her parent or his teacher; it is a bully. Bullies are those people who will do anything to get their way – they will grab something that doesn’t belong to them, they may become violent just to teach others a ‘lesson’, they think pushing, shoving and making others fall is funny, they enjoy making others uncomfortable, they laugh at the pain of others, they feel insecure and restless when anyone shines brighter than them, they block others from coming up – the list of the abominable actions they indulge in is endless. Such bullies are hated by almost everyone, but most of the other children listen to them or ‘adjust’ with them, because the bullies are usually violent and hurt those who don’t treat them as God (someone superior).

As children grow up and become more mature, they realize that bullies exist everywhere, in every field and the only way to counter them is to either stay ‘below the radar’ or become so strong that they take on the bullies and beat them at their own game or find a way to outsmart them by being very diplomatic and yet carve a niche for themselves. In the past few days Bharat (India) woke up to 3 bullies who existed from a long time, but for the first time Bharatiyas decided that enough was enough and that it was time to speak up against bullies and bullying in a mature manner. Whether this translates into the bullies running for cover is something that will be visible only in the next few months, but as of now, Indians have spoken up in one voice against the bullies. And who are the bullies and what did they do?

Map not to scale (Pic courtesy Ms. Manu Khajuria)

PAKISTAN :

This bully is that bully who is always the failure of the class. He cannot study well and doesn’t excel in anything, but he will trouble everyone, grab or steal other children’s tiffin boxes, beat up a brilliant student when he thinks no one is watching, etc. He is scared of his superiors and teachers and will use his sidekicks to pick on others and laugh at the pain caused. He doesn’t gain a thing by doing all this, but does this just to put on an act of being strong because he knows deep down that he can never compete with the others.

Pakistan does all of the above with India. It knows that as a country it can never compete with India and grow bigger, but it will always try to maim and harm India, especially via its sidekicks – the terrorists it keeps pushing into our soil and the radicalized militants of Kashmir valley. Recently, they killed a Kashmiri Hindu Ajay Pandita, just because they could not digest the fact that a Hindu Sarpanch was democratically elected in Kashmir. They do not want peace in Kashmir at all, but do not have the courage to go in for a military excursion because they know very well that India would be able to flatten them out in minutes if ever they did so, as it was done in the past. They are scared of China and the USA who have given them alms or ‘loans’ as they would like to call it and so keep crying that India is instigating them. They have failed as a Nation in every way and so don’t allow others to live in peace. For them shedding blood of Indians is an act they enjoy. But this time all of Bharat stood up and in one voice, voiced their support for Ajay Pandita and refused to accept the hypocrisy of those who supported Terror.

THE HINDI FILM INDUSTRY (Bollywood) :

For many years one kept hearing about the different factions in the film industry and how anyone who wished to make a mark in the industry had to fall in line and latch on to any one faction, else face ostracization from the fraternity. These factions were made up of such bullies that they would flex their muscle and cut off the upcoming actors/directors/singers/artistes from all future projects if they would not do them favours or massage their king-sized egos. They would publicly shame them on TV shows, award functions, interviews and more. Slanderous stories about those who wanted to fight the bullies would be spread via journals and newspapers and every attempt would be made by the bullies to make the newcomers go down on their knees.

While very few managed to escape the wrath of these bullies, some escaped because of their family ties or because they were extremely diplomatic and knew the art of managing their finances and distribution of their own films, very well. Some others brazened it out with all guns blazing and with support from their family and fans managed to hold steady and strong. Some others left the industry dejected and broken and managed to live a life away from the film industry. And some others just gave up – on life itself. The death of Sushant Singh Rajput, a promising young actor exposed the whole country to the can of worms (that’s exactly what bullies are) and the difficulty faced by brilliant young minds who are not able to come to terms with the constant bullying. In a show of solidarity against the bullies of Bollywood, many have promised to stop watching films made by or distributed by these bullies.

THE CHINESE :

Now this one is The Leader of the pack of international bullies. This bully is strong, has no qualms about breaking all rules and is entirely unforgiving. This bully is the one who shells out cash or chocolates freely to unsuspecting children, thus trapping them slowly but surely in his net. Then suddenly one day the bully asks to be repaid and when the trapped child is unable to do so, he/she is forced to part with his/her favourite possessions, one after the other. Anyone not falling into the trap is treated as an enemy and is constantly harassed and attacked by the bully personally or via the sidekicks. He is the cruelest of them all and uses brute strength to subjugate or frighten others.

China has been very wary of India because we have not fallen into their trap unlike all our neighbours like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, to mention a few. So they have been using our neighbours to create strife in our neighbourhood and our land. Off late Nepal too has been openly trying to bait us into an unpleasant situation. China also has been using its sidekicks like the Leftists and Urban Naxals to create anarchy within our country. If all this has not been enough, they have tried to encroach upon our land too. It is due to our disciplined Armed Forces that we have been thwarting their unholy designs of creating a warlike situation in our borders. Unfortunately they have crossed their limits and have caused casualties on the border. But this time they have received a fitting reply from our Armed Forces and the country is in no mood to back off.

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A life lost is a life lost forever. And a life lost to bullies is one of life’s greatest tragedies.

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How do we handle bullies? Bullies can be handled in the following manner:

  • Do everything in your power to stay clear of them. Be neither friends nor foes with them.
  • If the above is not possible, step up your effort to become the best, so that you become indispensable to others.
  • Make genuine friends who will stand with you in your time of need. Be good to them and help them unconditionally so that the favour is returned when you need help.
  • Learn the art of diplomacy and steer clear of controversies and confrontation as much as possible. Not everything needs to be fought physically.
  • Improve your strength – physically, mentally and monetarily (if possible). Most importantly improve your Spiritual Strength.
  • If push comes to a shove, confront the bully bravely. Don’t back down. The only thing every bully respects is a fightback … make sure that you fight so courageously that the bully is defeated either with shock or a good knock. Make sure that the world watches the fight – if you lose, you get sympathy and if you win, you definitely get the award. Either way you win.
  • Never bow down to a bully. Don’t ever forget that “FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE”.

The above applies to Nations as well as to Individuals.

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.