“Mommy, I don’t want to go to school today!” said Neelu tree weeping. ”What is the matter, tell me why are you getting so upset, whenever you have to go to school, my dear? replied Nishu tree. “There is this Shikoo tree in my class, who is on my case and is bullying me a lot. I hate going to school as he teases me in front of every one and makes fun of me all the time…and makes me mad!!” replied Neelu tree.

“Alright, I understand now what is happening…you must talk to your teacher about this bullying behavior at once! Teachers are generally able to deal with such situations better. She can help guide the child who is bullying you by talking to him and making them stop such behavior and nip it in the bud! It is very important to get right timely help and not take bullying behavior from anyone. I will tell you a story about this so you can understand how to overcome this problem.”

Once upon a time… there lived a crow family near banks of a river on a mango tree. The family was terrorized daily by a black snake living in the same tree in a hole in the bottom of the tree. Every time the mommy crow laid eggs the snake would come and gobble them up when the mom and dad crow went to get some food during the day. One day the mother crow could not take it anymore and she asked father crow to do something about it. The crow decided to get some right timely help and went to talk to the most intelligent and wise old owl friend. He related the story and both of them made a plan to solve this problem once and for all. Next day the crow waited patiently in a nearby tree for the royal queen to come and bath in the river. The queen removed all her jewelry and big gold necklace and kept it on the banks of river before going in the lake. At once, the crow swooped down and picked up the necklace and started flying off with it. The startled queen began screaming helplessly as she saw the crow flying off. Hearing the screams the soldiers guarding the queen nearby ran to catch the crow. The crow flew very low so that the soldiers could easily follow him to the mango tree. The crow slipped the gold necklace in the hole of the tree where the snake lived! In a little while the soldiers caught up to the crow and saw the necklace gleaming in the dark hole. The snake came out hearing the commotion and the guards killed it on the spot and left after retrieving queen’s necklace. Finally, the crow family was rid of the wicked black snake and lived happily ever after in peace.

Wisdom, life lessons and rules-Get help in timely manner. When the enemy or bully we are dealing with is more powerful and you know you cannot handle the bully on your own….then notify right authorities. Try to never suffer at the hands of a bully. It will only make the bully more bold if you keep suffering at his/her hands! The bully needs help from right authorities to improve and change.

Credits: The Panchatantra by Visnu Sarma translated by Chandra Rajan

Get right timely help…