When I was in the UK, initially I found it so hard to settle down being the new and only Indian kid in my school. I was around 7 years old when I first moved there and initially things seemed pretty okay. I was loving the weather, things were so much more cleaner. People didn’t throw litter around or spit on roads and there was this sense of organisation that I really appreciated. People cared for their surroundings where I was.
On my first day of school (3rd Grade), I remember how I was introduced to one girl who helped me around for my first few days. They were astounded by the fact that I spoke English. Then, it started going downhill. I encountered the school bullies (4th, 5th and 6th graders). They made sure no one went near me. Made sure they sent me back home crying every single day. They called me a terrorist/a piece of shit/other words that I would have heard for the first time in my life xD They called me a ‘Paki’/Iraqi, which clearly showed their ignorance. This was in the year 2001/2002… a bit after 9/11. It was like they were blaming me for the attacks. I’d never felt so hurt and I didn’t know how to handle things. I still remember how I quietly cried for days. I didn’t feel the need to bother my parents since we were in a new country and I didn’t want things to start badly for them. My mother started to realise that something was wrong. I wasn’t the same 7 year old, hyperactive chatterbox. I started closing up and didn’t really care to share things with her any more. After around 6 months of being a loner in school, tolerating all the bullshit every one was throwing at me, I burst out. It was unbearable. I missed India. Even though I was bullied there too, I had friends and no one was judged by their colour.
My mother was furious. Despite my father telling her not to interfere, she spoke to our principal, telling her what was happening and how I felt. She requested a session on India with our seniors. At first, she was apprehensive, but thanks to my favourite class teacher, who was aware of what was actually happening and was willing to give up one of his classes for it, she finally agreed.
She changed so much with that one session. Not only were the bullies asked to leave school, but it also made the others open their eyes and their minds. They were all under the impression that it was a country where everyone wore turbans and spoke only ‘Indian’ (LOL.) They were so taken aback when they heard my mother speak fluent British English that they asked her where she learned it. They were even more taken aback when she said ‘I’ve lived and studied in India all my life, where we speak English and many other languages. At home, we speak English and our mother tongue’ with pride.
She showed them whatever she could about our country. Word got around about the session and she was called to give more talks about India. It was like she made them realise that there are different people from different countries. Just because one person causes havoc, it doesn’t mean that you should generalise every person of that race/country and brand them as ‘terrorists’.
After that, I made a wonderful group of friends consisting of Indians, Italians, British, Dutch and Irish kids. I stopped being a cry baby. Because of that small thing she did, I got the courage to face people and I grew up. Till this day, I’m still good friends with my friends from England and we still chat. I’m forever grateful to my mother for the way things turned out.
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