I hate Bullies.

I cannot stand their existence and being in the mere presence of a bully rattles my insides. It might be because I was bullied a lot as a child. I was told that I shouldn’t retaliate and that Karma will eventually bite them in the ass. I assumed that Karma was this invisible superhero that came out at night and taught bullies a lesson when they were fast asleep and found comfort in that thought.

I always muttered under my breath, “Karma will get you.”

But it was much later that I realised that Karma was not an actual superhero. And I decided to take matters in my own hands. So, Bullies have a typical modus operandi. They attack people who are least likely to stand up to them. They belittle the opposite person without any indicative provocation. And, the final act - they stamp their dominance and laugh at the other’s expense. More often than not, bullies are surrounded by a couple of minions (no, not those cute ones from Despicable Me). These minions have no character of their own and absorb everything that the Bully commands or quotes as if it’s the elixir of life (on second thoughts, it does sound like them a little).

I wondered why they bullied only a certain sort of people. And, it made sense. They bully the ones who won’t bully them back. They target the ones that prefer suffering in silence.

My next question was how do you stand up to them? They have something that you don’t. Power… Where do they get this power from? They get it because we give it to them. The moment you give someone that power over you, you are no longer in control of the consequences. That’s how my war against the bullies began.

Every time they came to pull a fast one on me, I looked them in the eye. Just look a second longer with every ounce of defiance that you can muster and they’ll back down. It’s pretty primal. Sometimes, these bullies aren’t smart enough to read the signals. You have to put up a fight. But, the trick is you need to stand your ground. Over the years, I’ve developed quite a stare because those bullies were not restricted only to the playground. I thought that once school was over the Bully Raaj would end. Unfortunately, they became even worse and bullies in the Real Adult World are inconspicuous.

Thank God, I have a sharp sense for bully detection. I can whiff one from miles away. They have one common characteristic – They are all insecure gits. Yes. If you can’t be better than them then make them feel smaller than you – that is their working motto. I don’t think they even realise it.

Being a bystander to bullying is as much a crime as the act itself. Bullies like an audience. They thrive on their reaction. If you are the type of person who would like to watch but not get involved in the mess then might as well not be there. And, a wise man/woman once told me,

“If you can’t stand up for yourself, don’t expect others to either cause no one will.”

“I am not afraid of you,” if you say that and actually mean it, the Bully loses then and there. Loss of power implies that the equation changes. The dog will run with his tail between his legs.

It angers me when I have to intervene. Not because I can’t stand up to Bullies but because the oppressed ones don’t stand up for themselves. We are not in school anymore. You’ll be oppressed by people at college, at work, at home, in relationships, on forums, in debates, on the Internet, in different ways and you will not know who the oppressor is.

So... Stand up. Speak up. Fight for yourself.