"Standing Up Tall Against Bullying": Book Excerpt

Hello everyone!

I'm sharing an excerpt from my book.

"I was a confident, friendly, pleasant mannered and adjusting 12 year old kid. I had never had difficulty settling in a new place, even though I had gone through four shifts across different continents, despite my young age.

Within days of joining my new school in this new European city, my hopes came crashing down. I was at the receiving end of some severe harassment. Most of the bullying was racially motivated, targeted at my Indian identity. I was shocked that it was happening in a large international school, which had kids from over 70 nationalities. It started with a small group of boys making fun of Indian accents every time I spoke. But then became more widespread. Within months, half the boys in my class were participating in the jibes. Sometimes the taunts were targeted at Indian accents, sometimes at other aspects of my culture. There was a new episode every day.

Insults and humiliation were hurled at me every single day of my life.

Some kids were taunting me just to have fun and to be seen as cool by others in the class. There were others who harbored strong prejudices against me because of my identity. The latter were more dangerous. More often than not, it was mental harassment. On a few occasions, my bullies even got physical.

This continued over a period of four unending years. My pride in my identity and my country stood shaken. My self esteem was badly shaken, my confidence hit an all time low, and I even developed a stammer. I was confused, and had many unanswered questions in my young teenage mind.

Did I come from a country that was inferior to other countries? Was I not as good as the other kids? Why was I not being accepted? Why had I become a laughing stock? Why were there some kids who had such strong biases against me, when I had never done anything to provoke them?"