The bully looked menacing and frightening to the scrawny, eight year old. He started scrambling backwards, away from the large boy with a large chest and big knuckles. He stumbled in the process and fell down on his back. Tears flew out of his eyes as he imagined himself being clobbered and beaten black and blue. The bully bent down and lifted him up with the collar of his shirt. The small boy whimpered and the bully laughed cruelly, his big face bloating up so that it seemed difficult to distinguish his cheeks from the rest of his face. Suddenly, his laugh dissolved as he realized that someone was shouting and calling him names.

‘You imbecile, you disgusting piece of shit, you dog, pick on someone your own size!’

He took some time to process what was being said but when he finally realized that he was being insulted, the big, bad bully saw red. He turned to face the person who had the gall to be cheeky and slight his great, god-sent self. He saw a boy with thick glasses shouting at him and before he took a step forward, the boy charged and started beating him on his chest. Or at least tried to for he was failing miserably. The bully raised one hand and it took just one blow to fell the spectacled boy, so different from him in terms of size, character and temperament.

The boy fell to the ground and he whimpered in pain as he found blood coming out of his nose. He could feel a throbbing pain in his head. The bully laughed and jeered at him.

‘That should teach you not to mess with me, you weak puppy!’

The boy lay on the ground. His eyes searched for his friend who had been the original victim but in vain. He had fled, taking advantage of the sudden interruption. He lay there for some time, upset and disillusioned. When he finally went home, his mother further broke his spirit by scolding him for interfering in other people’s matters. ‘No need to play the hero for anyone in the future, do you understand? It’s none of your business.’

That day, he learnt an important lesson. He grew up to be a strong and resilient man. He got a good job, made lots of money, married a nice girl and had two kids. One day, when he was going to his work place, he witnessed two bullies harassing a girl. He sped fast from there without any guilty feeling. The next day, he read in the newspaper about a girl being raped at the same place. He read the whole newspaper, page by page. He had breakfast, kissed his wife goodbye and took out his car to go to work. He drove past the same place that he had from the past some years and passed the same corner where the rape had taken place. He didn’t feel any remorse, any shame. He didn’t even think than he could have prevented it or saved some poor girl’s life. He did not think about the condition of the girl’s family or the fact that her life was ruined.
You see, it wasn’t any of his business!