Old song, old colleague

Suddenly remembered Trevor Manuel, my senior colleague at the Mumbai Mirror, whom I irreverently called, "Trev," as we worked on the Mirror's World and blast pages together. I called them "blast pages" because for three consecutive months, everyday, I made those pages about the serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad and Bangalore and follow-up investigative reports. My job was to sift through hundreds of pictures of blast sites (the World pages also featured Iraq and Afghanistan), sometimes 700-odd a day, to figure a few less disturbing ones to put in the paper. Trev, with his humour and stories, was a relief. Once, I was playing Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven while doing the page when he mentioned it's one of his favourite songs. He often told me, "The only other person who calls me Trev is Sunil Gavaskar." He talked about the start of his career, how he betted on the fact that India would win the 1983 Cricket World Cup even before the match started in England because the page deadline in Bombay for printing was 5pm. After moving to Vadodara, I would make it a point to drop in at the Mirror office for a few years just to say hello to him and then my visits dwindled and stopped altogether. I learned he passed away a few years ago when his brother Mark Manuel posted on FB. It's amazing what music can bring back from the recesses of your mind.

Stop the Bullying

Remembering all those times you got bullied in life because you wore glasses, you were younger than everyone else in your class, you were shy, you were a nerd, you were a girl, you did not know a language, you could not adjust to a life in a new city as a teenager, your hair was different from everyone else's, you did not wear designer clothes, you made acquaintances not friends, your food was different from what everyone else ate, you had put on a little weight, you had lost a lot of weight, you never shouted at anyone, you cried in public, you couldn't physically fight off older, bigger boys or men, you spoke in an accent that was your own, you did not practice any religion, you got tongue-tied when boys asked you out on a date and then when people ask you why you're so tough, you just say, "There was no choice but to be tough."

#bullyingawareness #antibully #WorldMentalHealthDay2020

Bullying the boys

I moved to Mumbai from Pune in tenth standard, the final year of schooling in Maharashtra. It was a difficult year to make new friends in a new city. My dad suggested I join a coaching class so that I could meet some people before the start of the school year. On my second day, I met my first male friend in Mumbai. He came from one of India's oldest and wealthiest industrialist families, a household name. And yet, in spite of that name and background, he was bullied by his schoolmates every single day for his pink cheeks, his gait, his awkwardness, his hair. He would hide his head behind his book. He rarely talked. But he always waited for me to arrive to copy my chemistry homework. I used to be a bit of a chem whiz in school and college. (I can still balance complex chemical and biochemical equations in my head.) He disappeared from my life for a decade, during which I became a journalist and met his celebrity parents many times over. They're very down to earth. A few years ago he came back to India after his studies abroad and has been at the helm of affairs in the industry, carving a niche for himself, but still media and people shy. Some of you might have met him and would know who I am talking about. It's amazing what you remember after all these years.

#memories #bullying #bullyingawareness