The meeting was convened by the hostel prefect
He wanted to talk about something urgent
Venue - the common-room.. they all trooped in
There he was standing looking glum and grim.

Amidst apprehensive silence
he walked to the podium
He seemed very tense
His voice choked with emotions...

"As the hostel prefect I'm here to speak to you today
But I don't know where I should begin, or what should I say
All night I've been up, thinking of all that I've done
So many memories, but I'm haunted just by one...

I talk about him with whom we never shared
Yes, the one for whom we never really cared
He was the alien.. not part of our gang
He couldn't fit in and we didn't care a hang.

The target of our ragging, the butt of all our jokes
We often ridiculed him and called him a dumb bloke.
A small town simpleton - neither chick nor cool
We taunted and teased him - thought he was a fool.

But he too had feelings, deep within a dream
A burning desire to be accepted by both you and me.
Yet, he had no place in our lives
Except to be the recipient of our cruel jibes.

He was never welcome in our boyish games
And how we enjoyed calling him names.
He couldn't share our table, sat alone in the corner
While we laughed at him, he had his solitary dinner.

As the hostel prefect I admit that we were wrong
So I speak for him, the one who's now gone.
I wonder if you know or if at all you care
But I want to tell you the reason why he isn't here.

Cruel callous words were the weapons we used
Crushing his spirit and soul with our abuse.
Our ragging and bullying he couldn't deal with
  His self esteem in tatters - he crumbled under its debris.

Battered and bruised, tormented and torn
He just could not carry on...
All alone in battle he gathered his weapons to fight
We found him in the back lawns last night.

Unable to take any more, he jumped off the parapet wall
His last letter absolves us, but we know our crime isn't small.
Yes, we've all been teased and ragged by our seniors too
We experienced the pain but, unlike him, could bounce back soon.

Ruthlessly ripped from his inner depths, he was hurting
But we were blind to his mind, body and spirit bleeding
We carried the game too far, forgetting where to draw the line
And so are guilty for a life tragically ending before its time."

You could have heard a pin drop
As the hostel prefect silently withdrew
All heads hung down in shame
Remembering a friend they never really knew.


  ~Granny 'O'~