Pre-reading Questions

   1) Do you like your school?

    2) How’s your relationship with your classmates?

    3) Are your classmates kind to you?

    4) Who’s your best friend in your classroom?            Describe her/him.

             THE STORY

The yellow school bus came to a halt at the stop and out came Aanya. Today was different though. She would always step out happy, red cheeked from all the fun had at school however today she looked cross. As she looked up, Mumma saw she was fighting back tears.

Everyday, Aanya would tell mumma about her day at school but today she was quiet. As they sat down on the sofa, she said, “I don’t want to go to school anymore.” “Why baby? What happened? I thought you loved school,” said Mumma. “I do love school. It is the children that I do not like,” Aanya sobbed. Mumma held her and let her sob.

Aanya looked at her mother and asked, “How come you are fair skinned, and I am not?” “Well, how does it matter who has what skin colour?” asked mumma. “It does…as today children told me I am dirty because I am dark. Am I dirty mumma?”

“No, my love, you are not,” Mumma said. “You, as well as each one of us is beautiful as we are. How we look is determined by our DNA.” “D what?” asked Aanya, scratching her head. Mumma smiled and explained that babies’ bodies and mind are formed by taking a little bit of their mummy and a little bit of their daddy. That mixing controls things like height, features, nose shape, eyes, hair, skin etc. DNA is in every cell of the body.”

So why do the kids call me names? Asked Aanya, still very hurt and confused. “It isn’t a kind thing to do and I am sure you felt bad. We can all be different things at different times. Sometimes, we all behave very silly, sometimes goofy and at other times, especially when we are angry, we can be mean too, isn’t it?” Mumma asked. “Yes, but we shouldn’t be!” said Aanya, strongly.

Mumma agreed and said, “you know what we forget that our words can hurt others and make them feel good, so we need to choose words carefully. We can always make sure we choose. We can choose to be kind. Soon we will be so strong because we are kind, that nothing will hurt us, and we will be able to show others the right way to be.”