Sunday, February 23, 2014

Making Fun is not Funny

It was late mid-summer evening. The sun had set some time back but the water was still warm. Mini and Moni were lazing around in the warm water. Life was dull for quite some time now. Nothing interesting had happened for a very long time. 

 As was her nature, Moni was starting to get restless.  
"Our days are so dull nowadays. I am so bored I almost feel like crying" said Moni
"Why what's wrong with the days. They seem to be just fine to me. I have so much time to bask in the sun, enjoy the warm water" said Mini
"I miss our adventures. Life was so much more exciting before" said Moni
Mini understood her friend's restlessness.
"So, let's do something interesting" said Mini
"Like what?" asked Moni
"Well, the dance party we had was a big success [Read about it here]. Why don't we organize something like that again?" asked Mini
"I know. Its summer now and all the fishes are looking so bright with their scales glistening in the light. Lets have a contest and decide which fish is the most beautiful" said Moni
Mini knew how much Moni obsessed over looking good and how proud she was of her slender body and long fins. The only thing she hated about herself was her yellow color. Oh, how she wished she was bright and golden like Mini.
 

Or maybe even a shimmering blue or a glistening green. Anything but this dull yellow.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" asked Mini
"Yes. I have been thinking about it for so long. It will be so much fun!" said Moni
Mini was only too happy to share Moni's excitement. Together they swam fast and shared their news with all their friends.
"This is great news. It's a long time since we had some kind of event here" exclaimed Tutella
"Yes, let's spread the word around". So saying the friends gave the news to all their friends who in turn conveyed it to all their friends. Soon every body in the ocean was talking about it and were eagerly waiting for it.
Finally the big day was here. The stage was a colorful reef in the middle of which was a cave. The participants could swim into the cave from the rear entrance and then swim out of the mouth of the cave where the crowd had gathered to watch.

 

Moni stepped onto the stage. "Hello Friends!! A very good afternoon to all of you" she said.
The audience clapped and cheered but she also heard some loud "Boooooo"s. She turned to see a group of sharks and their minions.
She ignored them and continued "Welcome to the Deep Sea Summer Celebrations. First to show her vibrant summer colors is Miss Red". Out appeared from the mouth of the cave Miss Red. She turned this way and that proudly showing off her bright and shiny red scales. The crowd went "ooooh" and "aaaaah" but suddenly there was a shout "Red Red Sleepy Head". Moni and Miss Red were taken  by surprise as was the rest of the crowd. Moni saw it was the same group of mischief making sharks. Miss Red swam back to the cave in a huff. Next to swim in was Mr.Blue. As he showed off his colors to the crowd, the sharks shouted "Blue Blue Stupid Too". Mr.Blue felt insulted and swam away angrily.  





Next came Miss.Green. The sharks shouted "Green Green Really Mean". Miss Green was shocked as she was a gentle fish and never thought anyone would call her mean. She swam back to her cave in tears. 

 Mini was angry and also she was worried as Moni was about to swim in next. Moni was barely out of the cave when the sharks started shouting "Yellow Yellow Stinky Fellow". 

Mini was really infuriated. She shouted "How dare you insult my friend and ruin our show? Don't you know its bad to make fun of others".
At this the sharks shouted "Gold Gold too cold to scold" and jeered and booed and laughed even more. Mini and Moni did not know what to do. 


The sharks pushed back Mini and Moni and started chasing the crowd. All the sea animals swam here and there trying to escape. Nobody wanted to become a meal for the sharks. There was complete mayhem all around. Mini and Moni knew they were no match for the sharks. All they could do was stand back and watch as the sharks ruined the event they had planned and organized with so much effort.

 Suddenly, much to their surprise, they saw it was the sharks who were now running scared. 

Among the sea creatures they were chasing were few electric eels and sting rays who decided to fight back. The sharks leapt this way and that to avoid getting stung by the sting rays or getting a shock from the electric eels. They realized they had met their match and swam away as soon as they could.

The sharks were chased away successfully but the big day was definitely ruined. 



Mini knew her friend was very disappointed. She put her fins around Moni and said "Dont worry, we'll host this again next summer and we'll make sure nothing like this happens again".
Moni smiled and hugged her friend and the two went back to their rock to rest as they had had more excitement than they had bargained for.
Moni had just one last thing to say before she fell asleep. She said "Mini, I realized one thing today"
"Whats that?" asked Mini sleepily
"Its wrong to make fun of how others look. And the same way, it is also wrong to obsess too much on how we look. People around is will love us for who we are and not for the way we look".
"I learnt something too" said Mini "I learnt that a bully is a bully only if we let him or her bully us. And bullies are not very courageous. All we need to do is believe in ourselves and stand up for ourselves".


So saying both drifted off to sleep.

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