My most humiliating moment

It was the summer of late 1980s or early 1990s. I was probably around 10 yrs old. We lived in an apartment complex which was pretty close to our school. In fact my parents moved to that area just because it was pretty close to our school. After some days, we got introduced to kids in the neighborhood and we used to meet regularly to play cricket or hide-and-seek or other such games. One such kid we got introduced to was Seenu. Seenu was an instant star in the group. Everybody wanted to be on his side, in a team. It was because he was a loud guy. He didn't hesitate in speaking out against anything, and he was usually witty in his comments. But one other thing that he was known for, was instigating troubles. He had this habit of trying to create drama by ratting people out, or by plain creating rumors. But the main too pests in the story are two guys whom I will call Karthik and Nimeesh. Because thats what their names really are. I got introduced to these guys through my brother as they were closer to his age than mine. They were the typical guys who thought they were too cool to hang out with kids who are younger to them. Karthik was a typical south-indian looking guy - dark toned, vibhoodi (sacred ash) on his forehead, lanky and fairly tall for his age. Nimeesh was also a lanky guy, unkempt hair, fair skinned and had two large front tooth. The reason I mention how they look is that I hope they stumble upon my blog some time and realize without any doubt that it is them that I am talking about! Karthik and Nimeesh were the biggest snobs in the complex, IMHO. Of course, my view is tainted by the fact that I hate them and I wish the worst for each of them. That apart, they always had a fake english accent - Karthik's was much worse than Nimeesh's. They always seemed to look down upon the thing that regular kids did - playing in the sun, getting dirty etc. The only times I interacted with them was when I tagged along with my brother and they did their best to try and talk to him without trying to involve/acknowledge my presence.

Anyway, now that the characters have been set, here's what happened (with all due respect to Adrian Monk, I am not solving a mystery here). On one sunny afternoon, I went out to the quadrangle in the complex, hoping to meet some kids and play something. I went on my own for some reason, and happened to find Seenu there. I went to his house and we walked up to the terrace of a building. It just so happened that Karthik was on the terrace of another building, which was right across the building we were at. Seenu got talking with Karthik and at one point, got him to say something which appeared like Karthik was cussing at me. Now, for some reason, I was mature enough to see what Seenu was doing. He was trying to create some drama on this boring day. I didnt bite on it, even when Seenu tried to rile me, about the cuss words. I just shrugged it off and said "It does not matter" or something to that effect. What I discounted, was Seenu's ability to make the most out of nothing. He turned to Karthik, who clearly could not hear what I said, and shouted out to him "Oh! This guy thinks you dont matter. He thinks you are a nobody!" or something to that effect. Before I could say anything, Karthik started off as a possessed guy, and began swearing at me. He took off from the terrace saying he would come to where I was, and "settle the issue like a man". I was still thinking this was going to be some kind of a joke, so I just waited there. Mostly, my ego was making me stay there, as I did not want to chicken out and run away in case there was going to be a fight. Once Karthik got there, he held my hands behind my back with one hand, and started swearing more at me. You have to know, that I was a much lankier guy, not to mention smaller. I was easily over powered. But the most important thing was I lacked the will to fight. Having been brought up lot more decently, than Karthik, at no point was I thinking of hurting this guy or saying something back. I just tried to wiggle myself out of the situation and walk away. Before I could do that, Nimeesh showed up on the terrace of the building opposite us. He laughed at the situation and pulled out a catapult that he had made. He asked Karthik to hold me steady so that he could do some "target practice". So as I was held helplessly by Karthik, Nimeesh continued to fling paper clips, or small stones or whatever he could launch with his catapult. It was the worst I had ever felt in my life, to date. After a while, Karthik let me go as I guess some sense dawned upon his pea-sized brain eventually. His dad and my dad knew each other, and if this issue had escalated, he would have had to face some heat. I, of course, did not tell my parents about this for a lot of reasons.

It would have been fantastic to have an epilogue for this story - If I somehow found out that Karthik was begging at the railway stations or works at a Sulabh Complex (public urinals in India) and Nimeesh was cleaning the floors of trains, or picking up dung from the railway tracks, for a living. Unfortunately, I dont have the energy to go looking out for two a-holes and what they are currently up to. For all that I know, they are probably well off. At least Nimeesh looked like his parents were well off. I do wish the very worst in life for both of them though.