ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN READY!

Why don’t you reply to bully Ahmed! , Omar shouted as

he exited the school gates with his best friend Ali. “Every
day he pushes you; you fall down and then don’t
mention it to the teachers or your parents. Why?’ he
added while the two reached the spot where the van was
supposed to pick them up. “Hmm….” Ali gave the
response he had been giving Omar for the last two
weeks. “Don’t worry, I have a plan”, he said with a smile,
as they sat in the van. “Trust me, after two days; he will
not cross my path.” Omar and Ali were best friends and
their parents were friends even before they were born.
They were born a day apart and knew everything about
each other. Omar was the hyper one, while Ali the
calculating one. There was one stark different and that
was Omar’s weight-he was bulky and short, and Ali was
lean and tall. They sat in the class together, stuck
together during recess and went back home together as
well since they were neighbor too.
Despite this closeness, Omar had no idea what was going
on in his friend’s mind; he wanted to help him but there
was a rule between them- which they will not fight with
each other, or for each other. And that’s the very reason
that all Omar could do was to look at his friend falling
down, helplessly, every other day in school.
He wanted to hit Ahmed hard but the guy was tall and
Omar wasn’t; the bully was an athlete whereas Omar
was just an average kid. Ali was part of the karate team
but he never raised his hand at Ahmed, and that
bothered Omar a lot.
“Why don’t you hit him hard, in natural karate style?”
Omar asked Ali. “You can easily take him down as you are
tall as him!” “Violence isn’t the right answer to a
problem, my friend!” Ali replied with a glint in his eyes.
“Especially when you have other means to solve the
issue.”
“What are you talking about?” Omar asked his fellow
fifth-grader. “I believe that one fistful will do the trick
that too with your eyes closed.”
“Aaaaaah!” Ali sighed as they step down from the
crowded van and in front of their housed. “I have a plan.”
Omar could neither study that day nor play in the
evening because the only thing that occupied his mind
was what the plan was! Will Ali ask the karate teacher to
get him ready for a fight? Will he involve the principal in
the quarrel of good versus evil? Will he finally use the
karate knowledge to get job done? Na, he didn’t think so
as Ali was anti-violence as a model citizen.
And the next morning made things even more difficult as
Ali was all smiles when they entered van, was all smiles
when they entered the classroom and all smiles when
they had their lunch break.
“What’s the plan?” Omar asked as soon as bell rang to
signal the end of recess.
Ali smiled at his friend, moved ahead and smiled more
before turning to him and answering the question with
another, “You do trust me. Right?”
“Of course!”
“Then wait!”
As soon as the school ended, Ali and Omar were on their
way to van when Ahmed intercepted them, as usual. Ali
took step back, inspected the surroundings and when it
seemed he would deliver a punch or kick, did nothing at
all. He just stood there as if he was being filmed by a
camera and when Ahmed pushed him. Ali fell down as
was the custom. However, he stood up with smile and
started to move towards the van, leaving clueless Ahmed
behind.
“That’s it… that was your plan?” Omar shouted at his
friend whose palms were hurting for the fall. “You did
nothing yet called it a plan?”
Ali stopped, looked into Omar’s eyed and said, “You do
realize there is reason why Batman doesn’t talk as much
as Robin?”
“What do Batman and Robin have to do with this fight?”
Omar asked without even thinking once.
“Everything,” Ali said as he smiled while turning back into
Ahmed’s direction. “I bought his father to fight!”
Just at that very moment, Ahmed’s father Yusuf Uncle
came into the picture and confronted his son, who was
as stunned as Omar was. He was scolding him for being a
bully and made him apologize to Ali for all his acts. As
expected, Ali forgave him and thanked Ahmed’s father
before turning back to Omar and heading for the van.
“Close your mouth Omar, there is flies everywhere.” Ali
said without looking at his friend.
“How did you convince Yusuf Uncle to be at the right
place, at the right time considering he is as busy as our
fathers?” Omar asked Ali as the two sat in the van.
“I met him at the library last weekend; on seeing me, he
asked about Ahmed’s debate practice,” Ali said as he
started to explain the plan. “What debate practice?”
Omar asked in disbelief. “Ahmed has never been in the
debate competition!”
“Exactly my friend.” Ali said as he continued on with the
explanation. “Instead of telling Ahmed’s father truth, I
told him that his son will deliver a speech in the
playground after school hours and it would be
Great if he could surprise him, and listen to his speech as
well.”
“So that’s why he was here, expecting a speech from his
stupid kid,” Omar said as he finally understood the plan.
“Yes, and he was filming the sequence on his mobile
phone.
So you see that “Always have a plan in such instances,
you never know when you might be in need of one.”