Ten-year-old Mayank opened his tiffin box to eat, and the delicious smell of his food spread through the class.

His mother had packed his favourite snack, just as he had asked.

‘Wow, hot paneer pakodas! It’s my favourite dish! I’m going to enjoy lunch today,’ he thought, smiling.

Just as he was about to begin, Bunny and Suyash walked up to him.

‘Pass your tiffin here, we’re very hungry,’ Bunny said, snatching Mayank’s tiffin without waiting for an answer.

‘What are you doing? This isn’t right! What do I eat now? You haven’t even left one pakoda for me,’ Mayank protested.

‘What are you talking about? You can feed on air,’ Bunny joked, laughing with Suyash.

Taniya, a girl from their class, spoke up. ‘You both are older than him. You should know better! This is so wrong. Apologize to Mayank and get him something from the canteen, or I’ll tell the class teacher!’

Bunny and Suyash looked at her angrily. 

‘Do whatever you want. Don’t act so smart,’ Suyash mocked. He picked up Taniya’s water bottle and finished all the cold water in one gulp, emptying it.

Taniya was disheartened. Now she would have to rely on the school’s water tank after the games period and for the rest of the day, when the heat would be at its peak. 

This happened often. The older boys would joke with the younger ones and tease them over every little thing. Sometimes they would take their belongings without asking, and even eat their tiffin.

One day, while Adit was writing a poem in his notebook, Naman gently tapped him on the back. Adit’s hand shook, smudging the writing in his notebook.

‘Sorry, friend. It was a mistake,’ Naman said, making a face. As he spoke, water spilt from his mouth onto Adit’s notebook, ruining it entirely. Tears welled up in Adit’s eyes as his hard work was destroyed.

It wasn’t just the boys who bullied the juniors. The girls in senior classes enjoyed playing pranks on the junior students as well.

When Ritu found out that little Rini was scared of lizards, she brought a rubber toy lizard and quietly placed it inside Rini’s homework notebook.

When Rini opened her notebook as per the teacher’s instructions, she screamed at the sight of the lizard.

‘What’s going on? Why are you shouting in the middle of class?’ the teacher scolded her, and poor Rini was punished because of Ritu’s prank.

The junior students were sad and angry about the constant bullying from the older students, so they decided to complain to other older kids.

‘This is normal. It happens in every class. What’s there to be so upset about?’ the seniors said, laughing it off.

Tired of the bullying, the junior kids gathered in the school grounds during lunchtime to find a solution.

‘We should all come together and create a constitution that protects us. It should apply to everyone, no matter who they are,’ Tony suggested.

‘A school constitution? That’s a good idea! If we do this, the older kids won’t be able to bully us anymore,’ Mayank said.

‘What are you all doing here by yourselves? Can we join the conversation?’ Bunty and Suyash asked. They had arrived with some other senior students.

Mayank explained their plan to make a constitution and asked, ‘Don’t you think we should have something like this?’

‘It seems you all took our pranks too seriously. These things happen among kids,’ Ritu and Naman added.

After some discussion, all the children finally agreed that they would stop hurting each other with their actions.

‘Adit, when your notebook got ruined because of the water I spilt, I felt really bad. I don’t know why I did that,’ Naman said.

‘The other day, I was just joking with the rubber lizard, but when the teacher scolded you, I felt terrible,’ Ritu confessed to Rini.

‘Why don’t we write all these things down on a poster and commit not to hurt each other?’ Taniya suggested, and everyone agreed.

The children promised not to eat someone else’s tiffin or drink somebody else’s water without permission. They promised not to make fun of someone’s complexion or height, or tease anyone for being too thin or fat. Using force to hurt someone was absolutely unacceptable.

Everyone asked Taniya to write these rights on a poster. The best part was that all the children in the school were eager to follow them.

As the children worked together in the park, the principal noticed them and came over.

‘A School Constitution poster? This is the first time I’ve seen something like this. I like everything written here. Where did you get the idea to make it?’

‘Sir, a few days ago, we learnt about the Constitution of India, where the rights and duties of all citizens are written. We were also told that the Constitution of the Republic of India was prepared on 26 November 1949 and came into effect on 26 January 1950. So we thought, why not make our own constitution that protects our rights in the class?’ the children explained excitedly.

‘Well done, children. I’m happy to see that you listen carefully and apply the things taught in class. It’s important to know about the Constitution and the history of your country and use that knowledge to solve current problems. This initiative of yours is wonderful,’ the Principal praised them.

He continued, ‘Look, kids, it’s not wrong to laugh and joke with each other, but if the intention behind it is to trouble someone, no one likes that.’

‘I want to ask something,’ Adit said softly.

‘Yes, yes, go ahead, what do you want to ask?’ Mayank encouraged him.

‘What if someone doesn’t follow the rules written on the poster? How will they be punished?’ Adit asked, and everyone looked at each other, unsure.

‘Leave that to me,’ Principal Sir said with a smile. ‘Maybe they’ll have to clean the entire school ground or take the whole class to the canteen for breakfast—or something else!’

The students all smiled, relieved that a rulebook they made with fair discussion was accepted by the school to safeguard their rights.