It is amazing how empowered you feel when you are given the responsibility of mentoring a 14-year-old. It is a very difficult but fulfilling task. During the mural painting activity, I had to apply almost all my MBA theories to come up with a satisfactory result. In the classroom you only learn that planning, team work, innovation is necessary to succeed but when you are given a set of colours, a space to draw and limited time you apply them all. It probably stems from the fact that in the eyes of your mentee you are his/her role model and you do not want to let them down so you give it your best shot. You discuss with him/her what scenery to draw, then you proceed to make the sketch on the wall. Both the mentee and the mentor need to work simultaneously to ensure that the picture gets completed on time. Then you proceed to colour, you tap into your creative side and use vivid colours to make your sketch look good. Many a times, you don’t have a particular shade of colour so you mix and match with the given set. In the end, you give finishing touches and then admire at the result of a 2-hour exercise .
The learning that you get is tremendous. It teaches you to be patient (as the colours mix in the wrong way and you need to repaint ). You learn to trust (in your mentees plan and ability). You plan and plan (of possible things that can go wrong). You collaborate (as you and your mentee pick up brushes and paint different parts of the same painting).
Theories, books, and lectures are important as they equip you with the knowledge to handle situations better. But abhyudaya program enables you one to learn through experience. And as they say’ Experience is the best teacher’
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