Thursday, April 17, 2014

3 months in, 3 months out

The prospect of meeting a stranger. And befriending her. And making her trust you. And making her belive that you are always there for her. The whole concept is reminiscent of Margaret Walker's words, "Friends and good manners will carry you where money won't go." And precisely this is what we all, as mentors aim to do.
Now, as far as my personal experience is concerned, let me begin by telling you about my mentee. Neha is a really good-natured girl. I would say she is blessed to have her family supporting her, and yet she doesn't think about herself too seriously, which obviously became one of my main objectives to achieve by the end of this program.
We have had spontaneous discussions and thought-provoking conversations on a plethora of topics, ranging from women's security, to
To give you a better picture, let me quote an except from my diary entry after our second meeting:

I realised that something seemingly as trivial as her favourites could get me an idea of her as a person. Of how she deals with things. This was also a meeting whereby we discussed at length about the topics hovering around women, crimes, empowerment. Hence I believe this has been a productive and fruitful discussion. While she narrated her escapades to me, I  too shared some instances of cat calling from my personal experiences and that of my friends. And of course, dealing with it.
I chatted a bit about positive thinking and other traits of characteristics by drawing upon the qualities of her favourite actors. 
Many a times the discussions eliminated any difference we might have and thats what I feel good about.
I tutored her on making an email account, however she seemed a bit too occupied, and troubled at the prospect of visiting a cafe, to be creating one.
I also made an attempt to make this mentorship substantial by introducing an element of "what can I do for you" so as we had been trained I ventured into making a sort of contract. so as she desired I am going to help her speak in English and express herself coherently. Because I remember from my first meeting that she reiterated she is unable to express herself impromptu. Every following meeting shall be an attempt to help her get out of her comfort zone.
I also went ahead and discussed the concept of safespace. As pointed out before she faced a bit of problem in expressing herself but ended up on defining it as a silent place where she can have all the time to herself. Our give and take of ideas, opinions and thoughts continued, and while most of the issues had us in agreement, I really wish she too found the dialogues insightful. 
all in all, I was positive that this ship of mentor-ship can get a rudder and direction.

 Well, three months into the mentorship, and 6 meetings later it certainly was a time to assess ourselves, to give ourselves a reality check. And yes, there have been moments of worry (about her continued interest in the program), and there have been moments of pride, when she did prove she is capable (more about it in some other post), yet in order to achieve some evident, substantial results, there is still a way to go.

9 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing Kritika! Nice read :)

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  2. I loved the way you have expressed yourself. Thanks for sharing your enriching experience. :)

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  3. Kudos Kritika. The writer in you is shining. Hope the same for your relationship with your mentee!

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    1. Haha, well, I can actually relate writing and mentorship to each other, what with their share of ups and downs. :)

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