As I signed up for Lakshya during the orientation, I was called to take part in the induction session at Balamandir on G.N Chetty Road on June 30th, to get to know more about Lakshya and its various activities. As luck may have it, I ended up reaching the induction almost an hour late!
The security guard at the gate saw the rush in me and thankfully guided me to the right room. I entered and saw a sizable group of 6-7 people sitting on the mat in a circle and looking at the screen on a presentation keenly. Looking at the watch and looking at my worried expressions the team decided to ask me to do an ice breaker activity wherein I was asked to do something to entertain the group! I chose to conduct a drawing analysis test, I had learnt a few weeks back from a friend, on the new joiners sitting there. Thankfully Ramya agreed to take part in it wholeheartedly. Leaving the details aside, I can tell you that my findings (actually wild guesses) were rather well appreciated and accepted! Hope she is not reading this article π
After I was done with my test and the group had introduced itself, we were taken through a very informative presentation on Lakshya and its various activities. Until then, I had just heard them speak about various activities in a very broad manner but this session actually introduced us to various activities in which the volunteers can engage themselves as a part of the team. It was quite encouraging to note that Lakshya team really believes in a βtwo- wayβ transfer of knowledge and mentors here actually get a chance to learn something back from the organization.
Done with the presentation and introduction, our (g)hosts π decided to introduce us to the real difficulties, which we will be required to tackle as part of team Lakshya by asking us to take part in a role playing game. In this game all the joiners were divided into groups of two in which one took the role of a mentor and the other, the role of a student. Both the partners in the group were supposed to alternate between the two roles and get to know each other in the process. It was actually a very creative way to make us experience the dynamics of mentorship. I ended up learning that mentorship is not really about giving solutions to the problems that a child may be facing, rather itβs more about building a rapport and comfort level with that child. Rest everything takes care of itself! Obviously this requires lot of patience and commitment from the mentorβs side.We ended this role playing game by watching a humorous video of Kamal Hassan in which he tries to tackle a tough kid!
Before concluding the session the table was left open for any doubts or questions that the new joiners might have. I had a couple of questions myself and they were duly clarified! All in all it was a wonderful session and I really look forward to taking part in various activities and building team Lakshya!
Cheers!
– Rahul Aggarwal, Lakshya Chennai