THE STORY OF ANUPAMA SHETTY

Randomness is a game of chance. All games have rules but randomness doesn't have. Often relations emerge out of randomness. Temporary needs are met by randomly asking someone for help. It again remains a matter of chance that the person who helped never reappears or that meeting becomes the cause of a blissful acquaintance. It was out of randomness that a lady approached me and asked me to evaluate her speech even though she had a evaluator nominated for her speech. She was Anupama Shetty.

Few days later TM Makarand approached me asking to mentor her. I agreed and thus started the journey of mentoring her. She had already completed her fourth project and we were into the fifth project; a project dealing with body language. I had received her speech and I was required to edit and develop it. I asked her comfort level if the script ran through her college days. With the completed speech in her hands she had few hesitations about the characters in the script. She suggested few changes and thus the script was given final shape. This has helped me understand a lady mentee and her angle of perception. Finally during the speech delivery I couldn't see a mother of two daughter but a college girl at her best. She enlivened the script.

It was 2011-12 she had won at the Elite Toastmasters Club International Speech Contest and was going to represent her club at the area level. When the level of competition rises the energy, time and dedication of both mentor and the mentee also rises.

I had worked on the script opening it with a question; every line, every paragraph, every story and anecdote was made to direct towards a convincing conclusion answering the opening question made at the beginning of the speech.

It was time to start rehearsing, she might have thought that the script would have minor changes here and there. She confidently started off, after a while I stopped her saying “You are much away from the actual content of the script”. She took the script in her hand and having gone through it expressed her inability, she was of the opinion that it would be difficult for her to adapt to those changes.

It is at this juncture that the mentor role becomes important. I have been through many instances when it was time to perform and the mentee sank into depression and ignorance, unaware of his or her potentials and ability. It is the mentor who provides strength, hope and moral support. In the end they walked away with trophies. 

    

I told her don’t start judging yourself, leave that for me. As we practiced, line by line paragraph by paragraph I could see the confidence instilling in her, at time she would raise a question about appropriateness of a  particular word, the sense of a sentence. Sincerity paved the way to receive the trophy, she bagged the third prize.

She was a teacher at the International Indian School, Jubail but when need be and situation demanded the student in her would come alive. Once a student always a student, once a learner always a learner, back home in India she is doing Bachelors in Education. May the spirit and mettle of a student continue in her. Next time I will be there with the story of TM Hema Hareesh.