Catch a falling star and put it back up !

One can never tell just exactly how one has had an impact on someone or inspired another to develop the best within themselves. We never ever had a dearth of people to look up to at John's and I'm sure all of us still have a soft corner for specific people who have made a difference in our lives.

Just as much as this is true there are also people who look up to you! Yes you! You who topped class or showed resilience and strength when you slogged in the odd batch. You who sat in the first bench in class or slept in the last bench. You who struggled through the straight path or made your own. You who believed had nine lives or at some point thought of taking your own. No matter what weakness you feel you have, there is always someone who looks up to you!

The sad part is, you may never know it because the main drawback of this entire process is that it is a passive transfer.

My friend told me that he heard about one of his juniors who was very 'low' after having received an above average score in the USMLE exam. It was a decent score (about 86) which would have placed him in a residency, but with all the 99 percentiles flying around in John's there was a lot of expectations and a lot to live up to. On hearing this news he immediately called up his junior (who he hardly knew well) and told him about all the good qualities he had noticed in him, his people skills, ability to organize among other things, building up his confidence gradually.

The junior soon developed a healthy outlook and is now infused with the same zeal he had when he was head boy in school and in the student committee at John's where he had been noticed because of his leadership qualities. He now knows that even though he won't get into the top programs, he will get a residency and be able to prove himself from there because of his determination, the 'soft skills' he had developed and consciously work towards a good fellowship program.

My friend tells me that they now have developed a close relationship where they call each other from time to time, the junior updates him on his situation and he guides him. They even talk about mentoring other students at John's who have forgotten their true worth because of a low score at some point in their life. (For example, a small mess up on OBG doesn't mean one can't become India's most successful physiologist! Yes, Anura! You Rock!.. :)

My friend says that he has learnt more about himself after the day he called his junior. He has become even more responsible since he has an image to live up to and says that whenever he feels low he cheers himself up with the thought that 'no matter how low he feels or how high he has yet to climb, there is always someone who, looks up to him!'

I realized that the difference is, while getting inspired by someone is a passive process, mentoring is an active one which has benefits for BOTH the people involved!

You don't have to be the best in your field or have extra ordinary abilities to mentor someone. The guy who mentored his junior, had repeated fifth standard, required two attempts to get into John's and two to get out but that didn't stop him from reaching out.

An old zen saying:

'When the student is ready, the master appears...'

and '...vice versa.'

(OK ! I admit I added the last part but only, because it is true!... :)