An ode to my mentor, my school senior-By Sonal Jain

Importance of a Senior in my life-

Presence of a good senior has proved to be a major blessing in my life. Seniors in school and college help you shape your thoughts, give a perspective and meaning to your questions and confusions. It is a relationship that you chose to build. As a junior, I felt the need to choose the people who could guide me throughout, teach me from their experiences and motivate me in the later stage of my life.

How did I benefit from this relationship? 

I have always respected the presence of my seniors who have helped me gain utmost knowledge on various things. They have guided me for every new step in my life and have congratulated me on every little success. At times when I needed the utmost motivation and few words of positive push, I have always turned to them to break the non-essential blocks in my life.

A Letter to my school senior-Ajay Bhandari

School is the building block of our lives and meeting people helps you see the world with new perspective. It is a stage of learning and un-learning, making mistakes and learning from them.

Today I am dedicating this blog to my school senior Ajay Bhandari whom I met in Udaipur where I finished my class 8-10th. He is 3 years elder than me and during school, there are very few encounters you have with seniors. 

It is only when there is something common happening, would get space and time to interact with seniors or if you are in the same bus or the school parade were a few common places to be able to interact.

I met and properly interacted with Ajay bhaiya, yes that is how I address him, during a selection process for a music competition. We both were in the same house out of the 4 houses that were about to compete in this competition. That is where we bonded and even though it has been more than 8 years, this memory still stays fresh in my mind. 

There are not many memories I remember because soon after Ajay bhaiya passed out from school and after class 10^th I left Udaipur and shifted to a new city.

Post-school journey of this bond-

Social media played a very important part in helping me keep in touch with him. We stayed connected and with every new phase in my life, I would discuss and take suggestions from him. During my exams when I sensed my morale going down, I would drop a text to Ajay bhaiya stating my fears and concerns and he would send one big paragraph of motivation that would boost my confidence to the core.

This has clearly been one of the most favorite parts of my friendship with him because without asking for anything in return, he would selflessly be right there when I needed it the most. A very calm, sweet, and soft-spoken person with so much knowledge, the will to learn and win, and determined for excellence in life, these are a few qualities of him to state.

The respect is outbound-

I take the senior-junior association very seriously and I respect this more than any other emotion. I consider him a mentor and all my other seniors a mentor for a lifetime. Post-school, I got a chance to visit him in Udaipur when I planned a short trip there. Even after so many years, I felt nervous meeting him because of the respect I had towards him. 

It is so funny but we got to meet thrice post-school in the last 8 years but I only have one picture with him. We are so used to having long conversations that pictures still stay our least favorite. 

Why did I choose to write this blog?

Today I decided to write a blog on this beautiful and chosen relationship of a senior and a junior because today, the 24^th of June is Ajay Bhaiya’s birthday. Just the day before yesterday I realized 24^th is a Thursday, the day I chose to upload a blog and I knew what I had to do. This is an ode to my mentor, my senior.

Today speaking on this topic is giving me utmost pleasure because this is a message to every junior on choosing the right senior in life who can guide you on the right path is so important and to all the seniors to look upon your juniors whenever they need you because they might look up to you with hopes and respect.

Learning from the best-

When I was an eligible senior, I always remembered how I was treated as a junior and that helped me play the role of a senior better. I do not know how successful I was at being a good senior, but if I were even 1% good at this role it is because I was looked after by an amazing senior. Someone who taught me compassion, patience, and the ability to listen and accordingly react. 

There are a few things I am always going to remember that will help me at every stage of my life. Your positive impact is here to stay and I am lucky to have it.

Ajay Bhaiya, you have helped me with the best advice that shaped my personality and it never let me put my guard down even when the times were hard. 

The best thing about our bond is that, even though we fail to keep in constant touch, but just one message from me that calls for help, you are immediately there standing tall with the best advice ever. There were no complaints, no hard feelings, only and only best wishes.

Today, I thank you for being there whenever I was stuck, and I only hope that I find you and your motivation every time I am in trouble. There has never been a dull moment whenever we spoke. I've always seen you smiling and chasing your dream that very recently successfully completed. 

  I hope this smile never fades. Happy Birthday!!!

An honest letter of appreciation from your Junior

Sonal.

Thank you for reading!