Here’s to the ones that we got.
When I was 11 years old, I found out that I was stupid. And when I say stupid, I don’t mean that I did something foolish and felt stupid about it. I was really bad at mathematics. And to make things worse, I had my test results to constantly remind of how bad I was. I was ashamed of my barely passing scores. I tried to skip the days when results would be out because the teacher used to read every student’s marks out loud. I remember how I used to shrink in my seat to avoid the pitiful looks I used to get from my friends.
That was when my parents decided to enroll me in mathematics tuition. It was not like I had no math tuition before. I did. But still, I was unable to get any of those math problems right. And with that inability, came a lot of and scoldings. But this time, it was somehow different. The day I took my first class, I noticed my teacher was angry. He glared at me and said, “You know what? You’re a victim, you are a victim of your own thinking. And more importantly, you let people run over you. You are helpless and will continue to be lest you should pay attention to what other people say.” With that, we started revising our lessons together. And I was waiting for that moment where he would lose his patience and give up on me as others did. But no. He insulted me as no one else did. It seemed more like a challenge than an insult. And quite strangely, I took it quite personally. I had to prove him wrong. He was quite understanding of my slowness in the beginning. Slowly but steadily, with those delta changes Atish sir (what I used to call him by) infused in me, I was now able to work on some problems. I was never bad at mathematics anymore. Forget being just passed, I started acing the scores. My 36/100 became 90/100. And I guess, that’s when I realized the importance of a mentor in life.
That was 2011. The world was in a hurry. And I realized that to climb up the ladders, I needed a mentor. Not one, but I needed a lot of mentors. Because there were so many areas I needed to develop. One mentor just wouldn’t do.
The Journey Ahead — MindTickle!
Fast forward to 2018, I was in college completing my B.Tech undergraduate degree and this was when my application for a Data Analyst intern was selected for an internship at MindTickle. I was really scared at first. I remember asking the HR repeatedly regarding what I should be prepared for and if there’s any other thing that I should read about beforehand. I still remember the first day, the people walking across the hallways, busy with their office work, meetings being held in glass chambers with people working on presentations displayed on big screens, groups scribbling out problems with black markers on whiteboards and that swift typing sound coming from behind the glowing Apple logo Macbooks. Having seen that, I was soon assigned to the Analytics team and thus, started my first day at the internship. When I joined, our team was quite a small one. Keeping aside the intimidating technical discussions the team had, the team was so approachable. I was initially supposed to work with the team’s Product Manager Harshal and the Technical Product Manager, Gaurav. Right from the first day, they made me feel at ease and let my inquisitiveness do the work. I was really surprised at the friendliness the team shared. It was an atmosphere of learning mixed with humor and a bunch of too-bad-to-not-be-laughed-at jokes. Heck, they even made fun of me when I tried to call them not by their names, but with ‘Sir’.
As the days went by, I was assigned good work. This was when it all started to align. In hours of despair, whenever I needed help, I remember how, after trying my initial, l I’d rush to Harshal letting him know of the problems that came off as blockers. While my mind was chaotic with thoughts of letting the team down, fear of unable to deliver in time and being undeserving of the internship, he’d simply look at me and say, “Wapas try kar. Agar nahi hua toh batana.” (Try again. Let me know if you are unable to do it). At times, I was really surprised to see how cool-headed he was. Whenever I had problems relating to the data, I’d feel stupid about going and asking Gaurav for clarifications. But not only did he make those things clear for me, but he did it with a smile on his face! And not to mention, the shower of silly questions I had in my mind. Every time, these two would astound me with their patience.
I still remember, with the project delivery days getting nearer, I would become more and more anxious. After all, it was a big release for a big client. To be honest, my entire internship was dedicated to delivering this project. And I guess we all have that feeling when even if you do everything right, you can still feel those butterflies inside your stomach. “Did I do sufficiently?”, “Will this work?”, “What if it breaks during the client demo?” Where it should have been I who had to convince them it would work fine, they were the ones to calm my nerves down. Having said that, everything went well and I was offered a full-time position at MindTickle. That day I was not only happy that I got the offer, but also that I found my mentors, the people, without whom this would not have been possible.
From being Mentors and beyond…
When I accepted the full-time offer at MindTickle, it was not only my love for the work over here but was also because of these amazing people I came across. A mentor not only takes the responsibility of mentoring and guiding you but he also silently takes up the role of a protector and guide. He’d be there not only when you need him to be but also during the times you fail to see reason. With projects after projects, you slowly develop a personal bond with the person and unknowingly so, start developing similar thinking patterns. And having that, in such an early stage of career, is simply fascinating! With time, I got to work with others in my team, Harshal Patil (we just call him Patil), Puneet and slowly learned a lot.
I believe the mentorship cannot be just limited to a person, but across an entire team, or, more broadly, across an entire organization. There is a certain joy in seeing everything running so harmoniously and effortlessly, just exactly how they should be. And you can’t see that from afar, you have to move in close and observe it yourself. And once you see it with your own eyes, you’d have this crazy desire to be a part of it. And mentors have these immense power and making you feel like you own it. Like it’s yours to take and that you deserve it. They not only infuse that confidence in yourself but also those qualities that you once admired in them and thought that you lacked. It’s not just the quality of work. It’s much much more if you think about it. Work is temporary, but these things? They are permanent.
It’s been almost 2 years since I joined MindTickle. MindTickle and I have come a long way since then. It has been nothing but a journey to the top and all of this was possible because of the people, the Ticklers, who made it happen!
