Teen of the Year 2013

I know I definitely had a perplexed look writ large on my face when Fr. Anthony Thekkel, the principal of Don Bosco School asked me to mentor students for the event, TEEN OF THE YEAR, 2013. It’s true that I counsel students but mentoring them? Now that was something new. The teachers asked to help me around were also new to the process and had absolutely no clue of what they should do. However, all of us sat around, discussed and with the help of an amazing friend, we went onto select twenty eight students out of a hundred and twenty from classes IX,X,XI and XII. And goodness, were they good!

Though I would have been comfortable with time on my side, yet three days before their D-day, I went onto select the crème de la crème from the twenty eight girls and boys. I knew I would have a tough time cause every two minutes, it was a gem of a genius who stood in front of me to speak about themselves. I felt overshadowed. Though I had to choose thirteen out of close ties, I knew I had the best. But deep down in my heart, I knew I had the best.

After this came the mentoring of these thirteen ‘champions’, as I went onto call them. Was I going to be a good mentor for these already tutored-by-themselves-amazingly-intelligent-and-exuberant-individuals? I cowered at the thought of making a wrong move lest the best gets side-tracked.

A day before the final show, I had a heart to heart talk with these little angels and told them how important it is to be a part of the process than to win the title. They understood when I talked to them about cooperating with each other and to cheer their friend, who will win the title.

So when they walked down the aisle to the tune of “We are the Champions and we will, we will rock you,” I felt goose bumps rise and tears of joy well up in my eyes. After all, my children were going to perform. I just had a few hours of a day with them to talk about everything to win the title, but I knew each one of them was a winner. They were absolutely over the top with excitement ‘cause this is what I wanted them to do; to speak from the heart and do what they would with a passion unbounded.  And that is what they did!

They spoke, danced, performed, enacted, bemused, mesmerized, captivated and outshone with zealous magic! I was over the moon. While I shouted and screamed in glee on stage, egging the school crowd to cheer my kiddoes, the whole hall echoed in unison to the excited beat of my heart as the final names were announced. Trijayananda Choudhury made a clean sweep of the title. I was only too happy to realise he worked hard on his body language, which was apparently debilitating his performance in the past. The first and second runner’s up Talukdar and Ayushi Sharma, missed the title by maybe half a mark, so the judges said.

Backstage, I thought my other kiddoes would be all down and out, moping and crying their heart out. But I was in for a pleasant surprise; most of them were all geared up for the challenge next year and a national level competition on similar lines this year. I came home happy and equipped, more so ‘cause these Champions mentored me about a-never-say-die attitude that I am going to make my life motto from now on. Hola!

The Winners!