Okay. Maybe not like a wrecking ball. At least, I hope not. But still, I like to think I made an impact.
Lets rewind a little, to the 2nd of January, 2014. I arrived at this pretty little office at Jayanagara, bang at 10 in the morning. First lesson learnt- this is the real world, not your college. Nobody comes in at that hour. Soon, I was introduced to everyone at the place, my project was explained to me, and a journey began- a new lifestyle, a new routine, with new responsibilities.
At first, I was stumped. Then it got better. I like to think the worst part of those first few days was getting introduced to new people. Everyone looks at you- "Who are you?"
"I am the new intern."
(Pause)
"Oh!"
And then the work. For someone actually negotiating with real-world work for the first time, it can be rather overwhelming. At college, what they don't teach you is that book definitions cannot be implemented perfectly in the real world. You have to find workarounds, short-cuts and whatnot. Its not just something you can look at once and write in a notebook. This stuff needs to work. For real. Thats where Google comes in. I never really knew how to google. None of us do. But when you need to learn something absolutely new from scratch, it becomes real important.
But once these teething troubles were over, I really settled in. I don't know why. Maybe the work culture of the place suited me really well. Or some other reason. But I felt right at home at the place. I liked the work, the fact that the guys with and under whom I worked trusted me enough to let me work without micro-managing everything. While there is always pressure, you cope better if you're relaxed. In fact, once its over, you kind of miss the pressure(not really).
And of course, I must thank Sayan da. Someone crashing at your place, especially at a place like Bangalore, is not the best of experiences. But to his credit, he only threatened to kick me out of his place twice in two months.
I also must thank the guys at Dataweave for this awesome experience. You guys are amazing, and I look forward to another opportunity to work with you.
I'll graduate after just over a year from now. Then, I too join the rat race. But if maybe you can get some good people to work with, you can be the happier rat.
And finally a word to all my readers who are still at college. Before you graduate, try an intern at a real place. The experience is invaluable. Otherwise, you're just another student who is applying for a job. An internship acclimatizes you to all this. Plus, you learn loads. Not abstract life-lessons. I leave them for when I'm seventy and am living alone with seven cats. No, you learn a lot academically. Unfortunately, our education system barely teaches us the basics of what we need to know. A little knowledge from before you enter a highly competitive is necessary.
P.S.: I forgot to mention this. Please take lots of pictures of your days as an intern. I don't mean for memories. Those pictures that you can look at years later and laugh. Once again, I leave that for when I'm seventy and am living alone with seven cats. No. I mean the shameless 'selfies.'
Thats the stuff. Okay, maybe one that doesn't make you look stoned. Or well, like him. But still. Apparently, it doesn't count until you have pictures of your 'trip' you can upload on Facebook. So take a few good images. Maybe change your profile pic. For guys, try the ones with spectacles. Girls dig the geeky looks. Or at least, their dads do. So even if you don't learn anything, you might just get a wife out of it. Its worth a try.
