Diary of a frustrated student – 3. The awakening
And Rajarshi completes the internship diary with this part where he talks about his experiences towards the end of the internship and how he finally understood the meaning of true success.
10:00 p.m., 2nd August 2016
Four weeks, no matter how seemingly ceaseless, pass eventually. And after numerous sleepless nights, moments of resentment, and a profound mastery over the art of wearing a smile at someone who I’m feeling like punching, I shifted to Front Office department from Housekeeping. The attractively dressed and gracefully eloquent bunch of men and ladies standing at the other side of the reception desk are what people normally picture from the name front office. The tirelessly labouring boys at the lobby responsible for escorting the guests to the rooms while carrying their heavy luggage and placing them neatly in the cupboards are always a secondary picture. For those who want to build muscles, working at the front office can easily pass as a substitute for a gym. Guests’ luggage comes in all different sizes and weights.
9:00 p.m., 16th August 2016
Two significant events occurred today.
First, I was under the impression that today was my manager’s worst day in life when I overheard his superior giving him the blasting of the century behind his closed doors. But later, I found out that it was his daily life. The chain of command exists everywhere. Higher one rises along with it, heavier gets the burden of answerabilities. He isn’t so lucky after all, it seems.
Second, a friend of mine called up today and spoke for nearly an hour. He is trying to find an internship in another hotel as the one he had been working for is closing down. The owner was a rich industrialist whose sudden bankruptcy has forced all his tangible assets to be liquidated, including the hotel. Incidentally, theirs was one of the interviews I had failed in. Should I console my friend or thank God? Food for thought…
2:15 p.m., 25th August 2016
I know it’s out of the way for me to write at this time of the day. But I can’t contain my excitement any longer. My favourite actor has come to our hotel as a guest today. I checked him into the room myself. I carried his luggage. He was within inches of me as we entered the elevator. He is so handsome. The camera does no justice to his looks. I wonder how many fans are going to swarm around him in the lobby when he goes there. He thanked me with a smile as I bowed to him while coming out of his room. However, I overheard him while talking to his wife afterwards, and what I heard didn’t have a pinch of glamour associated with it. What I heard would take a lifetime to forget, and it only proved that the ‘hero’ was also a mere human after all.
8:00 p.m., 14th September 2016
Kitchen is cool. I mean it’s hot, of course, owing to so many ovens, but the work is cool. With my internship reaching its end, I feel like a changed man already, a wiser one, of course – a man who hasn’t just gathered an ocean of knowledge on how to run a five-star hotel, but also comprehended countless things about life itself. Today, if I am given a chance to be born as someone else, will I still choose an affluent industrialist’s son whose sprawling empire can be turned into dust overnight owing to some stock market fluctuations or some other factor lurking in the corridor of uncertainty and he is turned into a fugitive of law? Or will I choose to be an eminent actor whose outward garb of fame and stardom is nothing but deceptive clothing over numerous insecurities and failures? No, I shall be born as the person I am, to the lovely parents I have, and with the same vices and virtues God has ingrained in me. I’ve grasped the fact that true wealth doesn’t lie in what surrounds us but in what’s inside us. I’ve performed the lowliest chores with the highest dignity and have learnt to savour the honour out of it. I’m proud of myself, more so because I have made my parents proud and that’s all that matters. That is all I wish to do for the rest of my life – make my parents proud, for that’s how true success is defined and more importantly, that’s what real happiness lies in.
Editor’s note: Inspired by Rajarshi’s journey? Are you also frustrated about the lack of internship opportunities? Register on Internshala and apply to these cool hotel management internships and humanities internships.
To go back to the earlier part of this internship diary, click here. To go back to the first part, click here.
