Internship at Araku Valley – Bhavya from Gitam University
Do something today that your future self will thank you for. Bhavya is pursuing Law and shares her learning experience of internship days.
“Some facts of life will be un-revealed unless you step in and get into the real scenario”.
“The best part of being a law student is you can explore every nook and corner of this world and finally you get around something very new that nobody ever knew.”
One such eye opening experience of mine are these amazing 5 days of my life . Let me make it clear, it is not an internship I intended to do instead it’s a kind of social work I wished to do at a very popular hill station of my district “THE ARAKU VALLEY, Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh. It’s during my winter vacation that I decided to go there and gather some statistical information and also to educate the tribes out there with at least a bit of whatever I know regarding the peculiar laws specially enacted for them. I also went there with a strong desire to make a change in their lifestyle.
Since I decided on this in a very short span of time I couldn’t get engaged with any of the NGOs there even though I found them on the Internet. But then my strong desire drove me to the valley with immense hopes. I got onto the train and every tunnel I crossed excited me as I was getting near to what I had dreamt of. It was winter and by the time I reached it was 6degress Celsius. I stayed in a government tourist hotel for all the five days which was all the more comfortable.
Eventually I got on the bus and started off to the village where I could find residents. Well, after getting down from the bus I looked at all the people there keenly and approached a man in his dhoti with the faith that he would be able to help me out. But then he paid a deaf ear to whatever I asked for and hence I had to move ahead with my search. I came upon a decent house and to my surprise the man in the house was extremely humble and described all the traditional values, occupation and lifestyle imbibed in the village in depth. I then requested him if he could arrange a meeting with the residents there so I could interact with them. He gave me his word that he would definitely do it for me and gifted me a handcrafted showpiece which really overwhelmed me.
When I got back to the hotel around 6 pm it was 1degree Celsius and unfortunately there wasn’t a heater in my room. So, I had to run for a warming campfire and found it between the two blocks of the hotel with around 100 more tourists filled with joy playing with their kids. Nights were so beautiful in that place and I definitely miss it today.
Well, the following day as promised that man arranged for a gathering of about 150 people and I addressed them. I raised my voice high to give them the details as to why I was there and what are all the provisions of law that benefit them and the government schemes that are structured for them. I witnessed a puzzle on all the faces, I was disheartened inside but then managed to conclude saying that they are free to discuss any problem they have so that I can take the issue to the notice of the Government. One strange voice just said this – “WE DO NOT WANT ANY FACILITY OR A CHANGE, PLEASE PROTECT THE MEDICAL HERBS THAT WE POSSESS THAT ARE BEING EXTINCT SLOWLY.” After I heard this I felt really bad, turned to the man who helped me out, thanked him and went back to the hotel. That statement and those thoughts were rushing through my brain and I couldn’t sleep that night. I was definitely disheartened for the fact that nobody there listened to me but then later realized that’s what is called UNITY and thinking. I got to know how humble and great the tribes are in being satisfied with whatever they have and their efforts to protect whatever they have since ages.
Since the time I came back to my city, I’ve been narrating this story to every person I knew and this gives me immense happiness.
Why I longed to share this particular experience is because my definition of internship does not only confine to a certificate being awarded for my good work, but then it extends to exploring the real facts of life which makes us a good human being.
“Things will be never the same as we wish to be, but they are stable as the way they are. All we need to do is to dig them and take a choice of exploring them.”
Thank you Internshala for this privilege – I could let the world know how important an experience this was for my life.
If Bhavya’s experience motivates you, you can check the latest internships in Vishakhapatnam.
Editor’s note- Have you got an internship story to share? A chance to win cool Internshala T and other cash prizes by sharing your internship story here.
