Internship at Tata Power – Sarida from Aligarh Muslim University
Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success. Sarida is pursuing MBA and shares her wonderful experience of internship days.
I am pursuing an MBA with Marketing specialization and did my Summer Internship at Tata Power in Mumbai for two months in June-July 2015.
It was my first journey to the city and I had to convince my parents regarding my safety as I was going alone and knew no one there. It was at the last moment that my internship was confirmed and I received my joining letter only after reaching Mumbai. I didn’t know how my internship would be, how much I would learn and how happy I would be for the two months, yet I took a chance. Whatever happened, I decided, I would explore the city and try my best to make this trip an adventurous one. I arranged my accommodation through Housing.com and took a flight from Kolkata on 1st June.
In the early morning flight, I got a chance to say hello to a very famous veteran actor, Mr Sabyasachi Chakraborty. I’ve watched him in so many Bengali movies and in ‘ Parineeta’. His latest movie, Phantom, is with Saif Ali Khan. I was thrilled.
I stayed with a nice elderly lady in her small flat in Andheri East. It was a twin sharing room but luckily for me, no one else moved in during my entire stay and I got to live in a single room with TV.
On the first day at Tata Power Distribution Consumer Acquisition (DCA) department, I met very nice people who helped me find a cubicle, gave a tour of the office, including the canteen and instantly I had started feeling good about the place. Then I met my mentor, the head of the department. He talked to me very nicely and my apprehensions, whatever they had been, all disappeared. I didn’t know that day that the next two months would be one of the best times of my life!
I realized why the monsoon of Mumbai was so famous. When other parts of India was in sweltering heat, Mumbai was getting drenched by the capricious clouds from the sea. It was amazing that torrential rain used to start all of a sudden. It would rain every morning at nine and if I were late any day, I was sure to be caught by it!
I used to be the first person to reach office in the morning, except sometimes, my mentor would come earlier and I respected him so much for that. The canteen provided awesome South Indian breakfast where I made friendship with a lovely girl working in another department of Tata Power. We used to share our experiences everyday and the breakfast time would be very stimulating.
My job was to learn about the activities and marketing strategies of Tata Power Distribution. Initial days were a little tough as I had to study the manuals, the regulations of the business and other information regarding how to handle doubts & complaints of customers. My mentor was a highly experienced person and when I failed to answer his questions satisfactorily, I would study the topic again and present my answer. By the end of the internship, I knew I had made good progress.
I was told to learn from my guide who would be guiding through my project work and other members in the department as well. I used to approach any manager who seemed available and asked to explain things I didn’t understand and they would be equally enthusiastic to answer . So in a way, I had multiple ‘mentors’. There was a great mix of people with different talents in the team. Some had strong engineering knowledge, some could build great relationship with clients and some were really knowledgeable on the prevailing industry situation . So I think I worked with the best team in Tata Power.
The best time was when we used to go for meetings with customers and I could learn the tactics of making effective sales. Another exciting thing was that I would be getting to explore the city – the roads , the commercial centres under development and the places that I couldn’t visit while touring alone. My mentor had highly strong Engineering knowledge and his quizzes made me learn the long-forgotten engineering concepts too. There was always something new to learn, always something to do, so I was occupied all the time. Then there used to be a lot of laughter and mirth at lunch times and department meetings and the days would fly so fast!
My internship was about marketing and the DCA department was concerned more with sales. There was less scope of marketing activities at the time. But I was learning things that I liked so it was fun.
There is a certain prestige in being associated with Tata Power. Times are changing – there is huge competition in the market and tough regulations in the business, yet Tata Power still follows the noble mission of its founders to provide affordable electricity to its consumers. There is always a focus on making the business sustainable yet also on reaching out to those who need subsidised electricity.
Even though I had no stipend, I wanted to be a part of Tata Power, at least for those two months. I used to attend walk-in customers in the office, prepare and collect documents required in the meetings and talk to prospective customers. I prepared a data analysis report regarding the requirement of a customer service executive in the office by collecting data on the number of walk-in customers. I managed to obtain a few customers as well for Tata Power.
The internship experience made me a better person. I was treated like a member of the DCA team. Tata Power people of different departments meet each other warmly and I imbibed this as well. We had a family picnic in a Tata Power hydroelectric plant in Bhivpuri and I made new friends among the ladies. I was never this much social in my life. I was well appreciated for the work I did and was congratulated upon gaining so much knowledge in a short time. That made me feel good. The managers had to work even during after work-hours. It wasn’t an easy job yet they started their day in a cheerful mood. There were some who, even in too much work pressure, would be optimistic while facing difficulties. I realized the importance of this optimism in life.
I traveled a lot during the entire period of my internship. I was a lone intern in the department and missed my college friends. But then I wanted to experience Mumbai on my own, so didn’t go for Mumbai Darshan tours. Every weekend, I’d go out for adventures in the Fort area on my own. The local trains & BEST buses were convenient for travel. I explored the heritage buildings and the old areas of South Mumbai. The Gateway, Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and its neighbouring old fashioned buildings, the streets of Colaba with European names, the Parsi buildings, the imposing Victoria terminus, Churchgate, Marine drive, the Bombay High Court building, Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay Stock Exchange, the Flora Fountain – I had never seen a more beautiful city. History exists at all its corners and the feel of the British period was still there. The beauty of the Queen’s Necklace from Malabar Hill mesmerized me and it was fun shopping at Crawford Market .
My ‘mentors’ and my new friends, the ladies all gave me their best wishes on my last day. It was with watery eyes that I came out of the office. I wish my work life would also be filled with excitement and I get opportunities to learn forever.
If Sarida’s experience motivates you, you can check the latest internships in Mumbai and Sales and Marketing internships.
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