Internship at RISE – Sajid from Indian School of Mines
During the period of the internship, he learned a lot and made use of each feedback that he received. Sajid (left-most in grey T) who is an undergrad worked with sincerity and dedication. Carry a positive attitude and you will see optimism in everything.
We rushed to the nearest hospital. She could barely breathe in. Her fingers entwined each other. With every passing second, she became more restless. She was just about to give up when we managed to lay her on the stretcher that carried her to the ICU, vanishing behind the doors leaving us behind, tensed and worried. The guard showed us the way to the waiting room and told us to clear the path for others. The whole family gathered to discuss the possibilities of her recovery when the doctor disclosed that she had a heart attack. My grandma’s heart was to be operated within a week. Everyone receded to prepare themselves monetarily and mentally for something they had never expected to happen. I was left behind to handle any emergency that may arise. They did not allow me into ICU. I had no other option but to stay overnight in the waiting hall.
My phone had always been a constant rescuer to my loneliness. I went through the Facebook’s notification and came across an opportunity that I had always longed for, an internship in a stimulating work environment. It was an institute in Kashmir named RISE. Founded by an IIM A post grad, it basically tapped the potentials of Kashmiri students making them at par with others. It gives them an exposure to nation-wide available resources and prepare them for competitive exams like IIT-JEE. They wanted an Android developer who is well acquainted with different android platforms and is ready to work from home. I gave a look at the surroundings, the patients fighting death each day, their relatives waiting for them to be cured, the doctors consoling everyone, the blood, semen, urine going to the pathos for testing and every other thing around. I had an opportunity knocking my door when everybody around me seemed to be in some anguish or pain. Perhaps, there is always enough light for the one who wishes to see.
No sooner did I returned home that I started working on my resume. Rectified the smallest of the errors, went through each word of it taking every care of what I had mentioned and refining the degree of precision at every check. I wrote a letter affirming my interest to work with them. I attached my resume to the mail, rechecked the mailing details, clicked on the send button, covered my face with the pillow thinking about their response that I might receive and slept. I woke up late that morning. Crawled to the other side of the bed to prevent myself from being under the direct rays of the sun that penetrated the open glass window of the room. I sat in front of the mirror holding my face between my palms, rubbing my eyes to remove the lingering aroma of sleep that I still had within me. With half-opened eyes, I searched for my phone. It was 10 in the morning. . There was something else that demanded attention. A mail. Yes, A reply to my mail. Which mail? I recalled the past. I understood. Hurriedly opened it. “Can we have a talk over phone tonight? “ I patted myself. I was able to make some impact.
I went through the institute’s profile, understood it’s functionalities, the people involved, the official website and every other information available online. We had an informal conversation on the phone. I was asked about my experiences. I was informed about the responsibilities and the work environment. I was asked to mail my projects. They mailed me theirs. The task was assigned. The details of the work were explained. I was all set to start.
Neyaz Ahmad, an IIT Delhi grad, was my technical head. He explained to me the work is done so far and the contributions that I was expected to make. He is a man who knows how to make use of the available resources in the most efficient manner. He knew my weak areas and was always there to sort that out. During the internship, his most relaxing statement to me was, “Are you stuck somewhere?” Perhaps it is the most consoling remark that somebody could make to an intern. He would then have my screen shared and would minutely examine the finest bugs and rectify that. The initial days were tiresome. The platform on which I was expected to work (Eclipse software) could not be installed on my system. The various plugins created issues that could not be resolved. Two days had passed. No proper progress was witnessed. Eventually, I had to work on a different platform.
He would explain me the bigger chunk of problem that I needed to resolve and would again subdivide it into the various smaller task. I would complete one subtask and mail him for verification. After appreciating me, he would again explain me the other one. We generally sat at 10 at night and worked till 4 or 5 in the morning. Meanwhile, we would share the screen, discuss things on WhatsApp, use google drive to mail apps and talked over the phone when everything failed.
A friend in need is a friend indeed. Google is an apt example that bear witness to the correctness of the statement. Any task that I had no idea about( or even if I had any), I would dive down deep into the various links that Google provided and then bring back the pearls of unlocking the problem. I understood the code that was written, the flow of the activities one followed by another, the database that handled the details of the application, the various methodologies employed to make the application handy to use. I added a column to the existing tables of the database. Before I would make a change in the project, I was asked to make samples of the work and mail it for rectifications. I made samples of parsing data from Android’s local database to the server. I learned about JSON objects and various ways of parsing them. I was advised to use a particular parsing method which was more secure. I would complete the daily household chores in the afternoon. Teach something to my brother and would engage him in it. Would accompany my father to the hospital in the evening to visit grandma. Returned home and had dinner. Once everything was done, I would sit in a serene environment and start my work when the rest of the family members enjoyed a sound sleep.
The internship period was short. My college reopened and I returned. I was expected to continue my work from the college itself. I had earlier affirmed that I would do so. But the environment here swayed me into other spheres. The companies were to be arriving soon. The whole department prepared for their arrival. Students packed the stuff that they had learned so far, revised every concept that they implemented, mugged up things that were made available to them. The aroma of companies visiting campus started gaining grounds. I was too engaged to find time for RISE. The classes and practical were started. The preparations for tackling the coding rounds had begun. And every passing day created an impact on us. Thus, I had to leave the work midway. It was kind of them to understand my situation. One of the founding members of the institute, Imbesat Ahmad talked me about the problems they would be facing if they hire someone again for the same job. Even he was correct in their own perspective. Nevertheless, they accepted the plea. We parted off. It was a great learning experience. But apart from learning I was also exposed to my strengths and weaknesses. I understood my potentials and my accepted my fallouts.
Coming to the moral of the story. After deep introspection, I found that we must never lose hope. No matter how tough the situation be, you need to have an essence of optimism igniting within yourself. Had I been depressed at the time when the opportunity was at my disposal, someone else might have been writing this story to his credit. I would like to highlight some other crucial decisions that must be taken before committing oneself to any task especially if it is a work from home internship. You need to find out at least a chunk of continuous 3 to 4 hours so that you could devote some quality time to the assigned work. If one is unable to find that space within his daily schedule, then it is not justifiable to take up any work. Moreover, in work from home internships, you need to find ways of self-motivation. You need to keep yourself inspired and tell friends and family about the great work you have been assigned.
Sharing the status of your work publicly on social sites and gaining accolades from your mates are some very inspiring techniques of keeping your spirit high. Doing this never means you are showing off, rather it does provide you a boost. When people appreciate you and have faith on you, you start having faith in yourself. Once you are set to go, discuss with your boss and plan out a suitable plan of action so that you could trace where you are lagging. The deadline is generally clear in most internships, but the course work is never planned out. This in turn adds up to be a huge task which either goes incomplete or misses the deadline required. So a planned strategic work is a must. Yet another important conclusion that I could make is that we should not be a multitasker until we are very confident of handling priorities during any emergency that arises during the term of work. One task at a time. Once committed to a project, one needs to first complete it then switch on to another.
I affirmed that I could work while in college. But when I arrived at college, it became really difficult for me to continue. Thus, we need to think about all aspects before we indulge into any internship. And the most important of all, maintaining a good relation with everyone no matter how worse the situation might come. Even after I left, Imbesat Bhai, told me to inform once I am free from intern related stuff. We still maintain a decent relationship despite having a bit discord at the end. Maintaining a healthy work culture is something that accounts the most.
Every internship is an experience. A path that you take teaches you the essence of living life. I take this as an opportunity to thank RISE, Imbesat Bhai, Neyaz Bhai and other people involved with the working of the institute, for providing me a learning forum, teaching me things beyond the field of my study and tolerating me throughout. Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience. So, don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.
If Sajid’s experience motivates you, you can check the latest Virtual internships and latest Android internships.
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.
