Mechanical internship at Lift-O-Marine – Sunny’s journey of learning
About the Author: Sunny Singh, a student of SJC Institute of Technology, reminisces about his incredible experience of working at a ship-repairing company just after completing his high school.
“Dreams are not those which you see in sleep, but those which don’t let you sleep.” – Abdul Kalam
I had an interest in the field of Engineering. Engineering entrance exam and class 12 results were not yet declared and I was sitting idle at home.
Every Sunday, I used to go to the Gurudwara. Jagjit uncle, the founder of the ship repairing company, Lift-O-Marine, also used to come there. I was very close to him and on one Sunday, he asked what I was doing at home as I had a lot of free time. He gave me the offer to learn some work at his mechanical workshop and said this would someday help me. I talked to my parents and went to meet uncle in the evening. He told me to join from the next day itself. He asked whether I was really ready to work as the work will not be easy and I would need to be disciplined. After some thinking, I accepted the offer.
Next morning, I was at sharp 8 in front of uncle’s house with a bag in which I had a diary, an extra pair of clothes, and a tiffin box. We reached office by 8:20 am. Slowly and gradually, labourers started to come. I don’t feel like calling them labourers because they were the one who taught me the work. I changed my clothes, and they all were quite curious to know who I was and what I was doing there. Uncle told them about me, and they were really excited to teach me the work.
The company mainly dealt with repairing the parts of the ship, and the things and components related to ships. On the first day, I was asked to paint a container box. Poddar uncle, one of the labours there taught me how to paint. I painted for an hour but got frustrated afterwards. Poddar uncle saw that and asked me what the problem was. I told I was fed up, hearing which he came and looked at the container. The first thing which he told me was that no work is big or small; it’s the dedication which makes or breaks a person. After that, he showed me some places where I did not paint, and with this, he gave me the second lesson that perfection is required in whatever one does. This was the first day and my condition was not good. It was an internship which I did for around two months and got to learn many things. I learnt team work because when you need to carry out things in the engine room of cargo ships where the average temperature is always 55-60 degrees, team work plays a very important role. I learnt time management because I had to do important tasks in fixed allotted hours. Respecting each other, irrespective of the work and your position in the company was again a very important thing which I learnt. The result was that I got the basics of welding and grinding of metals so perfectly that the company told me to do the grinding of 50 small metal blocks.
I got a chance to lift a 1-tonne alternator all alone using pulleys. I needed to take a bed rest for two days after that, but I was very happy to experience that. I was very happy to work there. I used to work there during the weekdays. I learnt a lot and this actually helped me when I had workshop lab in the first year of engineering. The result of engineering entrance exams was declared and I got a college in Bangalore On my last day at work, uncle appreciated my efforts. He offered me a stipend too, but I refused to take it as I joined there to learn something new.
Today, the boy who failed in Mathematics in class 7, the boy who was said that he is not eligible to take science in his school from where he did his class 10, the boy who did not secure good marks in class 12 is the founder of a website and sharing his experience with all. Marks are not always as important as we make them; it’s our innovation, creativity, and the hunger to learn new things which take us towards success.
If you are also fascinated by the world of mechanics, you can apply for some of these amazing mechanical internships.
