Summer Internship with BHEL – Abhishek from Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology
Daily Winner for: – 2nd August 2012
Name of the intern: – Abhishek
Institute: – Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology
Organization interned with: – BHEL
An internship is a door that opens up the industrial world to the student. A student who has always studied about stuff in his books will be amazed to see these very things happening in front of his eyes. The same happened to me.
It was a very nice morning. The weather was pleasant and I was really very excited about my first internship’s first day which was the reason I woke up early and got ready on time (unlike my college days). I went to the metro station and waited eagerly for the train to come. When it came it was full of office going people and this was my first view of the daily office life about which I had only heard till now. But when the train passed a few more stations I realised that the crowd I thought was large was actually Lilliputian in front of the crowd I was witnessing. A space to breathe was a luxury.
After half an hour in the metro and the same time in a rickshaw I reached my destination. Here I saw the first glimpse of the building and it was really a breathtaking spectacle. The building was huge and had so many glass window panes it was hard to find concrete. I walked towards the main entrance but was stopped by two security guards who asked me to give the purpose of my visit and the concerned person I had come to meet. Then they showed me the way and I reached the place where I had to work for the next 2 months.
To my surprise the intern head was my college alumnus and was 3 years senior to me. We started talking about our college and he told me a lot of things that I didn’t know. Time just flew by and I was enjoying every moment. All the people around me were working silently, some were having a tea or a coffee, everyone was busy with something. I was so deeply observing the surroundings that I didn’t notice that the lunch break had started. I had lunch with some other interns and we talked about our colleges and our backgrounds. It was very nice to meet so many like-minded people.
After lunch I was given the layout of a power plant and asked to study it. My mentor explained the points I was not able to comprehend. I studied the whole afternoon. Suddenly the clock struck 6 and it was the end of my first eventful day.
Next day I again went to ‘my office’ and my mentor showed me detailed diagrams of the plant. It was so much fun and in the process I gained so much learning. This was the practical learning every engineer aspires for. I was taught the functioning of the various departments and how they work together as a whole for the benefit of the organisation. This continued for a month and then I was asked to implement my learning in making an on-off diagram for the DMCW (De-mineralised Cooling Water system).
Initially I studied the system and its working but my mentor made me realize that I had taken a lot more time than was needed. Therefore I had to quicken my pace and work urgently to finish it on time. When I made a mistake I was asked to solve it myself but if I was unable to do this, my mentor readily helped and shared his experience when he had faced such a situation.
For the whole month I worked on the assignment and was really delighted and elated when the work was successfully completed. It made me feel like I had won a million dollar lottery (actually the knowledge gained was worth much more). It gave me the confidence that I could also sustain and even advance in the industrial world. It taught me to work in a systematic way and learn to adhere to deadlines. These learnings are what makes us a complete individual and a skilled engineer. Only bookish knowledge is not sufficient; we need to explore the present practical world to succeed in life. Only then can we be called engineers in true terms. This was an experience I will cherish all my life.
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