Travails of a Summer Trainee

In my quest to become the most travelled summer trainee of my batch, I find my self in Chennai, on the last day of my touring schedule, I am whiling away my time at the departure terminal only because I am here too early. Its 7 now and I have been here for the past 90 minutes and I need to spend as much more time before I proceed for boarding.

The past 14 days have been the most hectic 2 weeks of my life. Not so much fun but huge learning. As a professional, as a traveller, and as a person, I have learnt a lot. Even learnt about myself, the limits to which I can push my body, the amount of travelling I am capable of handling (which my profession as a marketer will always demand). How not to overspend in a hotel. Ways and means of saving cash for emergency purposes, how to communicate with people in a land where no body understands any of the languages you speak.

Believe me, it is the biggest challenge to try and shop around when no body on the street understands either English or Hindi, forget Punjabi. I could have managed a bit of Spanish too but it is not difficult to guess, Telugu and Tamil are not my cups of tea.

I believed so earlier, but now I have lived the belief that classroom learning is not a percent of what one gets to learn when in the field, talking to customers and ultimate users of the product. Seeing your product work in real world conditions, in the hands of people who are not trained to work on it, and then face their problems which are entirely of their own making. And then come up with solutions which take care of those problems too. Things one can never imagine in an air conditioned cabin, how uncomfortable it is to drive the 3-wheeler cargo carrier I am trying to sell, are literally drawn in front of me. Crystal.

Honestly, I did think highly of myself as a marketing person before I started internship, and although the confidence is still there, but I realise how much there is to learn everyday.

Just for the record, in the past 14 days, I have taken off 6 times and boarded an intercity train twice, have visited 5 cities and 6 villages, talked to over 65 customers on the road, at the vehicle stands, checked into 3 hotels and 2 guest houses and a lot of other stats too, but lets move on.

I might also have to go to Pune in the coming week, and I am not really looking forward to it. What I really want right now is Beer, Tandoori Chicken, my couch and India’s cricket matches.

You, know I think there shouldn’t be any ‘summer’ internship, it should be in the winters. Travelling then will be so much more fun. It will be difficult, but still try to empathise with a guy who has been on the road in roadways buses, Taxis, auto rickshaws and on the pillion of a motorcycle, travelling to remote villages at 3 in the afternoon in some of the hottest cities and villages in India. There were so many times when I felt like chucking it all and taking the first flight home, but I managed to hang on and now am only too happy to have been through it and finally heading home (I never thought I would ever have to call Mumbai, my home, but right now it seems like home only).

Also, am planning to buy camera this week. I have been saving up for the big thing. Still haven’t decided, but I am considering the Sony H2, one from Kodak and a Nikon. My budget is between 20-24 k. If you have any suggestions, let me know. I want one with the maximum manual options, at least 6 Mega Pixels and, a 1.5 inch screen, compatibility with all types of storage devices (MMC, SD card, memory sticks etc.). A hot shoe will be good but is not a qualifying criterion.

And hey, the junior batch joins tomorrow, looking forward to being the mean senior who rags every fachcha on campus!