It's quite normal when people associate summer season with heat, sweat, harsh weather, the blistering sun and of course, all related ailments like sores, sunburns, dry skin and dehydration! However, what I'm going to write here will not cover ANY of the above points. This is MY take of how this summer went. Unlike the harsh ones I've faced before, it was satisfying and heart warming by itself. Why? I'll tell you.
I did my internship during the months of April and May in Chennai. Having worked in a corporate environment before, I always knew what it was like to work in an office. Oh yes! Could it get any worse than where I'd worked earlier? :-P The 9-to-6 monotony and the unending tasks were not new. I knew how absolutely boring it really was! But what was unexpected in its own way, was the HR Trainee experience for a Mineral Extraction & Mining company. On my first day at work (April 1st) - I was ushered in and to my surprise, I discovered that I've joined an extremely traditional organization. There they were, distributing sweets and vibhoothi/ kumkumam to all the employees to mark auspicious start to the financial year. But what was far more alluring was the COFFEE! Yes, you heard it right. The company served machine-vended coffee, morning and evening, right at the employees' desk. In fact, I remember feeling Whoop! when I was placed with a steaming cup of coffee at my desk on Day-1. Just as I was going to take a sip, the boss called me to discuss on the internship work details. :-( With my mind firmly stuck on the coffee mug, I must confess that I had a tough time catching up with his thoughts during that meeting. Thus, what could've stretched for an hour was shortened to 30 mins of quick discussion, thanks to my eagerness to get back to desk. But alas, what pity! The mugs had been cleared away from everyone's desks when I returned. All I could do was stare at my pristine workstation - without its coffee in place. Sob! :'( So that's how the very first coffee experience turned to be - disappointing and elusive. :-p
While I did learn about the nuances of a HR role through on the job training, this space will only record the interesting events which happened while I was there. Oh, how can I forget my trips around the office block with another intern? That needs mentioning. On boring, hot afternoons when my intern friend and I had no intentions of getting back to work immediately after lunch, we took expeditions around office. Being a large complex, it was manned and guarded by over-zealous securities in every nook and corner. While the security officers around my office block knew us, it clearly wasn't enough to keep me rooted to the same spot. It was time to test my luck further. Thus, we ventured into the Corporate zone of my organization/ group, which was heavily guarded. I still remember how my friend and I faked conversations and kept walking, much to the shock and amusement of guards standing vigil within the building premises. Since it housed the CEO's, CFO's and MD's, this particular zone had extra security in place. Not to forget, the number of access-restricted doors were quite high too! But no, that wasn't going to keep us away. We ventured, floor by floor, not even leaving the restrooms out. The walks, the laughing and the exploration continued until we exhausted all the floors and buildings around the work complex. It was a fun experience, I would say! Oh I must mention here, to whomever is considering joining my awesome organization - the food is AWESOME! Their lunches are to die for. What variety and taste! Looking back, this was probably the highlight of my stay with the company. :-P
As a part of my work assignment, I was also entrusted with the task of working on the in-house magazine. I had to travel to Hosur and Bangalore on a business trip within a day for the same. The plan was to meet the business heads sitting in the offices situated there, interview them and prepare detailed write-ups. Was this amusing? Absolutely not. What was interesting was my boss who accompanied me in the trip. Here was a man fond of the Cows and Bulls game. He could play it at any time of the day, and he was constantly looking for a partner to play! The uninterested victim? Me, of course. :-D So despite my protests, pleas and begging, the boss made me play Cows and Bulls whenever he wanted someone to play with. Of course, he knew I was a sucker at it, and that made him even more excited to match against me. :-P The sensation of beating an evergreen loser at a game is priceless, as he said. I remember how I had to endure one of the worst games invented in the history of mankind on my return journey back to home from Hosur. When one game was enough, I told him I'm not playing any more and went to sleep. What did my boss do? He decides to let me sleep for an hour, and later wakes me up to watch Singham-2. Now, you decide. What's far more horrible? Is it Singham-2 or a game of Cows and Bulls? :-o Should I go to the Devil or the Deep Blue Sea, I was left wondering. :-D
My office was located at the Northern tip of the city, and so it involved travelling between Tambaram and Chennai Beach everyday in electric train. One hard-to-digest fact which I eventually accepted was that Maddy did not stand in Tambaram railway station day in and day out, waiting for Shakthi. To everyone who believed he did, boo! He actually doesn't. And there I was, searching for Maddy every single day, only to be disappointed two months later by the fact that movies will always be movies. :-p It was in the same Tambaram railway station that I bumped into Sherryl by coincidence when I was in a hurry to reach my Beach train. There we were - behaving like insane, lunatic kids on the over-bridge, overjoyed to meet each other during the course of internship. :) Ah well, at least I met my girlfriend here, if not the guy. Hehe! One happy moment from the intern experience was the trip to Gujarat Chats with Divya. We didn't plan it as such, but eventually went there for a snack. It's one of the best chat shops to eat from, around Parrys Corner. :) I only missed visiting Sowcarpet while I was interning. Ah yes, how can I forget this one - We (the CUMI family) went to Marina beach on some random evening in April. It was fun, being at the beach. To me, the seashore is always a feel-good place which brings a lot of happy memories! :) The month of April also brought with it the unfortunate incident of my laptop's hard disk crash. Sadly, none of the data was adequately backed up. I lost all my personal data all over. It hurt for a day. Thanks to pep-talks from a friend, I eventually overcame the sensation of loss about it.
No matter how much I write about my internship experience, the Summer of 2014 is special and elevated [unlike the other summers] for an entirely different reason. It's because life decided to throw a unique surprise in form of a friend whom I never thought I would have. Especially since I was not really keen on meeting strangers after growing out of AII and OI trends. Ugh, not my type! If I should thank PagalGuy, it would be for this idiot who literally stormed into my life and created a tremendous impact. I am glad about his presence in my life and he's done every single thing to reaffirm that he's the best thing that happened to me in the Summer of 2014. It's alright that he's no longer LIBA. He is meant to be at a different level altogether. I miss him, but he is the kind of person who is meant to be at YIF rather than here. =) I only wish that YIF brings him the kind of learning and experience that he's always yearned for to fulfill his dreams. If he's reading this, he should know that he's a precious jewel that I've had the fortune to pick up along my path in life. Grumpy kid, you're adored and cherished. :) That's despite the eye-burning sensation every morning arising from screwing my sleep and of course, those innumerable call waiting moments which were both embarrassing as well as amusing. =D
Summer of 2014 was beautiful indeed, thanks to the aura of people I truly love. Beside these treasured memories, I also enjoyed the perks of being at home, being pampered by Amma 24x7 and being able to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted to. But going to office doesn't count here. :-p True, I did miss LIBA. I'm happy to be back here now. As I type this, I freaking can't believe I'm in second year. Time flies. I sure hope that I will make use of the year that's left to do all the things I've been intending to do. I've crossed off an item from the list already. Hehe! With this, I end my post. This is one long pending blog entry that I'd always wanted to write but never got myself to. Ah sweet procrastination, I'm done with you. Muhahaha! :-D
I did my internship during the months of April and May in Chennai. Having worked in a corporate environment before, I always knew what it was like to work in an office. Oh yes! Could it get any worse than where I'd worked earlier? :-P The 9-to-6 monotony and the unending tasks were not new. I knew how absolutely boring it really was! But what was unexpected in its own way, was the HR Trainee experience for a Mineral Extraction & Mining company. On my first day at work (April 1st) - I was ushered in and to my surprise, I discovered that I've joined an extremely traditional organization. There they were, distributing sweets and vibhoothi/ kumkumam to all the employees to mark auspicious start to the financial year. But what was far more alluring was the COFFEE! Yes, you heard it right. The company served machine-vended coffee, morning and evening, right at the employees' desk. In fact, I remember feeling Whoop! when I was placed with a steaming cup of coffee at my desk on Day-1. Just as I was going to take a sip, the boss called me to discuss on the internship work details. :-( With my mind firmly stuck on the coffee mug, I must confess that I had a tough time catching up with his thoughts during that meeting. Thus, what could've stretched for an hour was shortened to 30 mins of quick discussion, thanks to my eagerness to get back to desk. But alas, what pity! The mugs had been cleared away from everyone's desks when I returned. All I could do was stare at my pristine workstation - without its coffee in place. Sob! :'( So that's how the very first coffee experience turned to be - disappointing and elusive. :-p
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| Mudhal Coffee - Mudhal Ematram |
While I did learn about the nuances of a HR role through on the job training, this space will only record the interesting events which happened while I was there. Oh, how can I forget my trips around the office block with another intern? That needs mentioning. On boring, hot afternoons when my intern friend and I had no intentions of getting back to work immediately after lunch, we took expeditions around office. Being a large complex, it was manned and guarded by over-zealous securities in every nook and corner. While the security officers around my office block knew us, it clearly wasn't enough to keep me rooted to the same spot. It was time to test my luck further. Thus, we ventured into the Corporate zone of my organization/ group, which was heavily guarded. I still remember how my friend and I faked conversations and kept walking, much to the shock and amusement of guards standing vigil within the building premises. Since it housed the CEO's, CFO's and MD's, this particular zone had extra security in place. Not to forget, the number of access-restricted doors were quite high too! But no, that wasn't going to keep us away. We ventured, floor by floor, not even leaving the restrooms out. The walks, the laughing and the exploration continued until we exhausted all the floors and buildings around the work complex. It was a fun experience, I would say! Oh I must mention here, to whomever is considering joining my awesome organization - the food is AWESOME! Their lunches are to die for. What variety and taste! Looking back, this was probably the highlight of my stay with the company. :-P
As a part of my work assignment, I was also entrusted with the task of working on the in-house magazine. I had to travel to Hosur and Bangalore on a business trip within a day for the same. The plan was to meet the business heads sitting in the offices situated there, interview them and prepare detailed write-ups. Was this amusing? Absolutely not. What was interesting was my boss who accompanied me in the trip. Here was a man fond of the Cows and Bulls game. He could play it at any time of the day, and he was constantly looking for a partner to play! The uninterested victim? Me, of course. :-D So despite my protests, pleas and begging, the boss made me play Cows and Bulls whenever he wanted someone to play with. Of course, he knew I was a sucker at it, and that made him even more excited to match against me. :-P The sensation of beating an evergreen loser at a game is priceless, as he said. I remember how I had to endure one of the worst games invented in the history of mankind on my return journey back to home from Hosur. When one game was enough, I told him I'm not playing any more and went to sleep. What did my boss do? He decides to let me sleep for an hour, and later wakes me up to watch Singham-2. Now, you decide. What's far more horrible? Is it Singham-2 or a game of Cows and Bulls? :-o Should I go to the Devil or the Deep Blue Sea, I was left wondering. :-D
 |
| A blood spilling experience. :-( |
My office was located at the Northern tip of the city, and so it involved travelling between Tambaram and Chennai Beach everyday in electric train. One hard-to-digest fact which I eventually accepted was that Maddy did not stand in Tambaram railway station day in and day out, waiting for Shakthi. To everyone who believed he did, boo! He actually doesn't. And there I was, searching for Maddy every single day, only to be disappointed two months later by the fact that movies will always be movies. :-p It was in the same Tambaram railway station that I bumped into Sherryl by coincidence when I was in a hurry to reach my Beach train. There we were - behaving like insane, lunatic kids on the over-bridge, overjoyed to meet each other during the course of internship. :) Ah well, at least I met my girlfriend here, if not the guy. Hehe! One happy moment from the intern experience was the trip to Gujarat Chats with Divya. We didn't plan it as such, but eventually went there for a snack. It's one of the best chat shops to eat from, around Parrys Corner. :) I only missed visiting Sowcarpet while I was interning. Ah yes, how can I forget this one - We (the CUMI family) went to Marina beach on some random evening in April. It was fun, being at the beach. To me, the seashore is always a feel-good place which brings a lot of happy memories! :) The month of April also brought with it the unfortunate incident of my laptop's hard disk crash. Sadly, none of the data was adequately backed up. I lost all my personal data all over. It hurt for a day. Thanks to pep-talks from a friend, I eventually overcame the sensation of loss about it.
No matter how much I write about my internship experience, the Summer of 2014 is special and elevated [unlike the other summers] for an entirely different reason. It's because life decided to throw a unique surprise in form of a friend whom I never thought I would have. Especially since I was not really keen on meeting strangers after growing out of AII and OI trends. Ugh, not my type! If I should thank PagalGuy, it would be for this idiot who literally stormed into my life and created a tremendous impact. I am glad about his presence in my life and he's done every single thing to reaffirm that he's the best thing that happened to me in the Summer of 2014. It's alright that he's no longer LIBA. He is meant to be at a different level altogether. I miss him, but he is the kind of person who is meant to be at YIF rather than here. =) I only wish that YIF brings him the kind of learning and experience that he's always yearned for to fulfill his dreams. If he's reading this, he should know that he's a precious jewel that I've had the fortune to pick up along my path in life. Grumpy kid, you're adored and cherished. :) That's despite the eye-burning sensation every morning arising from screwing my sleep and of course, those innumerable call waiting moments which were both embarrassing as well as amusing. =D
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| Grumpy Kid! |
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