intern – TIDES

10:30 am: The intern has arrived. Her belongings are already sprawled all over me. I look forward to another day of being exploited – Yay!

11:30 am: Presently, 3 of them sit around me and ‘work’. While they furiously type on their overheated laptops and simultaneously sip on their chilled nimbu paanis, I suffer from heat stroke and hypothermia at the same time.

12:30 pm: Music emanates from a laptop directly into my ears. Not that song* again. Oh great, they feel the need to tap along to it. I’m a table, not a tabla. And you definitely aren’t musicians…
One of them has gotten up and moved onto manhandling the drum set a few feet away from me. When will they realize that they’re absolutely tone-deaf?

1:30 pm: The dreaded lunch time. Question: What’s more fun than a bunch of people dropping daal and kaddu ki sabzi all over you? Answer: Literally everything. At least after they’re done feasting I get cleaned. Yes, I’m aware that they only clean me for their own matlabi and exploitative reasons, but those 10 seconds are absolute bliss.

2:30 pm: They’re sticking Post-Its on me now. ‘Business Model Canvas – First Draft’, they say. First draft? Just how many are there going to be? This means I’m going to get waxed multiple times, doesn’t it. Great. Can’t wait.

3:30 pm: Music blaring. They’ve moved onto bhajans now. So pious. So devout. Would Lord Ram and Lord Krishna approve of your complete and utter disregard for an innocent table’s well-being?

4:30 pm: I’m wondering what kind of photo shoot would require them to LIE DOWN on me. Creativity ki hadd hoti hai. But these guys clearly seem to think otherwise.

5:30 pm: Brainstorming. Spitballing. Ideating. Sound like harmless enough words, right? Wrong. Enter chai and coffee – ‘creative nectar’ to get their ‘creative juices’ flowing. For me, it just means multiple third degree burns.

6:30 pm: It’s funny how fast and efficiently things get done in the office when it’s time to pack up and leave. Everyone is running around frantically, while I stand still, watching the madness with bittersweet thoughts of the quiet hours ahead of me.

*Closer – The Chainsmokers

First day at Ideafarms

Walking in, I am greeted by a drum roll: bright-eyed and bushy-tailed fellow intern Eeshta’s welcome to the new kid. I like it already.

First off, I am walked through the ground rules by the lovely HR director, Anuja, revealing some telling facts about the atmosphere of the company I had just joined. Number 4, no yelling or speaking in a rude voice; Number 2, no calling anyone “sir” or “ma’am”; first names would suffice. Number 7 was the most interesting, however, specifically delineating that everyone was approachable, and that one could go up to any other employee at the company to ask questions and request information. Already, 25 minutes in, Ideafarms is blowing my expectations of rigid, overly structured, hierarchical experience out of the water.

Next, I am immediately thrust into helping with a pitch for a new app, quickly going over the idea and seeing firsthand how Ideafarms brainstorms. Despite the good humour and familiarity pervading the atmosphere, employees know when to get serious and are impressively quick and efficient when there is a task at hand. I watched the team put together a competent, well-organized presentation, even offering some input which they used while talking about the app. I observed the bosses’ feedback with great interest straight after the pitch – they astutely highlighted the main issues in an even, businesslike manner and helped guide the team towards making a better product.

Lunchtime, though, was the highlight of the day. It is a time for everyone to get together around the lunch table, where no work is allowed, allowing for absorbing discussions about politics, current events, and our favourite TV shows to spring up. On the first day alone I gleaned more about the current state of the city than I had from newspapers in the past week, with everyone contributing information and experiences. Thankfully there were no Game of Thrones spoilers! It was great to see how well everyone got along, and I am already excited for the homemade cake, Nirati, one of the other interns, has promised to bring tomorrow.

Going home at the end of the day, accompanied by a leaving drum roll from the one and only Eeshta, there is only one thought in my head: I think I’m going to like it here.

written by Shaina Verma.

Tag: intern

A Table’s Fable Happenings @ Ideafarms

The Intern Diaries