3 days of utter confusion......

DAY 1: April 6, 2009

Wow! Today is my first day of work at “AIRTEL” – the best telecommunication company in India and I’m a bundle of nervous energy as a thousand thoughts are criss-crossing my mind simultaneously.How’d be the environment? How’d be my mentor? Will I be scared when I step into office? Will I have my own cabin/cubicle? All these and many more questions were coming to me as I was going towards Gurgaon from Dwarka.Oh! I forgot to tell you where I was putting up (that would become important later on).I was staying with my Didi-Jeejaji in Dwarka Sec-13.And from there Gurgaon was just around 19 kms.So It was easy thought.
Well, today Jeejaji (his name is Manoj so from here on, I’ll refer to him as ManojDa) was driving me to my workplace as I didn’t know the routes and also it was my first day and I was already very nervous.The office was situated in Udyog Vihar – II in Gurgaon’s industrial district.We reahed the offie at 9.20 AM a good 10 minutes before the office timings and I was thinking – “hmm, I’m early…that would impress my boss.10 points!”
Entering through the gates of the huge glass building (the building is only 3 storeyed but wide so a big structure) I am asked by the security guards,”Intern?”I say yes and I’m given a small form to fill out and an entry slip is given to me along with a Trainee/Temp ID.I put that ID tag with the red band around my neck and feel like an employee already.Great!!
Entering the building,I see four other guys sitting in the main waiting lounge with red bands around their necks and neat haircuts,so I make a calculated guess that they too are interns and introduce myself to them.Soon we are all talking as it’s already 9.40 AM and our HR lady hasn’t turned up.So I am talking to these guys and find out that they are from different colleges – Salil from SIBM,Pune;Apoorv from SIMS,Pune;Amit from IMT,Nagpur and Rohit from FORE,New Delhi.I look at the big AIRTEL clock hanging on top of the reception and it shows 9.50 AM.I finally give up and ask the receptionist what’s the normal time people start coming in?She says sweetly , “not before 10 AM.And they keep coming till 11 AM.”I say to her – “that’s awesome.”She is taken aback.
Finally at 10.15 AM, we are called in – yes!!!The HR lady – Christeena Paul has come.We are all motioned into a meeting cabin where she introduces herself and asks for our NOCs(No Objection Certificate issued by the academic institution) and the Training letter sent by AirTel.We are asked to wait as she goes out with he papers.Soon she comes back withtwo young staffers – a young boy/man who looks straight out of an MTV program with his slightly unruly hair and low waist trousers.The girl looks very composed and seemingly senior to the guy.The HR lady introduces them ,”This is Gaurav and this is Ashima.They will assist you all in completing the formalities.”The she goes away and we are left with those two,looking at our faces and specially mine(maybe) ,the guy finally speaks out – “chill,we both are interns just like you,only we are 1 month into our internship.”Both of them are from IIPM (Gaurav from IIPM, Saket and Ashima from IIPM, Gurgaon).Soon a big organisation rules and regulations agreement is brought and we are asked to read it and then sign on the dotted line.That’s kind of scary considering that after this I become a part of AirTel for the next two months.There’s a glint of mischief in Gaurav’s eyes.I don’t know if others noticed it or not, but I think he was laughing silently.

We are then taken to an empty cubicle that is supposed to be for trainees/interns and we are asked to make ourselves comfortable.Ashima gives us the extension number of the pantry and other important numbers.Now we are all looking around and trying to get the maximum feel of the place.The office is huge with rows and rows of cubicles.The entire area seems abuzz with activity,people yelling on phones,running around with reams of paper in one hand and a phone in the other.This is the workplace we all dream of with all the hustle-bustle.Then we are all assigned our individual mentors an are asked to meet them.My mentor is a guy named Pushpendar Chawla in the Marketing Division.Must be good I thought,considering he was one of the few guys with his own personal cubicle.The table was neat with just a telephone,a laptop and some files tucked into one corner.
He asks me, “so Prasenjit how’s the day been so far? I have been told about you by Tusharika” (Ah, I forgot again.Tusharika Govil is the lady whom I sent my resume initially and she was the one who took my telephonic interview.)I just tell him,”Sir I’m too excited to feel anything and this office is fabulous.”The man instantly recognises the child in me and asks me,”Go take a round first and then come back to me.”So now I have been given my first task by my mentor.I move around the office and notice that different departments are arranged together.Marketing on one side,Finance on one and IT support in the extreme corner.Then in the other corner there are offices or the DGM - HR Prashant Dev Singh,Sr Mgr HR – Bhaskar Ganguly. This office sure seats big people, I thought.All around the office there are flyers signalling “100 million in 100 days.Do you accept the challenge?”I had no idea what it meant but guessed it must be some target to achieve.So after taking a stroll in the office I go back to my mentor and tell himwhat I saw in the office.Now he asks me,”So Prasenjit, tell me what do you want to do in marketing and why did you come to a telecom company? Do you have special interest or knowledge in this field?”How could I tell him this was the only company which offered me an internship so I came here!
So I tell him,”Sir, I found this a great opportunity to work with one of the best companies in the country so I came here.” He asks me,”Any prior knowledge of the telecom industry?”I say,”No sir, not much except for what I read in the last few days” (Infact, I hadn’t read one line)He asks me, “what would be your area of interest?” and I’m like ,”Sir,we could do customer satisfaction surveys”.He again asks,”What’s the area you are targetting?”I give up and say,”Sir, I don’t have much information regarding the telecom industry.”He says,”Finally an honest answer.It happens.No problem, your task for the day is to read up as much as you can about the industry and then we’ll decide what your project would be.You are here to learn and not just do some stupid project and pass two months.”He tells me about the diferent types of functions in the marketing department in the telecom industry like Marketing Communications (letting the customer know about the new product offerings), Acquisitions (adding new customers), Usage and Retention – UnR (increase usage and also retaining customers) and Revenue Planning (pricing of different vouchers and tariff plans – although the finance dept is also involved).
I am then sent back with the diktat – “Find out as much as you can and come to me tomorrow.”I made a complete fool of myself and I could feel the man laughing at me from the inside.I ask him, “sir how to start my search, I would need a terminal and internet connection.”He calls up Christeena and then sends a mail to the It department then says,”Pass your time somehow, the request has been made and it will be processed soon.” I go back to the cubicle where we all were initially siting and find Salil and Amit with hung faces.I ask them, “What happened? Did you meet your mentor?” They say in unison, “Yes we did and she has assigned a project too.On Roaming services.”I ask, “Without knowing your interests?” They say ,”yes” and instantly I feel I got a good mentor who didn’t force a project down my throat rather gave me a chance to understand the industry then choose a project.
So now the attention shifts to Apoorv, who is also roaming near the DGM’s office.We call him and ask, “What happened with you?”He answers, “My mentor has not come today so I am supposed to meet the DGM.”So its official – unless we don’t get terminals, we can’t do anything so wait for the terminals.The wait goes on from one hour to two and then finally the time comes – 6.30 PM and I’m dying to get back home.The whole went total waste.
Now coming back, Salil’s going to Karol Bagh and his driver has come to pick him up so he offers a ride to me and Gaurav.On the way, Gaurav tells about how he met Rajat Mittal, son of Mr.Sunil Bharti Mittal the chairman and CEO of AirTel, in the health club where he goes to play basketball.They drop me at Palam where I can get a bus easily.And as soon as I get down from the car,I see a 764 coming and hop onto the bus.I’m happily going back thinking that I’ll reach by 7.30 PM.And I start watching the Bus Stops pass us and am waiting for Sec 14 bus stop to come but very soon we are in a an altogether different place which does not look like Dwarka but resembles some shabby old village and just then I see a road signage which reads,”Welcome to Nangloi”.O God!!I get down at the very next stop and then go back to the nearest Metro station Dwarka Sec 9 from where I take a metro to Sec 14.I get down and coming out of the metro station I realise this is not the place because ManojDa’s house is exactly in front of the metro station.I check my jot-pad and to my horror, our address reads Sec 13 not 14!!Damn!!!!I again get into the metro and go to Sec 13.From there I can see our house and am finally relieved.Just as I am about to enter the housing society,I turn back and then see – Sec 14 metro station and Sec 13 metro station are just 100 meters apart!!!I start laughing out loud and finally get to home and just throw myself on the bed,take a deep breath and then get up to change into night clothes because it’s already 9 PM.
I fix myself a small dinner and go to sleep locking the main door as ManojDa as well MiliDi come late from their offices.Finally,My first nightmarish day is over.How many more to go,I think and before I realise,I am asleep.






DAY 2: April 7, 2009

Today, I am going office on my own and to keep ample buffer time with me I get out of home at 7.20 AM hoping to reach by 9.30 AM. I take a walk towards the Sec 14 bus stop but get a 764 midway and hop on.The bus is a new lo-floor one and is very comfortable.I reach Dhaula Kuan at around 8.10 and think that today also I’ll easily reach office by 9.15 AM.But as I get down at Dhaula Kuan I see no traffic coming from the other end and then somebody tells me that the whole traffic moement has been blocked because the Leader of Opposition, Mr. L K Advani is going with his motorcade.What politicians, they could go later;why to trouble the hardworking common man when he’s going to his office or place of work?The blockade is opened after 30 minutes and after that the traffic starts coming but there is no bus in sight.Another 15 minutes pass and I’m beginning to think I’d be mighty late today so I call up Ashima to tell her that I’d be late coming to office on account of this traffic blockade.She knows about the traffic block and says it’s OK she’ll tell my mentor.Finally I decide to take some other route,so I ask this guy standing a few feet away from me and he says, “even I have to go to Gurgaon.I work in Honda.There’s another route from AIIMS.Let’s both go together.” I say, “OK.Let’s go then.” As we near the crossing we see a bus going to Gurgaon and flag the bus midway and jump into the running bus! Wow!And then on,the journey goes effortless as this is an AC bus.So I talk to this guy and he tells me about himself, “My name is Anshul Singh.I am basically from Andamans but for the last 6 years I’m in Delhi.”We have discussions on topics ranging from MBA to totelecom industry to automotive industry.Finally I reach Gurgaon and as I enter the office, I see Ashima also coming in at the same time and then I say, “Now I understand why you said you understand the traffic problem.” She too was stuck because of the same problem.
I keep my bag and go directly to my mentor asking about what happened regarding the terminal installation.He replies, “Some procedural problem, the IT department will take time.Please bear with the inconvenience.”I go back to my cubicle and gossip with Gaurav and Salil.An hour has passed and I have still not got the terminal.I again go to my mentor and say, “Sir,It’s heights of irresponsibility.If you want me to work,please give me the required equipments else I won’t be able to work.”He takes serious note and goes to the IT department taking me along.The IT department gives the same explanation regarding procedural issues and how the approval is pending on the request.Finally I tell my mentor, “Sir,I’ll start my research from home now.”He tells me not to lose cool over these trivial matters, these are a part and parcel of working in an organisation that too as a new employee.
I go back to my cubicle and try to pass my time somehow; starting to believe this summer internship is going to be one long waste of time when I could have done something more fruitful.Watching the hustle and bustle in the office soon it’s 1.30 PM – lunch time.One more way to pass some more time.After lunch I go out to the terrace and just look at the Gurgaon skyline, it’s all glass and concrete.
I come back and again joblessness starts creeping up.To fight that I start reading all the paper strewn all around my cubicle and also some material given to Apoorv(HR trainee).After reading through just about the last bit of paper in the cubicle I know quite a bit about the housekeeping staff and charges AirTel pays and also about the catering services.Plus I also see some employees’ OPQ test results and also their performane appraisal reports.I wonder how such data can be left unattended in a cubicle.
It’s 3.20 PM and I am woken up from sleep (imagine sleeping in a corporate office; that too when your cubicle is the first one in the row) by Christina Paul ans she says, “at least for the day, you have a terminal.Go to desk 86.” I think now it’s time to work but there’s a rider.There is only one desktop for three marketing interns so we’d have to take turns using the system. (God, not again.)
We take turns and my turn comes at 4.30 PM, right now its 3.50 PM.So a good 40 minute wait and I have absolutely nothing to do.So I take the material given to the other guys by their mentor (that was some presentation on Roaming calls with systems, tie-ups, billings et al) Soon that presentation is finished too and I feel like a loser, everybody has some job to do and I’m sitting jobless here.
I decide to tell the same to Christeena but before I open up my mouth she says, “Sorry.This is the maximum that can be done for you.You interns would go back after 2 months then we’d have to shift the terminals again.Think about that too.” And I just go back and slump in my chair.
I wait for the clock to show 4.30 PM but when you want the clock to move fast; it actually slows down.I might fall asleep again.I’m quite sure no PPO for me from this organisation so I’m thinking of how to cook up the report so as to impress Vodafone and LoopTele when they come for campus recruitments.The wait is almost killing me.
And since I’m sitting all alone in the cubicle with nothing to do, people walking past my cubicle and talking in hushed whispers and looking at me with pity, scorn, contempt all kinds of emotions as if I’m some bio-hazard.To make matters worse, my mentor has also gone to a meeting so I am practically all alone in the office and it is becoming dificult with each passin second to look at directly at anybody as I’m th one guy in the entire office who is sitting completely idle.Damn!!When will the clock show me 4.30 PM???
I hope this is the end of my boredom as it’s 4.20 PM now and at 4.30 PM I’ll take charge of the terminal.I’m totally frustrated and the problem is I can’t sit like this for longer else I might die of boredom.And when people pass me looking at me scribbling into the notepad I feel like killing everyone or me, whichever is easier.
There’s a power outage, but back-up is lightining fast.It’s almost 4.30 PM and some people are already leaving office.This organisation seems to be very flexible with timings.I’m fully pissed off and have decided that by tomorrow evening,I’ll ask my mentor for a project.Too much,I’m going nuts sitting idle.
Let’s see if the guys have done their job and get the terminal for me.Bummer those guys are asking for 15 more minutes!!Aaargh...this is way abpve and I want to shout out loud but then I don’t want to jeopardise my internship(if sitting idle in the office could be called internship,that is) so I tell them I’ll come back in some time.
I think I’m kind of stupid letting them have the first turn and then waiting for the terminal but once I get it I’m not going to give it back to them before 6.30 PM! Somehow I’m managing to control my anger as I’m avoiding eye contact and have slid real low in my chair so that my head is not visible from the top of the cubicle.I think to myself,I might just become a writer here writing about my daily problems.
I have not used for so many days, my writing’s gone haywire.  I’m thinking how to pass these 15 more minutes, I think about other friends in different companies.How AB’s running around in Goa, how Jha and Nicks are sitting jobless in Mumbai and what would be happening with others in different parts of the country.
People in the cabin behind me are palying videos in low volume, maybe that’s a home video.Suddenly I hear someone angrily shouting on the phone soon the shouting becomes a whirlpool of abusinve expletives and I think what culture does this company have? Highly skewed and distorted, then how did this company manage to become one of the most loved brands in India?
4.42 PM??Should I go now or wait for another three minutes? I’m not very sure if they’d give me the terminal so easily but then they give me the terminal on time.Let’s get to work I tell myself.Soon I’m finding out tons of data and trying to make analyses but my mind is so blocked I can’t do anyting so I just
make a folder on the desktop and keep putting whatever files I’m downloading there to read tomorrow.
I’m reading so much that I totally lose track of time and then I realise the office has gone quite, I rise up and see half of the office is empty.It’s 7.10 PM!!
I get out of office and head straight to the bus stand,take a bus to Dhaula Kuan.I get down and wait for the 764 to take me home but it’s been half an hour and I don’t see any 764 coming.I grow worried as it is getting late and I want to get to home quickly.So I ask another guy standing near me(I have become good at talking to people) and ask whether some other bus goes to Dwarka.Even has no idea but he’s also going to Dwarka so we both move together and get into the next bus 729 going to Kapasehra Border and I calculate we could get down at palam Modh and get a 764 from there.And as per paln,exactly the same happens and we get a bus 764 from Palam Modh and are comfortably coming home when I run into this guy who looks like a wannabe rock-star and we start talking.
All three of us get down at the same stop and while walking towards our own paths,I find out all three of us are Bengalis.We exchange our Business cards and I get to know that the older guy’s name is S Kundu and he works in Haldor Topsoe,a Denmark based oil industry equipment maker and the rock-star guy’s nem is Amrit and he works in an ad agency,The Mosaic.
This is how my second day ends.Till then….




DAY 3: April 8, 2009

It’s 9.29 AM and there are few people in the office.I switch on the terminal and to my horror, I don’t know the password!Great!So,now I’m again sitting and waiting for Christeena to come in and help me with this new problem.
It’s 10.07 AM and Christeena has told me that terminal belongs to Nitin, so either he or Priti Sharma (the woman on Desk 85) might be able to help.I go upto Priti or very curtly she says, passwords are not meant to be shared among people.Yeah right, no body cares fro an intern.I wait for this Nitin character to come so I can use the terminal.Finally Nitin comes in at 10.40 AM and sits down on the terminal.I ask him to use some other as this has been assigned to me.He calls up Christeena about the mix-up ans Christeena says that your terminal is a different one and it will be ready by the evening.Oh no,not again;I thought as she said the same line again.I’m quite perplexed but then Nitin gives me an idea,why not use his laptop?The laptop has a data card and he gives it to me to use.Wow!Now I get busy doing all the reading and research I have to do.
Around 11.30 a girl walks up to me and introduces herself as Shilpa from IBS Ahmedabad.She’s an HR trainee and has been in the office fro over a month!!Its tough to tell an intern from an employee.We get talking and she tells me things about Ahmedabad and I tell her about GIM, about Goa.
It’s been a real fruitful day as I’m reading a lot about the industry and have got some hang of things going on in the industry.But my mentor has said the project discussion will take place tomorrow,so no point talking to him today.Hopefully,I’ll get a decent project although I have pinned my hopes low as the projects others are getting are also not very interesting and are more like study projects rahter than some actual stuff.
Its 2 PM, lunch time on.I am walking towards the lift when I see two girls who have put up a stall for TetraPak.They motion towards me but since I’m quite irritated by something else, I snap at her telling her not to distrub people who come her for work.
But as I’m eating lunch I feel kinda guilty for my behavior and decide to talk to her on my way back to office.I get down from the lift and go straight to her,the girl is visibly uncomfortable seeing me again.I apologise to her then we talk for a while and I tell her how frustrating sitting in the office can be.we talk a little more then I take her leave and go back to office.
It’s 4 PM and I’m nearly saturated with information.But I think UnR (Usage & Retention) would be a good area to work in but I can’t think any more as I’m full.Should I speak to my mentor now?He seems pretty busy,let’s try my luck…I actually have lost all gusto to work as I know that PPO in AirTel is as good as nearly impossible.Actually sitting in the office with nothing to do is a very strange situation as I can’t sit idle at one place for long before I do something stupid.I am hoping that with the project I’ll get to go out of the office and along with work I might roam around a bit too.
Its 5 PM (still 1.30 hours before I go officially go home,but I’ll try now).I see my mentor and tell him all that I got to know while reading all day long.He seems somewhat impressed but then again says,I’ll think about it tonight then assign you a project tomorrow first thing.Then I sheepishly ask him,sir can I go home now?And he says,”You don’t need my permission to go home.anytime after 5.30 PM you can slip out of the office since you come early in the morning.”
I’m going home.While going out Shilpa (the gril from IBS) asks me where I’m headed to.I tell her,”I am going home.I go early from office so as to reach home before it’s too dark.She says,”You should knowyour colleagues, it helps.I’m also going towards Dwarka and have my own car.So I can drop you.”I’m like,”Then you also leave right now as I can’t stand in this ofice any longer.”She asks Ashima to come too and all three of us walk out of the office at 5.50 PM.
So today I had a comfortable ride home and nothing went wrong, I didn’t lose my way, didn’t take the wrong bus or get down at the wrong place (Thank God).this ends my Day 3 at work…


Thankfully, from day 4 onwards I was bombarded with work and nothing went wrong after that!