Contents:
Part I -
1. Dream to visit
2. Let's give it a try
3. Yes! I got a call letter
4. Pre-departure Drama
4.1. The domestic tussle
4.2. The collegiate contention
Part II -
5. The Travel Tale
6. Hustle for address
7. At the MP's residence house
8. Search for shelter
9. The Fighting Father
10. Inside NITI
10.1. Work
10.2. Life with colleagues
Part III-
11. Bruhan Maharashtra Bhawan
11.1. Life at BMB
11.2. New Friends
12. Exploring Delhi
12.1. "New" Delhi
12.2. The other side of Delhi
13. Time to Leave
14. Life after Internship
PART II
I hope you're here after reading the first blog of this series.
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5. The Travel Tale
Now the tickets being in place & I being above the place, we planned to go Nagpur in afternoon with a general ticket & then will head towards Delhi in Kerala Express.
I was having my last practical exam that day & I got back home, quick and fast, had my lunch & bhurr.
My mother was there for a see-off with happy yet numb face & wetly eyes.
The journey from Amravati to Nagpur is of merely 3 hours & we were in Nagpur at around 5 in the evening. My dad wanted to meet one of his friend, who fortunately showed up at station.
The layover time passed well and then we left for Delhi at around 8 pm.
The journey is actually long, but it was even longer for me, who was excited for the next day more than anything else.
I was enjoying every moment of the journey, as trips were not common for my family, then.
I bought a book written by APJ Abdul Kalam, named Wings of Fire, with a box of Petha on my way, at the Agra Cantonment Railway Station.
Then later the day, after a hectic Journey of 22 hours & an almost 9 major & 144 minor stations passed, we are finally at the "Dil walo ka sheher", the Capital City- Delhi.
6. Hustle for address
As soon as we stepped out of the railway station, we felt like a celebrity. Jokes apart, we were mobbed by many taxi drivers, but as soon as we told them the address, they were like, "Arey ye toh bohot dur hai, yaha se nahi milegi taxi!" (This is too far, you won't find a taxi from here!)
One kind person suggested us to take metro till Khan Market & then a taxi thereafter.
We had the experience of metro for the first time.
Then we were searching for the exact address & found after a few hours of dig.
7. At the MP's residence house
As we entered the grand house, our first meet was with the caretaker whose name was Somnath ji. He was from Bihar & we found his way of talking little hard to grasp.
Picking up keywords from the sentences he threw, we used to guess what he exactly said. Thus, we got to know that MP sir was out of city for couple of days.
Somnath ji made us settle in the guest room, full fledged with carpet floor and AC.
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| When we were in search of food/shelter, all over walking |
We then got freshen up & went out to look for residence nearby, as the stay at MP's place was just for a week.
Ghar toh nahi mila, par khana mil gaya (we didn't got the shelter, but found a cheap place to satisfy our hunger for the night)
Now this is a thing about Delhi, you will find small dhabas everywhere, more or less like the viral "Baba ka Dhaba", in recent times.
The place where we ate, barely had a proper light.
We got back home (MP's residence), as tomorrow was a big day.
9. The Fighting Father
The next day early morning, we hired a taxi to Sansad Marg, that's where Niti Aayog was.
A morning coffee made me ready for the day.
When I was IN, my dad was out finding a place for me to reside.
He found a place named Bruhan Maharashtra Bhawan, which provides shelter to residents from Maharashtra, but just for few days.
There we had evening meal included in the charges.
This place was at Paharganj (पहाड़गंज)
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| Bruhan Maharashtra Bhawan, Paharganj |
So, we need to figure out for lunch.
I had my dad, the superhero knows it all.
He also found a canteen near my office to have my lunch everyday, 30 rupees a meal. This is much better than the office's canteen, which charges 90 rupees for a one time meal.
As we were new to the office, my dad was not allowed inside the office & was stopped by the CRPF Commandos.
That first day, after searching a place to live and a place to eat, dad was sitting on the table outside my office, all day long, and this made me senti & I felt helpless.
I asked him to go home and rest, but baap baap hota hai.. (father is your father, afterall), he won't listen to you.
10. Inside NITI
10.1. Work
So, the first day, we had our Entry pass created and met the Advisor of Science and Technology Department.
It was then that I got to know, we need to undergo one more interview round to be selected for internship.
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| ID Card |
I was afraid for the fact that, if this goes wrong, my dad and me would've been back to Amravati.
The students there were all from big institutes, IITs, Delhi University, London School of Economics, etc. And then there was "ME" from Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University.
Even while giving intro, I need to mention Amravati from Maharashtra, beside Nagpur.
Fortunately I cracked the interview & boom, we are allotted with our first project, which was a research project basically. We were working with DRDO officials & presented the final report to Dr V. K. Saraswat Sir, former DRDO Chief along with Forensic Expert & our S&T domain head.
As we met the officials of AIM (Atal Innovation Mission), we got to know the level of the officials there. One of them was MIT, Massachusetts passout, the other did her PG & Ph.D. from IIT-B.
After a fortnight, we were asked to work on technical project for AIM for accepting applications for Atal Tinkering Labs, an initiative by Indian Government.
We closely worked with National Informatics Center (NIC) who handles every official website of Indian Government.
We got the website created and Done.
10.2. Life with colleagues
All of us were almost from different states, but it didn't took long for us to match the vibes.
Interns from other verticals were also friendly enough to spend our coffee break with.
The internet speed there was just great, so one fine day we decided to make use of it in proper way.
There was a big LED TV in our conference room, where we connected our laptop & enjoyed the IND vs SL cricket match.
I rarely accompanied my fellow interns for lunch, as they used to have their lunch in NITI canteen.
But one fine day, they stopped me and asked "Tum roj kaha jaate ho? Hamare saath khana khao na." (Where do you go everyday, why don't you join us for lunch?)
Then I told them about the canteen which dad suggested, and guess what, from next day, they all joined me for lunch. They all were like a temporary family for me, then.
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| Left to Right - Mohit, Me, Vrishank, Shatakshi |
We enjoyed there.
I remember the day when we spent most of our time in the big giant library of NITI Aayog, the other day we got to know that PM Modi & other officials visited there in the building & we make a hasty run towards Amitabh Kant's cabin to see them.
My days at Delhi were about to end, & one day, they decided to order Pizzas.
Looking at my pocket & tight budget, I denied saying "Bhuk nahi hai" (I'm not hungry)
I think they understood and said, we will pay for you, don't you worry. Then I said, there's no issue of money & I called home and asked mom, if I could join them & she agreed owing to my last days there. We enjoyed that day.
The weather there was really humid.
When Delhi was heating me up, these were the guys who made me feel comfortable, no matter what.
We explored Delhi together (in budget 🤭), and the memories of the then 2017, is still fresh in my head & will always be.
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For further story, let me catch you in the 3rd and the final blog of this series.
