Challenging Convention And "Rising" Up To "The Mahindra GMC Internship Program" | Summer Saga 2020

Let me start with my name. My parents named me Durga Siva Teja Behara. Looks long right. No worries. People already made this easy for them since my 4th standard. They started calling me BDS Teja. So, do not mistake me as a Doctor / Dentist :P.

I am from a place called Rajahmundry, the cultural capital of Andhra Pradesh and did my under graduation ( B.Tech - E.C.E ) in RGUKT, one of the IIIT’s in Andhra Pradesh. I always wanted to do something back to society in whatever ways I can. It all started when I joined IIT Delhi for a research fellowship programme where I worked on Brain Signal Processing. I was so lucky enough that I started learning Machine learning & Artificial Intelligence which I never learnt in my under-graduation. Learning them and applying them on real time data used to give me great satisfaction because I was doing something in the health sector. Days passed on and I got a good rank in GATE and got various calls from reputed organizations, but I still choose to continue my research in IIT Delhi post my under-graduation. I worked two months at IIT Delhi where I have learnt many things because of my professors.

"Not all days are going to be as beautiful as they were"

Due to some financial issues in the family, I could not continue my research and I had an offer from Tata Consultancy Services by then and joined the organization. But I always wanted to do something with things that I have learnt. Working in TCS, talking to different clients about businesses inculcated interest in Management. I soon started preparing for B-School entrance exams. I wanted to give my best for all the exams and prepare accordingly. I used to wake up at 4 A.M, fresh up and go to the office by 4.30 A.M. I either used to give a mock or study until 9 A.M in the office cafeteria. Even though, the office ends by 6 P.M, I used to be in the office library until 9 P.M, eat there and go to my flat because it used to save my time as I need not cook again and also my money because we get everything at subsidized rate in TCS canteens.

I have never compromised with my work at TCS because it gave me everything to improve my leadership skills, communication skills and especially people skills. I was recognized and I was given an opportunity to become a lead for the team which I worked with. In fact, it was at a very early age. Thanks to my manager for recognizing me. This increased more responsibilities on my shoulders then but with my team members and our combined efforts, we achieved many milestones and even I achieved my milestone of converting many B-Schools and I have chosen to get into Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune-SIBM Pune after my 32 months of service in TCS.

Many people ask me why I chose MBA when I have a beautiful career in research and TCS. Let me answer it. Currently I’m in Marketing specialization. To me, marketing is all about understanding customers' mindset and then taking your product or company into their thought process. This happens only when companies understand people better. Being a data-savvy person, I always used to work on data. I then realized that I need to mix Marketing concepts with ML & AI knowledge. I started working on data published on various websites to understand how people think about different companies. This created an interest in NeuroMarketing. It is an amalgamation of my two interests - MBA & Data Science. Learning never stopped for me. Every day, I used to wake up with a great anxiety that I would be learning new things. SIBM Pune has provided all the resources for my studies. Thanks to our director R.Raman sir and the entire team for their constant efforts to make us the business leaders of the country. I am so lucky that I met a professor - Dr. Preetha Menon, who is the head of Symbiosis Centre for Behavioral Studies with whom I have planned to continue my research after my internship.

Let me start penning down how my internship journey started. 

It was the early days of September 2019. We had Mahindra & Mahindra on campus. I applied for the GMC internship program and I was shortlisted for the group-discussion round. I still remember I was in a group that was called almost in the end. I gave my best and came out of the GD room and sat in the waiting room again. Every other group who finished earlier with their GDs started getting their PI calls. As usual, GD results for our group were declared late because we finished late. Someone pushed the door and said: “From Group X, Person-A, go for a personal interview”. I am not the person A :( My name was not called. Little sadness, because I worked hard for my dream company. Five minutes later, I realized that they are calling one-by-one. Hurray! I was called next. One Mahindra leader & one Mahindra HR interviewed me. It was the best interview I had. The questions they asked really tests how a person thinks and acts spontaneously. I even felt they checked my patience, learning desire and most importantly how I talk and behave in teams. I came out of the PI room. Went straight back to the waiting room and the real pressure now. Will I be converting? Huhhhh. Pressure started building up when I heard everyone saying their PI went well. After some time, names were announced. You know what happened? My name was called, and I have converted it. My dream has turned into a reality.

I always wanted to work with a company that is known for its values and its diverse business portfolio. It was one of the best moments of my life.

Post the offer, days started passing on but the happiness and the enthusiasm to work in the Mahindra group always used to push me up to do something more as I am going to work with one of India's biggest groups.

One fine day, I received an email from the Mahindra GMC Team about the joining date. Everything went well until the COVID pandemic broke out in the world. Holidays were declared to colleges and I was expecting that everything would go well by the time internship starts. This crisis started becoming severe and everyone is unaware of what was happening. People started talking about the economic crisis. There were discussions that it would be a difficult time for all the internships and job offers. But I have seen different posts on various companies, coming out and helping people in different ways. Mahindra is not an exception to this. Every Mahindra group started helping people in whatever ways they can right from turning some of the resorts to temporary corona-virus care facilities to the manufacturing plants turning into units, making different equipment that are required to fight the COVID crisis. All these things were not a great surprise to me because Mahindra Group was always there in every difficulty.

Coming to my internship, I am sure Mahindra Group would always stand with us. But the only concern I had was that I will not be able to meet the leaders of Mahindra Group which would usually happen during the induction process of the Mahindra GMC program. Then, came an email from Mahindra saying that Internship is going to be a work from home internship and it even mentioned that Induction is going to happen online.

If someone says induction, we expect that to be running for a time. But the Mahindra GMC Team planned it in such a way that we got to interact with different leaders of the Mahindra Group every week. I even feel this kind of interaction could never have happened if it were an offline one. We got to know the views and mindsets of the best-minds of the country when they started asking the questions to the leaders. This is an on-going process and I am privileged that I will be attending these sessions in the coming days.

The Mahindra GMC Team just did not stop here. They wanted us to have more interaction with some of the leaders one-to-one and even started "Leadership connect" where we got to interact with the leaders one-to-one and it was an amazing interaction where I got to know how a business leader actually thinks.

Due to the COVID crisis, when our friends are having problems with internships, it would be very difficult for everyone to be happy and just go on. Then we got to know that Mahindra on-boarded some more interns during this COVID crisis. I was very happy with this, but I was not surprised because it is “Mahindra Group” which will always be there during difficult times.

When it is work from home, we would worry about how we are going to handle the internship. Then came to the rescue - project guide & buddy who are always there when I have a problem in doing something, constantly guiding me what is correct and what is wrong. Currently, I do not feel like an intern. I feel like a Mahindra employee with the way they treat me, guide me, and provide all resources.

With just 20 days completed and this kind of support that I have received from Mahindra GMC program, I would like to thank all the Mahindra Group leaders & GMC Team - for giving me this opportunity.

Super excited to work for the upcoming days. I am extremely excited to see what the future holds :)

I see this COVID crisis as an opportunity. Utilize this to the fullest. Learn things, be differentiating and be unique. Work hard and give your best. Results are going to follow. I always believe hard work never goes in vain. I am currently doing my internship project during weekdays and on weekends I learn something that is new. Instead of just doing many courses, try to focus on few areas and deep dive into them. That is going to be a treasure.

Last but not the least. Spend this time with your family. Trust me, you will never get this time again. Be safe & healthy.