Bajaj came as the brightest light in my darker zone. Many of us have grown up by watching so many advertisements of “Hamara Bajaj”. So it was one of the sought after company. Right after the presentation, I found out my name in the list for case study round. The discussion was so intense that I did not even realize that I was competing for one of the largest automobile company in the world. After I cleared the first hurdle it was time for Personal Interview which was mostly related to my Project during my tenure in ABG group.
I remember being called into the room and being congratulated by the panel for making it to Bajaj. The excitement of joining in the Automobile Giant came to an end on 7
th of April with a lavish arrangement which was once in a lifetime experience for every single intern. During those three days of the induction program, we were introduced to the top leaders and stakeholders of Bajaj. To my surprise, they started interacting with each of us in that conference hall as colleagues. The way the HR department has designed the program was commendable because, within those 3 days of Induction at Pune, I felt a sense of belongingness and that lead to a strengthening of the determination to put in the best out of me.
The roller coaster ride started in Hyderabad. My mentor was so enthusiastic and down to earth person that he never pressurised me for any activity rather he was so supportive that he introduced me to his colleague who was the single point of contact in Hyderabad office because he was posted in Pune. On the day one, I realised that I need to travel a lot to gain the actual insights from the customers and on that day itself I accompanied my sales team to Vijayawada. Then I have covered so many areas of rural Andhra Pradesh which were disconnected from urban India due to lack of accessibility. There were days I travelled 150 to 200km through the bike. But these hardships give me a great return. Slowly but surely I got to know about the root cause and insights about my project.
The best thing about doing a project for Bajaj Auto was getting involved with the customers. I mingled with them as a friend who wants to know about the problem. All that tiredness of hot sunny bike riding used to vanish with the sweet gesture of those rural people who were the flag bearers of the grand Indian hospitality. The gesture was not to make me lenient towards them rather they offered me because they found me trustworthy, with whom they can share all their problems. Even my colleague started sharing their issues. Lastly, I realized apart from having only a professional relationship there lies a stronger relationship which is far deeper. Summer internship programme is a great opportunity for a management student that broadens the outlook. Nothing can replace the management experience one gets from the internship.
Sudhansu Sekhar Send
Class of 2019