Embarking on a two year long but seemingly short journey at a b-school was perhaps one of the best decisions I have taken so far. Three terms; filled with exams, quizzes, assignments, and not to forget hanging out with peers finally came to a halt. Having imbibed the management ‘gyan’ for a year now, it was time to leave the campus with our superhero corporate attire, business formals, for next two months.
City Beautiful
With only a single Marathi word in my dictionary, ‘bhau’, I set foot in a city I was completely unaware of - the ‘mayanagri’ Mumbai, which was supposed to be home for the coming 8 weeks. Coming from Delhi, high rise skyscrapers everywhere were a new experience for me. Having heard much about the city that never sleeps, my internship gave me a chance to experience it first-hand. Late night visits to marine drive, the Victorian era Colaba (read Leopold cafe), old Iranian cafés serving milky tea with the classic bun maska added to my unforgettable experience of the city.
The day it started
Being a fresher, with no formal exposure to the corporate environment, I entered Axis House, the corporate office of Axis Bank, situated in Worli. Thrilled with a myriad of emotions and adrenaline rushing into my blood vessels, my 8 weeks long journey started with an induction process which consisted fun team building activities facilitating inter college interaction, which expanded my network and makes new friends at the bank. The leadership talks delivered by the senior management helped us know the organization and its culture in a holistic manner. Once done with the induction, we were mapped to various departments Axis had to offer. The flexible culture of the bank helped me get a project in the field that I had interest in, business analytics. Interning in the Business Intelligence Unit, Axis Bank provided me with the right platform to experience Axis and to learn, while I work, how managers made business sense out of data, be it clean or messy and believe me they are messy most of the times!
Branches are a core part of any bank. It is where banks reach out to new demographics, start new relationships with customers across the spectrum, and it is where these relationships are made to sustain. Now that we know how important a branch is to a bank, what project could have been more relevant than branch network expansion. A journey which started with learning banking jargons and understanding the scope and importance of the project culminated with a strengthened relationship with the team and co-interns along with an experience which would remain with me for a lifetime.
A successful project completion and corporate world experience could have only been possible under the well-structured Axis Ahead program. The welcoming culture of the organisation and the team played a major role in grooming my skills. Post this 8 weeks journey, I can confidently claim to have experienced my XInternship - The Axis Way and the memories are to remain to be cherished forever.
Vatsal Tyagi
Class of 2019