Ishita Gupta's Internship Experience At The Reserve Bank Of India - SIBM Bengaluru

If, for a few, the stay at any organisation during their respective Internship period was remarkably amazing, one that will forever be etched in the lanes of memory, it was so for me right from the day I was shortlisted for the Internship Selection process at Reserve Bank Of India, Bengaluru. It was exhilarating, to say the least, that I would get a chance to step into the same organisation that I dreamt to work in, ever since I decided to take Finance as a career option.

Like every other B-School student, I was eagerly waiting for my Internship at a prestigious organisation and amongst the dream companies that came to the college was RBI. The country’s biggest financial organisation had opened its selection of Summer Internship for 120 students across India. As I applied and lived in the fear of rejection, well aware of RBI’s rigorous selection process, I was pleasantly surprised by an email one fine morning from RBI Bengaluru office intimating me about my shortlist and giving details about the further selection process. I would need more than words to explain how the feeling of witnessing the dream coming true was! The sudden influx of confidence after the final selection was remarkable, to say the least. That sense of recognition, for me as well as for my college, of being amongst the 5 students at RBI Bengaluru’s Internship was unbeatable.

The moment I stepped into Asia’s best Central Bank, the breeze brought along with it a sense of privilege to be a part of the organisation and work along with the best brains in the country. But the thoughts didn’t just end with that. Deep inside me, like any other newbie, I was nervous and questioned myself whether I would be able to meet the humongous expectations that come along with such places of sanctity.

The first few hours into the office were striking as the work culture at the first sight looked so atypical to any government organisation. The next few hours taught me that it would be two months in which I couldn’t afford to miss even a minute. And the next few days turned out to be ones where it seemed as if I was putting myself out into the rains, where knowledge showered, with no signs of stopping.

I was assigned to the Foreign Exchange Department (FED) and worked on the project ‘FDI in E-Commerce - How Karnataka has fared vis-a-vis other States and suggestions for improvement in Policy Framework’, under the mentorship of the General Manager and Assistant General Manager of FED. It was quite an experience to witness businesses do things that you read only in financial dailies; how they react to the policy changes made by RBI and how they make fortunes in the market. They were those two months in the office when no direction was a wrong one. Turn any side, I was sure to be bombarded with a flock of information. So all I had to do was to keep my ears open, and everything else would be taken care of automatically.

An ideal work place, I witnessed an organisation where the employees were extremely diligent about their work. And I could not have asked for a better manager who taught me more than what textbooks could teach on any given day. I sometimes wonder how I was supposed to feel when I realised that I, along with the fellow interns, would be the very few hundred in the entire country who would have visited the so called most sacred place, The Dealing Room of the Central Bank. I stood there amidst tables where millions of dollars and pounds were traded every second, amidst people who breathe numbers and amidst the people who arguably boast the best job profiles in the country. The atmosphere had something so remarkably unique that it immediately provided me with a sense of direction of where I wanted to go and who I wanted to be!

I learnt an endless number of invaluable tips and went on to complete my project in spare time. It was reviewed by my GM, FED and was presented to the Regional Director, RBI Bengaluru and much to my delight, chosen for immediate implementation. The connections which I made there, not only professionally but also personally, will stay with me forever.

Finally, I conclude by saying that although I’m sure every Internship is a learning experience in itself, but there are only a few who can do it in a kind of style that RBI does. Don’t stop dreaming about endless possibilities because you don’t know when it might be standing there knocking at your doorstep.

---------------

About the Author:

Ishita Gupta is a Second Year MBA Finance student from SIBM Bengaluru. She is from New Delhi and completed her B. Tech in Electronics and Communications from GGSIPU University, Delhi. During her B.Tech she worked in DRDO, Delhi as part of her Internship where, under the guidance of senior scientists, she decided to enhance her leadership skills and widen avenues for cross-functional top level management and pursue MBA. She has also done her Diploma in Instrumentation Classical Piano and has keen interest in Music.