Hola amigos! ¿Cómo han estado? I’ve got a streak of 169 days on Duolingo, hehe.

Here’s a short glimpse of how the first few days (aka orientation) of my internship (read as corporate slavery) at BCG went:

Our orientation was set to start on May 21st, so BCG booked my ticket to Delhi for May 20th. I reached the airport around 7:30 in the evening. The flight was on the taxiway for about 30 minutes, which felt like forever. After landing, I was greeted by a person holding a card with my name ^_^. Feeling like a mini-celebrity, I made my way to the Taj Hotel and checked in. We were given a double accommodation room, and my roommate was Tushar, who was also my branch mate. Small world, huh? We then met Deekshansh, tagged along, and explored the hotel. I also had to attempt a rescue mission as Deekshansh got stuck outside the emergency exit stairs. Classic Deekshansh.

The day ended, and we woke up at 6 in the morning. We got ready and went to have breakfast. It took a good 10 minutes to explore all the breakfast items. I had an omelette, poha, and yogurt. Tushar and I then rushed to the bus, only to find out we were the first ones there. Typical overachievers. The bus ride took more than an hour as the driver took the longest route possible, making the whole cohort late on the first day. What a great start!

IITK TEAM WOHOOO!

Day 1: We entered the office and got our access cards, which mentioned the location of our home office. Surprise! We weren’t supposed to know this until the end of day 3. My location was Mumbai, woohoo! We then entered the multipurpose room where our sessions were to start. We were given a laptop, headphones, chargers, and a laptop bag. Yay! We had an IT session and then the most fun session: the icebreaker session. We did some crazy stuff: a treasure hunt, follow the leader in dance, and a fun activity where we had to stop our partners from clapping their hands. Picture a bunch of interns trying not to look ridiculous. Afterward, we had a lot of sessions and lunch at the BCG office, exploring all the food items. It was a buffet of corporate delight.

The day ended, and we reached the hotel around 8. Tushar, Deekshansh, and I went straight to the pool, swam for about an hour, and then ordered a lot of gourmet food (well, BCG was going to reimburse it). We had to force ourselves to eat all the food. We gave our laundry and went to sleep by 11 pm, exhausted but excited for the next day.

khaanaaaa!

Day 2: We woke up around 6:30 after the alarm rang for 30 minutes. Clearly, we’re not morning people. We dressed up and had breakfast. We had a different bus today, and this driver got us there on time. We dressed up well to have our customary photo clicked in front of the BCG logo. Priorities, right? The sessions started, we had lunch, and in the evening, we got a 5-minute break. Since we were bored, we decided to sneak up to the upper floor and play table tennis. We ended up missing two HR sessions, but we caught up the next day by asking our peers. We stayed for an hour since we had a networking dinner in the evening. There were lots of drinks and dishes. We played pool while snacks and drinks were served, then some project leaders joined, and we had long discussions. We had a group photo and left for the hotel. On the way back, the bus broke down, and we walked about 500 meters back to the hotel. Adventure, right? We then contemplated whether to pack our luggage or go to sleep. We somehow packed the luggage and went to sleep, exhausted but satisfied with our networking efforts.

A smol gift!

Day 3: This day had the biggest surprise for me. We packed our luggage, checked out of the hotel, carried it to the office, kept it in the BCG common room, and went for the sessions. Remember, I was supposed to go to Mumbai. We had some sessions and were asked for our resumes. Suddenly, I was called out during the session. To give some context, I provided my permanent address, which was in Mumbai but rented out, and my current address as Odisha, where my family stayed. I informed HR, and they asked for address proof and stuff the day before. Just 4-5 hours before the flight, my location was changed to New Delhi due to some accommodation issues in Mumbai. All my plans went down the drain. I stayed there until I got my hotel confirmation, which was also in the Taj, hehe. We got our cases assigned. I got Tech Mahindra as my case. I bid farewell to my friends and went back to the hotel. I met my school friend Nehashree, connected with my cover and buddy, had a small chit-chat, and went to sleep. I was supposed to start my case on Monday, but I went to the office on Friday and got some work done to get a head start.

Overall, the start of my internship was a rollercoaster of emotions and experiences, but it set a strong foundation for the rest of my journey at BCG AND was filled with unexpected twists, turns, and a lot of laughs. Here’s to more adventures in the corporate world!

I’ll probably write about my experiences at work (and the parties) in the coming weeks ^_^

SPAMMMMMMMMMMMMMM INCOMINGGGGGGG!