45 Days of Research: My internship experience at NITI Aayog, New Delhi | Day 2
A new beginning, a new hope. I took the metro to work and reached there by 9 AM. It was too soon for entering a “government office”. As I entered the office, I got confused again on how to reach my workspace 😆. While I was walking, people watched me in surprise, as I was wearing the least amount of winter protection: a jacket with an open chain. People must be wondering if this guy even has active tactile senses or not! 🐵 Luckily, after enough of walking, I managed to reach my workspace.
Empty seats around, I nervously took out my laptop and my notepad, wondering about what I want to achieve today. One was to decide my project. The second goal was to be able to muster up the confidence to talk with my colleagues and the other officers around NITI Aayog. So, as I sat down, reflecting on goals to be achieved today, I received a text on the WhatsApp group, saying that two meetings are scheduled for today, one of which is a progress review meeting. I was scared. It was my second day and already asking for progress? I texted a “Young Professional” from the WhatsApp group and I breathed a sigh of relief as I was just supposed to attend the progress meeting for a meet-and-greet and learn how NITI Aayog functions.
The first meeting
All the S&T vertical interns picked up their notepads and pen and headed towards the meeting room. The meeting was on a prospected partnership between NITI Aayog and Company X. With all the officers and Young Professionals (YPs) around, along with some senior officials from Company X, I felt a rush of excitement. All this was new, exciting and challenging for me. The officers of NITI Aayog are so cool, they always try to lighten the mood, never making you feel like it’s a typical 9–5 job office.
The meeting was preceded by our introductions followed by a brief discussion on American culture and how American football is different from rugby. The meeting began and it was very productive for all of us, as the interns got to ask their questions, which was very well appreciated by all the other officials present in the room. The best part about this meeting was probably the free food that comes with it. Government office perks you see! 😝
After the meeting concluded, we headed back to our workspaces, and I tried to develop ideas for projects. I managed to jot down around 11–12 projects with some research before the second meeting began.
Second Meeting
All of us entered the conference hall. The other interns were busy connecting their laptops with the projector while the other officers engaged with me and talked about themselves, the work culture, their expectations and asked me about myself and what I plan to do here. We had some comparisons between Mumbai and Delhi across various parameters because this debate is inevitable! And as expected, the free food was served. 😝
The interns started making their presentations and it was a decent session overall, where the interns were appreciated for the progress, and constructive criticism was carried out to highlight the mistakes and new guidelines were given to help them make further progress. In between, the chief advisor asked me about my ideas, and after some filtering, he liked Idea X. I consulted the YPs after that and after some discussion, we concluded that maybe, I should work on Idea Y instead. As we were leaving the conference hall, I managed to speak with the other interns, agreeing to some of their jokes and smiling with them. I couldn’t really speak up, but it was the beginning. My day ended on an overall happy note. Little progress towards both my goals for today, I am content.
Thanks for making it till here and I hope that you all are excited about exploring the world of NITI Aayog with me!
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