4 weeks at Sandarbh : Nayana

Here's a blog dedicated to Nayana's first month experiences at Sandarbh...

Me: Hi Nayana! Tell us a little something about yourself.

Nayana : Hey! I'm Nayana. I'm from Kerala, brought up in Delhi and currently studying in Kerala. I like to read (mostly fiction). I love travelling and exploring new places. I'm definitely more of an outdoors person. I usually come across as talkative but I generally take my time to open up to people and be comfortable with them.

Me: So, how did you find yourself at Sandarbh?

Nayana: Honestly, interning in Bangalore wasn't exactly my first choice. I either wanted to go back to Delhi or maybe even Bombay. I actually would've preferred Bombay, I thought it would've been an interesting city to live in. But between the firms that didn't have vacancies and those that hadn't started their screening process, I somehow found myself at Sandarbh.

Me: And what has the first month here been like?

Nayana: It was rather unexpected, from everything I had heard from my seniors and friends who have done their internships in architecture firms I expected it to be more like getting drafting assignments and things, scheduled site visits for interns to get familiar with that etc. Here its nothing like that! We do all kinds of things from getting mangoes plucked to coordinating antitermite treatment on site. So yeah I now realise what all it takes to actually get a drawing on paper to turn into a full-fledged building.When I mentioned client meetings and calls to clients and site to some of my batchmates, I actually got the response 'They're letting you do all that?! But you're just interns'. 

Me: I agree. It's actually a lot of responsibility. How have you been dealing with that?
Nayana: Its definitely not easy. Some days are good, others not so much. But overall I feel like I'm learning a lot. With scheduling the sites, every time I feel like I'm getting it right somehow or the other a spanner will get thrown into the works. But I'm working on it. Slowly, steadily I feel like I'll get there.

Me: And what has your experience on site been like?
Nayana: While you're sitting in office and scheduling, you don't realise what it's like. Being on site really changes your perspective. I've seen both extremes - there were instances where the workers will tell you they will finish off a certain job in 2 days but manage to finish it in half the time and there are also instances where they claim to be able to finish within the day but it stretches on for 4. But in general it did give me a better idea of how things work on site and a lot of things that I hadn't even thought of until then. Unlike office, in site there are a lot of variables but as I said before we're slowly working to a point where can predict and possibly eliminate these variables.

Me: How do you foresee the remainder of your internship?
Nayana: I don't know exactly what to say to this. I just hope I go back with lots of experiences and memories.

-Mannat