*Cautionary warning from the horse’s mouth*

On one of my summer breaks, I joined ABND as an intern. I have seen people in my life complain about 9 to 5 jobs, saying how internships are basically paid coffee runs. My internship at ABND, however, was nothing that I expected. When I was expecting to run errands I was actually doing real work. On top of that, I got free Kinder Joy Eggs, so that they could keep the toys to themselves of course!

In addition to being treated like one of the team members itself, I was very lucky since I got to see an entire project from start to finish. I was even taken to client meetings and given a feel of how to talk and cater to a real brief. I actively participated in the project that they were working on that month. The very first working day kick-started with a meeting on revealing the brand identity for this project.

The company and the people who make it home share their traits of being quirky yet professional. As particular as they are about what they want their work to speak, they are hooked to going egg shopping and Pokemon hunting. Old Bollywood music (to test if I know any of them) and bulk food orders keep the ambience of office work fun.

The thing I loved the most was no matter what their age, I shared a great rapport with all of them. I think it was because of our shared love of never being bored; taking walks downstairs or sitting with our work at the garden downstairs. Although the hours were long, things were never slow at the office. The environment had an energy to it which was always gratifying and I actually enjoyed the constant play of work and fun.

They all exuded confidence with how they tackled problems and how good they were in their own field. You could see it when they even talked about their adventures of travel or just simple stories from home which were often shared on not so boring Monday mornings. By the end of the month, I can honestly say that I took some of that quality back home.

This internship, in my opinion, has put me on the right path regarding my frame of mind, my understanding of this profession and knowing that I should probably listen to more 80s music!