Unconventional internships for IIT-B students

Ten days ago, Anurag Mundhada opened the morning newspaper and smiled. It was the first time he was seeing his name in print in a national daily and he was thrilled. Bhavya Dore reports.

Ten days ago, Anurag Mundhada opened the morning newspaper and smiled. It was the first time he was seeing his name in print in a national daily and he was thrilled.

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Mundhadha, 18, a first year electrical engineering student at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), unlike most of his peers and batch-mates, has not taken up a traditional core-discipline related internship in a company or research institute.

“From second year, you have to do the more regular internships, so I thought why not experiment in my first year and join a newspaper office?” he said. This year, a handful of students at IIT-B have chosen to do things completely unrelated to their fields.

Sarvesh Kumar, 21, a third year civil engineering student, who worked on a two-month internship at an advertising agency this summer, said, “It was a very good experience.”

Many students are also experimenting in the social sector. Many IITians are interning at the two-year-old non-profit group, Avanti Fellows, that mentors poor children to get into top medical and engineering institutions.

Urjit Yajnik, dean of student affairs at IIT-B, said, “We allow them to pursue any dream they wish to. They can bring their analytical training into whatever they decide to do.”