It was 9:00am, and not a normal Wednesday
morning. The clouds were unleashing themselves. I struggled to look at the
speedometer through the foggy helmet visor. Racing at 80 kmph on Old
Mahabalipuram Road(OMR), I had reached one of the biggest corporate hubs in
India. I parked my bike, took a visitor’s pass and headed to the 7th
floor of Tidel Park. A quaint, mellifluous music filled my ears while I was in
the elevator. It was a recorded Carnatic classic and it helped me to relax. Considering the unrelenting weather, I very much needed it.
I was rather excited than nervous to join a company which has so long been regarded as a part of the Big4 brand across the world. I was joining Ernst & Young as an Intern and the few
times I had been to this office for attending my interviews, I fell in love
with it. Now I was going to be a part of it. I could put Ernst & Young on
my resume and on my Facebook timeline!!
As I stepped off the elevator, a huge glass door, opened
automatically inviting me into the 56,000sqft(OMG!!) office. As I walked in briskly, I
went straight into the restroom, looked at the mirror, stroked my head,
setting my hair to a neat fold. I took a long breath and muttered to myself- “Be
confident”. I shrugged my shoulders while adjusting the bag I wore. I walked to
the reception, cleared my throat and with as expressionless a face as possible, told
the lady- “I’m joining today”. She directed me into a room full of other new
interns, as I feigned a smile and thanked her. Little was I to know my sober
morning would soon change into a wonderful experience.
I took my seat amongst my peers
and exchanged greetings. For a dark day, the lightings were rather dim. But I
liked the ambience. The interior designing, wall designing, floor carpets, statuettes,
relics, antiques and the Air conditioning left me speechless leaving no scope
for imagination. It was all there…It looked more like a 5star hotel. And the
silence!! I could hear my own breath and it was beginning to annoy me as
I didn’t bring my headphones either. Just when I was wondering whether to start
a conversation, the guy opposite me with a bold voice blurted: “Anyone for Indirect
Taxes(IDT)?” Everyone looked at him and at everyone else. No hands were up. I
spoke up- “Anyone for Transfer Pricing?” Two hands raised slowly. “Oh good. You
know what that’s all about?” And that was enough for the others to pick up.
Turned out we had a great time
after all. The IDT guy ended up being the entertainer of the decade. He was
unbelievably funny and amusing. I giggled, guffawed, snorted and cried. My stomach
was aching from too much laughter. He had the whole group in splits with his quick
wit and sense of humour. The voice modulations, intended puns and healthy sarcasm
was simply amazing. Not to mention I was afraid of uncontrollably laughing too
loud. And he involved each and every one present, in his jokes. If he was a
stand-up comedian he would just come out top-of-the-class. Even otherwise, his
general knowledge was rather specific as he would use technical terms in the purview
of almost every topic we chose to discuss on. Be it about eyesight, or food, or books,
he just knew something about everything under the sun. The Induction process we
were subjected to went through without much ado and we went home rather sooner
than expected. My first day at Ernst & Young was over.
Flash forward five days later:
We get to know a lot more people
and friends. Also we all have flashy ID cards(No more visitor's passes), laptops, and keep spinning on rolling
chairs, pretending to be the stereotyped corporate employees even though we don’t
really have any work. The most important place at office for us is the
cafeteria. The meals provided there are really awesome(piping hot and home-like),
and it found a regular eater in me. While me and the others hangout at the
cafeteria for coffee breaks and gossip talk regularly, the IDT guy works his
head off(He got working already). I know I’ll most probably be neck-deep in
work during the next few months, but once in a while we all like to catch up
with the “stand-up comedian”.
P.S: IDT, Transfer
Pricing are various service-lines in which EY provides services. We are all interning
in such different lines.
