I always fancied working in rural areas and helping transform the lives of the poor. However, I didn’t know where to begin or if I was even capable of doing so. Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) provided me an opportunity to do the same. I mailed the director of the institute expressing my interest in interning there, and he asked me to fill the internship form on their website and email my CV along with a list of three professional references. The institution offered internships on the basis of the candidate’s resume and preferred if (s)he was from mechanical, chemical, or material science engineering. Thanks to my decent CGPA, I was selected.
During that period, I was the only intern at NARI. I stayed in one of the rooms of the centre for sustainable development in the campus. The institute had numerous facilities such as WiFi, air conditioning, and ventilated rooms. Living there alone scared me; I shared my concern with the director and he encouraged me to utilise the alone time to introspect and adopt new hobbies. So, I formulated a routine which comprised new things such as writing an article daily, exercising, and singing.
Interesting tasks
I was assigned two projects. The first was regarding the true price of farm produce. The objective was to help farmers understand how much their produce was actually worth. My job was to collect data and analyse how much energy was required for the production of food and how much money the farmers received. We compared those prices to restaurant charges. My second project was modelling the solar water purifier for mass manufacturing, for which I made a CAD model of the water purifier. I prepared a document with drawings of different parts to facilitate its manufacture by small rural workshops. The model could be easily assembled by a user. I selected a food grade material for the manifold and to make the frame light in weight. This enhanced my knowledge of Autodesk Inventor and that of the solar water purifier as well.
It was the motivating words of the director that kept me going, and I discovered my true potential. He brought my way many opportunities such as attending meetings with the CEO of a startup regarding the purchase of an automatic weather station, interacting with interviewees, operating Lanstove, and so on. He encouraged discussions and clarified all my doubts. I learnt the trick of making a to-do-list to work efficiently. We discussed various things such as how to modernise farming, and how to develop rural areas.
At NARI, I rose above my inhibitions and interacted with a lot of people. I used to have lunch with two technicians, who shared the stories of the local people, their lifestyle, and their culture. I also learnt quite a few life lessons such as the importance of following a routine and accepting any situation that might come our way.
Abhinav Bhanawat, currently pursuing M.Tech from IIT Kanpur, interned at the Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute.
Courtesy: Internshala
