Illustration by Leyla Baxman. Photography by Khadijah Ali.
This summer, I, like many other students, undertook an internship. It’s the perfect way to fill up the long Oxford summer vac, gain useful life skills, and, if you’re as indecisive as me, figure out what career you may wish to pursue in the future. I ended up having to choose between a filming internship in Costa Rica and a teaching program in India. It was a tough decision, but it was decided when I met the other interns going to India, and I was convinced by the rigid structure of the program. I am Indian but, having grown up in the UK for most of my life, I don’t feel very connected to my roots, and I thought that this would be a great chance to reconnect. But boy, oh boy, I had no clue of what was to come.
The program was advertised as having a five-pronged approach to give students a better understanding of the education sector in India. We were to teach English or hobby classes to pupils from Nursery to eighth grade. There was also the expectation that we would learn conversational Hindi or Punjabi and familiarise ourselves with the Devnagri or Gurmuki script through beginner’s language classes taught by qualified language instructors. Another part of our role was to provide support to the Assistant Director of Enrichment & Operations, and the Assistant Director of Business & Operations. Sounds excellent, right? That’s what I thought.
After a few hellish weeks, I sorted out my visa application, (as I’m sure all my flatmates can testify to by the hours I spent on the phone to the Indian embassy). I finally said my goodbyes to friends who I wouldn’t see for 2 months and jetted off on a 10-hour flight to Delhi; luckily, one other intern was also taking the same flight as me.
As mentioned in the previous article, when we arrived at the school, we were interviewed by local journalists who were eager to hear all about the foreigners who had just arrived in their small town in India. Over the next week, we became professionals at answering the same questions: where we came from, whether we were excited to teach the kids, and what our favourite thing about India was. One particularly memorable interview was by a local reporter who spoke so quickly, that when she asked us if we were “excited to meet Indian children”, we misheard it as her asking whether we were “excited to eat Indian children”. Learning to stifle laughter whilst on live TV is certainly one of the valuable skills I learned.
Two days after arriving, we dragged ourselves out of bed at 7.30am for our first day of teaching. I was assigned to Year 7, 10 and 12 to teach English Communication and Art. From the beginning, I loved all my classes, and not that teachers are meant to have favourites, but I took a particular liking to my Year 7s and their teacher. I found that the younger years were fun to teach because of their energy and eagerness. Yet, I enjoyed having interesting debates and discussions with my older students. Hotseat and Pictionary became a couple of warm-up favourites, and the British Council teaching website became my topmost visited website. Unfortunately, we weren’t very well integrated into the school. There were several times we had timetable clashes with teachers, and we weren’t given an opportunity to sit in on lessons and observe teaching in the school. Our boss was the assistant director of the school, but had no experience of teaching, which may have been why these things hadn’t been considered as integral to the program. The one example of teaching we received from our boss was when we were shown into a Year 3 class during our induction and she said, “Hocus pocus”, to which the kids responded, “Time to focus”. Though it was incredibly adorable to listen to a bunch of 7-year-olds unanimously chiming in tune, I’m not sure how applicable it would have been to the 14- and 15-year-olds who were starting to think about their post-school options.
The time for our first excursion had arrived, and we were off to the beautiful hill station of Mussorie! We had the chance to explore the town, went on a lovely long hike and took a cable car up to some viewpoints. It was nice to get some fresh air and be allowed to walk outside by ourselves. (Mussorie, Queen of the Hills)
In terms of our host families, we were all incredibly grateful for their hospitality and generosity. They went out of their way to make us feel comfortable, accommodated, and well-fed, treating us like one of the family. They kindly took us out for meals and were very receptive to our requests. I was particularly grateful to my host’s mum for organising an astrology reading with the family astrologer. Additionally, I enjoyed our many interesting conversations about numerology, and about what on earth I was planning to do with my life!
The excursions were some of the biggest highlights of the internship. As well as Mussorie, we got to visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar, which was a very grounding and novel experience. I felt truly calm at the temple, and it was beautiful to see a community of people doing service together and finding peace. (Golden Temple, Amritsar)
We explored the markets and bought some shawls and jutti. We also visited Jallianwala Bagh, a memorial of several hundred unarmed Indians who were massacred by British troops in 1919, which was a chilling experience, but it felt crucial to visit and educate ourselves about. Of course, the food was another highlight. Paneer became a favourite (by the way, paneer in India tastes completely different thanin the UK). By the end of my stay, I was averaging 5 cups of chai a day!
Six weeks had now passed, and we had reached our last day in school. We all said a very lengthy goodbyes to the staff and students and spent about half an hour giving out high-fives and hugs to the pupils in front of the school. It was a lovely send off, and I began to feel quite emotional about leaving the school after spending so much time there and becoming so invested in the education of the kids I had taught.
On my final day with our boss and a couple of the other interns, we took a day trip to Agra. The Taj Mahal was stunning and surrounded by swarms of brightly coloured clothes. (Taj Mahal, Agra)
We were given a tour and drank some refreshing coconut water in the sweltering heat. This was mine and one other intern’s last night, as we were leaving to Rishikesh in the early hours of the next morning.
That night, we finally had our first taste of freedom as we took a train to Rishikesh and regained our independence as 20-year-olds. We had a lovely, relaxed week drinking chai at stalls and wandering the streets. We chatted and painted in cafes, visited bookstores, and sat by the Ganges. It was a wonderful contrast from the school’s early morning rises and spending hours sittingin cars. (View of the Ganges, Rishikesh).
After Rishikesh, we headed to Delhi for a couple of days which was again, a big contrast! We stayed in Paharganj, which is a budget travellers haven. The streets are bustling with clothes stalls, food stands, and enthusiastic rickshaw drivers promising to take you on a tour to see all the sights for “only 100 rupees!” (£1.06). (Delhi)
We headed to Chandni Chowk to visit Jama Masjid, which was stunning. I was in heaven when we stumbled across an indoor market full of photography equipment: lenses, film, and camera bodies! On August 23rd, I said my farewells to my friend who was staying back in India and got my flight back to the UK.
It goes without saying that my time in India was a complete whirlwind. There were highs and there were lows. Ultimately, it went to show how much your boss can influence your internship experience. I know that I am in no way the only one to have had an interesting internship this summer, and I am incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity. Receiving a grant to travel abroad, meeting new people, and experiencing new cultures was a truly amazing experience. However, I would advise anyone who is considering an internship to try and get in touch with past participants of a program. If it’s organised through the university, reach out to them if you have any issues, particularly if they’re concerning your safety. Internships abroad come with many perks: experiencing a new culture, perhaps learning a new language, and finding out about different ways of life. But they also come with drawbacks, mostly due to cultural clashes, so it’s important to be prepared for this and to go in with an open mind. India was certainly an experience I will always remember. Although it was unfortunate to leave on bad terms with our boss, I am so grateful to everyone I met and for how they helped us feel so welcome and well looked after. I’m already missing the non-stop honking on the roads, driving feels so quiet now, and being way too comfortable discussing my bowel movements. I cannot forget the many occasions where we were approached by strangers asking who we were, why we were in India, and whether they could take a photo with us. In conclusion, be prepared for anything to happen if you’re planning on going abroad and remember to do your research before you go!