Just The Intern: Sakshi Kiran

Author: Sakshi Kiran
Print length: 177 pages
Publisher: Bluerose Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
Language – English
Rating– ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2  

Author Intro:
Sakshi Kiran works with a software firm as an engineer. She is a Computer Science Graduate and M.Tech from Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani. She enjoys reading books of various genres with a strong preference for historical stories from around the world. Her first book named “9 Yards of Silk” was released in the year 2018 and was a unique take on the age-old Shakuntala/Dushyant and Menaka/Vishwamitra tale from the Adiparva section of Mahabharata.

Book Intro:
Close friends Medini, Riddhi, and Varun work as student interns for a leading Indian MNC under a five-year scholarship program. During their last year of internship, they end up joining the same project which is led by Garima Kapoor, a shrewd, trailblazing professional. As time passes by, her initial attempts, to pass off as a career-oriented woman who is a victim of office gossip, are nullified when she reveals her biased views and irrational behavior towards the interns.

After the initial shock of Garima’s deplorable behavior has worn off, Medini and her friends learn to navigate through their stressful internship with the guidance of some trustworthy colleagues. Medini’s journey is relatable; she’s young, hardworking, has friends, and lives on her own in a large city throbbing with opportunities. She struggles with the challenges thrown at her and draws strength from Agastya, a colleague she starts dating. As Medini and her friends wander through the stress of their professional lives, they often wonder if life would get easier or be just as challenging. Would it afford them time for their friends and family or would they remain a slave to their work just like Garima? Sacrifices are to be made and decisions can be hard. Will Medini rise to the challenges or will she cave in?

My Views:
Firstly I confess this book is a literati feast to all those who have undergone the phase of Interns in their career, be it in an IT Industry or any other firm for that matter. I could very much relate to the jargon like Skype, Handover, shift roasters, client, portal, corporate culture, and workplace which we use day in & day out in the IT industry.

Coming to the story part, this book “Just the interns” is the story of Medini, Riddhi, and Varun working as student interns for a decent tier company and their emotions, peer pressure, fun, turmoil, and getting inducted into the IT industry culture. I see myself in the shoes of Medini in many aspects and took me back to my internship days. In the corporate world, I see many Medini’s, Varun’s & Riddhi’s as interns in the process of getting their college grads. However author also nicely portrays Garima who turns out to be the respective people manager who plays a vital role in every intern’s initial days and is influential both positively and negatively.

This book turns out to be a perfect guide through the eyes of Medini and her friends to whomsoever trying to adapt to the corporate internship role. This is a perfect roller coaster ride of Medini in all aspects and to retrospect what and how the toxic managers and HR departments. This is also a manual for a perfect career shift and to retrospect and designs a good career path.

Verdict:
I am sure Sakshi Kiran had done a lot of homework in bringing life to the protagonist Medini especially so much of her own experiences also being blended to get a perfect portrayal of Medhini/Riddhi and her friends. The author was super successful in illustrating life struggles, peer pressure handling of a mid-town college goer, and her transition to a full-fledged working professional. She also gave equal importance to all major characters that were influential in the entire book.

Full marks for bringing the book as the POV of Medini. Inspired by her previous book “9 Yards of Silk”, the author brought many historic and medieval references when and where it is needed. She also touch-based the major aspect of the IT industry “FEMINISM” and the work allotment preferences very well. Sakshi also used interesting words like “exonerated, sulking, snarky, shrewd” which are rare and new words atleast in my recent book reads.

Overall this is a must-pick for all those who are college goers, ready to induce into IT Industry, to-be Interns, already IT professionals, and students who are already interns. With lucid language, decent vocabulary, intriguing story, engaging flow, and fast pace this book stands out to be a definite pick for an IT professional and college goers/grads.
In the aspect of book improvement, I felt introducing too many names and characters diluted the flow of the book and make readers think about those prior presences and occurrences in the plot.

Favorite Quote (s):
Not many I come across in this book.
1. “I grant that it was odd but then again, the world was full of odd people”
2. “Life might bring us back together at some point in the future, but that was a game of chance”

Author Accolades:
As I know Sakshi for quite some years, I could visualize the transition and maturity from her last book “9 Yards of Silk: to this “Just the Interns”. Also, my heartfelt respect goes to the struggles she has undergone and overcome in her life journey and I sincerely wish she learns and adapt all the toxic traits of people managers she encountered in her overall IT experience. Eagerly awaiting her next book release.

Yours
Kiran K Adharapuram