Before I began this internship, the word “portfolio” only meant a leather folder I used in
presentations. Cut to now: I’m casually discussing equity returns during lunch (while secretly
hoping no one asks me to calculate them on the spot).
Chapter One: Mumbai – Where the City Runs on Caffeine and Chaos
Landing in Mumbai felt like stepping into an Excel file with too many tabs open. The traffic?
Volatile. The people? Bullish. The energy? Always in overdrive.
But as they say in finance — high risk, high reward.
I’ve now mastered the fine art of crossing roads like a Mumbaikar (read: with blind
confidence), surviving local train stampedes, and eating vada pav with the same intensity I
used to prepare for my midterms.
Chapter Two: Intern by Day, Excel Enthusiast by… Also, Day
My internship kicked off with a polite email that ended in “Looking forward to your
contributions!” I immediately panicked and re-downloaded Excel.
From day one, I was knee-deep in numbers. Balance sheets became my besties. I’ve spent so
much time with cash flow statements that I’m convinced one of them almost flirted with me.
My daily vocabulary now includes phrases like “operating margin,” “capital structure,” and
“Wait… why isn’t this formula working?!”
Also, can we talk about how financial models are basically Jenga towers built on
assumptions? One wrong move and boom — “#REF!” errors everywhere.
Chapter Three: Lessons from the Ledger
Here’s what I’ve learned so far:
- Coffee is cheaper than therapy, and also more widely available.
- Asking questions doesn’t make you look dumb — not asking does.
- Ctrl + Z is life. But Ctrl + S is love.
- Everyone says “as discussed” in emails, even if nothing was discussed.
I’ve sat through meetings where I understood exactly 3 out of 147 words — and somehow
still managed to make a decent comment. I now nod with confidence even when the topic is
EBITDA-adjusted unicorn valuations.
Chapter Four: Profit, Panic, and PowerPoint Slides
There were moments when I genuinely felt like the finance girl — like when I made a
dashboard that actually worked and someone said, “This is quite insightful.” I nearly cried.
And then there were moments when I was asked to “pull a quick valuation” and Googled
“how to do a quick valuation” with trembling fingers.
But that’s the magic of it — figuring it out as you go, learning not just from tasks but from
tea breaks, email threads, and the random Excel tips your co-intern drops like life advice.
Epilogue: Still Interning, Slightly Broke, Very Invested
As I sip on cutting chai and review yet another spreadsheet, I realize this internship isn’t just
about finance — it’s about adapting, absorbing, and sometimes pretending you totally
understand what a DCF model is (until you actually do).
Mumbai teaches you resilience. Finance teaches you logic. And together, they teach you how
to hustle with humor.
To all interns crunching numbers while getting crushed by local train doors — may your
formulas be flawless, your data be clean, and your stipend be… existent.