Shilpa’s Chronicles at Pratham Books

Shilpa Gopal has been interning with us since the end of November and has been helping the digital team immensely as they prepare to launch two platforms this year. Shilpa writes about her experience at Pratham Books :

I arrived at Pratham Books through an unusual route. I graduated with a degree in architecture as of May 2014. On a whim, I decided to volunteer full time at an educational NGO. On completion of my stint as a volunteer there, I applied and got selected for the Teach for India Fellowship which I will be joining in May 2015.

To make the most of the next few months, I decided to work with a promising organization with the intent of gaining some valuable experience. Thus, Pratham Books happened. It has been an exhilarating six month journey filled with learning, fun, and laughter.

The moment I walked into the doors of the Pratham Books office, my apprehensions, anxiety and nervousness melted away almost instantly. The cosy office with its warm yellow interiors, huge balconies and creative wall art made me feel at home right from the start.

I am delighted to have joined the office at a time when there were interesting new projects in the pipeline. I worked with the Digital Team for the next few months. I hit it off instantly with my zany, quirky and extremely lovely bunch of co-workers, who also became my constant companions and good friends in the process.

Amidst testing, phone calls, emails, conference meetings, blog posts, book fairs, PDF designs, excel sheets and drooling at wonderfully imaginative entries for the 6FrameStoryChallenge, we managed to find time for treasure hunts with Akshara Foundation, birthday celebrations, snack breaks, and team lunches (a particularly memorable one of Karthik vainly trying to gulp down an “interesting” dish while the rest of us looked on in mingled hilarity and admiration comes to mind).

To all the folks at PB- goodbye everyone! Thank you for all the laughs, the fantastic memories, an amazing farewell, and for this great learning experience.

A special thanks to the folks at the Digital Team is in order- for their endless patience with my never-ending questions, for giving me a free rein and for being wonderful to work with! I’m so proud to have been an integral part of StoryWeaver, 6FrameStoryChallenge and fundraising platform.

The cheery office culture at PB always kept me in high spirits throughout my time here. I shall swing by the office the next time I’m in town for more PBee madness and for more puliyogare. Here’s to more books- and more insanity!