My summer internship with Playnlive Sports India Pvt. Ltd. (www.Playnlive.com) was for a market research project at Kolkata. It was my first visit to Kolkata. For this project, I and my fellow intern were required to visit various sports facilities, coaching academies, sports clubs and fitness clubs in order to collect responses for our questionnaire. However, we soon realized that collecting responses for a market research study was a lot more difficult task than we initially thought.

Our company did not have a physical presence in Kolkata. So, getting any kind of close support was difficult. Our corporate guide was based in New Delhi. It was a different experience, trying to arrange for accommodation while working on the project. Since, we also had to collect information on sports facilities; we travelled a lot within the city of Kolkata. Market research is not such an easy job when one has to rely on public transport in an unknown city.

As I said earlier, collecting responses for a market research study was easier said than done. The respondents were not so forthcoming with the information we required of them. Many avoided the questionnaires for the fear of giving out any sensitive information to an outsider. Playnlive is a fast growing start-up. But it was barely one year old in establishment, making these sports facilities weary of the company in spite of the free registration benefits Playnlive was offering. Convincing these sports facilities was a challenge and added pressure in achieving the defined targets during our two month long internship.

I learnt a lot from the challenges and adversities. This internship will remain as one of the best memories of my life. And why not! I learnt to thrive, not just survive. Not the one to miss out on the fun part, I enjoyed local cuisines, the tram rides etc. that added to the excitement during my stay in Kolkata. From handling pressure to maintaining the deadlines, my learning was huge. This certainly made my confidence go a few notches up.