Internship Experience-Institute of Chinese Studies-Madhvi Pokhriyal

I have been working in Institute of Chinese Studies for more than three weeks. When the question of where to go for internship came up ICS was my first choice. We had been told to be open to new experiences during our internship and this advice by my teachers came in handy when I first started working at the institute.

Institute of Chinese studies is all about China. They rigorously and very passionately study China. ICS is one of the first and probably the only institute, based in India, that is involved in research and development on China. Though the field of Chinese studies has not been explored to its full potential, ICS has contributed to it immensely and has been an active advocate of Chinese Studies.

My first day at ICS was great. The whole institute including the Director and the researchers welcomed me very warmly. Since I had never worked in an environment like this, at first, the whole place and the people intimidated me. However, as the days passed, I found my own space in the institute. This was because I got more and more comfortable with the people around me from whom I have learned so much. ICS provided me with an environment where I was able to work not only on my own research but also on other organizational and administrative tasks. Here I have learnt new techniques and methods to do research. Through the institute I have had a great privilege to meet some prominent personalities from different fields, ranging from academics to Government Officials. This was possible thorough the seminars and conferences that the institute conducts. Attending these seminars has been a great way of gathering information and networking with people. It has been one of the best things that I have done at the institute. The seminars conducted by the institute have been enlightening and very informative. I have also engaged in organizing these seminars which has helped me learn many organizational skills. ICS also encouraged me to work on my own research. At the onset I was assigned a mentor who has helped me immensely in my research work. Since I am new to the research culture my mentor encouraged me to read more and more. The rich library of the institute too was of great help. At the institute I have also been engaged in a project called “What’s past is prologue”. For this project I have been working at the National Archives of India which has been a tremendous experience.

Overall, I have been very lucky to be a part of such an eminent institute. The experience of being a part of an organization such as ICS has been great till now.