Festivals are all about spreading cheer, sharing goodness and making someone’s day brighter. With the Amazon Great Indian Festival 2022 underway, Amazon’s campus in Bangalore’s World Trade Centre recently played host to some young visitors: A group of children from 7th and 8th grades of Sri Morarji Desai Residential School, Chamrajpet, Bengaluru.
The energetic students came to spend a day at our office and experience the Amazon Metaworld – a virtual reality (VR) experience that lets players compete with others in various zones that have been designed as per the various categories found on Amazon.in. The children had a ball: The excitement on their faces as they took turns to try out the VR gear was palpable. The children also had a free-wheeling interaction with Manish Tiwary, Country Manager, India Consumer Business, Amazon India.
Amazon Future Engineer
The children are learning computer science in their school through the Amazon Future Engineer (AFE) program’s partnership with Learning Links Foundation, which provides access to computer science education for children from underprivileged and underserved sections of the society. At every opportunity, through the AFE program, Amazon helps bring technology exposure to children who would otherwise not have access to it. “I experienced the Metaworld for the first time, wearing the headset and playing with it felt like we were really walking into a different world. We had seen similar headsets in advertisements, but felt great experiencing it myself” said Babureddy, a class 8 student of Sri Morarji Desai Residential School.
Conversation with Manish Tiwary
Manish said: “I am glad that we could host a day out for these children and make it special and full of experiences. It was fun to see these children play at the Metaworld and experience a new side of technology. I enjoyed my chat with them and was surprised to see the commitment and focus that they already have for their future careers at such a young age.”
The children came armed with questions for Manish who put them at ease by having a freewheeling conversation and exchange of ideas. One of the children asked Manish about one hobby that helps him the most at work. Manish was quick to respond about his love for running and how it helps him start the day feeling energized to focus on the work ahead. The children had a fun time quizzing him about his school days, his career and, his vision for life. They also presented Manish with hand painted-cards and gifts.
“We were nervous initially to meet Manish sir. But when sir sat next to us and started interacting, I felt we were talking to one of our friends. He patiently answered all our questions and asked us to keep smiling, enjoy our studies and develop hobbies like running. I came back to school and wrote the experience in my notebook” said Daneshwari, an 8th grade student of Sri Morarji Desai Residential School.
Amazon’s Class Chat
The fun learning day at Amazon.in concluded with a Class Chat and an office tour. Class Chats is Amazon’s signature volunteering program through which Amazon employees share their career narratives with government school children to help bring exposure to careers in the tech industry. Subhash Harishchandra, a product manager at Amazon.in shared insights from his career journey that led him to Amazon and he used Alexa to get the children to open up to a highly engaging session. The kid’s day at Amazon ended with a campus tour where they were enamored to see different aspects of Amazon’s office set up from coffee vending machines to phone kiosks that block out all noise. Each student took back memories for a lifetime that will perhaps inspire them to dream big.
