Our 18 day Palace on Wheels
The name “Jagriti Yatra” is self explanatory. It was a Jagriti(awakening) for all of the 350 participants, who traveled in extreme weather for 18 days in a train.We started from Mumbai, just a month after the terrorist attacks & On our first day in IIT Mumbai, all of us were bought to a level playing field by dancing on the “jagriti geet”.Be it an entrepreneur, a student or a CEO, everybody was trying to repeat the simple steps taught to us by Gauri.
On the first day itself, all our myths about entrepreneurship were shattered when we saw role models like Mrs. Naik of Lijjat Papad & Mr. Tripathi of The Dabbawalas.They showed us that a fancy degree is not required for nurturing a sustainable business.
After reaching Kerala, we met more socially inclined role models, practising water management & saving the environment.Then we visited the world’s best managed hospitals at Aravind Eye Care. Moving further, we saw how smart governance can change the situation of a poverty ridden village in Kuthambakkam.
In Bangalore we were introduced to a group of enterprising women at AWAKE, which helped other women for starting their own business.Then Janagraha,woke us all up by their unique “Jaago Re” campaign.The most amazing & powerful idea was of Mr. Harish Hande’s(alumnus IIT Kharagpur) SELCO.Then we went to Hyderabad to find out how scale can make an unsustainable business prospect into a sustainable one at Naandi Foundation.The other notable role models were SEWA & TATA steel & Amul.
Last but not the least was GOONJ.This organization made us realize that how can we really make a difference to our society.Things like old clothes which are of no use to us can change somebody else’s life significantly.They have started a ”JOY OF GIVING WEEK” campaign from Sep 27 to Oct. 3.For details visit the site.
The most exciting part was the way we reached to these heroes’ workplaces. In our free sessions we had gruelling debates & group discussions.We made great friends & exchanged ideas with almost everyone on the train.Many of us got sick, but never gave up.We saw India, with its villages & cities, success & sorrows in a more holistic manner.There were 6 thought provoking panel discussions, that were televised on CNBC.We pit-stopped at places like The Rock memorial in Kanyakumari & “Bada Imambara” in Lucknow.I will always remember bathing in a container in moving train & sleeping on the platform.
The crux of the yatra, is to be able to give it back to our society & our country by adopting an enterprise led development.I wish all the future yatris a very happy Jagriti Yatra 2009. “Yaaro chalo badalne ki rut hai.”
The Yatris
