9300 kilometers, 350 yatris, 18 days, 15 role-models, 11 states, 1 train and 1 mission - an introduction to the Tata jagriti yatra, which was a yatra in the true sense.It has sowed 300 seeds of confidence which through the process of enterprise led development will reap the fruits of developed nation India. Although the Tata jagriti yatra (http://www.jagritiyatra.com/) has come to an end the inner yatra (inner journey) has begun. 
For a few it was fun, for a few it was friends, for a few it was ideas, for a few it was network, for a few it was self-realization, for a few it was group realization but it was India for all.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration if I say that this yatra would've been the most exciting, entertaining, extracting and the most educating journey for all of the yatris on board. It was definitely not a fun or a sightseeing trip. We went to Mumbai,but saw no Gateway of India, no Colaba, no Taj. We were in Delhi and saw no Parliament house, no India Gate. While at Chennai we didn't see Marina. In this historic journey although we didn't see the places of historic significance, we met people who are silently creating a history.
Life wasn't cozy for 18 days. We were from different states, some from different countries too. We spoke different languages (can't forget the entertainment other had at my expense bcos of my proficiency in Hindi). Yet we were together and learnt together. The biological clock got adjusted to the routine which started with the wake up alarm (which was the jagriti geet- How can your day be not good when you wake up to the song that says 'Yaro chalo!'). The tweeny weeny eyes protruding out like that of mask's when they saw the plateful of Khakra, Poha, Upma and bread smeared with butter and jam. Before the eyes were completely open, one was reminded of the long queue in the bathroom (may be bathbogie I should call :)). We were exposed to the first management lesson - Decision Making - whether to stand in the long queue and miss the breakfast or skip the shower and attack the breakfast (considering the foodie I am, I never did injustice to my 'pet' :))
We learnt the second important lesson - Team work - when we were given 5 mins and had to exchange the empty water bottles for the filled ones. This was a good idea which avoided littering of plastic bottles. (We were concerned about the environment too ). We took turns and worked as a team to collect the bottles. (My task was obviously supervision ;)).
We generally visited the role models during the day and analysed their models and organization in the evening. This was such a value add as we go different perspectives and got a chance to notice the points that we were blinded too. Team work surely works.
It is difficult to pen down about the role model visits. Not because I have to search for words, but because I have to do justice with the right words. We were a student each day and was taught a subject which is not taught in any of the universities and in none of the management courses. It is the 'lesson of life'. It was taught by those who have not just lived their life but has made a difference in the lives of hundreds of people around them. (Read an article in the newspaper that IIM-A is introducing a course on 'Learning what is not taught' which is probably what we learnt in 18 days)
It started with Mr. R. Goplakrishnan of Tata group. He was a guest at the flag off function. His speech was remarkable and although he was not in our role models list, to me he was the first one. His speech was an eye-opener. I always feel myself very lucky when I get to listen to such people. That is because, not always that you get a chance to learn from someone else's experience and learn from their mistakes. I also feel that the one who shares such an experience is the true mentor and a true leader. He asked a question to all of us which set the stage for the rest of the 18 days, "We are the inheritors of a rich heritage. Are we going to be a good ancestors too?". It was evident from his speech that his
Our next role model was the famous Dabbawallas. I found Mr. Manish Tripati's speech very entertaining. Although there was pride in his tone when he said that Prince Charles visited them, there was also an iota of disappointment in the tone when he said they weren't recognized by their countrymen before Prince Charles. He clearly said their success is attributed to their core value 'customer satisfaction', which is the key in any successful enterprise.But the question, why hasn't the dabbawalla concept been so successful elsewhere is still lingering in my mind.
We then landed in IISE to meet Paul and Sabriye of IISE (International Institute of Social Entrepreneurship). It's sprawling campus is a few acres of serenity. The ambience and closeness to nature itself gives you an indirect chance to convert your contructive anger into an idea that can make lives better. This is the idea of Sabriye and her partner Paul. An hour with Sabriye and you know that there is nothing impossible for the visually challenged. This lady who lost her vision at her late childhood, feels there was no darkness due to lack of vision, but there is darkness in the minds of people, in the way they treat people like her. She went to Tibet by choice and transformed the lives of hundreds of people through her organization, Braille without Borders (www.braillewithoutborders.org). Paul and Sabriye moved to Trivandrum a year back to train and create social entrepreneurs across the globe. The main criteria for selection is the pain that you went through and anger which you want to convert to an idea.
Our next stop was at kanyakumari, which was for our spiritual learning. You don't need a teacher when you're in the sea. The sound of the waves in the sea throws you umpteen questions and you find your soul searching for an answer to those questions when you're in the quiet meditation hall at the vivekanda rock.
The southern leg continued in Madurai, where we stopped to visit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cjnNPua7Ag&feature=related) Arvind Eye Care. This is the best example for how you can solve big problems through simple ideas. Using McDonalds model for eye care is something that none except Dr.V can imagine. I learnt that just keep your eyes open and you can find solutions already existing. Just customize it to your requirements. Arvind, is one my favourite role models as the change they bring about is very significant.
The train halted next at Chennai. We visited the Kutumbakkam village. Mr. Elango, the panchayat leader, is the architect behind this village which serves as a model for the Tamilnadu government. The best thing I like about this village is that it is not just self sufficient, but they've worked together to kill discrimination based on caste through their 'samathuvapuram' project - where people irrespective of their caste stay a live together in a community. The idea of Samathuvapuram is bought in by Tamilnadu government and is implemented in many villages now.
We then headed to Bengalooru. We visited Agastya foundation, (http://www.agastya.org/) which has a mission to spark creativity in rural India. Their mobile labs have started to bring a revolution in science education in our country. I personally liked their idea as I always feel our education system is very theoritical and not practical, because of which we tend to not understand and relate to the concepts. I scored 95 in Physics in 12th standard. But, I wasn't really surprised when I didn't remember most of the theories and models in the physics lab at Agastya, mainly because I didn't relate to the concepts while I studied and hence it didn't remain in my mind. Understanding what you study makes you come up with applications which is the need of the hour. It's such Agastya is a boon to students not just in rural India but to every student in the country. As an add-on they train a few students to train the rest of the class, which brings in life skills as well.
With a satisfaction of a possible brighter Inida, we went to Mother Earth, which is a store in the heart of Bangalore city, selling handicraft, organic food and and other for home products. Theirs is a hybrid model, for which they have a non profit wing, Industree training the artisans. They buy the goods from the artisand through their for-profit Mother Earth. Neelam, the founder has tied up with future group for the store, and claims it to be a fair trade like Fabindia. We can witness the touch of kishore Biyani at every square foot of the store. I liked the idea as it works towards sustainable livelihoods and nurtures crafts that are fast disappearing.
Do you know which is the completely unsexy incomunicable disease in the world? Pat on your back, if you guessed it rightly as 'Hunger'. This is how Manoj, the CEO of Naandi Foundation at Hyderebad, explained the problem addressed by their midday meal program. The Naandi (http://naandi.org/), am told is the world's biggest kitchen, feeding thousands of children everyday with a hygenic and nutritious meal. They also work towards child rights and sustainable livelihoods. Manoj's presentation was like a power packed corporate presentation. It's still amazing to know that they feed so many mouths without any hitch. They work closely with the government and I understood one of the reasons for their success when Manoj said, 'If I'm more popular than the government, I'm out of the business'. I learnt that knowing the boundaries and limitations and playing just your role is important for any successful entrepreneur.
Next stop was at Tata Steel. Although we had visited many role models by then, and I was hearing most of the fellow yatris WOWing every other role model, my heart never felt WOW. But, the first WOW moment for me was at Jameshedpur, when I saw those huge machines. Finally, machines made me realize that nothing was impossible :). Salute to Jamshedji Tata.
Gram Vikas, (www.gramvikas.org)was the next stop. Joe Madiath, the man from south, who fell in love with Orissa on a visit there and decided to stay back and help the people in Orissa. He thinks that the biggest happiness is seeing some else happy and lives to it.
The sanitation and gobar gas projects in his Berampur village is again a big hit and is the prototype model to be followed by many villages across India now. He is more of an activist which is evident from his powerful speech. He has brought the villagers together by starting a corpus fund which is used in many of the development projects in the village.
We travelled a night to reach Deoria in UP, where our role model was the Jagriti Sewa sansthan organization. We had a business plan competetion. We were divided into groups based on our areas of interest. The tourism and the health group won the competition (You guessed it right, I wasn't part of either of these). This competetion was for just 2 hours and it was amazing that people from different countries, different cultures, different states speaking different languages could join hands together and think about a particular cause and try to find a solution for it. There was a slient promise and a tribute to MJ, 'Healing the world and making it a better place to stay in' .
We travelled up north and reached the Capital, New Delhi. I got goose bumps at the very thought of being in the capital. We met my most favourite role model, Anshu Gupta of Goonj. I had read a lot about Goonj (www.goonj.info) earlier and knew that they won an award in every possible category they apply to. So, I was inquisitive and eagerly waiting to hear directly from the horse's mouth.
We went to Goonj at 8 in the night and it was worth the wait. When asked about how the plan to scale up and expand goonj in other cities, Anshu's reply was, "We don't want our organizatioin to grow, we only want our idea to grow. So, we are ready to share our model and experience and anyone can take it forward". This answer explained the mystery of their success. The most important lesson is that the cause should be bigger than you. He also made us realize the bitter truth that most often we donate what we don't want, we don't donate what they need", which was a realization of the selfishness in what we consider as a selfless act.
Bunker Roy, (http://www.unesco.org/courier/2000_03/uk/dossier/txt02.htm) reciepient of every possible award in social sector, the man who is a kingmaker and not a king, the true changemaker, has clearly changed the lives of so many people, and transformed the village, Tilonia, which was bare to the barefoot institution today. To be a barefoot student you don't have be meritorious, it's perfectly fine if you're dropped out because you can't score, they welcome you with both hands, as they believe that formal education makes life less challenging. The barefoot model is well known internationally, that people from many developing nations come here and learn about solar power and devices or handicrafts and spread it back in their country.His clear thoughts and sharp replies made us feel that he is a true visionary.
Not just the role models, we had panel discussions, were we met interesting people like Shaheen Mistry (Teach for India), Nandini Vaidyanathan (Startups), Mandeep Singh (COO, D.light design, India), Laura Parkin (NEN), Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Naukri) to name a few and they also left an impression and a lesson for us.
Each one of us have our own favourite role models. The choice was based on different parameters and the on the cause that one could relate to. But, all of these role models have one thing in common and that was the biggest learning. All of them were passionate about what they are doing, All of them are determined to change the lives of people in some form of misery. All of the are hardworking and confident about seeing the smile, all of them take that extra mile to be a changemaker. All of them work tirelessly to be selfless. All of them are rebels but for a cause. All of them see a problem as a challenge.All of them chase their dreams of bringing about a change and live their lives for it but they are not wihout fault either. Finally, they are humble when they say lot more to be done yet, when you feel they've already done enough for the generations.
All of them finally left us think, debate and argue with self and realize the inner voice and has given us courage to chase our dreams too.
It's not just the role models who inspired us. Some of the fellow yatris who were pioneers and making a difference in their possible little way inspired and motivated us. In fact ,a few yatris from rural India (Madhav, from Pune - one such)possess the true qualities of a social entrepreneur and was a true inspiration. We learnt from them and from their experiences too. We now want to be a part of their struggle and add a meaning to our lives. Their 'We can' attitude is contagious and the 'wecan' virus has affected all of us. The only medication could be think and act therapy. We've started with the course and let's wait and see the effect.
All work and no play will make the yatris dull too. So, we not just worked hard, we also partied hard on the new year's eve at the Yashvanthpur station in Bangalore. The platform was converted to a temporary dance floor and all of us were shaking our legs for popular numbers and the Dol that was arranged. Partying Didn't stop at Bangalore, we had the second chill out session at Deoria. It was like a wedding party and the way the villagers welcomed us was very touchy.
During the yatra someone asked me, "which rolemodel do Ii think is very innovative?" and the person was surprised when I replied "TJY". The way the temporary bathrooms were designed and the idea of a common room in the train is nothing short of an innovation. The entire yatra was organized so well that except for the jerks and shakes one can never realize that one is in the train.
The journey has just begun for most of us , but now we know the direction and we know that we're part of the time-period in which simple ideas are going to change the world and make lives better. We are ready to chase our dream of letting someone else realize their dream.
P.S
Thanks to my yatri friend Arjun - stole the two jagriti pics from him :)
Some more photos that I clicked can be found here
