What is Jagriti Yatra?
Jagriti Yatra is an ambitious train journey of discovery and transformation that takes 500 of India’s highly motivated youth on a 15 day, 8000 km national odyssey to meet the role models — social and business entrepreneurs — of the country. The vision of Jagriti is ‘building India through enterprise’.
There are three broad developmental agendas the Yatra aims to focus on — nation building, enterprise led development and middle India (Tier 2, Tier 3 districts where almost 58% of Indian population resides)
10 Reasons to do Jagriti Yatra
In this post, I’ll be sharing various reasons why you should consider applying for Jagriti Yatra.
1. Explore diversity of India
Jan Chipchase rightly says, ‘India is not a country, but a continent on its own!’ It has a lot to offer when it comes to various cultures, practices, topography, weather, art, etc.
2. Live in a train for half a month
Spending 15 days in train is challenging — right from packing stuff efficiently in a way it can be removed quickly to sharing space with fellow yatris. For those who haven’t stayed in hostels before, this is the closest you can get to staying in one! The day begins with standing in separate queues for using the basin, washroom and bathing facilities. However, there is fun in this madness and a sense of unity prevails which overpowers minor glitches.
3. Brainstorm on building India through enterprise
The 15 day journey is designed to promote discussions and support brainstorming on developing the nation through business and social enterprise. Visit to role models, critical analysis of their replicability, group assignments and sessions in AC chair cars all aim to provide various perspectives and help in shaping of ideas. Raj Krishnamurthy, Board Member aptly says, ‘Yatra is just the beginning of the journey. This unique experience is a starting point of a lifelong pursuit of the singular aim of bringing hope and wellbeing to the deepest corners of our nation.’
4. Make friends from every state in India — your own AirBnb!
You’ll meet 500 participants belonging to different parts of India — often hearing names of some districts for the first time. Their stories about their hometowns will woo the wanderlust in you, often leading to new entries in your bucket list driven by the urge to discover inner pockets of India. Travellers are empowered with something very invaluable — local insightto discover and backpack through any part of India. And the network is so efficient and widespread that you won’t need AirBnb any further! 😛
(PS. We had a participant from Andaman and Nicobar Islands too!! — Shoutout to Ankur :-D)
5. Embrace ambiguity
A journey that covers 8000+ kilometres with 500 participants in a special train over a span of 15 days has some possibility of getting off the set plan, for there are many factors outside control and some which are not mitigated adequately. The journey tests your endurance and willingness to embrace ambiguity until you get so comfortable that you hate schedules. 😛 There will be occasions when there’s no time to think but to follow the new set of instructions given and ensure you take your group members along — like de-boarding the train in a record time of 5 minutes.
These are pockets where you can display your creativity and make the best of the time in hand — In Vishakhapatnam, we reached the platform to board the train, however, it hadn’t arrived due to permission issues. We decided to teach a traditional folk dance called Garba to fellow yatris. It was an amazing experience dancing with everyone on counts (There was no music)!!
6. A family away from family
A cohort is a group of seven members who are assigned the same compartment in a bogie and stay together in the entire journey. This becomes your extended family; all seven of us came from different backgrounds. One thing which bound us together was the burning fire to do something in the field of education. Cohorts are designed to ensure each member brings different set of skills to the mix along with different perspective. It becomes very difficult to bid farewell to them, the journey suddenly feels like a short trip when the last day arrives. I find goodbyes to be the most challenging!
7. Build your own identity the way you want it
You must be thinking about Ranbir Kapoor from Tamasha who was a different person altogether in a foreign land. This hyperbole, to an extent practical is true for the Yatra. Your cohort becomes your sounding board, which provides listening to your aspirations, thoughts and dreams without delving into your past. Thus you get an opportunity to build your own identity without being subjected to labels or limitations of your past which do exist in the normal world.
8. Live in the moment
Meeting children often brings out the child in us! Those moments are priceless — there is no judgement, no thoughts, no fear, just being oneself and loving oneself to the fullest — and when you do that, you are in equanimity with nature as whole!
9. Discover the Real India
Approximately 58% of Indian population resides in Tier III and Tier IV districts. Shashank Mani, Chairman of Jagriti Sewa Sansthan terms it ‘Middle India’. This is the part which suffers most, youth leave middle India in search of employment without having the requisite skills and end up doing basic jobs which do not earn much. This leads to creation of a circle of poverty difficult to break. We need ideas and business models which can skill and provide employment to these people locally in order to facilitate development of these villages.
Interacting with the villagers and their way of living will first leave you in awe and then make you question the purpose of life. As you delve deeper into their humble stories, there’s a part of you which will go berserk at the thought of inequality and over-privileges you’ve had. There’s a huge difference between things you and they term as basic necessities. This gap between Bharat and India is wide and conscious efforts are required towards uniting the both.
10. Self Reflect
Jagriti Yatra is as much a journey of outer exploration as it is an inner journey of finding the purpose of existence. These 15 days are all about inspiration, adventure, sharing, growth, learning, bonding, dreams, challenges and passion. First week into the journey, I wasn’t able to find a sense of personal space to reflect. However, as days progressed, I felt my personal space expand to include my cohort in it! The sense of belongingness empowered me phenomenally and I was able to find serenity in the midst of chaos.
Yes, I did mention I’ll be sharing 10 reasons to do Jagriti Yatra. However, I can think of two more and I’m sharing them too — it might be possible these can provide the final push for applying for the Yatra! Also, like I mentioned above, you need to be open to embracing ambiguity! 😛
11. A full time MBA program
The 15 days of yatra, in a way are nothing less than a full time MBA progam — with various assignments, sessions, role model visits and business model competitions, it aims to bring out the best in yatris together as a group! It teaches how to be a team member, as well as how to lead when required. Also, you are free to explore and meet more and more people and know about their stories and life. It is one of the best forms of networking, which is based on integrity. For me, the lifeline session was one of the best learning experience — it taught empathy, which I believe is the biggest form of knowledge.
12. Connect with a 3000+ strong alumni network
On completion of the Yatra, you become part of an alumni network of 3000+ yatris. They are there to support you in any and every possible manner in nation building.
Applying for Jagriti Yatra
Aspirants have to create an account on Jagriti Yatra website and fill up a form in order to apply for the yatra. Applications for Jagriti Yatra 2017–18 are now open — they will stay open till September 30, 2017. Take out time while applying for the yatra — the selection rate is 3% (500 of the best, who show a spark in nation building through enterprise are selected from close to 15000 applications every year).
To know more about Jagriti Yatra, check my blog on experiential travel — http://thegrasshopper.in/
