JAGRITI YATRA : A Yatra of the People, by the People, for the People

This was long overdue and for those of you who know me, I can’t help but apologize for not being able to share one of the highpoints of my life even after almost a month since it’s over. But therein lies the irony; it’s not over yet. Not for me and not for the 450 co-yatris either, with whom I travelled around this astounding country of ours.

For those still looking for clues at what I am talking about, I was a part of a group of approximately 450 young and energetic  candidates (henceforth ‘yatris’) from all over the country and from outside the country as well, selected for a 15-day enterprising tour of the country and the country-side from 24^th Dec 2012 to 8^th January 2013. It is difficult to see the beautiful country-side in this expansive nation of ours unless you are travelling by train. And the Jagriti Yatra’s mode of transport was a regular but ingeniously customized Indian Railways train, which we would call - the Jagriti Express. Yes, we welcomed the New Year singing, dancing, whistling and shouting at the top of our sore voices while travelling overnight from Brahmapur in Odisha to Patna, Bihar. And if you are already interested in applying for this year's yatra, please log on to www.jagritiyatra.com – But dare you stop reading my blog further ;)

It is as they say, a journey to awaken the entrepreneurial spirit among the youth. For me, entrepreneurial or not, it certainly awakened a sleeping spirit first. I am sure my fellow yatris appreciate that the journey meant different for different people. As a true urbanite Indian who lives one-half of his life in Mumbai and Bangalore and the other half in newspapers trying to figure out what the rest of the country means to him, the Yatra well and truly transformed me from a pseudo-Indian to simply Indian.

The most special gift from this yatra is the wealth of friends I made from every nook and corner of this country. We all brought a fresh perspective to the table. We came from different backgrounds and had different understandings of issues. We agreed to disagree. We spent extra time with people we took a liking to, and possibly ran for cover too when we came across someone weird. All in all, we grew on each other and eventually became a part of a strong social network that promises to continue this association for a long time to come. 

One of the major highlights of this Yatra was to stop at different destinations in the country where we would be introduced to some exemplary personalities and their standout contributions to the larger community through their business or social enterprises. The common thread across all these role model institutions was the magnitude of social impact they created without compromising on the basic tenets of a sound business plan to be truly effective and sustainable.

As I write, I realize that not only is it difficult to put the entire experience in words but also an emotionally draining activity trying to relive the moments I so badly miss today. What began in Mumbai in the peaceful environs of the TISS campus where the highly energetic and resourceful foot soldiers of the Jagriti Yatra Team welcomed us and handed us our new ID cards that would stick to us for the next 15 days, to the extent that we were forbidden from removing it even during nature calls. The advice for all the yatris was simple and crisp – ‘Keep an open mind and be ready to not just learn, but unlearn and relearn as well.’ Our sensibilities and conventional mind-sets were put to test quite immediately when our first role model Mr. Raghunath Medge, Founder President of the famous Mumbai Dabbawala Association almost single-handedly debunked the concept of formal education that has played a very limited role in the huge success of his six-sigma business enterprise that is running for almost a century in this city that never sleeps.

The time spent on the train was our only opportunity to reflect on the various ideas, ideals and idols being introduced to us. The best part was nobody was preaching to us what is wrong or what is right. No formulae for success being laid, no short-cuts to hardwork, no dumbwittery at all. It was a no-holds barred induction in the world of progressive, sustainable and socially responsible organizations that consider the systematic dismantling of socio-economic inequities in our society as one of the principle objectives behind their existence. From an Elango who traced his roots to transform his village Kuthambakkam in Tamil Nadu’s Chengalpattu district to Anshu Gupta’s Goonj which uses its strong roots in New Delhi to spread its branches far and wide in the country, from Nidan in Patna to Aravind Eye Care in Madurai, from Naandi Foundation in Vishakhapatnam to Barefoot College in Rajasthan’s Tiloniya, from Gram Vikas in Odisha to SEWA in Ahmedabad, from Infosys, Biocon, Redbus, Flipkart and Zivame in India’s Silicon Valley to a far-flung, off-the-map district called Deoria in Eastern UP where poverty is still a reality, govt-aided education a farce, employment a day-dream and the products that Zivame sells possibly a social taboo ; the yatra was a telling representation of an India hidden within the India I know, of a people snubbed amongst the people I know.

Access to opportunities for me once meant getting a job in a low-paying service company or a high-paying product company. When the tribals of Odisha do not have access to their own land, when the rural women-folk across India do not have access to safe and hygienic sanitation and when a kid has access to a school where the teacher is inaccessible, I couldn’t help but ridicule my own definitions of ‘access to opportunities’. As Anshu Gupta remarked in his thought-provoking speech in the numbing cold of New Delhi, “…Aapko gussa kyun nahi aata, aap sawaal kyun nahi puchte…?”

No doubt, the disparities are nerve-wracking, but the prevalent air of hope and optimism among our fellow countrymen despite this is equally jaw-dropping.  Although not enshrined in the Constitution as a fundamental right, the youth of India have a ‘Right to Dream’. We, the people will have to ensure that we help fulfill their dreams, not crush them.

A happy and content youth will lead India to greater glory and strive to redistribute the fruits of prosperity in order to achieve economic and social equity. A disheartened and cheated youth will take the path of immorality and dishonesty to forcefully grab the fruits of success that are reserved for the very few.

Entrepreneurship may not be the cure for all ills plaguing our society, but it certainly is a potent solution to rid the country from the Cancer of Poverty, Illiteracy and Unemployment. And as someone rightly said, you do not need the backing of either an Ambani or an MBA to become an ‘Entrepreneur’, all you will need is ‘Antar-Prerna’.