I was a YATRI….!!

“They say Life’s a Journey…I wish that Journey was Jagriti Yatra!!” – shweta Narula (yatri 2011)

From the day i posted my status on Fb saying “Back Home from Jagriti Yatra”, my friends started visiting my blog expecting a post on it. I know i’m late in posting about Jagriti Yatra. But some good things are worth waiting for. The “good thing” i mentioned here is not my post,but a journey-a journey through my experiences in JAGRITI YATRA. I don’t know how i’m gonna present this blog to u but believe me JY experiences are far beyond words n blogs. 🙂

Jagriti Geeth.
What is that i miss the most after coming back from Jagriti Yatra.??
Its JAGRITI GEETH and the dance to it. Its not a typical dance but just a few hand movements to the tune. Imagine 400 people performing it at a time.Physics says energy can neither be created nor destroyed but only transferred from one form to another. This is not true always, some times new energy can be created. The words “YARON CHALO” generated enormous amount of energy and the vibes of energy were spread allover. Feel the awesomeness by watching the video below.. 🙂

Food
The bestest of the best upma i ever ate was on Jagriti Yatra board 😀 (upma served on 1st day). I loved the breakfast and dinner. Lunch was not so good(probably bcoz we had all our lunches outside the train 😉 ). Kudos to the catering team, they carried food to all compartments and served us.

Tea/Coffee:
Chai n coffee needs to be mentioned specially. I have consumed gallons of coffee. I have had more tea n coffee on JY train than the tea/coffee i have consumed in my whole life time(Im not exaggerating, i hardly drink tea/coffee in my daily life). Cafe coffee days tag line “A lot can happen over a coffee” appeared to be very true while i was on JY train. 😀

Aquafina:
Yeah! u r rite… Its a water bottle 😀
It holds a special status in Yatra. Yatris used it in all possible ways. 😉 From now on whenever i see an aquafina bottle it reminds me of JY(only yatris can understand this feeling).

Bathing
JY’s bathing experience is incredible. A bogie will be turned into a bathroom-Innovation at its peaks.
I always had evening baths with cold water whether i was in Madurai or in Delhi. Its always very tough to pour the first mug of cold water onto urself when the temperature outside is almost nearing freezing point, so i took the help of my co-yatri bathing in the next bathroom. i asked him to splash water onto me without my notice so that i need not stare at my bucket full of cold water till i get wet for the first time. I too helped him in the same way. We called it “cross bathing“. Almost all my baths in JY were cross baths. 😀

PA system:
“Attention yatris!! Yatris may i have ur attention please!!”
As soon as we hear these words in PA system, Silence prevails allover the train. everyone listens to the announcement. Vibha Joshi who made announcements on train is the most famous person on the board.
Wake up calls made the public addressal(PA) system to a public alarm system, though i never woke up to any of the wake up calls 😉
Head count announcements were funny. “Yatris! head counts are done, u can move around. Thank u” was my favorite announcement.

Diversity:
“India is a country with many cultures and languages.” (everyone knows it 😉 )
Have u ever experienced it??
U might have studied in a college where students come from allover India or u might be an employee with ur colleagues from every part of our country but still u need to be a YATRI to sense the true spirit of UNITY IN DIVERSITY.
We all are from different backgrounds, we speak different languages but we all shared and maximized the space available. We shared our views, we criticized each others opinions, we had fun, we ate together, we learnt from each other..! what not? its always “WE” on JY train.
My cohort has 6 yatris and they represent 5 languages and 4 states.
My group has 19 people representing 3 countries, 13 states of India and 12 languages.
Yatis from 23 states of India and 26 other countries were on JY board.

Life on WHEELS:
The most amazing part of JY is staying on the train for 15 days.
You can lead your normal life on train, if u wish u can be abnormal too 😉
Brush ur teeth, bathe, eat, talk, network, work, move around, flirt, sing, dance, sleep… u can do all these things both in a normal and in an abnormal way. 😀

The words “Excuse me and side-side” to move across the length of the train.. Meeting people..Asking for their introductions.. AC chair car sessions.. Life Line exercise.. the “MENTOR” crisis.. Compartment sessions… Biz Gyan tree exercise..New year bash on board.. Shasanks threat of “train toppling down”.. dance at Barpar.. Panel discussions.. Power naps in buses.. welcome at tiloniya..Fire drill at Vizag.. “I repeat” announcements on PA system…Disha teams Whistles..Visiting the pantry car to feel the warmth from the stove over there.. WOW!! Memories to cherish for ever.

What did i learn?
Everyonez asking me abt my learning from Jagriti Yatra.

I have heard from some inspirational people like Narayana Murthy, Anshu Gupta and Bunker Roy. I have visited some amazing models of enterprise like “Aravind Eye Care system”. I have studied about potential business models like “Travel another India” and most importantly I have experienced the diversity in thoughts and working style of people across the globe.
If u ask me to put all my learnings on paper, i may not be able to do so, but Its all about “Unconscious Learning”.

Apply at http://jagritiyatra.com to be on board of Jagriti Yatra 2012

If you think I have traveled India in a train you are wrong, I have traveled India with India accompanying me in a train 🙂 .