Tale of changing shades

If I have to draw my ‘Life-line’, 23rd December, 2018 would definitely be a turning point. It was the day I entered a whole new world called ‘Jagriti Yatra’. Back then, I had been chosen as a ‘Facilitator’ and on 23rd there was a Facilitators' Workshop. To reflect back, for me it was a day full of excitement, nervousness, learning, unlearning and networking.

2018 Yatra was full of learnings and exploration. It was Yatra which helped me step out of my comfort zone, helped me drop my biases and open up to new thoughts, ideas and people. It was the first time I was travelling across India (without my family), that too with 500+ strangers, where a moving train was about to become my home for 15-days. I came back energised, hopeful and with ‘Yatra High’.

‘Yatra High’ is a term for a void you feel after being separated from Yatris, Yatra, the whole programme and your train. It becomes physically, mentally, emotionally difficult to adjust & get back to ‘normal’ life post yatra. You miss the energy, the people, the ideas, the possibilities and endless optimism.

After my first Yatra, I never thought if I would get an opportunity to be associated with it in any way. However, I got lucky and in the immediate next year’s yatra i.e. 2019 I got to be a part of ‘ERC’ as a last minute addition. ‘ERC’ or Engine Room Club members are a dedicated pool of volunteers who look after various departments on train and work for its smooth functioning and execution of programme along with the JY team. 

It was a very  different experience, as this time, it helped me go a bit deeper to know and understand what goes behind the scene to deliver a mammoth Yatra which carries carefully chosen inspiring and enterprising 500+ youth from India and abroad, across Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities of India on a dedicated train, meeting various role-models and exploring the opportunities of ‘Building India through Enterprise’. Since then I have been privileged to be a part of this team and thus associate with Yatra now for over 7 years. 

During this journey, one question is frequently asked- what brings you back to the yatra every year? 

As Chinmay says, Yatra gives you way much more than you can take. And that is true. Words fall short to describe the impact of Yatra on you.

Over the years, my reasons to come back again and again is, what Yatra offers:

1. ‘Manthan’ Moments - Yatra offers countless moments of learnings, unlearning, relearning, ideas, introspection, reflection, inspiration. It brings you to such places, spaces and phases which you never imagined existed (in inner journey as well). And this helps in growing and thriving.

2. Movement - Yatra is a long running entrepreneurial movement or rather a revolution, that believes in India-story which is being scripted and shaped by its enterprising youth and tapping the potentials & opportunities in middle of the diamond India (as Shashank sir calls it) i.e. Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities of India. I firmly resonate with this purpose.

3. Momentum - In Yatra, you are constantly moving (literally and figuratively). You are on and off the train, onto the buses for role-model visits. You are in a 24/7 experiential classroom and with so many things happening around parallely, AC CC Sessions, peer-to-peer interaction, meeting resource persons, it is learning on the go. So much to absorb, yet so less time to do so. 

4. Yatris - Yatra helps you connect with a very diverse group of people doing amazing work in their respective fields. The Yatri community gives a sense of belongingness and oneness. It is like your big family spread across India. And when you travel across cities and villages of India, it gives a reality check & a pulse check making you realise your responsibility to contribute towards nation building. 

5. Therapeutic Group - For me personally, Yatra is no short of therapeutic group which instills in me a hope and optimism towards life. It makes me more accommodative and accepting of the diversity amongst people, their thoughts and their views on life. It helps to develop a non-judgmental view. It is like a survival toolkit, which keeps you going for the rest of the year in your ‘normal’ life. Life just gets on-track, when you are ‘on the track’.

Over the years in Yatra, for me the colours of lanyards (tags) changed from purple to red to green. Each tag carries its unique set of stories, of moments, of learnings, of growing and of memories of respective yatras. It symbolises a journey of breaking the comfort zone, of change and of belief. Indeed, change is the only constant.

Yatra is a very humbling, grounding and enriching experience which shows life is beyond money, big-packages, fancy designations or fancy offices. It is about the purpose, about being the ‘Change’ and being a responsible unit to do something constructive for your country. For me Yatra has become an irreplaceable part of life, which I'd cherish & treasure the most. 

Last but not the least, my heartfelt regards & gratitude to the Jagriti Yatra team for their continued support and faith in me and for the opportunity to contribute to this incredible movement.

Yaaron Chalo