Tata Jagriti Yatra - 2009

TJY at Kanyakumari

2010-01-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

TJY 2009 - the story so far !

2010-01-02T12:32:00.001-08:00

WOW ! What a journey it has been !!!
And Finally at 2 Am in the Ac chair car which is till almost half full and as we chugh towards Bhubneshwar after leaving Hyderabad I get a few precious moments to type this out !

And in one word it has been WOW ! Unexpected and CRAZY !
The learnings,the experiences,the role models ,the yatris,the daily routine ,the whole operational aspect of TJY has been Hat ke !For once true to what was promised.

There are quite a few tales to tell but here i just want to list the experiences from top off my mind that i want to put down

Day 1 Natya Mandir - Mumbai,flag off by R. Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director, Tata Sons and the now famous Mumbai Dabbawaalas
Day2 Travelling on Konkan railway through Goa
Day3 Reaching Trivendaram and meeting Paul and Sabrieth and Mr.Raghavan
Day4 Kanyakumari and panel discussion 1 on women entrepreneurship with three eminent panelists -Shahin from Teach for India
Day5 Madurai -Arvind eye care and Aprajita
Day 6 Chennai - meeting Elango and panel discusiion in a rural Karnataka village
Day 7 Bangalore- Visiting Agastya and celebrating new year
Day 8 Bangalore- Visit to Industree at inner ring road -almost where I lived not long ago
day 9 Hyderabad- Visit to Naandi and mid day meal kitchen and panel discussion three on funding with ISB HYD , Incubation centre head, startup mentoring prof and government officer for enterprise funding
Day 10 2 am I have to type this before i forget !!

There are a lot of typos here and a lot more info to add but i wanted to put some things down before it's too late.
Role model visits have been exceptionally inspirational and have helped spark a lot of ideas !
Power is an issue on train so not able to write constantly but trust that once am back the learning's from all of these experiences are going to be reflected in depth.
Until then we continue this journey of mavericks :)

ps- pics not getting uploaded easily.To be followed up later :)

3 Days to go - Yatra Preparations !

2009-12-21T20:17:00.000-08:00

After a whirlwind visit to Delhi on Sunday to participate in FMS's HR Event (Which we won by the way :D) we just returned to Pune today and all through my one day's journey in Durunto Express from Delhi to Pune (Which was sort of a prologue to TJY) I found my head abuzz with thoughts.

Thoughts related to all that we have discussed with passion - Doing our bit, setting up something to make a difference, Environment protection,Water Conservation,Improving standards of education and a lot more.

Now where that talk stops is when it's not backed by some action ! So that's what I realized I really need to set upon !

On Jan 1 , We touch the city of my Happiness and I believe like "Universe Conspiring to help you do your own thing: it's an omen ! Some goals to set for self and some dreams to follow up !

Rest today there is LOADS of packing to be done !! SO I will get to it and hopefully in next 24 hours will be all set :)

Now if someone has tips on what kind of packing to do for an 18 day train jouney , (Remember Washing,Sleeping,Eating, Bathing - Everything :) Do lemme know :)

6 Days to go !!! TJY FAQS

2009-12-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

So what is TJY ? Since still in it's inaugural years let me introduce TJY if you are too lazy to check the official link on the link roll !

TJY is a medium for connecting young people with entrepreneurship dreams with a socially sensitive bend of mind with each other along with Entrepreneurs who have successfully created social change in a sustainable way.

How they do it?
Well take a train all over India and meet the very same people who have done it.Simple :)

Who are the people onboard ?
Mix of Indians and foreigners , some 400 of them , selected after screening applications after a three month process of screening based on interest in entrepreneurship and social change.

How it all got started?
Ah there's an interesting history details of which i will go into some other day! In fact there's a book written about it !! In 1997 when it all started by Shashank Mani - A journey through a healing civilization, then 10 years later they decided to do it every year and roped in TATA for sponsorship, which thankfully made it affordable for many of us :)

How did I hear about it ?
Through a very sweet senior of mine -Aakanksha Lath at SIBM Pune who mentioned it to me during an interaction after hearing my interest in entrepreneurship.Thanks a ton to her !

Why I am i doing it ?
To know the story of some people who were of same age as mine and where did they end up with those dreams down the line...To reflect,introspect and see my thoughts changed and refined on some of the ideas of India and Social entrepreneurship as i know...To see first hand the challenges being faced by social entrepreneurs and where can we chip in...to travel all over India and click pictures everywhere...To do something different... to travel on train for 18 days straight :D ... to have another tale to tell !!

Well i guess you get the picture :)

7 Days to go !!!

2009-12-16T21:43:00.000-08:00

So here I am at the countdown to this journey which I thought was my "final fantasy" coming to life.And now that it's less than a week away I had to pen down my thoughts - like
Dumbledore's pensieve !!There are too many of them buzzing in my head.

And the most prominent of them all is a aloud thumping - YEYYYYYYYY !! :)

Boy am i glad to have this chance !!

18 days ,13 places , A chance to meet Some of India's most effective change makers present and future :D

But more than a joy ride and a meeting place I want to take this time to clear my head and get my direction ,set a path and start walking on it the moment i am back !!

To that moment !! and to all the ones leading to it !!!

Thanks TJY !