It is 11 pm on December 24 at Mumbai’s Kurla station and a bunch of young people are milling around the ordinary looking blue train, searching for their berths, saying their goodbyes. But there’s nothing ordinary about this train or this journey.
For the last five years, every Christmas Eve, a group of 450 young people have been embarking on a 15-day train journey to find a purpose for their lives. During the Jagriti Yatra (literally, a journey of awakening), they visit 12 destinations across the four corners of the country, meeting entrepreneurs—‘role models’—in an attempt to learn more about the real India, its challenges, and also its opportunities.
As the 18-coach train winds through the 8,000 km route, the travellers learn to live and work with groups, adjust to a routine of sleep, eat, plan meetings, engage in group discussions and also give presentations in the train itself. They adapt to working with people from diverse cultures, experience the joy of winning competitions and also learn how to maximise usage of limited resources such as water and the ever crucial phone battery.
Singing their anthem ‘Yaaron chalo, badalne ki rut hai’, composed by Prasoon Joshi exclusively for the Yatra, the youth contingent inspires one another to keep the spirit of nation-building alive in their heart and attempt to build their own lives constructively.
The organisers’ aim behind the journey is to transform young job seekers into job creators. Together with mentorship from experts, the Yatris also build a network of friends during the Yatra, who help challenge and shape ideas.
The Origins
It all began when Shashank Mani Tripathi, now 48, first embarked on a similar train journey in 1997 to commemorate India’s 50 years of independence. The seed had been planted in his mind years ago, when he saw the 1954 film Jagriti as a child, the story of a teacher’s quest to instil pride in the country’s heritage and values in children. An entire generation remembers the film’s song ‘Aao bachchon tumhen dikhayen jhaanki Hindustan ki’.
In 1997, Tripathi, a London-based consultant with PwC, decided to act on his inspiration. He took a sabbatical, raised funds and cobbled together a plan to travel across India in a train with 200 people. His purpose was to meet interesting individuals running enterprising initiatives and who were helping build a new India.
He penned these experiences in a book, India: A journey through a healing civilization. Released in 2007, the book gained popularity and inspired his friends and many others—some living abroad, others in India. They then put together a plan for a similar journey in 2008.
Jagriti Yatra has now become an annual feature. It is open to anyone between 20 and 27 years of age; 17,000 people applied for the December 2013 Yatra. A written test and interviews helped shortlist the 450 (40 percent women, and about 55 percent candidates from Tier 2 and 3 towns). Tripathi and his Yatra team aim to create a million entrepreneurs by 2020.
The Yatra is conducted under the auspices of the not-for-profit Jagriti Seva Sansthan, registered at Deoria village near Gorakhpur. Every year a group of 30 to 40 facilitators join the six-member core Yatra team to help manage the trip. Most of them are former Yatris who volunteer. They take on the tough task of negotiating with Indian Railways to hire an entire train and arrange for caterers who serve meals onboard. An Engine Room Club team ensures the train reaches each destination on schedule while the programming team organises role model visits, and even gets sponsors for the Yatra. The fact that Jagriti Yatra has done six such trips since 2008 without any major untoward incident is a miracle in itself.
The Purpose
“During the Yatra I met Dr S Aravind at his eye care hospital in Madurai and was impressed by how it all started with just a 20-bed hospital. Meeting various other role models like Sanjit ‘Bunker’ Roy [founder, Barefoot College at Tilonia] at Rajasthan gave me the courage and inspiration to scale up my computer institute and now I plan to open 350 centres to reach 6,000 villages of Haryana. I also want to start a rural BPO so that villagers aren’t forced to travel to cities for work,” says Kataria.
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(This story appears in the 21 March, 2014 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
Really, this the great step for youth to know how to work with groups and understand about Incredible India and many more. Jagriti Yatra is total non profit organization.
on Apr 25, 2016The inner journey from the soil to the heart one experiences during the Yatra is invaluable. I was a part of JY 2013 and the friendships I have made during the Yatra have become pillars of my journey after JY. Youth wanting to understand the real India and feel its strength should definitely join the Jagriti Yatra for once.
on Apr 11, 2014I would like to thank Forbes for featuring an article about this Incredible Journey.....I am very surprised that till date people even in big cities of India are not aware about this movement....I was a part of this Yatra in 2012 and I feel its our responsibility to make the youth aware about this Yatra as only then will they aspire to become a part of this Memorable Journey...\"Yaaro Chalo\"
on Apr 11, 2014Great platform for each and everyone to grab India\'s diversified talent and learning from them. two of my close friends shared experience about it and I felt it amazing and wonderful. Near future if I will get chance to go over there then definitely I would like to be a part of most exciting, electrifying yatra i.e. Jagriti yatra.
on Mar 14, 2014I was the yatri in last yatra , it was so nice experience and now I am also telling everybody to be a part of jagriti yatra.
on Mar 13, 2014I was part of last yatra..amazing experience. .life time learnings..it was a different world. .the world of connected people..I call it JY world
on Mar 12, 2014Yatra was inspiring,infomative and given ideal platform for today\'s youth to discover themselves. Mix of yatris from diverse backgrounds,Role model visits,Biz gyan tree exercise,Panel discussions etc has given much needed impetus to mind of youth to become future reniassance leaders of change. Kudos to whole Yatra team for conducting the journey in such a smooth way everytime. #Amit,Bangalore #Jagriti Yatra,2013-14 Yatri
on Mar 11, 2014I went on the Yatra in 2009 - it was the best trip of my life. I applied as a group moderator since I was over the youth age limit cut off - I met people from villages, small towns, and big cities. I am from the US but launched a charity in India this year and couldn't have done it without the inspiration of being around such extraordinary and intelligent people. You also do not have to be Indian to join-there were a few of us from different countries- just anyone with dreams for a better world- you will find fellow dreamers
on Mar 11, 2014Felt so inspired and so so very proud of all that people in our country achieve and strive to achieve. I wish I had known of this earlier would have certainly tried joining the Yatra. Great work!
on Mar 10, 2014