How to pack for Jagriti Yatra

Now that it's done, I can offer my expertise to future women Yatris on how to pack for Jagriti Yatra.

Clothes:
-3 pairs of jeans should last you 9/10 of the 15 days.
-It is warm in the South so take 3 pairs of loose, comfortable, cotton clothes.
- 1sweater or shawl
-1 WARM jacket
- 15 pairs of socks and undergarments. Your feet will smell so you don't want to repeat your socks.
-1 pair of warm woollen socks, gloves and hat.
-Comfortable sneakers
-Bathroom slippers
-2 sets of night clothes
-One Indian outfit for the last day

Other Essentials:
-Buy a microfiber towel. It's worth the investment.
-3 small hand towels
-A sleeping bag is a must.
-2 bedsheets and one warm blanket
- Pillow if you need
-Don't forget the sunglasses!
-At least three rolls of toilet paper
-Wet wipes
-Spray deo
-Talcum powder to apply inside your sneakers to avoid stinky shoes
-Lotion and lip balm. It's dry in the north
-Hand wash / sanitizer
-At least half a dozen extra plastic bags
-An overnight bag for when you deboard at Deoria
-Headphones
-Basic toiletries, face wash
-A couple of safety pins and a small sewing kit
-Vicks, Kailash Jeevan, Balm
-Strepsils or something for sore throat
-Sanitary products if you need.
-Some extra newspapers

Good to Have
- A power bank
- Your favorite music
- Granola bars, chocolate or trail mix type snacks
-About 5-8k cash. You have a couple of opportunities to shop at Goonj and Barefoot  College.
- Biz cards
- One good book but there is no time literally
-A diary
- Portable speakers if you have
-If you are good at art or design, some good quality stationery to help your group make posters for presentations. We found this very useful.
-A mug with a cover if you want to save paper mugs

DO NOT TAKE
-Curling or straightening irons
-Extension cords
-Alcohol of any kind. They WILL deboard you!
-Electric blankets or anything that could be a fire hazard on the train

Home

I should be back home in a few hours. The train is more than half empty and it feels eerie after the buzz and excitement last night.

In the past 15 days, we were cramped into a tiny space and had to find a rythm in order to live as a unit. Within a few days, we figured out who wakes up early, who is always losing her stuff, who is the most disorganised, who simply cannot live without a bath..slowly, we built a comfort zone around our compartment and it became our home. All the frustration and anger we felt initially about not being able to charge our phones or the lack of hot water slowly dissipated, and was replaced with compromise.

Compromise. That only happens when you care. So I guess we learned to care for each other, sometimes willingly,  sometimes begrudgingly.

A little more than half way through our journey, just as we were getting comfortable, we were yanked out of the train and had to spend a night in a village. Even though that was a unique  experience,  every single person I spoke to the next day said they couldn't wait to get back home- to the train 😊

During our valedictory ceremony, one of the board members spoke about resilience. Being on this train IS a test of one's  resilience but  having a sense of community definitely helps you pull through the worst moments.

Friendship

As this Yatra comes to an end, people suddenly feel a sense of urgency to pack in as much fun and love as they can fit in the next 12-15 hours. Hugs and phone numbers are exchanged,  fb friend requests sent,  business cards and digits safely stored away..there is a great deal of talk about lasting friendships.

On this entire 15 day, 8000 km, I have met probably  5 people I would like to keep in touch with. Perhaps it has something to do with age, but I am not actively seeking to make new friends. Yes, there were a few folks I met whom I would like to get to know better and I am willing to put in the effort to do so. Because making new friends  takes effort.

I have had one major realization on this journey. I enjoy my own company. I don't mean that  in any conceited manner. It just means that I am comfortable being by myself even amidst a huge crowd. This would have definitely NOT been true even 5-6 years ago. Guess there are some advantages of growing old.

So, have I made any lasting friends on Jagriti Yatra? That remains to be seen in this day of FB and Snapchat.

Goonj

Meeting Anshu Gupta is always inspiring but it was especially necessary for this Yatra. His passion, his perspective on equity and justice, his honesty and his sense of personal responsibility stood in sharp contrast to the three days of Biz Gyan enterprise building exercise we were immersed in and obsessed with.

Yes.  There is a lot to be learned about leadership and operations from Anshu but I hope he was able to drive home the point into the head of every budding entrepreneur here that complete commitment to a cause- social or economic - and a desperate desire  to provide a solution to improve the  situation is THE driving force behind nation building.

I think JY does a good job of exposing us to the challenges of India and the opportunities  that lie among those challenges but Anshu added the emotion and depth  of thinking that was lacking in the messages we have been receiving on this journey. And I'm really glad that he and Bunker Roy were saved for the end of this trip !!

India is...

India is    lime green
                 bottle green
                 forest green
                 olive green
                 yellow mustard
                 tall palms..........
.........an ancient Banyan.

India is thatched roofs and steel plants,
                   garam chai and pappadams,
33 million deities, a temple at every nook.
India is a BILLION stories if you looked....

with your heart
and grabbed on to the hand of a man who is frail yet strong,
who is whole yet torn,
who is pulled in a dozen directions in a land that is being reborn.

India is you and me friend.
And 70,000 miles of railway tracks separating us and bringing us together.

India is me and you friend.
And 500 million children who call themselves Indian.
Who play
         dream
         fall
         cry
         aspire
         explore
         wonder........
..and hope.
India is all these children, my friend. You can hear their laughter as they dive into the pile  of trash outside their homes.
You can hear them pleading for the next iphone.

India is Hubli, Deoria, Madurai, Chennai
Vishakapatnam, Behrampur, Bengaluru, Mumbai.
India is Rajgir, Tilonia, Ahmedabad and Delhi.
And all the dots in between that join them.

India is love, hate, filth, faith........
......................
...................... and dance!

Dance that tells tales of love and hate.
AND of faith.

India is energetic, bureaucratic, optimistic.
Liberated, oppressive, hegemonic.

But wait.
Look.
Take a deep breath.
Breathe out.
Think about it.
This is just a piece of land- stones, rocks, mountains, rivers, forests...........geography.
But you and me friend, we make it poetry.

India is poetry my friend.
You can hear it in every prayer call.
And chant it when that first red ball is bowled at Wankhede- Sachin!Sachin!

India is poetry.
And music.
Of Baul, Sufi and Carnatic.
If only we would hear it.... but our ears are plugged.
If only we would see it but our eyes are downcast.
If only we would touch it but are thumbs are too busy.
At last,
India is real my friend but this moment..... this moment is fleeting.

You better think hard,act fast, stand tall.
Don't wait for your number to be called.
Lead or follow.
Whisper or bellow.
Kuch toh karo dost.
Yaron chalo !!
                 

Yatri Life So Far

-Haven't showered in two days.
-No water in our bogie, in wash basins or toilets. Running out of toilet paper.
-Spend a  night in a tiny village in UP.
-Will be meeting Bunker Roy tomorrow!!!!!
-Visited Rajghat and paid my tribute to Gandhi.
-Have consumed at least 4 dozen oranges in the last 12 days.
-Felt inspired by Joe Madiath and his work at Gram Vikas
- Sang Yaron Chalo about a dozen times.

The inward journey

When we started on this Yatra, we were told that we will be taking two journeys- an external and an internal one.  I joined the Yatra as a facilitator because I enjoy that role  and am really good at it in my professional life. The external journey has been wonderful and inspiring but so far, for me, the internal journey has not been enjoyable at all. 

It's been a bit of a roller coaster actually.  While I am not competitive by nature, I don't feel satisfied when my group puts up mediocre level work. I believe in excellence and while it is my job as a facilitator to inspire my group to work hard and put up the best possible presentation, I am finding it increasingly difficulty to stay engaged. We have been given the task of coming up with a comprehensive business plan to start an enterprise that creates employment or benefits middle India in some way. There will be a competition In two days after we have had a chance to validate our idea in a tier three district. There will be prizes and possibly some funds. 

There are broad philosophical differences between me and the leaders of my group when it comes to doing business and since I  have a non-executive decision making advisory position, I have to let them drive the business model. 

For example, I believe that if you want to run a sustainable business, you need to plug real gaps by providing excellent solutions. Decisions to scale, recruit and other operational and executive decisions should be driven by the purpose you want to serve, the value proposition in MBA terms, and NOT where we can save the most money. 

This is one example of the how my thinking differs from the most vocal members of my group. And since it is not my job to drive the business, I find it difficult to stay objective and help the group move in the direction THEY  want to.

I also find that I have passed the stage where I feel the need to convince anyone of anything, especially for a short term business competition. I prefer to work with like minded people or at least open minded people who actually have some listening skills. 

Thus, I may fail miserably as a facilitator on this journey.  I could let that affect me and ruin my experience on this train or I could let it go.