The day I knew, I really did change a life path.

There were good days. There were bad days. And then there were normal days. It din't feel life changing to be honest. I had a great feeling. I loved my job. I smiled more often. But that was it. Until today.

I visited one of my students at his home. This being a first, I was cautious. I selected the best kid in the class so I could take my chances and learn. Omkar was one of those kids who made your life simple. He always topped the class. Spoke without hesitation. Helped others. Loved bhaiyya to bits. I never knew any other side of him. 

Today afternoon, I went to his place. All the greetings later, his father opened up. Tears in his eyes, he said, "I dont know what you did to my kid. " 

Omkar,  my turn around kid.

Subsequent conversations revealed Omkar wasn't always like that. He was sent out of his earlier school because he was "rowdy and very violent". His teacher gave up on him. He once bit his mother because she "forced" him to go to school. His father slapped and hit him in front of his entire class because he refused to study in the school. At Aliya, he banged the principal's desk because she agreed to give him admission into the school. He picked up fights 15 days in a month with the kids in the community.

That was almost a month back. Today, he tops every exam in the class. He is the leader for his group. He teaches his mother English words that he learnt in the school. He never comes to school with a broken button because he wants to look "neat and tidy like Bhaiyya."

Omkar is such a turn around, it is difficult for me to believe there was a different side to him. I am exuberant today. I have my proof. A proof, that is my own. My proof, that every kid can turn around. 

Thank you Omkar. It is kids like you who change our lives. 

The girl who walked me, that day and everyday after then.

Raju just started turning around. Earlier though, he used to be ten handsful. This story dates back then.

The kid has the will power that can easily break yours. "Give me a star and then Ill decide if I want to sit in your class.", he ordered me around. All of 6, he almost broke the classroom door into half when I refused to let him out. Lay flat on the floor and cried non stop for 2 days, morning 9 to evening 3. (Yes, Im serious)
You can be a firm teacher, but only till so long. I was beginning to crumble on the second day. All teachers will tell you, if a kid cries, you cry even louder inside.
  Lot of other things were going on too.
It was one of those days when my lessons weren't exactly bomb diggity. Kids are stronger than sniffer dogs. They sense your lack of confidence in seconds. Then they get cranky. The lessons suffer even more. It is a viscous cycle.


Post lunch that day, I was getting jittery. Walking back to the class, I could not think of something to teach them. My plans seemed so out of context then. All of my mindspace refused to work. And then it happened.

Mehraj, walks up to me from the behind, holds my palm with both her hands, looks into my eyes and says, "No sad sir. Raju brother like that only. But you, my best sir".

Mehraj, while I know you might not be able to read this today, and you might not read this ever, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, for giving me the love, strength and courage to push me through my lowest lows.

Mehraj, since that day, always holds my hand and walks me till my bike. :-)

Love. So pure, it surprises you.

Some of my days go excellently well. The other times, I am disappointed with myself. May be I am not pushing myself more. May be, the kids could have learnt much more if I could have planned better.

 May be, Omkar wouldn't have said, "Bhaiyya, ignore Raju and Karthik. You teach only us." May be, more kids in the class could have been engrossed.

But one thing remains steady irrespective of my achievements. Their Love.
They have a way of making my day, with their own tiny means. Be it Mehraj's kiss on the hand, Jafar's tantrums that I am not taking special classes for him just yet, Omkar pleading me to take tuitions for her sister in 7th grade, Maruthi finally able to read and say little, Naveen breaking each word into its phonics and trying to read a story book I got to class.

The other day in class, Omkar was elected the Graduate of the Week. He was the most studious and took responsibility of a lot of things. This is a picture of him with a scroll and the Graduate Crown (I know it looks too feminine, but they cudnt care less. It just fascinates them to no extent!!)

Graduate of the Week! Omkar!

My first wobblings as a teacher

It has been exactly two weeks since I first stepped into Govt. Model School, Aliya. I am a proud Grade 2 teacher and I will be teaching 45 kids.

It has been fantastic

15 of 25 kids already wrote that I am their favorite teacher. Omkar took responsibility of teaching the entire class when I went to the next class to take a test. Little Mehraj proudly parades me around the school and tells everyone, "Ye mera bhaiyya hai". Zafar, Ahmed and Ghouse came running today after the Friday Namaz so they can be on time for Bhaiyya's afternoon meditation classes.

It has been heart wrenching

43% of my class cannot write Alphabets. 65% cannot write their own names. Raju and Karthik struggle with an attention span of seconds. The class is expected to sit in rapt attention with no benches and electricity. (There are 3 fans hanging from the ceiling though.). 100% of my class has very little or no clue of the Grade 1 standards.

There is hope. A hope they can dance.

They will have someone who will now care for them. Push them. Nurture them. Ceaselessly love them and relentlessly support them. Support to become The Graduates of 2025. By 2025, each and every child in this classroom will have graduated from college.  The odds are dramatically stacked against them. They are in the lowest rung of the economic sections in a country where more than 33% drop out of 5th grade and 95% before college.
We are going to fight against it. As a individual. As a classroom. As a society. As a nation.

Where they are born should not define what lies ahead of them.

This is an effort to document my journey with my class. With a hope they will change your lives, just like how they are doing mine.

My classroom!

The Graduates sitting in smart positions!

Srisailam, Madurai and Rameshwaram (Part 1 of the Travel)

Srisailam 


Having started from Hyderabad, the nearest location is Srisailam, at a distance of 220 kms, takes about 5 hours by bus. A good part of the journey is through the dense Nallamalla forests and there are very frequent sightings of elephants and other wild animals crossing the roads. Having booked a cottage already, I thought I wouldnt have to go through the hassle of searching, bargaining and haggling for a room. Guess what! The receptionist tells me that
a. There is no electricity and there will be no electricity for 3 more hours.
b. It is better I take another room in a private hotel because there is no water supply in the cottages.

c. When I persisted that I will take what I already paid for, I should search for the cottage in the night (without street lights) which is about a km away from the reception!

So much for advance booking on the internet (The cottages are run and maintained by the temple trust)

I somehow caught hold of a guard, requested him to fill water in the bathrooms and was finally at peace an hour later (Determined not to spend extravagantly on double hotel rooms!! String shoe budget, you see).

After a full 'Andhra' meal and a good night's rest, I was ready to visit the temple early next morning. The Suprabhata Seva (where the diety is awakened with Vedic hymns and sounds of the Drums), performed by a set of pandits is a soul filling sight. The very friendly elderly man standing next to me explained all the activities that were taking place in the temple, showed me around the temple and left. He apparently comes one day every year to feed poor people in the temple town.

It is believed that Lord Shiva's Bull performed penance here and the  deities appeared in the form of Mallikharjuna and Bhramaramba. A massive fort, with six meter high walls encloses the temple. A cluster of minor shrines within the temple compound include the Sahasra Linga (believed to be installed by Lord Rama), Panchapandava temples (by the Pandavas). 

The main lane leading to the entrance of the temple is full of religious memorabilia and souvenirs if you are interested. I got lost for a good 2 hours before I pulled myself out to visit the Patala Ganga (River Krishna) and left back to Hyderabad.

You may find this useful:

Even the locals recommend the Suprabhata Seva which takes place at 5:00 AM every morning. Limited Tickets (10) are given starting 4:15 AM on the same day. It is a very wonderful sight where you can see everything from close proximity to the Sanctum Sanctorum (which is a rarity in temples these days).

This temple allows for people from all castes, creeds and sects to come and touch the presiding diety.

The Akkama Caves are a 5 hour trip from the town in a boat. Do make time for that too. (I couldnt, due to paucity of time)

Madurai

Madurai does not have a jyotirlinga. While my next stop was supposed to be Rameswaram, the trains dint connect well and so I thought of getting down at Madurai, the town of the ancient temple of Meenakshi Amman  and the modern temple of Aravind Eye Care!

Rings to a couple of places told me I had a place available! Madurai it is!

The Southern Gopuram, Meenakshi Temple, Madurai

I've been to Madurai earlier. But the sheer magnificence of the town and the temple manages to blow me away every single time.The precision of sculptures, the range of emotions displayed, the myriad colors, the stories they depict and the dancing stances are all supremely inspiring. 

One of the sculptured pillars in the Thousand Pillared Temple

The temple complex has been built over 2 millenia and evokes awe and admiration from the general masses to the seasoned historian.

Temple Entrance

And now, for the lunch! I ve heard so much about Amma Mess in Madurai and was about to try it out! All with glee, I went in and ordered Chicken Biryani and Chicken Omellette, the only sane looking items there. (Rabbit Biryani and Mutton Balls were not for me!) Very tasty and worth the adulation! You should also try the sweet pan just outside the mess. I swear there were the typical Chennai spices that went into the sweet paan!

After a nice afternoon's rest on a heavy belly, I wanted to explore the city. (This is the interiors of Tamil Nadu, mind you) I got onto a bus, forgot the destination's name and managed to confuse the driver. After a half hour, I got down, wandered around. That is the best part of travelling alone. The city reveals itself to you, bit by bit, as and when you are ready for it. Explored the main part of the town for half an hour and again got into the temple in hope of some nice photographs.

What I liked:

1. Getting lost inside the temple premises. Gazing at the roof paintings or the stone scultpures is in itself a very interesting activity.
2. Amma Mess and Ananda Bhavan for food. Reasonable and very tasty.
3. The very kind and helpful receptionist at the hotel (Hotel TamilNadu)

Rameshwaram

Walking on the beach, staring at the setting Sun, Lost in thought, sitting in front of the longest temple corridor in the world, Mind blowing fliter coffee.These are some of the best times Ive had at Rameswaram.

The World's Longest Pillared Corridor, Rameshwaram

After saying bye to the wonderful helpful receptionist who patiently gave me all the directions, I was on my way to Rameswaram. 

A sleepy little temple town and a fisherman's village, it is about 4 hours away from Madurai by bus. It is on the final stretch of this journey that we get to see the famous Adam's Bridge or Ram Sethu. The powerful stench of fish was all pervading. Checking in at the hotel at 2:00 PM when everything including the temple were closed, having nothing better to do, I was walking along the beach, when I found this spot, which to me signified, in one scene, the shore temple of Rameswaram. Just sitting there was marvellous.

The Significance of the Shore temple couldn't have been better!

It was time to go to the temple. The temple corridor looked never ending. A wide pathway, with immaculately done roof paintings of Gods and Goddesses, the corridor surrounds the main shrine. A 4000 feet long corridor with 4000 pillars, sheer brilliance. Legend has it that Lord Rama built a Linga of sand and asked for its blessings before he went on the infamous war with Ravana.

After the temple, I wanted to walk around and explore a little more of the town. So I caught hold of a sign board which was pointing to the temple of Rmar Padam(Literally, Rama's feet). What struck me was how different is the main street from the rest of the city. It was like the difference between  bride on her marriage day and when she gets out of the bed on a normal day.

Travelling alone, I find, has many advantages. It allows you to be with yourself. Go wherever you want to go. Do whatever you want to do. See whatever you want to see. Except that you get a WTF stare from the hotel receptionist when you are forced to tell her that You are the only one staying, and no, No one will be coming to visit you!

Understanding faith

Last time I wrote a blog about my travel experience, it was so long, even I dint read it after publishing it.  And so, I thought, Ill break it up into smaller proportions so you (and more importantly I) can chew them at ease!

Honestly, Ive never been much of a spiritualist. Infact, Ive spent 4-6 years of my adolescent life convincing myself that I was an atheist (atheist is cool, no?). Spirituality and religion are mysteries former best left to mystics and latter best taken away from politicians. But, there was something else I was drawn to. Faith.
I was intrigued by how can we place our life's path, progress and destiny on an entity so withdrawn from our sphere of control?

This is definitely not an answer that I expected to find in just a whirlwind trip to 12 chosen sacred places in some 24 days. But you need to start somewhere. May be I wont find the answer in this life time. Just a tiny perspective may be.

So that was why I chose to travel the 12 Jyotirlingas in India. The dwadasa (12) jyotirlingas in India are shrines dedicated to one of the main Gods of Hindu trinity, who is worshiped in the form of a phallus. (Why we seek to worship the destroyer of the world and not the creator, and why in the form of a phallus are questions that reveal the humility of the Hindu religion. More about them later). These shrines are counted as the holiest of the temples since times immemorial in the Indian system of beliefs.

While faith was the inspiration for my trip, I wanted to have as much fun as I could. Trying out as many road side eateries as I could, getting lost in the galis of the new cities with my ipod, making friends at the chai shop, learning about their lives, discovering precious tidbits of information from the helpful kaka at the corner shop about where to get the best stuff were some of the best moments. At one point, I was wondering why cant we collect all these amazing food stalls, beautiful horizons, astounding man made wonders and above all the huge hearted people and just keep them next to your home and your work place? But then again, there wont be the joy of travelling and discovering I guess!

However, I am documenting my travel in 4 pieces. (According to ease of travel and geographical proximity)
The first one covers Srisailam, Madurai and Rameshwaram.
The second one covers Trimbakeshwar, Bhimashanker and Grushneshwar in Maharashtra.
The third one is about Somnath, Nageshwar and Gir forest.
The fourth one is dedicated to Varanasi.

Lets see how it goes!

A week in Bangalore

If the Jagriti Yatra is any indication of the kind of experience that I will be having during my next 3 months of travelling, I am more than ready!

Between the Yatra and the Jyotirlinga trip, I had close to 15 days on my hand. Bored sitting at home as usual, I was browsing lazily when I suddenly hit upon a workshop on story telling. And it was in Bangalore! my favorite city! Packed my bags and I was off in a jiffy!

And now, I started to get jittery. What if the course was not as good as they said it would be? What am I doing in the middle of nowhere when all the people I know are going to offices and working? Why am I taking up a course on Story telling?  I had no idea what to expect from it and what I would take away.

All my inhibitions were shattered right from Day 1 !
We were a right sized group of 20 members, some of them really wonderful from a professional story teller from Germany to a very energetic grandmother who wanted to learn so she could tell stories to her grandchildren.

The whole session of 5 hours was like your favorite teacher's class where you just don't know how time passes away and don't want it to end. Stories to drawings, exercises to breathing techniques, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves while learning how to perfect the art of story telling. We had to present our own stories on the final day and that will be something that will stay with me for a long time to come. May be it is these experiences that change us and inspire us to push ourselves further.

Nupur, a visually challenged participant, told the story of the tiger, using picture cards that she got prepared by her husband. (It was hard to believe that she could not see the pictures which she was showing us. The synchronization was so perfect!). Ameen Haque's perfect depiction of the story on 'Why the wind blows' made sure I remember the giant Garuda flapping his wings looking for the chocolate whenever I feel the wind in my face. Yamini's story of the jelly fish was totally theatre like and I can still visualize the father calling out to her daughter on the wild seas.

All I can say is, thanks to all the wonderful people who participated. I learnt a lot from you. Hopefully, I will be able to interest my kids to come back to school and ignite the passion towards education in them.

And, this trip to bangalore was special in more ways. Here is why!

Rukmini Vijaykumar, is someone I admire in the true spirit of the word. Her dances are truly mesmerizing and she brings in a freshness and vigor in her performance strictly, in the realms of classical dance. Ever since 2008, I have been waiting to see her perform live, and got the opportunity after 4 long years. Not wasting a chance, I ran up and asked for an autograph. (I never do these things. In fact this was my first time!). And boy! the 4 long years of wait for the performance was definitely worth it. Those expressions, those dances, the vigour and the confidence. No match at all! (Atleast among her contemporary females)

Chicken biryani and Death by Chocolate later, I was on my bus back to Hyderabad. Happy heart and full belly! :)

Special Credits: Pavan Kumar Reddy for the wonderful host that he is! :)

A 15 day piligrimage of awakening.

Knowing that you are going to spend the next 15 days on a train traveling all across India in the chilly winters of December was both exciting and nervous. This was the first of my 'journey through myself' trips and I wanted it to go well. And boy! Overwhelming was an understatement. The sheer energy, the diversity of the group, the achievements of the yatris and their outlook towards challenges, it was beautiful.

Since I dont want to be jumping points, I thought I will go day wise and how it all effected me.

Day 1 - Nervous, Excited, and eager to make friends!

I went to the IIT Campus, early in the morning at 8:00 AM. The introvert in me was searching for a known face amongst the crowd. None. I sighed. Big deal, I came here to make friends. Went and stood in the line at the registrations. Well, no one knows anyone here! and so, I slowly started making friends. Over the course of breakfast and lunch, we gathered into groups and started knowing more about each other  It was lovely how every person, on his journey in life, was on the yatra in the quest to know something more. Post lunch and some speeches, we were all ready to sway to the tune of the famous Jagriti Geet. Penned down by Prasoon Joshi, it would be the one lasting memory on every yatris mind after the yatra.  After mind blowing musical evening  we were all ready to leave for our train. It was Christmas eve, and we found ourselves on the platform waiting for the train. We immediately got on the train, found our compartments and groups. It was time to sleep. Were we ready for the journey!

Day 2: A Day in the Train

"Attention Yatris, this is your wake up call." blared Vibha's voice across the speakers. A maternal voice, caring and compassionate, which we would come to like and get used to, over the next 15 days. Now, came the best part. The ablutions on a moving train. The bathrooms were an innovation in itself. The general compartment, divided into small cubicles, with an aluminum bucket in the middle, with pipes draining away the water was awe inspiring! Here is a neat description of the whole thing!

                                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF6ktsl8AIs

We had the next day completely to ourselves. We were recommended this "Lifeline exercise" where we had to introduce our life till now as a graph, the events and the highs and lows to all the group members. We had 20 people sitting uncomfortably in one compartment (usually made for 8 people) and believe you me, everyone was listening with rapt attention, amidst the din of the rails, the blaring speakers and the noise of the caterers. For me personally, this was one of those revealing moments on the journey. Each of my group mate invariably had an awe inspiring tale to tell. From being so passionate about being educated that he dint mind putting himself through physical labor, throwing away a powerful career to start something meaningful with the under privileged, a fashion designer whose skills should be seen to believe amongst others, it was a one in a life time opportunity to be with that group.

Abhijit giving us a glimpse of his life!

 Day 3: Selco, Hubli

Our first stop was at Hubli, a town in the southern state of Karnataka. We were visiting SELCO, an organisation with a business mind and a social heart that went out to the poor. While electricity and running water are the primary problems a village faces, SELCO has looked at solving the former. SELCO sets up solar panels in houses across rural Karnataka, and also trains the people. It is a complete business model that can be replicated. We went to a village and saw the solar panels, interacted with the rural folk and came back.

A picture truly speaks a thousand words!

What I liked: 

1.My first full fledged breakfast on the platform (of the many more to come!)

2. Interacting with the villagers

3. Discovering Ghana's amazing painting abilities! (They are legendary)

4. The cute lady explaining about the Solar panels ;-) (Cud'nt take my eyes off her!)

5. Eating sugarcane in the village (lived the bolly movie scene of a village)

Day 3 

Day 4: Infosys Bangalore

The legendary entreprenuer who started off one of the world's finest organizations by pledging his wife's jewelery, the one and only Mr. Narayanamurthy was addressing us on Day 4. We found ourselves in Infosys staring at the beautiful campus, proud that it was nurtured by someone as Indian as any of us could get.  The simplicity of the man shined as a jewel on the backdrop of the magnificent Infosys campus. 

Another thing I still remember about that day was proudly explaining about the Indian Gods to Leigh and Henry from South Africa, out international participants. I was internally feeling very proud of the amazing culture and the stories behind our Gods, be it the 'elephant' God, the 'monkey' God or the 'richest' God. (They were all in a photo frame in the bus we were going in). It was one of our group mates birthday and her parents graciously brought all of us cake and eatables! Birthday bumps, smearing the cake, and group photos right on the platform were the best! Relived college once again :)

What I liked: 

1. Infosys campus

2. Sneaking out to meet my friends from DA-IICT

3. Narayanamurthy' s modesty and humility

4. All of us celebrating Ghana's birthday on the railway station (Her parents got us awesome cake and banana chips!)

What I dint: 

1. Some random lady coming up on the stage to bore us to death for 1 hour in the auditorium telling us why she and only she should be the mentor for all our start ups! (Ridiculously disgusting)

Day 4 - A day of inspiration, fun and celebrations!

Day 5: Aravind Eye Care

Any one and everyone who did something an 'MBA' must have heard of the fabled "Aravind Eye Care". Its operational excellency is inspired by the McDonald's, while it's organizational excellency is inspired by the 2000 year old Meenakshi Amman temple in the same city. We were inspired by the man who started it all. Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy, with deformed hands and on the wrong side of age at 58, started, what went on to become a role model ,a model to be copied by the best hospitals in the west and a Harvard Case Study.

"Intelligence and capability are not enough. There must also be the joy of doing something beautiful." read the backdrop on the stage. The energy of the staff, humility of the doctors when they said "We can do only so much. He takes care of the rest", the ambiance of the temple town, and the beautiful simplicity of the business model, blew me away.

What I liked: 

1. Finally meeting THE Aravind Eye Care, a case study of almost all B schools!

2. Playing dumbsharads on the platform

3. Took some really cool pics!

Day 6: Travel Another India

Gouthami, the founder of Travel Another India, I felt was one of those powerhouses, who come in small packages! Soft spoken, sharp wit and nice humour. While everyone of the successful start up guys took that invariable jab at their mothers/wives/leech-like-relatives for trying to bring them down, she was the only one who acknowledged the inhuman sacrifices and torture we expect them to go through. I thought, at the end of the day, they are also a product of this society and are not crazy and stupid like us entrepreneurs. Is it justified to ask so much of them?  Its only their love for us that allows them to do all that and more. However Travel Another India looks at tourism as a path to rural self development, and I plan to visit some of their villages and tourist places soon!

Jess's another master piece!

Day 7: Naandi foundation

Finally! I was proud I was coming to Andhra, my state. The lush greenery of the coastal region replete with coconut grooves along the railway line was a sight straight out of a Tollywood rural song. The sight at the Vizag railway station also was a sight to behold.  Naandi is a fast growing social organization working in areas where public private partnerships are possible as a means of sustainable and affordable solutions to problems plaguing our country from times immemorial. While they work in different sectors, their partnership with the Government in the area of Mid day meal programs makes them famous and happening. Housing the world's largest kitchen, Naandi provides hot meals to lakhs of mal nourished children, serving as a successful idea to pull kids towards education. 

A tour of the kitchen and Leena's patient answering of all our questions later, we went to the Naval Dockyard at Vizag. Though a hurried trip, it was quite an experience watching all the ships and submarines. Puffed Chests and broad smiles, all of us, thanks to the relentless risks taken by our jawans!

What I liked:

1. The climate of Vizag and scenes of Coastal Andhra

2. The visit to the Naval Dockyard

Day 8: Gram Vikas

Remember Suriya/Ajay Devgn in Yuva? Exactly the same image came to my mind when I heard Gram Vikas's Joe Madiath talking about the rebel and revolutionary that he was in his college days. An angry 21 year old Marxist back in Anna University, Joe's life changed when he spearheaded a team of volunteers working for Cyclone relief in Orissa. He made Orissa his home town, and made his work legendary. The booklet by Jagriti Yatra attributes Howard Roark's almost unachievable traits to this man. And why not? His work starts in a village only if ALL the members of the village pledge to participate and contribute to the labor and resources. Making that work in a Caste ridden India, and how! Take a bow Howard Roark. Oops, Joe Madiath.

Joe and Gram Vikas, worked relentlessly and  ensured that bio gas, sanitation and education to the interiors of Orissa which are some of the most backward areas of India

I had some of the best times that day. We went to visit a tribal school started by the organization and started interacting with the kids. The only method I know to break ice with the kids is to break into an impromptu dance! Once our small group started it, practically the entire school was dancing, singing and playing. Nothing like the love and warmth from a kid!

What I liked: 

1. Dancing with the Tribal kids, without a care in the world. 

2. The lovely shots I took in the village. 

3. The absolute privilege of knowing Joe Madiath. Before him, I thought Howard Roark existed only in Fountainhead.

Day 9: Nidan.

Globalization and liberalization brought us our McDs and CCDs. What about the workers who work as servers in there? We have our trade unions protecting the rights of the employees. What about the rag pickers and Street vendors? I atleast, never gave a deep enough thought into it. Nidan, on the other hand, works with a single focus of providing empowerment to poor and marginalized sections of the society. 

Our group went to one particular centre of Nidan where youth from the slums are given training to be employable at entry level positions in various organizations. Be it the server at CCD, a data entry operator or the help desk boy in the posh mall giving you directions. They are trained in here. One thing common amongst the students here is a new found confidence and belief in their ability. It was enormously gratifying. 

This is an example about the students we were interacting with, when asked  what they felt about being in the organization. One woman raised her hand, stood up, took off her veil and said, "Aaj mein apni pairo pe khada hu." (Today, I am independent and can stand on my own two feet). She easily multitasks household chores, classes and manages send her two kids to the new convent school. She was illiterate earlier and her kids never went to school.

What I liked: 

1. The amazingly genuine smiles of the students at Nidan.

2. The fact that after we exchanged phone numbers with the students there, one of them actually called us to ask about us!

3. The crowded streets of Patna

4. Stealing ourselves out of the lecture to scout for jalebis and ending up with chai, and some nice chocolates! (That was the first outside food we had in 9 days! ; pat on the back)

Day 10: Barpar

Ever had a band coming to receive you at the station, danced without abandon on a platform, got your portrait made, slept in the village government school, clubbed in a village, saw authentic UP ka dance on UP's dhol sound, all in the same day? Lucky me! :)

Day 10 was when we were put up at Barpar village in Deoria and we were supposed to come up with a working sustainable business model for the villlage. Never mind the Biz Gyan part... The other stuff was more interesting. One of the board members, Shashank Mani had us put up in his village for the night.

As the train chugged into Deoria, there was a band waiting to welcome all the Yatris. And we, with all our energy jumped at the opportunity and danced for a good one hour in the station! After being taken to Deoria, we were served sumptous food. We poured our brains on coming up with a sustainable business model for the village. And later, a beautiful cultural evening organized for us. It was a village folk art where men danced to the sound of ghungroos tied to their feet. Considering that they were drunk to the limits, they were amazingly well tuned with the music and were able to balance pots of fire on their heads for considerably long periods of time!

And later, we had the whole stage to ourselves! Bidi Jalaile to Jai ho to Rubaroo, we brought the skies down!

And yea, sleeping the in village school in near freezing temperatures was another amazing thing.

What I liked: 

1. The band that came to receive us

2. Ghana making a portrait of me!!! (Ghana, I dint get the original yet! x-(  )

3. The mad, crazy and wonderfully weird folk dancers

4. Sleeping in the village school at freezing temperatures

Day 11: 

We spent the first half of the day exploring the village and clicking away to glory. Went and saw the banyan tree which gave Jagriti Yatra its logo. 

Day 12: Goonj

Goonj and Anshu Gupta, for me, were the most hard hitting facts of the Yatra without a doubt. His explanation on why he is doing what he is doing, left even the stone hearted amongst us gasping for breath in a bid to control our tears.

Anshu Gupta was inspired to look at clothing as tool to living with dignity after he heard a girl child narrate to him that "she prefers sleeping curled up between the dead bodies because they don't disturb her." She went on to say, "her father can't afford sheets to battle the winter cold". (The girl's father collects unclaimed dead bodies and takes them to the Government hospital for a decent cremation.) And Goonj is a valiant and successful attempt at giving that inspiration, wings to make a change. Goonj has organized an effective distribution channel for disposing off reusable material lying in urban, well-off households (with a enormous focus on clothing). Through shifting surplus urban resources to some of the poverty-stricken rural areas, Anshu is making a difference in the lives of thousands who lack the basic resources needed for survival. 

The underprivileged are provided these materials in return for the collective labor and resources that they pool and employ in order to develop their village. 

What I liked: 

1. Anshu Gupta's talk on poverty in India

2. Amazing indigenous fashion sense of transforming a torn jeans into a handbag worthy of a fashion week ramp

3. How Goonj is trying to solve the problem of hygienic sanitary pads amongst rural and urban poor women.

Day 13: Tiloniya

All 450 of us knew that the end is nearing. And no one wanted it to end. The experience was just getting better and better. Next in line was the famed Barefoot College by Bunker Roy! I've heard legends of illiterate women performing root canal treatments here!

Tiloniya was another village which gave us the band baaja welcome, and this time, along with the Rajasthani puppets! And not to forget the most amazing and overwhelming welcome in the whole of the yatra! All the children of the school stood in rows of two to greet us in the traditional "Namaste" for a length of about 200 metres. Truly humbling. 

Now it was time to meet the Barefoot prefessionals of Tiloniya.

Barefoot college is an extraordinary "College for the poor" where no certificates or degrees are awarded, and dignity of labour is of utmost importance. This college aims to teach the rural men and women many of them illiterate -- to become solar engineers, artisans, dentists and doctors in their own villages. Majority of the time, it is the grandmothers and mothers who are taught, so that the newly trained professionals don't leave the village in search of newer avenues, but stay back and work towards the uplift of the society.

We met the dentists whom I read about! True to my imaginations, the women in their 50s, 'literate' only till fourth, are uninhibited, outspoken, strong women, completely competent in root canal treatments, dental treatments and the like. Inspiring!

Bhawri and Kesar - The Dentists at Barefoot College

 What I liked: 

1. The puppet and band welcome at the station

2. The school kids standing in a row to greet us was simply touching

3. The philosophy of Barefoot college which turns traditional education on its head, bringing out semi literate and illiterate dentists, solar engineers and the likes.

Day 14: Sabarmati Ashram and SEWA

The last day of our trips. Sabarmati Ashram was the perfect climax to this great adventure. Being a part of the all religion prayer by 30 ladies right in front of Hriday Kunj, the residence of Gandhiji  in Sabarmati Ashram, with the river flowing at the back, birds chirping at the distance was simply out of the world. Vaishnav Janato and Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram followed.

All religion prayer - Primary Teacher training girls, Sabarmati Ashram.

Before coming to the yatra, I heard about Jayesh Bhai, the staunch Gandhian, who legend has it, that once went about arranging the footwear that children who came into the ashram left haphazardly into neat rows. For a week! The children automatically started leaving their footwear in rows; He lived Gandhi's principle to the tee -Be the change you want to see
He took us around the ashram explaining the intricate set of beliefs the ashram and the organization runs on.

We were shown glimpses from the Mallika Sarabhai choreographed "Ekatva", a dance about unity by 13 slum children. Blown away, again!
Before leaving the ashram for the final leg of the journey, I had the pleasure of meeting Siddharth Sthalekar, an IIM A almnus, who runs the SEWA cafe.

Seva Café in their own words, is an experiment in the shared joy that comes from humble giving and selfless service. Their wholesome meals are cooked and served with love by volunteers and offered to guests as a genuine gift, paid for in full by previous guests.

The journey that 450 of us undertook together suddenly came to a halt. The auditorium where the Valedictory event was supposed to be held filled with some deep emotions and passionate hugs. Speeches and talks later, we did the Jagriti Geet one final time! 

What I liked:

1. The emotions of the Final day

2. The all religion prayer meet (A must thing to experience before you die)

3. Sneaking out to have Jai Bhawani Vada Pav at Municipal Market (A indulgence of college days, relived! Thanks Nancy!)

4. The dance of Ekatva

5. Jagriti Geet, one final time.

The train commenced its journey back to its starting point Mumbai. The Sun rose, the train chugged into Mumbai, and it was Alvida time. As the train rounded the entire country, each one of us had our own silent moments, moments of low, moments of high, moments when we were moved to tears, moments which made us angry at the plight of our country, and definitely, moments when we puffed with pride as we saw the role models, both outside the train and inside. All of which, built up together, helped us cross that small distance in our own journeys of life, I hope. 

The beautiful moments and things that will stay with me forever:

1. The awesomest food! (Caterers, take a bow for the slurpy food and the evergreen smiles)

2. Close to 100 people waiting for security check to be cleared at Infosys so we could find a loo in the campus to relieve ourselves (me included!)

3. The Jagriti Geet

4. Vibha's resounding "Dear Yatris, it is time to wake up"

5. The makeshift bathrooms, where we had bath in freezing waters.

6. Group J&K, you rock! Its a pleasure to have met you. ( A special mention to Garima Gupta Kapila and Hemanta Mahapatra, inspirations in their own rights.)

7.  The all religion prayer at Sabarmati Ashram

8. Each and every role model who made me feel proud of the fact that I was born in the same soil as they are!

Train Train come again, Little Yatri wants to sing, "Yaaron Chalo!"