“For me the Journey continues…
I still feel somewhere deep inside my heart, that some part of my soul is still in that train, in the bathrooms, in those laughs with friends…hoping to reliving the experience, making friends from all across India ...hoping to have that kind of fun again and hoping to be yatri again...!
Yes, these were the words I said exactly one year before; these were the wishes I wished for too dearly...knowing very little at that time, that my journey really continued through the year. Through ups and downs, learning my way. Implementing things…maturing and living the dream again…! Yes, the dream to reliving the experience, making friends from all across India, having the fun of a lifetime---TATA JAGRITI YATRA.
I am very much obliged and thankful to TATA group and jagriti sewa sansthan for providing me an opportunity again, to be a part of this Journey and giving me a way to explore rich diversity that we have in India.
Those, who are still uninitiated to the world of yatris, here’s a sneak peak---
The Tata Jagriti Yatra aims to promote “Enterprise led Development” by galvanizing young minds. The Yatra is a 9000 km train journey that puts 20-25 year olds in direct contact with successful entrepreneurs who have created a significant impact in their community. By showcasing these role models, the Yatra seeks to demonstrate the power of enterprise in delivering social benefit, employment creation and raising standards of living. Moreover, through the personal stories of these role models, the Yatra intends to inspire the next generation to take up enterprise early in their career. During the Yatra, fifteen role models were visited who were unique in their approach, targeted impact and surroundings in which they place themselves and were studied by a group of at least 20 Yatris. The group was then asked to present its findings to Yatris in the train followed by a critique by the audience. Based on this critique and the experiences of other role models visited, the groups captured their observations.
Mumbai was the fist energetic place which kickstarted the journey in more ways than one. First glimpse of freshers, first station for waiting (amongst many), and first meeting with (whole new lot of) 400 yatris and then my core group from the Tata Jagriti Yatra team! Unlike last year, where I enjoyed every bit of being a yatri, being a participant; this year, I was going to work as a media co-coordinator with Partha Srinivasan; who was managing media on train. My brand new experience in media!! Thinking of that made my heart pump blood double the normal rate. After lunch came my first ever work assignment-preparing press kits. 1…2…3…150. *phew*. It took me three and half hours to prepare those 150 press kits and finally I took a break. Thought work was easy…
Ravindra natya mandir was the place where we gathered this time for the registration and induction programme, unlike last year’s IIT powai campus; that would be felt for some time to come. Since then it has been rather interactive with the real India – the wind, the nature, the people, the dust, the uncertainties of rain, and the variation in food provided on board, and the train rattling through various locations ascertained that this is in fact what real India is all about. The reality of Middle India!! From the tribal hinterland of Orissa to the desert town of Tiloniya; from the beautiful backwaters of Kerala, to Delhi, we had it all.
My work on board was better off, I was delegated for calling the local newspaper and electronic media people, tell them the details about TJY, hold a press conference with them the next day, when we reached the venue; i.e. our next destination enroute. It was fun. new experiences. sometimes down south language was a hurdle. But nevertheless, we communicated. Few yatris who knew Tamil, Malayalam were called to do the talking. Sometimes, I managed in Hindi, English n a bit of broken Tamil, Telegu words which I had learnt till then. Apart from this, I used to manage the breed, tell them their dos and don’ts (sometimes had to bully!!) Make announcements, arrange the presentations, look after dinner setups if we were having a buffet on platform etc. And many a times used to enjoy attention as well! (common, people used to call me ma’am!!!) It has been rightly described in this poem that when you set out on a travel, be prepared to face the unexpected.
When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
Pray that the road is long,
Full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
The angry Poseidon—does not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
If your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
Emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
The fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
If you do not carry them within your soul,
If your soul does not set them up before you.
Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
And to anchor at the island when you are old,
Rich with all you have gained on the way,
Not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.
Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience.
About the Role Models
1. Dabbawallas
Manish Tripathi was energetic and provided the right fuel for the yatris to start thinking in terms of entrepreneurship! And he was loved by all. No exception!! His story is quite real and very doable. The Mumbai Dabbawallas address the basic need of providing healthy home cooked food to office going population of Mumbai, in the process uplifting the Maratha community through employment generation.
With an average academic qualification of 8th grade and whooping 85% of them being
Illiterate, they make 4, 00,000 transactions every single day with only 1 error per 1.6
Million transactions and are Six Sigma and ISO 9001 certified.
2. Techno Park
G. Vijayaraghavan, best known for starting Techno Park, India’s first IT Park, is a man who believes in action. He worked at C-DAC, Pune before conceptualizing the novel idea of setting up an IT park. His humility helps him to learn from everyone, starting from a common man to a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Hence as an entrepreneur his advice to all of us is, “Whatever you want to do, do it fast.”
3. Braille without Borders
Sabriye, blind and from Germany, went to Tibet after hearing of the terrible
Circumstances in which visually challenged children lived. Sabriye felt stifled by the
Constraints on the visually-impaired in Germany and decided to work with others who
Were facing the same pressures but under much more extreme conditions. While
Germany did not encourage blind children to explore their capabilities, there was not
even Braille in Tibet. Sabriye met Paul while in Tibet. They became “dream partners” who together created Braille without Borders and IISE.
4. Aravind Eye Care
Aravind Eye Care was the brainchild of Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy, popularly known as Dr. V, who had served as a commissioner in the Medical Corps of the Indian Army and later as the dean of the Madurai Medical College. It started off as an eleven bed hospital in 1976 that would grow to become one of the largest eye-care institutes in the world. In the due course of development, it has developed everything from cheap intra ocular lenses to a 20 minute-long cataract surgery that allows for a higher volume of surgeries at a lower cost.
5. Kuthambakkam village
Kuthambakkam village is an agricultural village located in Poonamallee Union,
Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu. The village, not very distinctive geographically from the millions of villages across the country boasts of this strong social enterprise pioneered by the mammoth efforts of Mr. Elango. It’s a village where a Brahmin lives side by side with a Dalit and where the children of each caste mix freely with each other. This is a village where a woman need not worry about domestic abuse or live through the hardships that go in hand with poverty. R. Elango’s model is now being replicated in
villages across the country to create a culture of equality and sustainability across the
country.
6. Agastya International Foundation
Agastya International Foundation is an initiative that incorporates fun learning alongside conventional science methods. The focus is on sparking curiosity among students through Innovative Science Education. Agastya was started by Ramji Raghavan, a banker practicing in London, who realized that there was a huge gap in science education between rural and urban children. The organization strives to provide practical science education to rural children through interesting experiments that make learning fun and easy to understand.
7. Industree Crafts Private Limited (ICPL)
Industree Crafts Private Limited (ICPL) is a Bangalore based social enterprise working with more than 3000 rural artisans. Industree through its Mother Earth retail stores is a one stop shop in the domain of fashion, food and home. Industree works to establish a link between artisans and market. Industree was established by Neelam Chibber, Poonam Kasturi and Gita Ram in 1994. It was completely a for profit venture then. In the year 2001 a non-profit wing Industree Crafts Foundation (ICF) was established.
8. Naandi Foundation.
Naandi Foundation is a non-profit social organization whose primary objective is to eradicate poverty. To achieve this, the foundation works on several critical themes
Including the creation of sustainable livelihoods, education, mid-day meals, safe drinking water and social research.
9. Gram Vikas
A group of students from Madras University formed Young Students Movement for Development (YSMD) to work for the underprivileged. In 1971, 400 student volunteers led by Joe Madiath set up relief camps for the refugees that came to India during independence of Bangladesh. After six months, on 30th October, 1971, a cyclone hit the coastal regions of Orissa. Over 40 volunteers led by Joe Madiath went to Orissa to work in the affected areas. This was the beginning of Joe Madiath’s journey of relief in Orissa. Later, Joe Madiath and his group were invited by the District collector of Ganjam to set up a dairy co-operative for the adivasis of the Kerandimal region. The Behrampur milk producer’s cooperative offered them land to set up the dairy. Joe later stayed in Orissa and worked on lot of areas to provide relief and help to the needy people of the Orissa.
10. Tata Steel
The story of Tata Steel Company is a one that traverses beyond business plans, financial acumen and marketing prowess. It is a story about a man who taught the world the art of conducting Business with Conscience. A man who believed that it is not the size of a man in fight that matters, but the size of the fight in the man. The story of the man called Jamshetji Tata.
11. Goonj
During a fierce winter, a wander through old Delhi catalyzed the formation of Goonj. Journalist, humanitarian, and most importantly, compassionate citizen, Anshu Gupta, was deeply disturbed when seeing that many people died because lack of proper clothing led to hypothermia. Anshu learned that one man worked to collect the
Unclaimed dead bodies found in the streets. He also found that the man's daughter slept
With corpses just to keep their own small bodies warm. Leaving his corporate life, he
Found the Goonj movement in 1998.
12. Barefoot college
Bunker Roy was born in West Bengal and completed his schooling from elite Doon School in Dehradun and graduated in English majors from St. Stephens College, Delhi. It was after serving as a volunteer in drought-stricken Bihar that he realized the pain of rural India and made up his mind to initiate activities for social development He initiated the process by working as an unskilled laborer in the district of Ajmer. The person who taught him the work was from Tiloniya, who convinced him to direct his social efforts for the development of Tiloniya. The world started recognizing his efforts and he went on to win the Arab Gulf Fund for United Nations
(AGFUND) Award for promoting Volunteerism, World Technology Award for Social
Entrepreneurship, Schwab foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, NASDAQ Stock
Market Education Award and Tyler prize. Bunker Roy believed that rural India has lot of
Potential as it is a huge repository of raw materials. What is required is an enabling
Environment and investments to help them discover the latent talent and skill they
already possess.
13. Okhai
Okhai is a rural handicrafts development initiative spearheaded by the Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development (TCSRD) in the Okhamandal region of the Kutch district of Gujarat. It is an organization built entirely of women, who are divided into Mandals or Self Help Groups (SHGs) engaged in different aspects of traditional handicraft design, displaying a unique synthesis of rural handiwork and modern ethos in their fabrics.
14. Cape Farewell
The artist David Buckland created Cape Farewell in 2001 to instigate a cultural response to climate change. A small team works alongside partners and collaborators at the centre of an ambitious programme of activity with climate science at its core.
Cape Farewell has brought together leading artists, writers, scientists, educators and
media for a series of expeditions into the challenging High Arctic. Together they have
mapped, measured and been inspired in this environment to challenge climate change.
ROLE MODEL- NAME OF THE INSTITUTION-PLACE
MANISH TRIPATHI-DABBAWALLA SYSTEM-MUMBAI
G.VIJAYRAGHAVAN -TECHNOPARK -TRIVANDRUM
SABRIYE TENBERKEN & PAUL KRONENBERG IISE,- BRAILLE WITHOUT BORDERS -TRIVANDRUM
DR. GOVINDAPPA VENKATASWAMY -ARAVIND EYE CARE SYSTEM -MADURAI
R.ELANGO- KUTHAMBAKKAM VILLAGE- CHENNAI
RAMJI RAGHAVAN -AGASTYA INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION-BANGLORE
NEELAM CHIBBER- INDUSTREE- BANGLORE
LEENA JOSEPH- NAANDI- HYDERABAD
JOE MADIATH -GRAM VIKAS -BHUBANESHWAR
TATA STEEL -TATA STEEL -JAMSHEDPUR
JAGRITI SEWA SANSTHAN -JAGRITI SEWA SANSTHAN -DEORIA
ANSHU GUPTA -GOONJ -DELHI
BUNKER ROY -BAREFOOT COLLEGE -TILONIA
OKHAI TATA CHEMICALS LIMITED- MITHAPUR
KEY THEMES IN THE EVOLUTION OF AN ENTERPRISE
Staying on track: Enterprise begins with an unwavering singular attention to a core
objective. In due course this objective may evolve in order to satisfy related community
needs. In other cases the enterprise attempts to find multiple approaches in completely
achieving the stated objective.
Exploring uncharted territory: New perspectives, both external and internal, are born
through the exploration of uncharted territories. This exploration provides a perspective that helps in visualization of potential solutions for the community needs.
Personalization – The Internal Journey: Experiencing a need first hand helps personalize the issues and creates a sense of internal dissonance. This results in a burning desire to bring about change which serves as a motivating factor through the difficult phases of setting up an enterprise (dark nights).
Sustainable Leadership: Leaders are able to look beyond the obvious. They understand their own limitations and develop others with complementary skills to become leaders in their own capacity. A leader encourages unconditional sharing of their ideas.
Teams – The Building Blocks: Initially people are attracted to a vision that seems to
address a shared need. Teams form when specific goals are identified to satisfy the vision. This complementary, non-hierarchical group directed by a common goal becomes the fundamental unit of performance.
First Success: Original plans can go through much iteration before they crystallize into their final form. While the plans change, a resilient team takes shape, held together by the vision and their initial pains and they persevere towards a first success.
Serendipity: Serendipity is a result of connecting to people, being visible and making the work more visible. Often serendipity is a factor in turning around the fortune of an enterprise There are no predictors of Serendipity, except in all instances the role models had persisted with their ideas against severe pressure.
Breakthroughs within constraints: Initiated by constraints, innovation emerges from
searching for a solution that utilizes indigenous capabilities customized to meet specific local needs. It is typically need-driven and incremental and not necessarily transformational.
Panel Discussion-Women And Enterprises: Success And Role Models.
Venue: Kanyakumari – Vivekananda Kendra
Date: 28th December 2009
Synthesis: Historically entrepreneurship has been a male dominated pursuit, but many of today’s most inspirational entrepreneurs are women. While women’s entrepreneurship has been recognized during the last decade as an untapped source of economic growth, why is their participation low? Why is it neglected at large? How can women be incorporated in the enterprise-led development? What are the success stories out there?
Panel Discussion-Enabling Rural India To Prosperity.
Venue: Chennai
Date: 30th December, 2009
Synthesis: For time immortal, farming has remained the mainstay of livelihood in rural India. Enormous amount of effort has been devoted to increasing the farming output-whether looking for new ways to organize the farms, to generate higher yields, from the land, to increase animal productivity or reduce risks. However, globalization and liberalization combined with youth migration to cities have put renewed pressure on the viability of rural economies. There is a need to internally re-invigorate the rural economy. And to do this from within and directed towards inclusive growth.
Panel Discussion-Funding India’s Small Entrepreneurs
Venue: Hyderabad
Date: 2nd Jan, 2010
Synthesis: today India appears to be poised for phenomenal growth and the economy of India is considered as fertile ground for upcoming small entrepreneurs. How
can be capital made easily accessible to this growing band of entrepreneurs? What are the difficulties any entrepreneur face while seeking for funds? How can be it solved?
Panel Discussion-Renewable Energy: Opportunities And Challenges Venue: Jamshedpur
Date: 5th Jan, 2010
Synthesis: with climate change and market volatility of conventional sources, there seems to be tremendous interest in renewable energy and non-conventional energy generation. Where are we going with bio-fuels, solar panel efficiencies, wind and micro-hide projects to future fuels from algae and hydrogen, what opportunities and challenges lay for entrepreneurs ahead?
Panel Discussion-Entrepreneurship Education For 21st Century. Venue: Delhi
Date: 5th Jan, 2010
Synthesis: the 90s and the first decade of 2000 have seen an expansion of entrepreneurial talent in the country. But much more needs to be done to foster this. Discussion to explore what can be done by schools, parents, organizations and governments to unlock India’s entrepreneurial drive.
Panel Discussion-The Power Of One.
Venue: Mithapur
Date: 10th Jan, 2010
Synthesis: People Like Mahatma Gandhi, Kiran Bedi, Bunker Roy, E Sreedharan, Sam Pitroda, TN Seshan, and Narayanmurthy are but few of the people who had the guts and gumption to singly take on entire systems and governments to bring about positive change. Be it reforming India’s seemingly impossible election process or cleaning up the city of new Delhi. Be it sharing wealth with thousands of employees or building India’s first world class metro train system, it’s usually been a one man army. Complaining and whining about the “system” and how it can never be changed is India’s most popular spectator sport. But these few people took on impossible challenges and prove every naysayer wrong.
Kuch badal raha kuch badlenge
Tab badlega jab badlenge
Kuch dekha hai kuch dekhenge
Kuch likha hai kuch likhdenge
Yaaron chalo, badalne ki rut hai
Yaaron chalo, sawarne ki rut hai...
-Wildheartbeats
