I sit in front of my computer thinking where do I start..I plan to write about my experiences during Tata Jagriti Yatra..or should I say my thoughts about yatra..
I came to know about Tata Jagriti Yatra..if I remember correctly..on 21th Dec 2008..just 3 days before the journey was actually going to start..saw an ad in the newspaper..got so very excited and started thinking of ways to make it to yatra in those short 3 days..and in those 3 days I wanted to write the application, get it screened by the selection panel, actually get selected, book my tickets to Mumbai and actually reach Mumbai ( which is 24 hours journey from my place). Well, that was so stupid of me thinking all this because it was so totally unrealistic..but I must tell you one thing TJY deserves this. I kept following it for one whole year..signed up for it's newsletter...kept browsing through it's site..reading blogs and articles which got me excited even more..finally one day I come to know that registrations are open..and I fill in the application..taking my own time...and now I wait for their mail..everyday that I open my inbox I expect a mail from Tata Jgriti Yatra and finally it arrives on 19th Nov, 2009 saying "application approved! fill the financial detail form" and now I see I'll have to fill a form to get sponsorship of 32000..I leave it for the night and set out to give the news and share my joy with others..I fill the form at night..and the next morning I see a mail saying I'm sponsored and I start packing my bags :)
18 days on a train..with around 400 people who think like me!..travelling around 9300 km across India (around 12000 in my case)..all these thoughts start to occupy me all the time..and guess what I'm writing my exams..how? spending half of the preparation time interacting with other yatris on facebook or reading about yatra or just day dreaming about it and dear! result is still awaited :D
Well, the wait felt to be longer with each day passing by..shopping, studies, excitement, ma pa's worries! phew! poor me! had to manage all of it simultaneously :D and I set out for the journey which begins a little dramatically for me as till the last moment I was either booking or cancelling tickets...now a sensible person who wants to travel from lucknow to mumbai would simply go to Indian Railways site and book a ticket in any of the trains which goes to the destination..hey but wait did I mention that that sensible person doesnot have to be a lady...because if you are a girl and you are travelling for the first time to Mumbai( I mean a city like Mumbai!), with luggage to suffice for 18 days with you..you should make sure that any of your well wisher is there to receive you or go with someone..so showing all sensibility in this case I opted for the second option and decided to go with another yatri via delhi...now again a sensible person (no gender discrimination here :D) would go directly from lucknow to delhi but I travel from lucknow to kanpur to board the train which will take me to delhi to board the train which will take me to Mumbai..confused? You have every right to be :D..but don't ask me the reason because ..because I'm sure that'll not interest you at all.
21st Dec 2009 - I'm at Lucknow station with pa with little excitement and more anxiety because I don't know how I'm going to go to Kanpur...the train's departure from there is scheduled at 11:45 so I have to be there at 11 anyhow...I take the first train..and there I am at Kanpur station at around 8:30 pm...more than 3 hours at my disposal...what to do..I choose to sit at the platform...trains come and go...people get off and board the train and I sit there during one of the December winter nights at the platform..thinking how it's going to be on "our" train..every single thought is so pleasing that I start smiling..suddenly coming back to reality and realizing presence of those around me, I try to hide my smile anyway I can...and then I decide not to go back to the dreamland and to stick my mind to the things around...few seconds later I see a boy aged hardly 7-8 years holding a big packet, running to and fro on the platform in speed and shouting in a low pitch "cigarette, cigarette, cigarette.." and I see a man eating peanuts and throwing peelings on the platform when the dustbin was just next to him...I smile and get lost in thoughts again..can't help it! :)
