You queue up for the registration, to get your yatra kit, for medical examination, for lunch & dinner, to get into the bus, to get off the bus, to get on the ship and blah blah blah..in short, apart from learning throughout the yatra the only other thing that we do throughout is queuing up :D and we do it quite well :D though the scene during lunch and dinner is somewhat different :D.."Paapi pet" you know..;)
So this is how the yatra starts...Ravindra Natya Mandir is the venue for the introduction program on the first day i.e. 24th Dec 2009. We reach there at around 8.30 am..and within 1-2 hour(s) we are through with the registration process that includes medical check up, collecting ID & yatra kit, signing code of conduct and...breakfast! Oh yes! that's not a part of registration process but breakfast is worth mentioning because it's yum :)
After the breakfast we The Yatris start interacting with each other...and there's a lady..an awesome guitarist and singer who performs for us a few songs and it seems like just the perfect start...soon after that we find ourselves looking for our group members (suggest you refer to my another post "Facts do matter!!!" to know how groups were formed)..and then starts the formal interaction within the group...I'm overwhelmed to know that people here are from all over the country and they are brightest of minds...
A few more introductions and we move to the hall for lunch..chit chat continues..and I feel tingling when some yatri approaches me saying.."Hey! you're that Deepika on Facebook, right?"
Post lunch we sit in a large auditorium whose temperature needs to be adjusted..it's too cold...and thus start the opening ceremony. A speech by Mr. Raghunathan, MD Tata Sons on 'not how TATAs have helped Jagriti Team' but on 'what it takes to be an entrepreneur' as he quipped, followed by speech by Mr. Shashank Mani, Director, Tata Jagirti Yatra. Then follows the symbolic flag off by Mr. Raghunathan and BoD of TJY which takes us by surprise as it is arranged in a way to give the feeling of real flag off.
We sit there with a feeling of awe when members of Jagirti Team explain about our new home for the next 18 days..our train...what numbers are the girls' bogie, what are boys', where are bathrooms, where the presentations will be held etc etc...and give out an idea of what we will be doing these 18 days.
Then comes something, doing which you see broad heartfelt smiles on everyone's faces present in the hall..The Jagriti Geet..we learn the hand moves on the beat of the song...song's lyrics, beats, moves everything fills us up with unbound energy and we forget in a few minutes the tiredness of the whole day.
Just after the Jagriti Geet..when we still have goosebumps..comes up on the stage Manish Tripathi to represent Mumbai Dabbawalas. Looking at him you would cannot predict what he would come up with, but as he starts speaking, he goes beyond all our predispositions...standing on the stage with confidence no less than that of greatest speakers of our country, speaking in flawless English, reaching to everyone's heart present there, he shares with us his fundas, few of them to be -
- Follow your heart, don't go after money.
- Don't try to diversify, focus on your core competency.
- Hire people with who share your dream, don't hire highly qualified people.
- Have commitment from people you work with, qualification comes second.
Now the program in the auditorium is over and our dinner awaits us...post dinner (no need to mention it's yum too :D ) we board our buses and reach Mumbai Central station where you see yatris' team work in unloading luggage from the buses and helping each other with their luggage to the platform 5, where our train is to arrive.
Its's 10:00 pm and our train is scheduled to arrive at 11:00 pm..one hour to kill..not a big deal when you are left with 95% of the Yatris, still to interact with..so begins the chit chat again..there are a few parents who've come to see off their kids.
It's 11:00 pm and no signs of train...one hour left to Christmas...people are already in the mood and have begun to sing Christmas songs..a few minutes later we get the news there are some technical issues with the train so the train will arrive late.
No signs of train even at 1:00 am..some yatris are busy celebrating Christmas, some are busy knowing each other, come are playing cards they are taking along and some are tired like me. With the time passing by..yatris have started finding places to snuggle and after delaying as much as I can..I finally doze off on a cart for a few minutes.
The train arrives at 3:00 am and despite being badly tired we all are very excited to see it..as the train stops we enter our respective bogies looking for our respective compartments...and after a few exchanges of hi, hellos and good nights we go to sleep..all praying "God! Please don't make them wake us up before 8..please please please!"
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