Oh gosh! Day two is a total blur in my mind as I type this blog entry. All I can remember is that we were still traveling along a VERY long stretch between Mumbai and Trivandrum and I, Kaustav, was running about like a headless chicken trying despirately to get a clutch full of useless data cards to work correctly on our stash of laptops.  With much groaning, cursing and head slapping, I managed to get some of them working. I then quickly got one of our respected photographers on the train up and running on the micro-site blog and enabled his blog account. As a result we now have five genuine yatri generated blog entries.  I really do encourage you to read them as they’re capturing some of the true essence of the journey. We have one yatri from London writing blogs, another from India with two different perspectives and incredible enthusiasm. We’d love to get your feedback once you’ve read their entries.

As I type, the days events are slowly returning to me. Two interactive discussions took place on day two, primarily to accomodate all the yatri’s on-board the train who otherwise would not be able to physically all fit in to two train carriages in one go. The morning discussion session was missed by myself as I was busy photographing life on board the train and interviewing yatri’s and facilitators. How I wish I could show you some of those snaps but the data connection is simply proving to be too slow. The afternoon session was one I did attend. There was intense chat and debate going on about the Lijjat Papad company that we heard about on the opening day at IIT Bombay. The pro’s and con’s of an all women organisation was debated and insights we made on Lijjat Papad’s model of women empowerment, transformation and their entrepreneurial and social spirit. One interesting observation I made during this session, as I was sitting next to one of our Kenyan African yatri’s was that in her own country she knew of a similar women’s co-operative, but it had failed primarily due to political intervention within Kenya. I really do hope that as the days roll on, our African contingent can build up the courage to raise their hand and ask some questions. One of the most heartening comments I heard today was that by coming on this jounrey of discovery, one of the Kenyan candidates was inspired enough to wonder if a journey like Tata Jagriti Yatra could be arranged by herself back in her own home country of Kenya and hopefully inspire a generation of entrepreneurs who believe in enterprise lead development. How wonderful! Day two and we’re already having an impact on our international members.

Day two seems to be getting foggy in my mind already. What with all the rushing about, photographing, interviewing, session attending and general train vigialance, I think the level of tiredness is telling me to call it a day and write up day three early in the morning. One thing is clear from day two’s experience is that the youth on board the train and not a laid back crowd. They do have opinions, they are switched on and most of all they are receptive to new ideas and discussing possibilities. I’m looking forward to speaking to many of the participants on day three to see if they would consider modifying their own lifesyle, belieafs and way of living to include some of the learnings they are making from the role model interactions. Day three of Tata Jagriti Yatra will defintiely prove to be interesting, as we will be meeting Shree Padre who works in the area of natural resource management. I’m sure his alternative methods and insightful advice will bring about much needed mind shifts and attitude changes amongst the yatri’s. I am particularly intererested to know how the yatri’s change their outlook on the usage and wastage of one of the most precious resources on our planet – water.  Only time will tell. Roll on day three!

Kaustav