“A marriage is like fresh paint to a barren wall it gives one’s life a whole new perspective. Once the paint fades out the wall may look shabby but one must not forget the foundation and love it was built with.”

-These picture ‘s were taken on my Yatra/Travel to Berhampur , Orissa . The bride and grooms names are painted on the wall outside the house to depict a wedding celebration therein.

1 Train | 12 Destinations | 15 Role Models | 15 Days | 450 Youths | 9000 kms

Its been 10 days since i’ve been back , im still trying to process everything i felt , experienced and learnt in those 15 Days i hope this poem does justice to the awesome trip that was and will forever be in my treasured memories , So here goes……….

I will remember how :-

Every morning I woke up to the differences in landscapes

Every day I heard songs of freedom , values and inspiration songs for mind escape

Every meal I had was on the move

Every nights sleep on a berth moving to the trains groove

Every bottle of water crushed and returned in exchange for another

Every bogie distinguished and decorated differently from each other

Every time we sang the jagriti geet enthusiastically

Every yatri made notes scholastically

Every whistle from team Disha that kept us moving

Every “Mentor should charge” had us disapproving

Every compartment occupied with sleeping bags and  tagged luggage

Every sketch drawn by our local artists on a new page

Every uniquely decorated compartment

Every biz gyan interest group and department

Every ice cold bath in our innovative bathrooms

Every “excuse me” and “side – side” to move past compartments, to VROOM!!

Every bhangra move to the dhol beats

Every handsome naval officer and their fleet

Every power nap between session and talks

Every visit to village walks

Every game played

Every song on guitar strings layed

Every catering staff that was out to fatten us up

Every panel discussion close up

Every green bottle of cough meds

Every “attention yatri’s” said

I will never forget how:-

Every face was different

Every aspiration indifferent

Every eye had an aim and glistened

Every personal story listened

Every role model had taught

Every Yatri had imbibed , learnt and caught

Every life-line on a graph

Every tear , every laugh

Every dance to bring in the new year

Every idea that put my brain in fast gear

Every vision questioned

Every new Yatri friend accepted unquestioned

Every mind with their own feat and thought

Every intense conversation caught

Everyone under the banyan tree that started it all

Every name engraved in the temple slabs and wall

Every life had a purpose

1 World

Many nations , Many aspirations

1 Aim

Bettering our earth and the lives of people on it

This is my take away !

This is me , this you , this is us !

 ’Yaaron Chalo, Badalne Ki Rut hai’ 

To apply you can fill the form here Jagriti Yatra 2012

View pictures of Day 1- Day 7

View pictures from the Time to smile campaign

Thank you Time -Out Mumbai for sharing this !

Instead look forward  to Plan , Build , Create , See , Learn and Share ! Then you’re never going to be bored !

You’ll realize that you lived in and created your own comfort all along !

-Inspired from my conversation with Aniceto Periera .

Hairography -Choreography using a lot of dance movement with the head that causes the hair to thrash about. (#ilike )

Hairdultery – Cheating on your hairdresser. (i never to stick to one )

There you’ve learnt 4 new words , thanks to Urban dictionary . My mom thought me another set of 4 words when i was 7yrs old Wash – Shampoo – Rinse – Condition and i guess its one of the best things i learnt early in my life . A  head massage followed by a hairwash has always been therapeutic and calming something i look forward to do after a stressfull day at work .. and it lightens my head . Reminds me of a quote ….The hair is the richest ornament of women.  ~Martin Luther , he knew what he was talking about   ive loved doing new things with my hair and experimenting with different styles in different times .Here’s a lil peek to what my hair has been through over the years

Year 2000 (6th grade) – the bob cut ,  ohh the horror ! talk about Hairtastrophe !

Year 2002 (8th grade) – the plain jane !

Year 2003 (9th grade) – spiky !

Year 2004 (10th grade) – the red curls !

Year 2006 (12th grade) – sober and short !

Year 2007 – straight and long !

Year 2007  (dec) – purple and white streaks !

Year 2008 – waves with brown highlights !

Year 2008 (nov) – violet highlights !

Year 2009 – electric blue highlights !

Year 2009 (sep) - wavy and long !

Year 2010 (Present) - wavy and short !

What next ?????

the einstein look ?

or

the kellis look ?

hmm , lets just wait and see

I must end this post by quoting Dove because it fits here aptly

Love is a two way street: Love your hair and it loves you back!

i intend to blog and document , either once i get back or while on the journey if i get time from all the awesomeness happening around me What is the tata jagriti yatra you ask ?  it is..
A Journey of discovery and transformation…
Jagriti Yatra is an ambitious train journey of discovery and transformation that takes hundreds of India’s highly motivated youth on an 18 day national odyssey. The aim is to awaken the spirit of entrepreneurship.

1 Train | 13 Destinations | 15 Role Models
18 Days | 400 Youths | 9000 kms

Sounds interesting ? Wait till i start writing !!