Below is a friend, Dhawal's, first day account of the Tata Jagriti Yatra. Dhawal is a Certified Franchise Executive and promotes Franchising opportunities through his venture Way2Franchise I have never been so excited as much as I have been for this trip, I have awaited TJY since almost over a month, since I was shortlisted. We were called at 8 am at Ravindra Natya Mandir, staying in Mumbai, gave me a little comfort. I reached about at 9 am, met over 400 vibrant young men and women, and exchanged ideas. We had breakfast, got done with the formalities and it was lunch time. Then finally we were inducted into the process and institution. TJY is an initiative of Jagriti Sewa Sansthan, a non-profit instituted by Mr. Shashank Mani. I went through the notes and the handbook, a part of the Yatri Kit. And the excitement just kept growing. Post lunch, Ms. Rewati Prabhu and Mr. Shashank Mani presented about how it all began and introduced the 3rd edition of TJY. The mammoth TJY event is organized by a skeleton team of about 8. We practiced the Jagriti Geet. More on that a little later. TJY is a great event, the audience mix is more of students (potential entrepreneurs) than actual entrepreneurs, between the age of 20 and 25. I met a lot of engineers during these days. There were about 20 international participants as well. Now we start getting a glimpse of what it is all about. We begin the evening session with an introduction to Mr. R Gopalakrishnan. Mr. Gopalakrishnan, spoke briefly, initially mentioning that this was not going to be an elongated speech, where he talks about how great the Tata Group is, what they have been supporting it all this while. How happy the Tata Group is to support this initiative. He gave a few examples of India and its greatness. Then we had another brief edutainment session by Mr. Manish Tripathy of the Mumbai Dabawalla’s association. This was the one that kept us all glued, I don’t remember when I was more attentive. Briefly dwelling on the history and the origins of the Dabbawala, he mentioned how a Parsi Banker, who wasn’t happy dining elsewhere for his daily meals, while he was at work due to its inherent problems. He then signed up for the Dabbawala Service, to express his love and devotion to his wife, his colleagues then signed up for it as well, since they too wanted to express their love towards their spouses. Even those that are single and prefer to eat outside sign up for, they deliver restaurant food. This service gradually expanded, all thanks to Word of Mouth. For those that are not aware about the Dabbawalla's, The Dabbawala service is pick up and delivery services of home cooked meals. It began 119 years ago with a humble Parsi gentleman. Some more accomplishments:
Prince Charles as Brand Ambassador, One fine day, prince Charles calls up one of their members asking to meet up, the members decline meeting him at a fancy five star restaurant, and ask him to meet up at Churchgate railway station at 11:30. Since this meeting in 2003, the Dabbawalla’s have been invited by leading B Schools across India and internationally to speak about their systems
Even Richard Branson the maverick entrepreneur of the Virgin Group, visited the Dabbawallas and ferried the tiffins of his employees from Dadar to their office at Churchgate
A lot of the times, the cynics confront and ask if they will continue existing. To them, Manish had another hilarious response, i.e they will be in business as long as husbands will keep loving their wives, ‘Jo Biwi se kare pyaar, woh Dabbawalla se kaise kare inkaar.
Some of the Key Management Principles:
Be inspired about what you are doing, when you feel about it from the heart, the passion will flow
Do not diversify in what you don’t know, i.e. Stick to your core competency
Do not employ, highly qualified people, the Dabbawalla’s employ only Thumbs Up (Angutha Chap / Illiterate), as commitment matters not qualifications
May be the Dabbawalla’s could expand in other cities if such a demand exists, maybe they could franchise their system and know how and provide more business opportunities to other illiterate, uneducated people. Similarly, a lot of social franchising options would open up in parts of India, which would uplift the lives of many, like the 4500 Dabbawalla's in Mumbai.
The excitement amongst Yatris of TJY '09 is quite palpable.
The journey kicks off on the 24th of December and is expected to end by the 13th of January '10.
For all those of us who couldn't make it this year, some hope still remains.
I am glad that a friend has been shortlisted and is participating in the Yatra.
What's more, he will be sending out live updates on all thoughts, meets with role models and insights on small businesses that are changing the face of entrepreneurship in India.
Do stay tuned in for more.
The fun begins next week !
The Organizing Team for the Yatra came back on my post about the trip. This is what they had to say -
Hi there!
I came across your post while exploring what people are writing about the Yatra.
Just a small correction. You dont need 32K to go on the yatra. If you are selected for sponsorship all you pay is 3K. So dont dither. If you think you want to be the change, stop talking and start acting! Over 80% participants on the train last year were sponsored.
Best,
Organising team, TJY09
Have also been hearing some very encouraging feedback from the Yatris of the last few years.
So, finances not-withstanding, do apply and see where the journey takes you.
Being a part of Pankhudi's mailing list has lots of advantages. We get some awesome news and interesting data to feed on.
So, this is about the mailer on Tata Jagriti Yatra.
It's an annual, 18 day train ride across the country.
The purpose is to bring young, entrepreneurial talent together and club them with some experienced and well known professionals in order to open their eyes to the budding spirit of entrepreneurship in India.
Through the 18 day train sojourn, these lucky Yatris get to learn about various small scale industries, businesses and initiatives that are working away feverishly to solve the myriad problems the country faces.
The registration deadline has been extended till November 30.
Do read up and apply for this wonderful opportunity to have a glimpse of the true India.
