About 7 years back, on 14Nov01, I wrote the following email to the ABRY yahoo-group. It had been about 4 years since the Yatra. I had just got my arms around the basics of internet and email. I found the group online and decided to write to everyone. Looking back at this mail, I am not sure whether I am nostalgic about the mail or about the Yatra or both. Anyways, reproducing it here in original (except for the everything sic, which I edited!!).

“Dear All,

Long time, no see!

I am really excited to realise that just by hitting the ‘Send’ button, all this that I am writing will be
instantly delivered to some long-lost friends from far and wide (from Manipur to Minnesota, that’s how Shashank put it, right?).

I joined the e-group a month ago but it had to be today. I am on another e-group where i get some two mails everyday so I was dismayed to see that we Yatris aren’t getting our act together - it took a Dilen Gandhi to shook us up - and suddenly we began to hear some really interesting pieces of mundane news from all quarters - like how someone just got over with exams and is aching to get back to Manipur, like how some people thought that someone else was namedropping on a US connection and like someone has just completed a report on minorities in the backdrop of a lovely snowfall (Hazel, it’s winter here too, in the Terai region of Himalayas…and I make it a point to wear my hooded sweatshirt every evening).

Suddenly, it struck me that of the 55 people on this list (who all are they???), some might be wondering whose mail this is: Who was Mohit Joshi? What did he look like? or (God forbid) Was this guy really on the Yatra?

So let me tell you what I was witness to. Small things first.

I was there in the foyer of convocation hall, IIT-B when Juhi and Purva shrieked when they discovered that they were long lost kindergarten friends. And, I had looked on in amazement as Akhtar walked up to the stage unaided to introduce himself in his Brit accent. I was sitting outside at lunchtime when Frank came along chatting with all Yatris one-by-one (Damn, he was looking for a hero for the film he was to shoot for the Yatra. I didn’t deliver my lines properly so Devang got his first big break).

And, I had stood up in Matoshree when Shashank made us get up and do some stretch exercises before delivering his cocktail speech (Shashank, we didn’t really need it: your cocktail gave us a good enough kick!). And, I was the one who sang the carols out of tune at the Bombay Central station on the midnight before Christmas (who broke the coconut, i never could gather!).

And, the cold morning of 26Dec97, when the train had reached Tilonia and the welcome party from the village had started beating drums hoping that our motley group will jump out from all possible outlets in the train, our people were busy rushing to the loos while the train stood still.

And, the rather colorful guide at the Amer Fort in Jaipur who spoke in detail about the polygamous habits of the Rajahs. The way we all rushed to the stage at GGIC, Amritsar to do bhangra but then were recalled because we had reacted prematurely….

Marc Tully, Kiran Bedi and R K Pachauri couldn’t get enough of each other at IIT-D. And, the people danced at Railway Station till the train got moving, a few minutes after it became 01-01-98. Mrs and Mr Pasricha joined us there. The five-point agenda spelt out by a lady doctor at KGMC, Lucknow - Does anyone remember what I’m talking about? (Not the real 5-point agenda!)

Gautam Mukherjee’s Toflersque talk at football stadium, Jamshedpur enthralled all of us although Shashank remained skeptical of his ideas till the end. Santaragachi???? Yes, here we had the Azad Bharat Paidal Yatra (ABPY), lest anyone forget!

I guess we kept the Navy guys waiting for long at Vizag Rly Stn and I got bumps at the harbour because it happened to be my b’day that day and never will I forget the card Purva hand-made and got signed by everybody then (It said in block - “Tum jiyo hazaaron saal; saal ke din ho pachaas hazaar”).

Aurangabad was a long halt - the Manifesto group had started working day and night - and the presentations at the Bajajs’. The choreography show by Nath Valley School kids was awesome, wasn’t it? And, Frank made Madhur Bajaj do several retakes for capturing a single scene (Frank’s houseboat on Thames was called ‘Girl Friday’, he said).

And, by that time Clyde had become famous for his bum-charades also. And Komal for her dance on the French number, ‘Melissa’!

The pictures of the tank ride at Ahmednagar have always been the envy of my friends. While filming Anna Hazare near his school, Frank had stationed himself on a rooftop nearby. At a point, he wanted a retake but he didn’t exactly remember Anna Hazare’s name, so he shouted out to Shashank - “Make the great man go down the steps once again!”

The military band playing outside Col Patil’s home in Pune excited junta so much that they formed a platoon and started marching on its beats much to the amusement of the band! I had forgotten my slam-book at the Agha Khan Palace but someone brought it to the train in the night to my relief or I would have lost all those precious entries by all of you!

And, the Pune-Mumbai leg was what they call senti; Chutki broke down and some others too. People began taking rounds of the train - beginning at one end, they would go ahead hugging everyone they came across till everyone had been hugged 199 times.

The last time I was with you was when the cake was being cut at the Bombay Central with a beaming Shashank doing the honors. After that, we unclotted. We walked, ran, raced ahead in all directions. And, haven’t stopped ever since. So, i feel sometimes we should stand still. And, let the forest find us.

Let’s connect - all of us! And, get everyone else into the loop! Let’s keep the family intact because the onus of an Azad Bharat Sea Yatra (ABSY) is on us! We will get Shashank et al as consultants.

Keep writing a la Dilen’s formula - mundane events in lives of friends distant become the most interesting of narrations. I have been rather sloppy so far (3 years, 9 months, 25 days) but my Diwali resolution is to remain in the loop now onwards!

I basically wanted to wish all of you a great Diwali (for the Finnish, the Indian festival of light) through this mail. Those who remember me would be kind enough to hit the ‘Reply’ button and those who do not, well, can assume me to be a new friend altogether and the e-group shall keep us together.

Regards and Ciao,

Mohit Joshi
No longer in Nainital”

‘Is the glass half empty or half full? Depends whether you are pouring or drinking’ said Bill Cosby’s mother in a conversation that reminds me of India in this 60^th anniversary year.

On the fiftieth anniversary of India’s independence, in 1997 we organised a national adventure – the Azad Bharat Rail Yatra. Two hundred young Indians participated in that Yatra and have since remained in close contact over the years. This is an extended family forged by the memories of twenty-two days of exhilarating, non-stop travel on a special train that covered 7,000 kilometers of India. We keep in touch through a web-based forum, and at heart; we simply remain attached to India. As I write this, these participants are planning another Yatra – the Jagriti Yatra with the theme of awakening entrepreneurship. 

Our aim for the Yatra was to discover the other India, an India beyond the English language. To me, this India was in the smaller towns where I had grown up as the son of an army officer; it was in my town of birth, Gorakhpur, and in Barpar, our ancestral village in the Deoria district of eastern Uttar Pradesh. During our travels we found more than one India. But the central theme that dominated the journey was India integrating with its own genius. By doing so will we build a country that is different and therefore able to compete and prosper in the new world. Only if we understand who we are and are comfortable with it, will we live lives of integrity. Participants discovered this first hand. They celebrated the integrity they saw amongst those they met during our travels.

There are some events and experiences that change the course of your life forever. The Azad Bharat Rail Yatra in 1997 was one such moving event for me. Luckily I maintained a day-to-day diary of the activities and emotions that I experienced during this 23 day journey. Reading this diary 10 years later fills me with nostalgia. India is just one country but travelling its length and breadth in a short period of time, at a young age, absorbing the sights and smells of the countries varied destinations, brought along with it mixed emotions of respect, concern, awe and most of all deep pride.

An article appeared in the Times of India in Nov 1997 that said "If you are a worker or a leader, if you have a cultural and adventurous bent of mind, if you have a civic sense and a feeling of community, if you are a good communicator then we are looking for you". As soon as I had read the article, I knew they were looking for me. I knew that this is exactly the kind of experience that I was looking for. Without any hesitation I rushed in my application to be a participant on the 1997 Yatra and before I knew it I was preparing for a journey of a lifetime!

As I go through the pages of my diary and see the photographs I can mentally relive the Yatra that began on Christmas Eve in Mumbai in 1997. I clearly remember the excitement and high energy levels as 150 youngsters from around the world assembled from around the country for the welcome orientation in Mumbai. I remember meeting Shashank, brain parent of the program, for the first time. I remember watching the Bharat-Bala Productions Vande Mataram Video on a giant screen. I had goose bumps as A.R. Rahman’s Vande Mataram echoed through the IIT-Powai auditorium and I remember eagerly waiting our departure to discover India, little realizing that I was going to discover myself as in the process.

The train became our home away from home. Food as provided on board via a special pantry car, special bath-rooms had been created with the added luxury of hot baths. Any compartment resembled an average teenager’s room- Jackets, dupattas, books, cassettes strewn all over, posters heralding messages of population control, environment protection and such adorning the walls and an atmosphere inside the train that was always warm and vibrant, with chatter and laughter among strangers who had now become family.  A chair car attached to the train became our assembly hall. A typical day on the train started at 6AM with the wake-up call of ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’ on the train’s intercom, shower, breakfast and morning discussion before we arrived at our destination for the day.

From understanding the Gandhian way of life at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to staring at the Taj Mahal in Agra, from then the solitude of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, to rural Tilonia and then the disciplined life of Ralegaon Siddhi, from the serenity of Bodh Gaya to the story of Tatanagar, from the sound of Hari Prasad Chaurasia’s flute to the graceful movements of Manipuri dancers, the days went by quickly. New people& new experiences& local food& and a whole new world every day! Visiting the Eastern Naval command in Vizag and then the National Defense Academy in Pune, I can’t begin to summarize the impact and overwhelming fascination that each experience brought with it.  

As Kiran Bedi rightly said during the journey " Decide if you want to become an asset or a liability to your nation. If a majority of us become assets, then we are on our way to becoming a great nation". I believe that the yatra was made for me. 10 years later the bonds are still strong. The friends I made on the Yatra continue to be my closest ones over time and distance. It is like we have been bound forever by a spiritual experience, like we understand each other without having to say much. The Yatra has been more than just a train journey to me, it has shaped my thoughts, defined my purpose and directed the course for my future.

As the core team works hard towards repeating history and making the Yatra of 2007 (Jagriti Yatra) a reality, I wanted to pause and remember all the reasons why we are so committed to making the train journey happen again. In Kennedy’s words "Ask not what your nation can do for you, but ask what you can do for your nation".  Vande Mataram.