I hated reading books. James altucher blogs provoked me to read books. And the first book on his list was a man's search for meaning. That was the first book I purchased with curiosity. I used to read 2 lines and think about 10 things at that point in time. So i was reading it slowly. but it was very much impacting it. as I had to mitigate my pathetic focus, i used to go to an office of 40 seaters at 6 am and read till 10.30 am until the first guy enters the office. the i got selected for jagriti yatra and before it started there was a discussion to have a secret Santa program to exchange a book. i barely had any books. so i had to finish my first book even to give it. i was reading very hard to finish it. i had an early morning flight in Bangalore. i did not imagine spending and risking of going in an early morning taxi, so i took a bus post-dinner to the airport. whole in the airport i roamed and read the book and finished it. i feel in deep connected with the experience of reading first book and attached with the book and the content in it was affecting me a lot. i wanted someone who reads to get a brief of how the book could help. so i wrote a note on it what i learnt and how it can help. i purchased chocolate in the airport.
people around me never played games like secret Santa. it was the first time i heard. i thought it should be given on de25th. the train started on 23thd dec and people were meeting the person whom they should gift. i also thought it should be
secret.
i thought as and when i come across the person i will give it. on 25th dec i came across this guy called bijal...the name of the person who i was to gift was bijal gandhi...i asked him if his full name was bijal Gandhi..he said no..there were 540 yatris + 110 organizers and staff. i somehow missed giving it. and then i was i feeling scared to give it. i then decided i will give on dec31 as new year gift. in the meantime i figured out who was bijal's team facilitator who was someone who i lent money to pay her sim bill she was 30+ y/o lady. as we passed in Bangalore on 26th dec before my office she wrote my leave letter to my boss from my mail.
so i gave this lady the book on new year and said her to keep it secret and i trust hee
on Jan 3 in a village in Uttar Pradesh where we were staying for a night...a girl comes running to me while i was lost in thinking and walking and asks am i her secret Santa... i did not know the answer to her question, but i guess its right because, i dont think there was anyone else who was so delayed. i asked her if her name was bijal gandhi..and she started being pissed at me. she was saying her facilitator was not revealing me from long time and showed me from distance... in my interia of walking i just went away...
after 3 days post-Rajasthan(Tilonia village)...people could drop off at gujurat...so people were exchanging thank you notes...the girl gave me a note. which said was so happy for the efforts i put in.........i was like in a shock, wondering why was she happy, i did NOT want to make her happy that was not at all in my plan....but when i read that i felt happy... i was shocked i was feeling happy to know someone was happy because of something i did... (i did not feel like that when she came running to me and said thank you)...
the next day we went to gandhi ashram in gurujat...where i saw on a wall "hapiness lies in finding hapiness in others"...............then it felt like a good clarity of the strong experiences i was having
My email box got hit with a message saying its the 10th year of the Yatra and the Yatri alumni were allowed for a 3 day-4 day short interval. I decided to hop on as I thought it was a golden opportunity to be back on the train. I registered for the Delhi - Ahmedabad route. Jan 5,6,7. 2018
I was studying in Ahmedabad at that time. I had two options leave on jan4th night or jan5th early morning. And as I was a student I wanted to skip the cost of staying in a hotel in Delhi i decided to take an early morning flight on jan 5th instead of a late night flight on jan 4th.
The next challenge was that i lived in a hostel which was 40km away from the airport in a village. getting a cab in the very early mornings would be hard. So I asked a friend who works at his film editing studio in the middle of the city. He invited to him home and I stayed in there. So that I can confidently reach the airport in the morning.
The night before leaving while at the editor's home I get a message that the next morning the Yatra group goes to the rashtrapathi bhavan and have to be ready by morning 6.00 am so that they can reach the rashtrapathi bhavan by 7.30 am. I went into anxiety as this was unexpected and I thought I may miss this and may be I should be left the earlier night itself. I was unsure where to go and whom to meet them. unsure where to place my mobile if I cant make it inside the RB. I slept knowing so much uncertainity lied ahead.