Youths’ Rail Yatra across Azad Bharat

NOVEMBER 30: Aao Bachchon tumhe dikhayen jhanki Hindustan ki… The immortal song from Jagriti has inspired a non-government organisation Yuvak Bharati to undertake a journey for the youth called Azad Bharat Rail Yatra’ for a glimpse of free India’s rich and coloured past.

“Instead of simply taking youths in the age group of 16 to 19 years to old and ancient monuments and forts around the country, we also want to show them some of the modern sights of India and encourage them to think how they can better mould this country for the next 25 years,” said the project co-ordinator Shashank Tripathi. Around 700 youngsters will begin the Yatra in two batches. The first group of 350 students will leave Mumbai on December 25 , covering Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, UP, and Bihar to finally disembark at Calcutta. Here, a second batch of 350 students will then proceed in the same train for the next 15 days to the southern states before finally coming back to Mumbai on the Republic Day of 1998. “We shall take the youth to modern institutes like the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Kalpakkam, as well as historical places like Ellora caves and the Golden Temple,” said Shashank. The Indian Railways has sponsored one-third of the total cost of the journey. “We will hold debates and discussions in the train, and personalities like Zakir Hussain, Shyam Benegal and Kiran Bedi will join our team for a day or two,” the co-ordinator said. The cost per student is Rs 8,000, though there are a few free seats for the deserving candidates from lower economic backgrounds. Those interested can write to Azad Bharat Rail Yatra, 108 Esplanade Mansion, Fort, Mumbai-400023 (phone: 282 8615) including interests and activities and describing how they can contribute to the next 50 years of India.