Walk the World, 7 April 2017

Walk Destination: Gyarah Murti, Sardar Patel Marg, New Delhi

The Gyarah Murti is a famous sculpture depicting a very famous movement in Indian history known as the Dandi March by Mahatma Gandhi. It is to pay tribute to a group Indian freedom fighters and social reformers. The sculpture, by Devi Prasad Roy Choudhary, depicts the famous Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi in 1931 against oppressive salt taxes imposed by the British regime.

The complete walk crossed 5 major Delhi Landmarks – Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, the Gol Dak Khana, Talkatora stadium, South & North block of the parliament leading up to Gyarah Murti Sculpture.

8th April 2017 was also the World Health Day, and 16 colleagues ran together till Gyarah Murti to symbolize the importance of healthy lifestyle. This was followed by a healthy, nutritious, low calorie breakfast.

Highlights of Walk the World 2017:

• 103 colleagues from T&F India contributed 10-km each to the WTW Challenge; including 13 outstation colleagues. We walked a grand total of 1030 Kms.
• We clocked a total of 120 minutes each and a grand total of 12360 minutes.
• For the first time, the WTW team created a documentary podcast on the heritage buildings that we crossed during the walk. Connaught Place, where we have our office is a heritage area. The documentary narrative was recorded by Dr Shashank Sinha, Publishing Director, Routledge India Originals, and a historian.  The podcast was sent to all the colleagues a day before the event. A record 100 people downloaded the podcast, and listened to it.
• We raised INR 61,000/GBP 750 for the charity – READ INDIA.
• We walked for READ INDIA!

The Day:
We wanted to create an inclusive environment where each colleague felt a part of the walk. Therefore, we choose a route that would keep our colleagues enthralled with the heritage of Delhi, crossing 5 landmarks, ending the walk at a very popular heritage point – Gyarah Murti. We further created a documentary podcast that all the employees plugged in and listened to while crossing various buildings. It was a great success!

Since it was also the World Health Day, a group of runners ran ahead of the walk, with placards on health, lifestyle modification being used.

Warm up before the walk

Happy Colleagues

The walk was concluded with a Townhall in our cafeteria, which was an event in itself:

• The WTW India champions (Nitesh Singh, Khalid Ansari, Dimple Francis, Navin Khosla & Sonali Bhardwaj) presented video testimonials and interviews of the colleagues talking about the Walk
• They also presented difference between WTW 2016 and 2017 vis a vis charity amount raised, participation increase, a special quiz on WTW and the podcast the employees has listened to while doing the walk etc.
• One of our colleagues Tenzing Toper Bhutia prepared a rap on WTW along with a video recorded poem, which was met with whistles and much enthusiasm.
• Puja Kumari was our official photographer. 
• A grand prize of INR 1100 Amazon Voucher towards the lucky draw winner was announced. 
• A healthy breakfast was served to end the Walk, courtesy Informa. 

Md. Khalid Ansari lightens the session

Walk the World 2017 - India Team

Colleagues taking the pledge to walk & stay healthy by signing WTW t-shirt

Tenzing performing live - a rap on WTW

Colleagues winning prizes

Testimonials from colleagues:

• Walking along history with podcast by Dr Sinha was the best part of the walk. Surabhi Srivastava - Europa Directory.
• Very interesting & great walk . looking forward to next year walk. KirtRaj Phagna, Journals Sales.
• A delightful walk through the historical paths of Delhi. An excellent initiative pleasuring all senses yet enriching through its great planning & execution. Bhawna Chauhan, Books Marketing.
• The walk, the curator and the breakfast everything was perfect. Deepak Chhabra, Graphic Designer.
• Informa Walk the world 2017 was a great experience for me. What made it special that we did it on World Health Day with a historic tour of New Delhi (the idea of the podcast was really good)  and did it for a cause ( Read India)!!!  Antara Ray Chaudhury, Development Editor, Routledge.
• An excellent event that some great enthusiasm, active participation and wonderful team bonding. It was a delight to be a part of walk-the-world 2017. Anjali Maggon, Manager – Human Resources.

Here is the link to the pictures and videos:  https://flic.kr/s/aHskSLptL9