Support youth in transforming society - slowly, gently and deeply

The world today calls for peace but the answer it gets is war. It needs warmth but only gets warming. It needs nature to be sacred but is dragged around by stature that is scared. It asks for travellers, but is catered merely for tourists. This world, our world, deserves pilgrims, not tourists. And to be a true pilgrim is to travel far and wide for a larger cause - be it spiritual, societal or moral. Routes To Roots focuses on taking youth on the latter two pilgrimages - societal and moral. Traveling into two worlds, outside and within, from routes to roots.

Routes To Roots is a unique programme designed for youth that wish to become deep changemakers. Because real changemaking requires depth. It requires time. It necessitates an understanding of the interconnectedness of the issues we face today. And this cannot be done in silos. Nor can it be done solo. It needs to be done collectively - face to face, at a certain pace and in a certain kind of space. RTR programme enables a space for such deep exploration into various themes of societal concern and provides pathways for youth to work on creative responses to these concerns.

Routes To Roots Programme Details: https://www.travellersuniversity.org/routestoroots

From Routes To Roots - What followed

Kavya is on the ground in Telangana, securing grazing rights for pastoral communities under the Forest Rights Act. Ankita is documenting the nomadic practice of Van Gujjar pastoralists in Himachal Pradesh while fighting for their forest access. Anil works with smallholder farmers and indigenous communities at WASSAN, promoting regenerative agriculture and nutrition-sensitive livelihoods. Divya makes art that tells the stories most people miss. Vaishna researches coexistence practices between wildlife and indigenous communities in Wayanad. Agnus leads climate resilience initiatives with youth and local self-governments in Kerala. Susruthan anchors ‘Moving School Wayanad’, working with tribal communities in Wayanad. These are not paths taken for convenience. These are lives reoriented, slowly, gently, and deeply, toward transforming society.

Travellers’ University is the brand name under which we operate, and Sahyatri Foundation is the registered Section 8 not-for-profit organisation.