Who Says Adventure Has An Age Limit?

Adventure in life is not only for  the young. Or for that matter, not only for men! We have a guest story of an adventurous outing by a group of not-so-young women (and men too!) from India. 

The story has been written by Padma Ramesh. Who is she?

Padma Ramesh is a journalist, trainer and a film academician by qualification and profession.

Off the professional track, Padma is a reluctant adventurer. She loves to travel, dreams of distant lands, and makes exhaustive itineraries—but also breaks into a mild panic every time she has to leave home. Airports make her nervous, packing stresses her out, and don’t even mention visa queues. Yet, once she’s out there, there’s no stopping her. Whether it’s climbing down a crater or climbing up to the top of a waterfall or bonding with strangers over food and films, travel informs her (and often, her next story)!

 We thank Padma for the story and the pictures. Over to her.

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 Who says adventure has an age limit?

They say travel is a young person’s game—well, "they" have clearly never met a woman in her 60s with a passport, a young heart, and a fierce desire to stand next to a geyser or a volcano before her knees give out! Who says adventure has an age limit? At 60 (or 70, or pushing 80 if your bones agree), a vacation in Iceland is less about speed and more about spirit and soul and getting high on adrenaline.

Welcome to the age of bold, brilliant, and beautifully seasoned travel. Whether you’re recently retired, escaping the kids (or grandkids), or simply chasing your next adventure, Iceland is calling—and guess what? It’s not asking your age.

Iceland isn't just for 20-something influencers dangling off cliffs in crop tops. It’s also for sassy, seasoned women who understand that the only thing better than a glacier is a glacier followed by a nap and a glass of wine!

From steaming geothermal lagoons to thundering waterfalls and wild volcanic landscapes, Iceland has all the drama and beauty of a Netflix series—only better, because you’re in it. And trust me, nothing says “I'm still fabulous” like standing next to an erupting geyser with one’s woollen scarf flapping in the arctic wind like a Norse goddess.

So we –a group of ‘dil se young’ and enthusiastic senior citizens hiked that trail, forded that stream (or stared at it while someone younger carried forward), and let Iceland remind us: adventure doesn’t retire — it just packs a few more thermals and a backup knee brace.

Reykjavík:

We started off with Reykjavík, Iceland’s capital—a city so charming it feels like a Hallmark movie set. Our cruise ship docked early so we could get out into the city by 8.30 am.

Pop into the iconic Hallgrímskirkja Church for panoramic views of the city—there’s an elevator, so no knee-cracking stairs required. The architecture alone is enough to make one want to make the effort.

The Golden Circle

The Golden Circle is Iceland’s most famous route and the ultimate proof that Mother Nature outdid herself here.

The magnificent Kerid crater 

1 Þingvellir National Park

This UNESCO World Heritage Site is where tectonic plates are drifting apart, and Iceland’s first parliament was formed over a thousand years ago. It’s dramatic, historic, and there’s plenty of flat, walkable paths with benches to support your aching back.

2. Geysir Geothermal Area

The Strokkur Geysir puts on a performance every 10 minutes. You’ll gasp, you’ll laugh, and yes—you might get wet.  Raincoats are highly recommended here.

3. Gullfoss Waterfall

Prepare to be wowed! Gullfoss (‘Golden Falls’) is like Niagara’s cooler Scandinavian cousin—raw, roaring, and perfect for a holiday photo.

“Isn’t this just breathtaking !”

Lake Myvatn-- A shallow lake formed about 2300 years ago. Myvatn translates to 'lake of midges' in English reflecting the abundance of these insects in the area. We swallowed a few despite out attempts to cover our faces.

Ísafjörður: Fjord-Side Fabulousness

Nestled in the heart of the Westfjords, Ísafjörður is perfect for the traveler who’s seen the Golden Circle, loved the Blue Lagoon, and now wants something more remote, more raw, and more real.  The Dynjandi waterfall (like Gullfoss’s dramatic twin)is pure magic.

For the 60+ Set: Ísafjörður Travel Tips

• Pack the Layers, Again: The wind here has opinions, and it shares them loudly. Wool is your friend.
• Embrace the Slow Life: This isn’t a place for racing through checklists—it’s for breathing deeply, taking photos, and saying things like, “Isn’t this just breathtaking?” every 20 minutes.

Demonic looking lava rocks

Final Thoughts: Age is just a number (Especially when one is chasing waterfalls)

Whether you’ve soaked in Reykjavík’s hot springs, marveled at geysers on the Golden Circle, wandered the fjords of Ísafjörður, or sipped tea under the Arctic sun in Akureyri—you’ve proven something powerful: Travel isn’t reserved only for the young ! 

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Once again we thank Padma for all the pictures and the guest story. Senior citizens and others- now gear up for Iceland!

Some of the other guest stories which appeared in Ghumakkad's blog are listed below. As you can see, the guest stories enrich the content and broaden the spectrum of our blog's coverage. We thank each of the contributors for their guest story.

A Squirrel Comes Home . by Dr Rohini Tiwari. The picture story revolves around a baby squirrel who was abandoned and then adopted by Rohini and family in Coimbatore.

Women Hiking in Water - A real-life story of four women hiking in a waste deep river. With sudden surge in the river, they nearly got swept away!

Sketching at Eight - story of an eight-year-old who has a website showing his sketches which are trending on the social media. The story in Naman's words.

Male Showstopper - by Koushik Gopinath. The picture story showcases Krishna, a male tiger in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in India.

Winning the Hearts of People - a story from the North East where the Indian Army adopts a front line village for uplifting the quality of life of the villagers.

There are many more guest stories in Ghumakkad's blog. You are welcome to contribute. Please ensure that the pictures are original. You can mail your story to hbindia@gmail.com .

Thanks for browsing. Stay connected. Do leave a comment. It keeps us going.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ Secunderabad/ 9th October 2025

#Iceland #WomenAdventurers #AdventureInLife #LifeIsAn Adventure #YoungAtHeart #SeniorCitizens #GuestStory #Cruise #Ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh

 

Jungle Walk at Night Rescuing A Cobra

Ever walked in a jungle at night? In total darkness? No walking trail? And to add to the thrill, the jungle adjoining a Tiger Reserve! Would you then venture into the jungle on foot after 10.30pm? Armed only with a torchlight?

Then you must be really crazy. Yes, three crazy guys who love exploring Nature both during the day as well as night, did a short walk at night near Amrabad Tiger Reserve in Telangana recently. Who were these mad guys?

Ansh: Youngest of the three explorers. At 21, armed with an Economics honours degree, he works as an Analyst with an MNC in Hyderabad. A keen tennis player and fitness enthusiast, he enjoys driving and being outdoors.

Akhil:  Head Naturalist at the Telangana Forest Development Corporation who oversees eco-tourism. Though from an Arts background, his deep study of the natural world has given him holistic knowledge of forests and their inhabitants. He inspires the visitors to observe, cherish, and truly live the experiences of jungle safaris and walks.

Harsh-the-Ghumakkad: Former Commodore Indian Navy, he is an adjunct professor in a leading B-school in Hyderabad. A blogger, hiker, photographer, golfer, skydiver- Harsh is at peace with Nature. Author of several books on Entrepreneurship and Management, he loves to share his pictures and writings. Ansh is his grandson. 

Jungle at Night

We decided to explore the jungle outside the boundary of our resort in Mannanur near Amrabad Tiger Reserve. With no walkways or markers, stepping into the jungle at night is like no other experience. Few self-imposed rules were:

1. Walking tip-toe to reduce noise
2. Avoid walking on gravel or sandy track to minimise noise
3. No talking. Use muted whispers instead. (You will notice this in the video clips that follow).
4. Use only one torchlight at low intensity not to startle any wildlife.
5. Listen to the forest before taking the next step.
6. Observe any marks or patterns in the soil below.

Sharing below the video clip recorded that night. Being close to the water body, frogs can be heard enjoying their dominance in the dead of night. Similarly, when the torch light was turned off, the faint and momentary glow of the fireflies can be barely seen in the video. The solitary Bull Frog at the edge of the pond shone in the torch light.

The Call

As we were negotiating the thicket around the pond, Akhil received a call from a forest guard on duty. A snake had been sighted in one of the road side eateries. We had to abort our thrilling night walk into the jungle and felt a bit disappointed. Little did we know that more excitement was to follow. 

The Cobra

We accompanied Akhil to rescue the snake. Akhil had worked with the Friends of Snakes Society in Hyderabad and knew how to recognise and rescue the snakes. He first collected the snake handler's stick and an empty polyurethane container with a lid from his room at the resort. Three of us then drove to the spot. Catch the excitement of capturing a live cobra in the video below. Do not miss how the spectacled cobra tried to get out of the container!

Releasing the Cobra

We placed the rescued cobra in its container in the back seat of Akhil's car. Ansh remarked, 'Wow, I am going to sit next to a live cobra!'  We then drove to an isolated spot in the jungle to release the cobra. Click the icon below or the YouTube link here to view the video. In the video you can see the cobra raising its hood even though inside the container.

We bade good bye to 'Cobra Ji' and returned to our resort. Ansh's remarks 'All in a day's work' continue to resonate.

Injured Owl on the Highway

While returning from Jungle Safari, our driver suddenly pulled up on one side. Our forest guide Veera Swamy and Akhil both got down. Safari vehicle was reversed for a distance. An owlet was found immobile in the middle of the road. Dazed and shocked, it was motionless. Akhil picked it up and examined closely. There were no visible injury. After comforting in the palm for a while, it was restored on a tree branch away from the highway. Hope it survived. Pictures of the rescue effort follow.

See a short video of owlet rescue shot by Ansh.

We also stopped during the safari to shift an injured Pit Viper away from the track. If you look at the cover picture, it shows the crushed viper clearly.

Other Rescues

We share below some of our other rescue efforts. A bat, a bird and a squirrel- how were they rescued? Click the picture stories below to browse.

Rescuing a Bat Injured by the Strings of Kite Flying - Kite flying causes many injuries every year. Read the picture story of a bat badly injured by the kite strings and how it was rescued.

A Squirrel Comes Home - How a nature lover rescues and adopts a baby squirrel despite a pet dog in the house. This is a guest story by Dr Rohini Tiwari.

Rescuing A Black-Winged Stilt - The story of a black-winged stilt who also got entangled in the kite string and couldn't fly. X-ray revealed a dislocated bone. Picture story of the rescue and release follows.

So next time you see an injured bird or animal, do make an effort to rescue and save it. Such a small effort will give you immense satisfaction and joy. And, during the kite flying festival, please retract the 'manjha' or the kite string completely. Any loose string hanging around a tree or a pole can cause injury to the birds and the bats as you saw in our stories above.

We are grateful to Akhil for such an exciting night walk and the rescue of a cobra and an owlet. Noble deed indeed. His deep knowledge of the flora and fauna is admirable. His zeal to share it with the visitors is noteworthy. We thanked him before our departure from the Resort and presented him with a framed picture of Pardeo, the tigress of Tadoba. It is one of my favourite shots.

May there be more selfless human beings like Akhil who genuinely care for mother earth. God bless him.

Thanks for browsing. Do leave a comment. It encourages us.

   -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Ansh Bhargava/ Secunderabad/ 5th October 2025

#amrabad #tigerreserve #wildlife #junglesafari #junglewalk #nightwalk #spectacledcobra #spottedowlet #rescuingwildlife #telanganaforestdevelopmentcorporation #mannanurjungleresort #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh

Entrepreneurship For Teenagers

"What is Entrepreneurship?"

"How do I set up a business?"

"I have an idea. How to move ahead?"

And many more such questions came from the teenagers at Bhavan's Vivekanand College at Sainikpuri Secunderabad yesterday. The college has more than 4000 UG and PG students on campus. Ghumakkad had the privilege of interacting with the young minds. About 100 students had registered for 'Entrepreneur Foundation Program' organised by the Entrepreneur Development (ED) Cell of the College. ED Cells form part of the Technology Business Incubator (TBI) program of Osmania University. TBIs in the universities are in turn sanctioned and supported by National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI)- a program of the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India.

The Foundation Program had 100 plus inquisitive minds full of energy and ideas. It was very heartening to see their active participation. Ghumakkad engaged the students with examples of real life startups which addressed the customer needs successfully. Thereafter, we triggered further interaction by shooting the following questions:

1. Do any of you have an idea for a startup? What is it?
2. What need of the customer will it address?
3. Who else is providing a similar service or solution to the customer need? Do not fall into the mythical trap that 'My Startup Idea is unique with no competition!'
4. For those who haven't yet thought of a startup idea, why are you here in this Program?

All the above questions led to a highly interactive session. Some of the ideas which the students shared are listed below:

1. Online support to other startups for mentoring and scaling up (Jaywant)
2. Online platform for content creators for brand building of businesses (Ananya)
3. Support to farmers for pest prevention and control (Aditya)
4. Specialised consultation for patients needing dermatology treatment (Tejaswini)

The second half of Ghumakkad's session covered the Business Model Canvas (BMC) and its utility for startups. BMC was explained using two live examples one each of an e-commerce company and the other of an educational institution. We developed both the BMCs during the workshop with the active participation of the students. 

Thereafter the other two speakers addressed the participants. For Ghumakkad, it was a fulfilling morning on a rainy day! 

I presented a copy of my book on Social Entrepreneurship to the College. 

Thank you Bhavan's College for the opportunity. Thank you all the student coordinators including Garima, Kaustubh, Aditya, Sanjana, Ananya, Vamshika and others. You guys rocked!

Sharing below the links to some of our earlier stories on related topics. You may click to browse.

Young Entrepreneurs Bootcamp - An exclusive residential program for school students (9th to 12th graders) conducted by BITS Pilani. Ghumakkad was a resource person. 

 

National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) also promotes innovation and entrepreneurship. But very few educational institutions have been able to implement it. The story below brings out NEP implementation by BITS Pilani.
Implementing NEP-2020

Startup Fever Grips VVISM - This story chronicles a B-Plan Contest held at a B-school in Hyderabad. Browse to read how the teams battled it out!

Startups are the way ahead. In India, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Gurgaon have emerged as startup hubs. However, most of the other States also promote startups by setting up facilities, funding and other support. But we can not rest on our ores.

Thanks for browsing and stay connected. Do leave a comment to keep us going.

   - Harsh-The-Ghumakkad/ Secunderabad/ 23rd Sep 2025/ hbindia@gmail.com 

#startups #innovation #TBI #NIDHI #DST #entrepreneurship #youngminds #mentoring #incubation #university #UGCollege #teenagersideas #BMC #businessmodelcanvas #NEP2020 #implementationofNEP2020 #BhavansVivekanandCollege #Secunderabad

Hiking With Two Middle Schoolers

What happens when two middle schoolers meet on a hike? Even though meeting for the first time, the call of hiking and climbing the rocks and boulders, they make a perfect team. The challenge for Ghumakkad, their hiking guide, was to contain the energy levels! Climbing a boulder and jumping off- and repeating it on newer boulders, the duo were unstoppable. 

Here is the guest story by younger of the two middle schoolers. Mohili all of 12 years and visiting from California, had this to say.

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I’m not actually too fond of hiking. You have to walk up a steep hill just to walk back down again. There is barely a sense of accomplishment and I don’t usually find it exciting, other than seeing the animals like birds and cows. However, when my family and I went hiking in Hyderabad, it was a bit different. 

Once we had hiked up the initial hill, (which was surprisingly steep) we got to the main area, where there were huge boulders, and rocks to climb. There was also a little dargah with lots of window holes, but no glass. They were big enough to literally sit in. Apparently the stray dogs had figured that out far before us, because there were at least five or six of them sitting in their own little frame. We took a hint from them and climbed up in the windows beside them. 

(Ed: The hikers followed the dogs and occupied the same slots! See the picture below)

The view from up there was amazing. There was greenery all below us. A huge Indian flag waved solemnly in the distance. There was a big platform-like rock that Harsh Nana said was called the Gun Rock, as it had a huge canon positioned long ago. The faint sound of peacock calls echoed through the air. There was a trench near the bottom of the hill that Nana said used to be overflowing with water, but now, had been encroached and filled up with debris. 

Huge rocks meant rock climbing. I had never done real rock climbing before, so this was an experience that I found fun and new. Since it was my first time, I (of course) wasn’t too great at it, but nonetheless, I enjoyed the thrill of trying it out. (Eds: See the short video clip below)

There was one rock that stuck out to me. It was the largest and tallest of them all, standing proudly as if it were the ruler of all the others. It would have been hard to climb it directly, as it was nearly flat, with no nooks to put your feet or holds to pull yourself up. But it didn’t take long to find a different way to the top. There were smaller rocks piled up behind the boulder, and with some careful foot placement and encouragement from others, I was able to reach the top, unscathed. (Eds: Picture below with Mohili's mom squatting on the boulder)

It was exhilarating, and unlike traditional hiking, gave me a strong sense of accomplishment. But the best part was when the sun began setting. The sky was peach, and violet, and a soft glow covered everything, as if it was all dipped and covered in a layer of gold. Not something you see every day.

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We thank Mohili for sharing her story and her father Jaideep for the pictures. 

Many young writers have shared their guest stories with Ghumakkad earlier. Some of the guest stories are linked below:

Sketching at Eight - Story of Naman when he was eight-years-old and a budding sketch artist.

Multi-tasking at Ten - The story of a ten-year-old girl having multiple talents and pastimes.

Why Kodaikanal? - A picture story by two young boys based on their vacation in Kodaikanal

Hiking in a Stream: Coyote Gulch - Another picture story of a 10-year-old hiking in a stream in a canyon in USA.

All the above stories have been authored by the children in the age group of 8 to 12 years. And all of them happened to be Ghumakkad's grandchildren. It is such a delight to carry children's guest stories. If your child has a story to tell, do share with us on email hbindia@gmail.com . Please ensure that the pictures and videos are original. We will give credits in the guest story.

We end with a quote by Helen Keller who said "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."

Thanks for browsing and stay connected. Do leave a comment. It keeps us going.

    -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Mohili/ Secunderabad/ 16th September 2025

#hiking #middleschoolers #climbing #rockclimbing #ammugudahill #secunderabad #rocks #boulders #gueststory #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #adventure #helenkeller