Tuesday 26 February 2019

Winners KBG-8 Suvarna Vidhana Soudha Belagavi

KBG-8 Answer? Kaun Banega Ghumakkad?
Vidhana Soudha Bengaluru.
Most readers mistook it. 
Yes, it is a look alike.
But the building in KBG-8 is Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, Belagavi (previously known as Belgaum). 
It means the Golden Legislative Assembly, constructed to commemorate the golden jubilee of the formation of Karnataka State. Ghumakkad had taken the picture in Dec-17 during a visit to Belagavi. 

More than 200 readers participated. We congratulate the winners of KBG-8 listed below:
Raghu Suryavanshi, entrepreneur, blogger
Ramdas B Dhavare, former Professor
Ankur Gupta, author-painter-guitarist

In addition, there was an anonymous correct entry. We acknowledge the 'unknown' person as well.

The imposing building is situated atop a high ground 10 kms away from Belagavi in the Halga-Bastwad area of Belgaum, just off NH-4 Bangalore-Mumbai highway. It is not as much of a tourist attraction, but certainly worth the drive. 

According to Wikipedia, the building took five years to build at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crores. It is often criticized because it gets utilised only for 10 days every year when the winter session of the Assembly is held there. But the building looks grand and that’s why Ghumakkad chose to feature it in KBG-8 with a hope that more people will become aware of it.

For Ghumakkad’s perspective on Belgaum, click the link 'Belgaum the Smart City'. The picture story will take you around Belgaum, its fort and other attractions.  

Kaun Banega Ghumakkad (KBG) enters its 9th Contest. Look out for the next announcement soon!

Thanks for browsing and participating in this contest to create awareness about Nature, Wildlife and our Heritage,

     - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 26th Feb 2019/ hbindia@gmail.com  
#kbg #kaunbanegaghumakkad #Contest #travel #knowyourIndia #Suvarnavidhanasoudha #belagavi #belgaum #natgeoindia #planetmindia #photowalks #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #karnataka

Saturday 23 February 2019

KBG-8: Which Building Where?

Calling all bikers, hikers, roadies and the like!
Identify the building and its location?

Clue: It is close to a National Highway in India.

Punch your response now.
First three correct answers get the KBG Badge of Honour!

Happy guessing!

   -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/23rd Feb 2019
#kbg #kbg8 #contest #travel #hikers #bikers #roadies #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh @ghumakkadhb

Friday 22 February 2019

Winners KBG-7 Bamboo Chicken

What is being cooked? Bamboo Chicken.
Where: Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh
Origin: Tribals of Araku region.

Thank you all for keen participation in KBG-7. More than 150 took part.
First three correct answers came within the first hour! Congratulations to the Winners of KBG-7:
Chitra Shanker
Pallavi Bhargava
Hari Prasad

In addition, the following need special mention:
RB Dhavare
Vinay Prasad
Arnab B
Suryaprakash
Rohan Talukdar
Dhiraj Rawat
Varun Khanna
Lakshmi Rawat
Amandeep Kaur

Similar to Bamboo Chicken, rice based delicacies are cooked in Kerala and the North East. Many of you answered on those lines. However, during a recent visit to the North East, Ghumakkad couldn't spot any eatery selling an item cooked in a Bamboo-shell!


What happens to the burnt or charred bamboo pieces as circled in the picture above? It is crushed and used as manure in the fields. Similar to controlled burning of the stumps after a rice crop is harvested.

Those who haven't been to Araku Valley, may like to browse the following stories by Ghumakkad:
Train to Araku- A Ride to Remeber
What to see in Araku
Chaparai Water Cascade

Next contest onwards, we will give advance notice so that everybody gets a fair chance to be a winner! Watch this space for Contest No. KBG-8!

Thanks for browsing

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 22nd Feb 2019
#nature #wildlife #travel #contest #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #awareness @ghumakkadhb #KBG #KBGContest7 @thetapcomics #natgeoindia #planetmindia #wandertrails #photowalks #araku #bamboochicken

Wednesday 20 February 2019

KBG-7 What is being cooked?

From flowers to plants to buildings, Ghumakkad now invites the foodies to test their knowledge!
See the picture below and answer all three questions?

  1. What is being cooked?
  2. Where is it being cooked?
  3. Where did it originate from?

First three winners get the coveted KBG Badge of Honour! So hurry up and punch your answers!

We also have a new logo for KBG courtesy ace visualiser Ramya Sriram from UK. Thanks much Ramya for such a lovely design.

Thanking all the readers for being part of our effort to share knowledge about the environment, nature, wildlife and heritage.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 20th Feb 2019
#nature #wildlife #travel #contest #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #awareness @ghumakkadhb #KBG #KBGContest7 @thetapcomics #natgeoindia #planetmindia #wandertrails #photowalks

Monday 18 February 2019

Trust Them

Pulwama terror attack.
Nation outraged.
Outpouring of grief.
Surcharged emotions.
Hit back. Do this, do that!

But what each one can do is to 'Trust Them'. In the words of Ramya Sriram of @thetapcomics fame, 'Let's stand by them the way they stand by us'.

Ghumakkad is privileged to feature two guests in this post devoted to our fellow Faujis. Having been a fauji myself for 30 years, I can feel the pain and anguish at the loss of lives in Pulwama terror attack. Dastardly and cowardly act. Highly deplorable.

See what Ramya Sriram, a freelance visualiser presently in UK  created recently. She got the trigger from 'Bharat Ke Veer' campaign of the Govt of India. You can browse Ramya's Instagram handle for more creations. Thank you Ramya.
Ghumakkad personally feels that we should go beyond monetary contribution. We should instead give our time, talent and energy for the Nation and the Armed Forces. Every person's effort counts.

The next guest feature is a poem written by our daughter Akanksha Bhargava. She has so poignantly captured the spirit of every Fauji's soul. Thanks Ashi. You may follow Akanksha on Instagram.
 

Once again, please go beyond signing a cheque. Giving a donation is actually shying away from your societal responsibility. Give your time, share your knowledge and talent, be a volunteer for the society and Nation at large- like Ramya and Akanksha have shown!

Some of our previous posts on the power of giving and volunteering are linked below:
Hail The Giving Batch of BITSians

Thanks for browsing.
Jai Hind.

    -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 18th Feb 2019

#ArmedForces #Giving #volunteering #respect #dignity #jaihind #pulwama #India #bharatkeveer #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #martyrs 

Wednesday 13 February 2019

Winners KBG-6

Where is this mosque? Which city?
Hundreds of inquisitive on-line participants! Thank you all.
The winners are Sai Arpitha and Rohan Talukdar. Congratulations to both.
Thanks are also due to Neelima Paroolkar for being a knowledge resource for KBG Round-6.

The Mosque-cum-madrasa at Verna Goa took three-and-half years to build and was formally inaugurated on 27th January 2019. It was built at a cost of Rs 170 crores. As per Oxford Dictionary Madrasa means school of Islamic education.

It has been named after famous Uttar Pradesh Saint Maulana Ashraf. The place would be called Ashraf Nagar.  The efforts put in by people from Hindu and Christian community for planning and execution of the project have been acknowledged. This is what I call real India. Secular at the ground level.

The school and the madrasa have been completed. The work on college and technical institute will start soon. It is interesting to note that this will be the first madrasa which will impart education in English medium.

We move on to KBG (Kaun Banega Ghumakkad) Round-7. Look out for the next post.

Thanks for browsing,

     - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/13th Feb 19
#KBG #kaunbanegaghumakkad #ContestNo6 #Travel #India #HowWellDoYouKnowIndia #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #natgeoindia #planetmindia


Monday 11 February 2019

Kaun Banega Ghumakkad No.6

What's in a name?
Why not give our Nature Quiz a name?
We all have names.
The flowers, trees, plants, rivers, forts, palaces, places- the subjects of our Contest- all have names.
So, our contest or quiz has also got a name.
Kaun Banega Ghumakkad कौन बनेगा घुमक्कड़ KBG in short. Meaning who will become a ghumakkad -the wanderer?
Hope you like the name.

We are at KBG Contest No. 6.
This time we test your knowledge of places and monuments.
Where is the mosque shown in the picture located?

As earlier, first three correct answers will be featured in next edition of KBG.

KBG No.5 Results
Following Tree was to be identified.


The correct answer is 'Gliricidia Sepium'.
Research courtesy Chitra Shanker.

Few lines about the tree and it's value courtesy Wikipedia.
The flowers are located on the end of branches that have no leaves. These flowers have a bright pink to lilac color that is tinged with white. A pale yellow spot is usually at the flower's base. See the close up picture below.

Gliricidia sepium is native to tropical dry forests in Mexico and Central America. In addition to its native range it is cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions, including the Caribbean, northern parts of South America, central Africa, parts of India, and Southeast Asia.

It is used for many purposes including live fencing, fodder, firewood, green manure, intercropping, and rat poison.
It is widely used in the form of poles for live fencing in India. So, if you want to recharge your soil and prevent rodents, plant a gliricidia sepium!

The following readers came close to the answer:
Ramya Sriram (@thetapcomics)
Neha Misra
Sushma Sangoju

However, the KBG Winner's Badge goes unrewarded this time.



Background
For those who came in late, starting 2019 Ghumakkad launched a series of online contests for his readers. Idea is to spread the awareness about Nature, wildlife and our heritage. It will also help in knowledge sharing. First three correct answers will get featured in the subsequent contest in the blog. The winners are likely to come from anywhere in the world.

We sign off with our logo.

So, what are you waiting for?
Key in the answer to the picture of the mosque shown above, where is it located?
You might win the KBG Badge!

Thanks for browsing.

     - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 11th Feb 2019
#nature #wildlife #travel #contest #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #awareness @ghumakkadhb #KBG #KBGContest6 @thetapcomics 



Wednesday 6 February 2019

Uri The Movie with Many Lessons in Management

"How is the josh?" "High Sir!"
"हिंदुस्तान घुसेगा भी और मारेगा भी"
"There is no silver medal in war"
"वक़्त आ गया है ख़ून का बदला ख़ून से लेने का"
And many such dialogues reverberate after one sees the recent Hindi movie 'Uri The Surgical Strike'. Apart from topping the box office collections, the movie has many lessons in Business Management.

The entire PGDM class of 2020 of VVISM Hyderabad was taken to a multiplex for watching the movie. The students came back all charged up. It was then that Ghumakkad decided to run a Case Study based on the movie. It was very satisfying when the students brought out the following concepts through various events/scenes in the movie.

  1. Team work at multiple levels
  2. Goal setting
  3. Alignment of individual goals with org goals 
  4. Role clarity of every team member
  5. Dealing with Uncertainty
  6. Leadership
  7. Planning and execution
  8. Motivation
  9. Communication
  10. Selection of Team 
  11. Emotional Quotient and its power
  12. Coordination
  13. Role of technology in achieving goals
  14. Physical and moral courage
  15. Service before self
  16. Humility
  17. Tag-line and impact on marketing
  18. The Power of Networking (Serial Nos. 18 to 22 courtesy Tarun Patro)
  19. Distraction Tactics
  20. Cost of a small mistake
  21. Paying attention to detail
  22. Back Up Plan or Plan B
        We found the movie to be a great learning aid for management students. There are many movies which I have used earlier for teaching. Some of these are listed below:
        Patton
        The Bridge On The River Kwai
        Wake Up Sid
        Dangal
        Lagaan
        Bajrangi Bhaijaan
        MS Dhoni: The Untold Story

        The challenge is to trigger the discussion with right questions. 
        Fellow teachers may reach me for further details on my mail ID. 
        Once again, thank you the Class of 2020 for an enriching session and VVISM for creating the right learning environment.

        Jai Hind!

        Thanks for browsing
             -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 6th Feb 2019 
              hbindia@gmail.com 
        #casestudy #learning #experientiallearning #mba #pgdm #vvism1 #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh