Hiking To Discover Yourself

Why do we go on a hike?

Why do we forego sleep on a Sunday morning?

What do we get out of a hike in barren hills?

"Don't tell me it is to stay fit! There are many other ways for fitness. You don't have to wake up at an unearthly hour of 3.30 AM to get ready and reach the assembly point at 4.45 AM!"

How do you counter that?

Well we will return to the question a bit later. Let us first start our hike to Khajaguda Hills, an hour's drive southwest of Secunderabad. Twenty-odd veterans and families of Armed Forces set out on a Sunday morning much before the sunrise. The moon had not yet set even after we reached the parking lot on the Hill. Khajaguda hills have multiple hill tops. The rocks and boulders in different shapes and sizes provide good challenge to the climbers. You may not have done rock climbing earlier. But when you do it the first time, you overcome your nervousness and fears. And that is what you get out of a hike. You discover yourself- the title of our story. You discover that you can do it! Or perhaps, you rediscover yourself.

Let the pictures do the talking. The hikers were in the age group 7 to 70! Did the 70-year-olds keep up the pace? Did they also climb the hill top? See the pictures and the video clips.

See the full moon yet to set in the picture below.

The granite rocks of Deccan Plateau are considered to be one of the oldest hill ranges on earth's surface.

Short video below shows the hikers in action.

The dawn unfolds its magic!

The younger hikers quickly climbed a 12-feet high rock face. Could the 70-year-old also do it? 

Bouldering involves climbing a boulder without any aids. Just go with your hands and feet. Yes, your shoes must have firm grip and your knees should be in good condition. See the short video below.

Once atop the boulder, you feel exhilarated!

Sunrise and sunset are always a photographer's delight. Feel the drama in the video clip below:

Chimneys are narrow gaps between adjoining rocks. At times, chimney is the only way to go up a steep rock face. Get a feel of a chimney at Khajaguda Hill in the video clip below.

Another attraction on Khajaguda Hill is the Tortoise Rock. See the two rocks balancing precariously and looking like a tortoise.

A boulder's lesson for all of us!

The statue of Shivaji appears to have been transported to Khajaguda Hill. One could see an iron frame and the hollow of the POP at the rear of the statue.

Another major attraction is the Burger Rock which looks like a multi-layered burger. It is the highest point on Khajaguda Hill. To reach the top, you have to crawl and roll sideways between the burger layers of rocks. Not recommended for those with back pain or knee problems.

Hope you felt the thrill of the hike. As we said earlier, hiking helps in discovering ourselves.

Will the Hill Vanish

You may be muttering 'this guy has gone nuts'. How can a hill vanish? Well, once you see the video clip below you may change your opinion. Half the hill on one side is already gone thanks to massive quarrying going on. It is a matter of time before we may no longer see the Khajaguda Hill. People may point in the direction and say 'not long ago, there existed the Khajaguda Hill!' We hope we are proved wrong.

Captions Contest

We had selected one of the pictures from Khajaguda hike for 55th edition of Kaun Banega Ghumakkad Captions Contest.

We received close to fifty captions from across the globe. We thank all the readers for their overwhelming response. 

The Jury

Our Jury comprising two members has selected six prize winning captions. Thanks are due to both the Jury Members- Joyshree Banerjee and Neeta Bhargava. Joyshree is an Air Force spouse and an expert chef. Fond of gardening and stitching, she is a happy-go-lucky person. Neeta is a Naval spouse and loves travelling and gardening. A compassionate Nature lover, the 40-odd Silverbill Munias which feed on her bird feeder cheer her up every day. 

The Winners

Our congratulations to all the six winners who are profiled below along with their winning captions.

C Raghuram is a Commodore in Indian Navy. An alumnus of  Cranfield University UK, he is full of energy and ever willing to learn. Interested in cycling, travelling and meeting people, Raghu's caption "Shadow or self? Does it matter?" is sure catchy!

Our next winning caption "The best view comes only after the hardest climb" came from BC Jayaprakash. A former Commodore, Indian Navy, JP is a proud Indian who believes in sharing Ramayana and Mahabharata with his grandchildren to continue the traditions! Loves gardening and cooking too.

Our next winner is a nature lover, Food technologist and Nutritionist by profession. Rohini Tiwari PhD, enjoys the wonders of sunrises and sunsets. She has won several KBG Contests in the past. Her Hindi caption ' अंधेरों से मुँह मोड़ कर ,एक नवीन भोर की ओर चलें। It means 'Let us shun the darkness and march towards a new dawn'. Do browse Rohini's story when she adopted an abandoned squirrel 'A Squirrel comes Home'

Ashutosh Anand's caption also in Hindi 'सूरज ने खेली होली , रंग सिंदूरी के संग ' means The Sun played Holi (the festival of colours) with ochre colour (as in the picture showing dawn). Ashutosh is a former Commodore Indian Navy and loved hiking in his younger days.

"Dawn rocks!" is a short caption which appealed instantly. It is written by Paul D Upot, a former Air Vice Marshal of IAF, who loves cycling and playing golf. A keen photographer too, the pictures and video of Ghumakkad in this story are courtesy Paul.

Prashant Jadnevar holds an MBA and Phd. He has worked for Mahindra and Mahindra Financial services, ICICI Lombard and Robert Bosch before launching his theatre company XpressionZ. A creative person, Prashant always had his heart into theatre. His caption "Reinvent Yourself Everyday! Just like the Sun." echoes the title of our story.

We feel each of the entries was interesting. We therefore share the entire list of suggested captions in the table below.

Sl.	Name	Caption for KBG-55 Contest
1	Jaishankar	Trekking into the rising sun
2	Veeky Baths	There will always be rocks in the road ahead of us. There will be roadblocks ; it all depends on how you perceive them
3	Shashi K Mundhra	Endless quest of humanity to reach the horizon.
4	C Raghuram	Shadow or Self? Does it matter?
5	NR Ravi	Is the Sun up yet?
6	Krishna V Iyer	When the going gets tough - the tough get going!!
7	Rajendra Singh	From darkness to light !
8	BC Jayaprakash	The best view comes only after the hardest climb
9	Manju Khaitan	A walk in nature walks the soul back home .
10	Ritu Bhargava	Hike more,worry less
11	Nidhi Bhargava	तुम समय की रेत पर छोड़ते चलो निशॉं देखती तुम्हे ज़मीं, देखता है आसमां
12	Rohini Tiwari	Andheron se muh mod kar ..... ek naveen bhor ki or chalein!
13	Rohini Tiwari	Tamaso ma Jyotir gamaya!!
14	Deepak K Jena	Recovery begins from the darkest moment.
15	Avinash Tiwari	The craze has turned them into nocturnals
16	Avinash Tiwari	The silhouette
17	Zafar Naseem	Sharp silhouette of Eager Beavers
18	D Vittal	No mountain is higher than myself, No Enemy is stronger than my grit!
19	Ashutosh Anand	सूरज ने खेली होली, रंग सिंदूरी के संग
20	Amandeep Kaur	Sky above, earth below and peace within ✨
21	Ajai Bhumri	"शाम हुई हीरो की खोज में "
22	Pradeep Siwach	Dawn of bright future
23	Bharat Ladha	नये अंतरिक्ष की खोज में।
24	Rashmi Bhargava	Adventure awaits
25	Kausalya Govindan	Gold diggers at Khajaguda  Hills!!
26	RN Balagopal	Stealth is the key
27	Parag Sharma	...And miles to go before I sleep....
28	Raghuraj Bhargava	Bhor Bhai Gayan Ka Pachay.......
29	Ajai Bhumri	Ghumakkad navi khaj mein
30	Anon	Into NEW dawn...
31	Vinod Dhanuka	Dawn at the end of Rocks
32	Sujata Das	Rising Sun above Earth below Peace within Vanity dies on nature's trails.
33	Mukul Bhargava	Cliffhanger
34	Anon, Radhika Sareen	मैं हूँ DAWN.....
35	GB Sethi	Rising Sun awaiting
36	GB Sethi	Day spring ahead
37	Jyotsna Karri	We are all in the queue one after the other, to meet our loved ones out there!
38	Neelima Bhumri	we should not worry- who is ahead of you and who is behind you...enjoy the company who is with YOU
39	Ajai Bhumri	घुमक्कड़ लाजवाब की खोज में
40	Peter de Padua	The warm glow of a brave new day lights up the heart of hope.
41	Paul Upot	Dawn rocks!
42	Peter de Padua	Sentinels in rock and soldiers their walk.
43	Prashant Jadnevar	Reinvent Yourself Everyday! Just like the Sun.
44	Sharad Sharma	Our Times across Timeless Terrain!
45	Neelam Sawant	Kadam Kadam Badhayeja 🤗🤗 Khushi ke Geet gayeja
46	Poonam Bhargava	हे सूरज! तुझसे जीत कर दिखाएँगे👍

Once again we thank all the contestants and congratulate the six winners. We share Neelima Bhumri's caption in the picture below.

Hiking is always fun. We share below the links to some of the earlier picture stories of hikes undertaken by Ghumakkad.

Bhongir Fort

Beating the Covid Year with a Hike

Women Hiking in Water

We close with another PQ- picturesque quote by Gautam Buddha about balancing life like the boulders.

Hope you enjoyed the 'virtual' hike. Stay connected. More to come.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/3rd April 2021

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