Patterns and Shapes of Leaves

 Nature- the master designer.

Nature the creator.

Nature if abused and hurt, can also become the destroyer. For Nature's punishment in the form of man-made floods you may read our story 'The Flood Fury'.

In this post we bring you Nature's creativity as seen in the leaves of plants, creepers and trees. 

All the pictures have been taken in our yard or neighbourhood in Secunderabad India. Of course, it is not an exhaustive compendium of plants and trees. But just a sample for you to appreciate Nature's variety. Can you name all the leaves in above picture?

Leaves convert sunlight to the nutrition needed by the plant or tree for its growth and sustenance. We all learnt that in the school. Does photosynthesis ring a bell? Well, sunlight is crucial for survival of all life on earth. Well, this is not meant as a science class in school.

We are sharing the pictures of some of the leaves below. You can check how many names of the leaves did you get it right? Enjoy.

That was the leaves of monsoon Lily with bright yellow flowers twice a year!

Nature's brush paint is not always green! See the following two pictures.

The Contest

The leaf of Umbrella Palm was the subject of KBG-63, the 63rd edition of Kaun Banega Ghumakkad, our online captions contest.

The Captions

KBG-63 Contest received overwhelming response from our readers. More than 400 readers browsed the contest story. We received 46 creative captions which are listed below in alphabetical order. We thank all the participants.

Sl.	Name	Caption for KBG-62 Contest
1	Ajai Bhumri	पहली नजर में प्यार हो गया.
2	Ajai Bhumri	प्राकृतिक सुन्दरता सभी की पहली चाहत.
3	Amandeep Kaur	Wohhhhoo
4	AP Sharma	Harmony in Symmetry
5	Avinash Tiwari	Suryakiran सूर्यकिरण
6	BC Jayaprakash	Ulta pulta...I am unique
7	Bharat Ladha	Nature is balanced if we don't destruct.
8	BR Natarajan	In Graphic Design Nature is the ultimate. Others can only imitate
9	Deepak Jena	Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift.
10	Deepak Jena	Natures beauty comes in all sizes, not just in single size.
11	GB Sethi	Geometry Box gives two dimensions, providential geometry in nature has perfected in three dimensions - us to learn?
12	GR Sreenivasan	Nature's beautiful creations are beyond description.
13	Haripriya Bathula	Phyllotaxy! (Arrangement of leaves on a plant stem)
14	Haripriya Bathula	Perfection in an imperfect world!!
15	Jaishankar	Green radiance
16	K Thyagaraj	Nice picture
17	LS Bhargava	Law of nature- equity, balance and symmetry.
18	Manju Khetan	Wow, beautiful patterns in nature to find fractals.
19	Manu Bhatnagar	Careless perfection for joy and wonderment
20	Naresh Kumar	Spokes.
21	Naresh Kumar	Spinning wheel
22	Nidhi Bhargava	परमात्मा सबसे बडा कलाकार है, उसकी हर रचना बेजोड, बेमिसाल है
23	Pierre D'Silva	In nature, symmetric and asymmetric are both beautiful!
24	Poonam Bhargava	उत्कृष्ट रेखागांडित! प्रकृति सर्वोपरि
25	Prabhat Jindal	We have to learn so much from Nature
26	Pradeep Siwach	Prakriti ka Chakra प्रकृति का चक्र
27	PRR Rao	Awesome!
28	Radhika Sareen	समानता से एकता
29	Radhika Sareen	What if our PALM has such  symmetrical lines...whole world will be together....
30	Radhika Sareen	Nature's Geometry Box
31	Rajendra Singh	Nature, the supreme Art Teacher.
32	Ramanand Baliga	Spokes of the green cycle
33	Rashmi Bhargava	Art of nature
34	Rekha Bhargava	प्रकृति के रेखा गणित के आगे सब गणित  फेल हैँ ।
35	Ritu Bhargava	There is no better designer than nature.
36	Rohini Tiwari	Yeh kaun Chitrakaar hai... jiska yeh chamatkaar hai!
37	Shereen Sultana	Khudrat ka karishma
38	Siba K Patnaik	Gift of Nature!
39	Suhas Kedar,  Vaishali Kedar and  Sandhya Thakare	Nature's way of reconnecting people.
40	Sujata Das	The universe is pure geometry. Beautiful shape twisting around  over space-time.
41	Vandana Bhargava	अलग होकर भी जुड़े रहने में सुंदरता है।
42	Veeky Baths	In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect.
43	Vinay Prasad	Nature is the mother of symmetry, geometry, shapes!
44	Vinod Dhanuka	Multi-layered creativity
45	Yogesh Verma	Jeevant
46	Ratnaja Gogula	The Big Bang!

Winners of KBG-63

Our Jury has selected four captions as the winners. The winning captions along with a brief intro of the reader are given below. We congratulate all the winners of KBG-63.

Avinash Tiwari loves golf, gardening and music. A former Col of Indian Army, he is a War Veteran of 1971 war. Having done enough route marches with his troops, he detests long morning walks except on the golf course. He is a regular contributor and winner of KBG contests. His one word caption सूर्यकिरण meaning Sun rays was the Jury's immediate choice.

Jaishankar is a creative writer, blogger and Nature lover. He is a Colonel in Indian Army. He has won several KBG contests in the past. His crisp caption 'Green Radiance' was so apt for the picture.

Naresh Kumar is an alumnus of NIT Srinagar and IIT Delhi. After retiring from the Navy as a Commodore, he served as the CMD of Hindustan Shipyards Ltd at Vizag. Presently he is an advisor to IIT Jammu. Naresh loves to travel and play golf. His caption 'Spinning Wheel' corelates the green spokes of the palm leaf.

Pradeep Siwach PhD has been Vice Chancellor of several universities after retirement from Indian Army as a Brigadier. A keen photographer, Pradeep is loved by his students and colleagues alike. He has won the KBG Contest several times. His caption प्रकृति का चक्र Prakriti Ka Chakra meaning Nature's Cycle reinforces the theme of the picture and the contest.

You may have noticed that all four winners this time are from the Armed Forces. It is just a coincidence and not by design. It brings out their creativity. Who says Fauzis are not a creative lot?

We thank both the Jury members Manik Srivastava and Neeta Bhargava for their time and continued support.

Not Just Leaves

Nature's design capabilities go beyond the leaves of plants and trees. When it comes to flowers, Nature's magic multiplies manifolds. We will bring you another edition of KBG focussed exclusively on flowers. A sample follows.

We end with a PQ- picturesque quote by Alexander Mc Queen.

Once again we thank you for your continued interest and support to KBG Contests. Without you, we would have been nowhere!

Stay connected.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/30th Sep 2021

#Umbrellapalm #symmetry #nature #patterns #shapes #leaves #naturesartstudio #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #KBG #kaunbanegaghumakkad #onlinecontest #lockdownfun #takeabreak #captions #powerofobservation #craetivecaptions #pqs #picturesquequotations #naturetheteacher #learningthroughpictures #secunderabad #observeandlearn #naturesgeometrybox #spinningwheel #suryakiran #greenradiance

Paramotoring in Hyderabad

 Want to fly on your own? Like a paratrooper? Right here in Hyderabad?

Then head northwards to Konda Pochamma Reservoir (35 kms from RSI Secunderabad). See the map below.

Adjacent to the ramp going up the reservoir, you will see a green hangar. 

That's the home of Wingmasters Co., India's first internationally licensed Paramotoring company providing exclusive Air Safari experience to its customers. Paratrike is the safest form of powered flight. Wingmasters take you up in the air in one of their Paratrikes.

Although Ghumakkad could not take a flight as it was late in the day, we did meet Mr Abhay Rathore, Chief Flying Instructor who showed us the facilities. His love for adventure sports comes from his family background. His father and grandfather both served with the Indian Army whereas his younger brother is a marine commando with Indian Navy. Paramotor flying normally happens at sunrise and sunset when the winds are not very strong. We are sharing a few pictures of our visit. Don't miss the warning sign at the main entrance. The entire flying club is guarded by a Rottweiler and a Pit Bull- both sentries of repute. 

However, to get a feel of the thrill of a paramotor flight, you may click here for a video clip. People of all ages can take the flight. You may book your slots on phone 9950259444 or their Facebook page. Tariff in Sep-21 ranged from Rs 2500 for a 5-munite ride to Rs 8000 for a 20-minute ride. Go-Pro photography charges are extra. So, if you love adventure, don't miss a micromotor flight. Ghumakkad is posting this story on Wingmasters not for any commercial interest, but for his love for adventure sports.

We end with a PQ- picturesque quote. Shot during a recent hike with school students negotiating a rock face, the PQ says, "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone". So, get out of your comfort zone- at work, on the sports field or as a learner. Your real life will begin then!

Live a life full of adventure. Likes of Corona will not bother you.

Thanks for browsing

   -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ Konda Pochamma Reservoir Hyderabad/ 24th Sep 2021

Postscript 6th Oct 2021: Within 10 days of posting this story, one of the readers went paramotoring along with few of her friends. Occasion- to celebrate her 63rd birthday up in the air! Sharing an extract from Lekha's story dated 5th Oct 21. Lekha Sishta is a well known management professional in HR circles in India and Asia.

"Harsh, thanks to you and your blog.. I had an Exhilarating experience..

My birthday gift to myself.. Went on a para-motoring ride  early today, with a group of my IIMB alumni@ Hyd group.  Totally 16 flights our group did.. With their kids and spouses too..

It was totally exhilarating.. A not to be missed experience... Initially, the  takeoff was a little bumpy, but once airborne after the first two seconds of heart in the mouth, it was amazing.. Not just the view from up above (and the reservoir is really huge...and well constructed), the farms below, the glistening water of the canals, the cold morning air freezing the hands a bit,..the birds flying below you.. And then I was "head in the clouds.."  literally and figuratively.. It was white soft feathery wisps of clouds softly brushing past the cheeks, the wind gusts gently lifting the trike now and again.. Then the sudden clearing.. the glow of the sunrise and I knew what the birds must feel like.. And all too soon, the 10 minutes just sped past... And it was back to earth with a very smooth landing... 

Glorious, glorious, glorious experience!

I have to tell you all one more awesome thing that happened yesterday.. 

One of our alumni, Mahesh had booked just for himself  and said his wife would come, see and then if she was comfortable we would book a flight for herself too on the spot. 

He brought his mom and mother-in-law  for the drive.....both in their mid 70s..

Not only did Mahesh wife love the Paramotoring experience.. she wants to now sign up for the course too to learn to pilot the craft.. 

The awesome bit was both the 70+ years young-at-heart ladies.. were enthralled and wanted to take the ride too. They both did .. And came back thrilled and smiling ear to ear. It was so cute.  They both wanted to go again soon too. 

Thanks to the two darling older ladies.. Full of zest and verve.. 😍😍

We also had a 10 yr old the daughter of another alum who flew.. So across 10-70, we took to the air!! Glorious!!!"

_________________________ 

#adventure #parachute #paratrike #sports #WingmastersCo #flying #pq #picturesquequote #KondaPochammaReservoir #micromotoring #Hyderabad #getaway #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh