Birds Inspire Us

Feeling caged due to the pandemic?

No family vacations?

No wildlife safaris?

We all are locked down and feeling caged. Physically and mentally. Therefore, go birding nearby. Just by observing the birds will make you feel better. By observing not only the birds but also the plants, flowers and raindrops, we can break free in our minds. And feel rejuvenated. During the last two years, we had shared number of such posts to lift your sagging spirit. The story has embedded links to more stories. 

We are sharing again few pictures of Spot-billed ducks in Yapral lake in our neighbourhood in Secunderabad. The first picture is a PQ- picturesque quote- based on Michael Caine's quote "Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always peddling like the dickens underneath."

The next picture urges you to be yourself.

Doesn't the duck look so graceful while swimming? See the picture below.

The next picture is about being together in life- Corona or no Corona.

It may be a good idea to celebrate the coming New Year with the birds. We had celebrated Diwali during the lockdown with the birds. You may browse our story 'Celebrating Diwali with the Birds'. Birds not in the cages or zoo enclosures, but in their natural habitat!

KBG-67 Contest

A picture of a spot-billed duck was chosen for KBG-67, the 67th edition of our online caption contest Kaun Banega Ghumakkad.

The Contest received 47 captions from readers across the globe. We thank the participants and are happy to share all the captions below.

No.	Name	Caption for KBG-67 Contest
1	Ajai Bhumri	Dance n fly high
2	Ajai Bhumri	दुख मेरे, खुशियाँ हमारी,  खुशियां बांटने चला सब को बुलाने
3	Amandeep Kaur	Be like a duck, paddle across tough waters (times) like a pro!
4	Avinash Tiwari	Lo main ud chali.
5	Bharat Ladha	शिकार कर उड़ान को तैयार
6	CD Sawant	जल बिन मछली न्रुत्य बिन बिजली और जल बिन बतक असम्भव
7	Deepak Jena	Beauty itself is but the sensible image of the Infinite.
8	Deepak Jena	Being glamorous Is not a crime.
9	Deepak Jena	Beauty is good when it's on the outside, but what about the inside, it's deep with-in the soul.
10	GR Sreenivasan	Wonderful to see you performing Swan dance over placid pond.
11	Jaishankar	Winged angel walking on water
12	JJ Baxi	Vini, Vidi, Vinci Meaning: I came, I saw, I conquered
13	J Ramamoorty	Lone ranger
14	Jyoti Dixit	I could have danced all night
15	Kausalya Govindan	Model perfect on water ramp! Show off time!
16	LS Bhargava	Landed after a successful mission and ready to take off to succeed another mission.
17	Manik Srivastava	I flit,I float This is my paradise to gloat
18	Manju Khetan	Live life free of tensions
19	Narendra Soni	तैरना है फकत, कहती है बतख़
20	Neelam Sawant	Flight to fantasy
21	Nidhi Bhargava	पंख फैलाए , बांहे पसारे, तुझको बुलाए देश तेरा…
22	NR Ravi	We have lift off!
23	Param Bhatia	Mainu Bhangda paan nu ji karda!
24	Peter De Padua	Spread your wings and fly.
25	Peter De Padua	Ripples of reflection for a green, greener World.
26	Poonam Bhargava	मन मस्त हुआ फिर क्या बोले, मन डोले मेरा तन डोले.
27	Pradeep Siwach	Let me spread my wings
28	Radhika Sareen	Paddle hard & have fun dancing
29	Radhika Sareen	I dont have to wait for rains to dance…
30	Rajendra Singh	Hi Michael Jackson ! Let's compete !
31	Ramdas B Dhavare	Can Display my Wings on Water too.
32	Rashmi Bhargava	Dance n fly high
33	Ravi Dixit	Such a graceful take off. Beats any man-made flying machine.
34	Ritu Bhargava	Dancing on her favourite song- quack quack!
35	Rohini Tiwari	Walking on water..... a miracle of Nature!
36	R Raghuram	Strength and elegance - a close fight, Ready for take off, yet another flight
37	Ruma Purkayastha	Catch me if you can!
38	Sandhya Prakash	Eye of the Tiger.
39	Shereen Sultana	Spread your wings, fly high!
40	Sujata Das	Taking off to reach the sky.
41	Surendra Kumar	Harrier ready for Vertical Take-off
42	Unknown	Need to have fun after paddling hard in water....
43	Veeky Baths	Be like a duck. Soft on the outside But hard on the Inside!
44	Vinay Prasad	We all have wings. But only some dare to fly!
45	Vinod Dhanuka	Nextgen Transport Fly Float Walk
46	Rekha Bhargava	Ishwar ka karishma hai insan ko hi nahin pashu pakshi ko bhi nrity karate hain
47	Rekha Bhargava	Kala kar sabhi hain dharti per kya manush  ķya pakshi

Winners of KBG-67

Our Jury comprising of Anchita Nidhindra and Akanksha Bhargava both based in California, has selected four winning captions. Both the jury members love Nature, travelling, photography and writing. We thank both of them for their time.

We congratulate the winners whose captions along with a brief intro are given below.

Vinay Prasad is a keen photographer who loves to shoot in the mornings. An alumnus of BITS Pilani, Vinay is the CEO of a defence ancillary in Hyderabad. His caption 'We all have wings. But only some dare to fly!' was Jury's instant choice. Vinay has won several KBG contests.

Ritu Bhargava has a masters in English literature from Jaipur University. Her interests are cooking music, dance and writing. Ritu is a regular participant in KBG Contests. Her caption 'Dancing on her favourite song- quack quack!' caught the jury's eye.

Ruma Purkayastha is an educator  and wellbeing coach who learns something from her grand children  everyday! She majored in psychology and was Principal of a leading school in New Delhi. Her caption 'Catch me if you can!' echoed the action shot of spot billed duck.

Sujata Das PhD is an alumnus of BITS Pilani, Stanford and Waterloo Universities  who runs her own business in Canada. In her spare time, she loves to teach different age groups from different fields of people. Sujata loves winter sports and creative writing. Her simple caption 'Taking off to reach the sky!' appealed to the Jury.

Once again we congratulate all the winners. The duck is telling us to break free from Covid related stress and gloom.

Thank you all the readers for your continued support. More KBG Contests are coming up.

Stay connected, stay safe.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 10th December 2021

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