Heron- A Picture of Grace

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder said Pluto. Our picture of a Grey Heron landing on the thorny trees on the edge of a small lake- conjured up the imagination of our readers. KBG-68, the 68th edition of Kaun Banega Ghumakkad- the online Caption Contest- attracted more than 40 entries. Before we announce the results, here are few more pictures of the Grey Heron shot around Yapral Lake in Secunderabad India. Whether in flight with legs tucked in, or landing or take off, is the grey heron not a picture of grace?

KBG-68 Contest

The Contest attracted more than 300 readers out of which we received 42 captions. We thank all the participants listed below for sending their creative captions.

No.	Name	Caption for KBG-68 Contest
1	Ajai Bhumri	विश्राम का, मेरी ज़िंदगी में, है न कोई नाम । उड़ना, और केवल उड़ना, ही है मेरा काम ॥
2	Amandeep Kaur	Udhti phiru mast gagan mein
3	Avinash Tiwari	I am a Disco Dancer. Aati kya Khandala?
4	Bharat Ladha	मौसम सुहाना है ,चलो सैर कर आएं ।
5	CD Sawant	प्रितम आन मिलो
6	Deepak Jena	Relax we're all crazy, it's not a competition !
7	Deepak Jena	Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.
8	GB Sethi	Pankh lagen to urd jaoun main!
9	GR Sreenivasan	Very graceful and determined to impress, the high and the mighty.
10	Jaishankar	Say not anymore to me that grey is the drabbest of colours, for now have I beheld it's beauty on wings.
11	J Ramamoorty	Three need not be a crowd
12	J Ramamoorty	Grace in action
13	Jyoti Dixit	Grace unmatched
14	Kausalya Govindan	Take off or landing? All in your eyes!
15	LS Bhargava	Fragrance of happiness and beauty
16	LS Bhargava	Do not disturb the nature
17	Manju Khetan	Beautiful!
18	Mukul Bhargava	One is a wanderer and two is company
19	Narendra Soni	तुम छुपी हो कहां मैं फड़फड़ाता यहां
20	Nidhi Bhargava	Get set, ready & fly. Sky is the limit, soar high.
21	Poonam Bhargava	Perfect landing Pilot
22	Poonam Bhargava	छू लो ज़मीं को ऐसे, कोई प्यार करे तुम्हें जैसे।
23	Prabhat Jindal	Ready to Soar and explore the world'
24	Pradeep Siwach	Jo jyada udte hain woh ek din niche aate hain.
25	PRR Rao	प्रितम आन मिलो
26	Rachita Bhargava	“I believe I can touch the sky!”
27	Radhika Sareen	When you are happy and you know it - spread your wings.
28	Radhika Sareen	All set to fly high in the sky.
29	Rajendra Singh	Ace pilot landing on its turf!
30	Rashmi Bhargava	Some birds are not meant to be caged
31	Rekha Bhargava	काश मैं  भी  उन्मुक्त पक्षी होती, मन  चाही दिशा  में पंख फैलाये urti  जाती.
32	Ritu Bhargava	Leap of faith.
33	Rohini Tiwari	Perfect landing!!
34	Shereen Sultana	Landing like a Hero
35	Sujata Das	Every evening in the spring, I waited in the twilight, To watch a heron return to its roost. Telling me summer is at the corner.
36	SR Murari	No catwalk good enough for such beauty and elegance, only Nature's palette
37	Trixie Asirvatham	Uplift. Inspire. Take a leap of faith.
38	Unknown	When you are happy and you know it spread your wings.
39	Unknown	All set to fly high in the sky.
40	Veeky Baths	अभी अभी मैंने लांघा है समुंदरों को, अभी तो पूरा आसमान बाकि है
41	Vinay Prasad	I don't crawl, I don't run I am destined to fly!
42	Yogesh	Flight of Fantasy

Winners

Our Jury has selected the following four captions as the Winners of KBG-68. Congratulations to all the winners. We are happy to share their profiles below. 

Jaishankar, a former Colonel of Indian Army, loves adventure sports and hiking. Widely travelled he has an interesting blog. He is a regular participant in KBG Contests which he has won several times. His caption brought out that grey is not a drab colour and was the Jury's first choice.

As a Naval spouse, Kausalya Govindan has taught life sciences and mathematics to high school students across India. Now as a senior citizen, she says that "Am trying to  accept everyone and everything as they are and finding peace always." Her simple caption 'Take off or landing? All in your eyes!' was appreciated by the Jury.

Trixie Asirvatham has an MA in Psychology from Lucknow University. From an English teacher to a copywriter to a Creative Director of leading advertising agencies  in India, Trixie's creative pursuits continued with web design companies.  She enjoys singing, playing the guitar and writing songs and poems. Her simple caption 'Uplift. Inspire. Take a leap of faith.' appealed to our Jury instantaneously.

Veeky Baths, PhD heads the Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at BITS, Pilani Goa Campus. His research interests include Brain Computer Interface, Consumer Neuroscience, Brand perception and Pattern Recognition. He has been a regular reader of Ghumakkad's blog and loves travelling and writing. His caption in Hindi अभी अभी मैंने लांघा है समुंदरों को, अभी तो पूरा आसमान बाकी है means 'I have so far traversed only the oceans, am yet to conquer the skies' showed the confidence of a grey heron. And the lesson it has for all of us!

We thank our Jury Anchita Nidhindra and Akanksha Bhargava for taking time off during the winter holiday season in USA. We once again congratulate all the winners.

One of our readers Shyamola Khanna, an author and a painter, created a water colour based on the contest picture. Reproduced below with the permission of the painter.

We close with a PQ picturesque quote of a Demoiselle Crane in flight and shot in Khichan Rajasthan which says 'If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down!'

Hope we were able to take your mind off the damn Omicron and its rising numbers! Be safe but go out to see the birds, trees, flowers and Nature. It will sooth your frayed nerves.

Wishing you a Covid-free year!

     - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/5th Jan 2022

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