Why are waterfalls one of the most visited places on earth? We had asked this question in our online contest KBG-70, the 70th edition of Kaun Banega Ghumakkad. And we received a wide spectrum of interesting responses. Here is a sample:
"Waterfall is turbulent yet still, bestowed to thrill."
"Waterfall overcomes obstacles like rocks and boulders."
"Waterfall is music to the ears."
"Waterfall is gentle at core but mighty on shore."
"Waterfall is the power that awes me, music that soothes me, abundance and beauty that inspires me."
Just one picture of Boghata waterfalls in north eastern Telangana yielded 59 different captions. We thank all the participants of KBG-70. Their creative responses set us thinking.
A waterfall has many life lessons. We have attempted to summarise it in the table below. The idea is not to be prescriptive about life but to learn through sharing and introspection. Hope you agree.
|
No.
|
Characteristics of a Waterfall
|
Life Lessons for Humans
|
|
1
|
The Flow
|
Keep moving in life- sometimes
with full force (as in monsoon) or just a trickle (in lean season). But move
you must.
|
|
2
|
The Fall
|
Grace in falling. Never be afraid
of falling. Resume your flow thereafter.
|
|
3
|
Rocks and boulders as obstacles
|
Overcome the challenges in life.
Like a waterfall, go over or around the obstacles. But keep going more
stronger. More the obstacles, the greater your resolve and determination!
|
|
4
|
The Roar
|
Heard loudly only after nearing the
waterfall. Similarly, be humble. Riding on one’s ego doesn’t take one far.
‘Ahankar’ leads to one’s downfall.
|
|
5
|
The Power
|
Share it with others. A waterfall
doesn’t complain if the water is diverted to a hydro-electric plant or an
irrigation canal.
|
|
6
|
The Beauty
|
Let others appreciate us. No need
to brag about our success or achievements. The waterfall remains there. It is we who go there to appreciate it.
|
|
7
|
The Lean Season
|
Have patience in life. A seasonal
waterfall awaits the next monsoon for the flow to resume. It continues to
enthrall the visitors thereafter.
|
Tallest Waterfalls
We are sharing below a short list of the tallest waterfalls in India and overseas. Feel free to share your pictures or experiences of visiting any of the waterfalls listed here. Waterfalls can be single drop or multi-tiered. It can also be seasonal or perennial.
Tallest Waterfalls In India - courtesy Wikipedia
|
No.
|
Waterfall
|
Height, Feet
|
State/Location
|
|
1
|
Nohkalikai Falls
|
1,115
|
East Khasi Hills district,
Meghalaya
|
|
2
|
Nohsngithiang Falls or Mawsmai
Falls
|
1,033
|
East Khasi Hills district,
Meghalaya
|
|
3
|
Dudhsagar Falls
|
1,020
|
South Goa District, Goa
|
|
4
|
Kynrem Falls
|
1,001
|
East Khasi Hills district,
Meghalaya
|
|
5
|
Meenmutty Falls
|
984
|
Wayanad district, Kerala
|
|
6
|
Thalaiyar Falls
|
974
|
Batlagundu, Dindigul district,
Tamil Nadu
|
|
7
|
Barkana Falls
|
850
|
Shimoga district, Karnataka
|
|
8
|
Jog Falls
|
830
|
Shimoga district, Karnataka
|
|
9
|
Khandadhar Falls
|
801
|
Kendujhar district &
Sundergarh district, Odisha
|
|
10
|
Vantawng Falls
|
751
|
Serchhip district, Mizoram
|
Tallest Waterfalls in the World - Norway has many tall waterfalls!
|
Waterfall
|
Height
|
Locality
|
Country
|
|
Tugela Falls
|
3,225 ft
|
KwaZulu-Natal
|
South Africa
|
|
Angel Falls
|
3,212 ft
|
Bolívar
|
Venezuela
|
|
Tres Hermanas Falls
|
2,999 ft
|
Junin
|
Peru
|
|
Olo'upena Falls
|
2,953 ft
|
Hawaii
|
United States
|
|
Yumbilla Falls
|
2,940 ft
|
Amazonas
|
Peru
|
|
Skorga
|
2,871 ft
|
Møre og Romsdal
|
Norway
|
|
Vinnufossen
|
2,822 ft
|
Møre og Romsdal
|
Norway
|
|
Balåifossen
|
2,789 ft
|
Vestland
|
Norway
|
|
Mattenbachfall
|
2,756 ft
|
Lauterbrunnental
|
Switzerland
|
|
Pu'uka'oku Falls
|
2,756 ft
|
Hawaii
|
United States
|
Ghumakkad has also been to some not-so-well-known waterfalls in India. See the pictures with linked stories below.
Chaparai Water Cascade Located in the Araku valley, Eastern Ghats, India.
Kuntala Waterfalls- Monsoon Getaway from HyderabadPallivasal waterfall. Best visited in monsoon. In March, reduced to a trickle as in the picture below.
Cascade Waterfall Kodaikanal
Located few kms before Kodaikanal. It is fed by the overflow of Kodaikanal lake. Highly visited spot as you can see the number of tourists at bottom of the picture.
Lastly, the
Boghata Waterfall! Its picture formed the
Contest KBG-70. Another getaway from Hyderabad. You may browse the link for more details.
Captions Received
We are sharing below all the captions received for the Contest. Do the captions convey a life lesson or two? Do comment at the end of this post.
|
No.
|
Name
|
Caption
for KBG-70 Contest
|
|
1
|
Ajai
Bhumri
|
रोक सके तो रोक के दिखा
|
|
2
|
Ajai
Bhumri
|
हम मतवाले नौजवान
|
|
3
|
Amandeep
Kaur
|
Just
go with the flow!
|
|
4
|
Avinash
Tiwari
|
Main
to chala jidhar mile rasta. Koi kya jane kahan meri manzil
|
|
5
|
Avinash
Tiwari
|
Jeevan
chalne ka naam
|
|
6
|
Avinash
Tiwari
|
Nischay
dridh ho to rasta nikal hi ata hai
|
|
7
|
BC
Jayaprakash
|
I
found my paradise
|
|
8
|
Bharat
Ladha
|
भले कठिन हो डगर , रास्ते निकल ही जाते हैं।
|
|
9
|
C
Raghuram
|
Where
the fall is majestic….
|
|
10
|
C
Raghuram
|
Turbulent
yet Still, bestowed to thrill
|
|
11
|
CD
Sawant
|
Nature's
Laughter
|
|
12
|
Deepak
Jena
|
Amazing
how saying nothing says everything.
|
|
13
|
Gian
Prakash
|
Divided
we fall
United we flow
|
|
14
|
GR
Sreenivasan
|
Life
is like a waterfall, it is always in motion sometimes copious and at other
times just a dribble
|
|
15
|
J
Ramamoorty
|
Cascading
delight
|
|
16
|
Jaishankar
|
कौन कहता हैं की चट्टाने रूकावटे हैं?
चट्टान न होते तो झरने की खूबसूरती भी कहां होती?
|
|
17
|
Jyoti
Dixit
|
Cascading
and cool
|
|
18
|
Kapil
Tikku
|
Beautiful
|
|
19
|
Kausalya
Govindan
|
Water
curtain for all the secrets(geological) behind!
|
|
20
|
Kausalya
Govindan
|
Water
veil over stony walls!
|
|
21
|
Kishor
Thakre
|
Elixir
of life cascading with splendour and abundance.
|
|
22
|
LS
Bhargava
|
Beautiful
and Natural Free Flow of water.
|
|
23
|
Manju
Khetan
|
If you
are flexible, falling will not hurt you.
|
|
24
|
Mukul
Bhargava
|
Dancing
"On the Rocks"
|
|
25
|
Narendra Soni
|
झरना कलकल बहता
कभी नहीं यह हारता
राह में रुकावट आये
विकराल रूप धारता
|
|
26
|
Neelima Paroolkar
|
“ Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink ?”
|
|
27
|
Nidhi Bhargava
|
प्रकृति का नाच
|
|
28
|
Nidhi
Bhargava
|
Cascading with grace
|
|
29
|
Poonam
Bhargava
|
Gentle
at core but mighty on shore!
|
|
30
|
Pradeep
Siwach
|
Nature's
way to destress
|
|
31
|
PRR
Rao
|
When
you say Waterfall, I hear Wonderful
|
|
32
|
Radhika
Sareen
|
कल कल छल छल बहता झरना, सिखलाता हम को कभी ना रुकना…
|
|
33
|
Radhika
Sareen
|
Falling
down will never hurt you if you are like waterfall
|
|
34
|
Radhika
Sareen
|
निर्मल शुद्ध जल, ना रूप ना रंग, है निरपेक्षता का प्रतीक, निरंतर बहता जाता, संदेश दिये चलो सब संग संग....
|
|
35
|
Radhika Sareen
|
चट्टान हो पहाड हो, मैने नही सीखा रुकना, अपने बल से रास्ते बनाना, यही है मेरा कहना....
|
|
36
|
Radhika
Sareen
|
बल, विकास, शुध्धता, निर्मलता और एकता का प्रतीक....
|
|
37
|
Raghu
Trivedi
|
Spirit
of India - Anek se mil kar aik!
|
|
38
|
Rajendra
Singh
|
Cascading
down Mother Nature's ageless tresses !
|
|
39
|
Ramanand
Baliga
|
Jaltarang
|
|
40
|
Ranajit
Sen
|
Beauty
in a lasting gush
|
|
41
|
Rashmi
Bhargava
|
Happiness comes in rushes
|
|
42
|
Ritu
Bhargava
|
झरने का संगीत इतना मधुर न होता ,अगर राह में कंकर पत्थर न होते।
|
|
43
|
Ritu
Bhargava
|
Life is like waterfall ,always moving .
|
|
44
|
Rohini
Tiwari
|
Yeh gori nadiyon ka chalna uchhal ke....
|
|
45
|
Ruma
Purkayastha
|
Roaring and rearing
it flows !!
|
|
46
|
Shereen
Sultana
|
Falling, yet so strong!
|
|
47
|
Shyamala
Charyulu
|
Water fall teaches us to take all the ways to reach
our goals by taking all the probabilities (even a small Gap)
|
|
48
|
SR
Murari
|
Mesmerising waterfalls
In our backyard, moves
Own yearning, nature's
Life, eternal flows
|
|
49
|
Sujata
Das
|
Let go of your ego like a waterfall
|
|
50
|
Susmita
Ganguly
|
It's a messenger of the glacier or source. Each
waterfall has a distinct nature and personality.
|
|
51
|
Trixie
Asirvatham
|
Living
energy, poetry in motion , bubbling with happiness.
|
|
52
|
Trixie
Asirvatham
|
Waterfalls
! You leave me
awestruck , smitten, energised, inspired, calm and peaceful ....and so happy!
|
|
53
|
Trixie
Asirvatham
|
Power
that awes me, music that soothes me,
abundance and beauty that inspires me.
|
|
54
|
TSR
Swamy
|
I may
sometimes look violent but you still need me to preserve nature.
|
|
55
|
Veeky
Baths
|
Go
with the flow!
|
|
56
|
Vinay
Prasad
|
The
turbulence turns in to a calm river. That's about life too.
|
|
57
|
Vinod
Dhanuka
|
Power
of the flow!
|
|
58
|
VV
Ramani
|
Descent
of God's
|
|
59
|
Yogesh
|
Jeevan
chalne ka naam
Chalte raho subah o sham
|
The Winners
Our Jury has selected the following four captions as the winners of KBG-70. We are happy to introduce the winners along with their winning captions below.
Ritu Bhargava sent a caption in Hindi 'झरने का संगीत इतना मधुर न होता ,अगर राह में कंकर पत्थर न होते' meaning the roar of the waterfall would not have been so enticing had it not been for the rocks and boulders blocking it. Ritu has a masters in English literature from Jaipur University. Her interests are cooking music, dance and writing. She is a regular participant and has won several KBG Contests.
C Raghuram, a winner of many KBG contests, gave a catchy caption 'Turbulent yet still, bestowed to thrill.' It captured the thrill of seeing a roaring waterfall in the picture. As a Flag Officer in the Navy, he inspires his teams to achieve more. Raghu loves travelling and interacting with people.
Poonam Bhargava's caption 'Gentle at core but mighty on shore!' highlighted another perspective of a waterfall. She is an alumnus of the Lady Irwin College New Delhi. She was a school teacher in Pilani for few years. She loves to be with Nature. Simplicity appeals to her and helping others is her way to happiness.
'Power that awes me, music that soothes me, abundance and beauty that inspires me' was another winning caption by Trixie Asirvatham. She 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.
We thank Anchita and Akanksha both the Jury members from California for their time and support.
We end with a PQ- picturesque quote by Confucius who said "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
KBG Contests have been very enriching. Your creative captions bring new perspectives on life. Our sincere thanks to each one of our readers.
Stay connected and safe. Covid times are easing out.
- Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 22nd Feb 22
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