Up or Down- Learning from a Caterpillar KBG-75

Tiny caterpillar, but tall lessons! Yes, that's what one picture of a caterpillar has taught us. Thanks to the interpretations by the readers, the caterpillar reminded Ghumakkad of an Adventure Event organised by him more than 14 years ago. Having founded Prakriti the Environment Club of Icfai Business School (IBS) Hyderabad in June 2004, it was a pleasure adding adventure activities to the club in subsequent years. During 2008, we had organised an Adventure Day in IBS campus at Dontanapally, Hyderabad. It included valley crossing, monkey crawling and rappelling. Am sharing few pictures from that event below.

Imagine doing this while suspended five floors up in the air? See the picture below.

When with students, you end up doing and learning many more things. After teaching 10 batches of MBA at IBS Hyderabad, I had recounted the experience in a picture story. You may click the link below to browse the story:

"Harsh@IBS- A Journey of a different kind"

So, what is the connection between adventure and a caterpillar? The picture of a caterpillar clinging to a slender leaf upside down but still moving, stirred the imagination of our readers. See the pictures below and tell us whether you see a connection between adventure and a caterpillar or not?

Talking about perspective, our previous story titled 'Perception Vs Perspective' brought out how one affects the other. Even in this contest, the readers' perception led to a change in our perspective of the contest picture! QED!

As far as adventure is concerned, the armed forces thrive on it. Here is a picture of a soldier doing monkey crawling - just like a caterpillar or a monkey!

The Contest

KBG-75 the 75th edition of the online caption contest Kaun Banega Ghumakkad, received 52 creative captions listed below. The participants were in the age group of 11 to 80 years!

No.	Name	Caption for KBG-75 Contest
1	Aayush Paroolkar (11 Yrs)	Upside down but seeing downside up!
2	Ajai Bhumri	I wish, life was so simple.
3	Amandeep Kaur	Just caterpillar hanging style
4	Avinash Tiwari	Bhai papi pet ke liye kuch bhi karega.
5	Bharat Ladha	पखेरू से बचाव है तभी भोजन का आनंद है।
6	BR Natarajan	As an ugly insect I do upside down and work hard to get wings to emerge as a beautiful butterfly
7	C Raghuram	Head over heels, “in move”
8	Deepak Jena	Stay strong, make them wonder how you are climbing & riding on slender leaves.
9	Deepak Jena	Take it easy - But take it !
10	Deepak Jena	Find a way, not an excuse !
11	GR Sreenivasan	Caterpillar dies only to be reborn as butterfly
12	Harpal Narula	Not upside down in the Caterpillar's mind. It thinks the rest of us are upside down.
13	J Ramamoorty	Topsy turvy progress
14	Jaishankar	Changing my World by changing my perspective.
15	LS Bhargava	Limited world for caterpillar, but when it grows makes his world beautiful.
16	LS Bhargava	First look impression may not be true but wait and watch as caterpillar turns into colourful butterfly.
17	M Vasudevan	My paths to goal, up or down!
18	Mandeep Narula	No matter when and where, in total control.
19	Manju Khaitan	Failure is like a caterpillar before it becomes a butterfly
20	Neelima Paroolkar	Upside down but still thinking straight!
21	Neha Misra	Be humble like Caterpillar to become a truly majestic butterfly.
22	Nidhi Bhargava	साथी न कारवां है ये तेरा इम्तिहां है यूँ ही चला चल राह के सहारे करती है मंज़िल तुझको इशारे...ओ राही ओ राही
23	Peter de Padua	Upside down or inside out, never ever give up, keep moving on.
24	Peter de Padua	Topsy-turvy is not a reason to be weary.
25	Peter de Padua	When the edge looks near, never fear, just look for another side.
26	Poonam Bhargava	ग़र मज़बूत हो तेरी पकड़, तो निकल जाएगी बाधाओं की अकड़
27	Poonam Bhargava	I enjoy every adventure with my mighty legs
28	Prabhat K Jindal	I am very versatile - be it top or down
29	Pradeep Siwach	Mujhe to khula aasman dekhna hai
30	Prashant Jadenavar	Upside down or downside up, Its all ok! Keep moving!
31	PRR Rao	I make my own way
32	PRR Rao	Hanging upside down is a precursor in the evolution of a beautiful butterfly
33	Rajendra Singh	With face up or down, I travel around, My grip is tight, No matter the height !
34	Rashmi Bhargava	Keep your temper said the caterpillar
35	RB Dhavare	The World may look topsy-turvy to me but I have a good hold on to my path ahead.
36	Rekha Bhargava	समझदारी देखो भगवान की ओर मुख करके चल रहा है ,तो गिरने का ना डर ना शक ।
37	Rekha Bhargava	इस नन्हे कमला की ,समझदारी से पहले आएगा ।
38	Ritu Bhargava	I want to be like caterpillar. Eat a lot, sleep for a while and awake beautiful.
39	Ritu Bhargava	Caterpillar does all the hard work but butterfly gains all the publicity.
40	Rohini Tiwari	Seedhe raaste ki yeh ulti hi chaal hai!
41	Ruma Purkayastha	I'm meditating not isolating!
42	Shereen Sultana	Learning the importance of right side up
43	Sujata Das	Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, she became a butterfly.
44	Supradeep Sen	Amazing creation of God
45	Susmita Ganguly	Flippant
46	Unknown	Enjoying the open sky above.
47	Veeky Baths	Caterpillar story is all about hope and transformation!
48	Vinay Prasad	Sometimes I walk upside down to make you busy
49	Vinod Dhanuka	Roller Coaster Ride
50	VV Ramani	Beautiful tomorrow!
51	Yogesh	Where there is a will, there is a way.
52	Zafar Naseem	Defying Gravity

The Winners

Our Jury Akanksha and Neeta were quick to select three winning captions. We are delighted to share the winners' brief profile along with their captions.

Peter de Padua writes creatively and has won several KBG Contests in the past also. A former Wing Commander of IAF, Peter is a water sport enthusiast. His matter-of-fact caption 'Upside down or inside out, never ever give up, keep moving on', has a deeper meaning for our life. It won the Jury's appreciation.

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 'I'm meditating not isolating' was unique and conveyed a different perspective. Ruma has won the KBG Contests previously also.

Ritu Bhargava's caption "I want to be like caterpillar. Eat a lot, sleep for a while and awake beautiful", described a caterpillar's life beautifully. 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. 

Once again we thank all the participants and congratulate the three winners.

Hope we have been able to bring some freshness and cheer in your life with KBG Contests. Your feedback and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for browsing

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 19th July 2022

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Wimbledon-22 Beyond Tennis

Is Wimbledon all about tennis? Or, is it beyond tennis? While watching the men's final at Wimbledon-22 last evening, I felt that it went much beyond tennis! It transcended the boundaries of human behaviour, communication, role of a teacher and team work. How? Read on.

Novak Djokovic (Joko in short) won his 4th straight men's singles title and 7th overall defeating Nick Kyrgios (Nik in short). Great feat. But the match which lasted over three hours, had many lessons for all of us. Now some of you may comment 'Do you see life-lessons in everything? Plants, trees, insects, birds, animals, movies and even a tennis match?' Well, perhaps yes! But you can agree or disagree after reading this short story.

We can learn some life-lessons even from structures like a lighthouse. Our story 'Lighthouses and Human Beings' may interest you.

Team Work and Teachers

Though tennis singles is regarded as an individual pursuit, but every single player after winning the title gives credit to his or her 'team'. But what does this 'team' mean in a singles match? The team refers to the coaches, fitness trainers, physios, psychologists and others who help a player to become a champion. Those who watched the match, would recall that the first bear hug which Joko gave after winning the title was to his 'team' in the players box. He hugged, shook hands warmly and thanked each of his team members first. Only then he went to share his joy with his family. This also reinforces an old Hindi couplet गुरु गोविन्द दोऊं खड़े, काके लागूं पाय। बलिहारी गुरु आपने, गोविन्द दियो बताय। It explains the dilemma of a learner who on seeing both the God as well as his teacher, asks himself to whom should he pay his respects first? The God or the teacher? He chooses the teacher because it is the teacher who has explained to him what God is! So, teacher first even on a tennis court!

Positivity Pays

Positive reinforcement goes a long way in motivating human beings. This was so well brought out during the match. Joko's team kept applauding every point that he won. And more importantly, they gestured 'never mind' when Joko lost a point. On the contrary, there appeared to be a communication breakdown between Nik and his team. Primarily because Nik shouted and swore at his team many times during the match. How can an individual remain motivated with such an agitated and negative state of mind.

Emotional Stability

Joko's focus and emotional strength prevailed when he overcame the first set loss to Nik. Even though Nik continued to fire aces, he kept his cool. On the other hand, Nik showed his frustration and anger many times on the court. He demanded that a fan be removed from the crowd for distracting him in his serve. Quoting AFP, 'His afternoon threatened to unravel completely when he was broken from 40-0 up in his ninth game, fuming and swearing loudly at his team in the player's box'. Emotional stability of a player is the key when faced with adversity whether it is tennis or golf. Readers may browse our earlier story titled 'Golf and Yoga' which brings out the power of concentration. Joko gave a live demonstration of how to remain focused.

Sporting Spirit

On more than one occasion, Joko appreciated his opponent's winning point. It reflected his true sporting spirit. Even after the match during the presentation ceremony, he praised Nik. Nik in his speech had said he wasn't sure if he would be back at Wimbledon next time. Joko in his speech encouraged him 'Nik, you will be back!' In fact, Nik said that Joko was "a bit of God". Their body language, gestures and comments on each other spoke of good sporting spirit despite their frosty relationship on the social media earlier. See the pictures below.

Communication

After the match, Joko while conversing with the Royal Highness in the Member's Hall showed great conversational ability. He enquired about their young son's interest in tennis and how she felt as a parent seeing the child play. It was an instantaneous connect. Similarly, the way he credited his father when he was a five-year young child aspiring to learn tennis, touched many hearts. His ability to communicate so effectively with people, is another winning stroke. All of us need to reinforce the power of good communication in our lives- be it as a student, teacher, parent, working professional or a leader. You may like to browse our earlier post titled 'Communication is Existence'.

So much for the take-aways from a tennis match. Do share if you would like to add a point or two. Life means continuous learning. Even the teachers keep learning as brought out in our story 'A Teacher Keeps Learning'. The day we stop learning, life comes to a halt! See Ghumakkad's logo below.

Happy learning and thanks for browsing.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ Secunderabad/ 11th July, 2022

#wimbledon #beyondtennis #menssingles #teamsandteachers #focus #patience #emotionalstability #communication #sportingspirit #perseverance #overcomingadversity #djokovic #kyrgios #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh