Young Entrepreneurs' Bootcamp

"This is my design of a solar-powered refrigerated EV three wheeler for small farmers to transport and sell their produce at a better price", said Layasree an 11th grader from Bengaluru while showing the sketch on her tab. She wanted to know how to proceed further ?

"How is startup valuation done? How does it affect the investor's decision while making an offer between debt and equity", asked Chakshu, a 9th grader from Lucknow.

"I have an idea to use AI for crime prediction and detection in crowded areas through CCTV image processing. How do I get customers?", queried Prasanna an 11th grader from Chennai.

"We have two ideas for a startup in the healthcare sector. How do we choose one?", was the dilemma posed by Arshroop from Indore. 

Layasree, Chakshu, Prasanna and Arshroop- all of them- are participants of  a six-day Young Entrepreneurs' Bootcamp (YEB) being held at BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus from 24-29 Dec 2022. Another YEB was held in Pilani campus last moth. With the idea to catch them young, YEB aims to give a glimpse of technology driven innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem at BITS Pilani. YEB comprises lectures by BITS faculty and alumni and hands-on activities to give students an exposure to high tech labs and innovative startups. Readers may browse the YEB link for more details.

YEB-22 has 61 participants selected from across India and overseas. Three-level selection has brought together the best of the best school students of 9th to 12th grade. I had the privilege to interact with the YEB cohort on the topic of 'Funding of Startups- BITSian Stories'. As you can see from some of the questions listed in the opening part of the story, the session was interactive and the participants' inquisitiveness and focussed thinking floored me. 

BITS Pilani has taken the lead in promoting entrepreneurship at the school level as enunciated in the National Education Policy NEP-20. YEB is the first step in the implementation of  NEP-20.

Am sharing a few pictures of YEB-22 at Hyderabad. 

For the readers not known to me personally, I have been teaching Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship at PG level for more than 15 years now. Readers may browse some of our earlier stories listed below:

Proof of the Pudding - Real life stories of ten young MBA/BBA graduates who took up the entrepreneurial challenge successfully. All of these entrepreneurs were my students.

Startup Ideas - Ideas submitted by a PGDM class

Get Your Hands Dirty - Advise by the Jury of a B-Plan Contest

Can Startup Management be Taught? - Experience of another B-Plan Contest

Learning from Failures 

Raindrops and Entrepreneurs 

We end with a picturesque quote on one of my pictures shot during the rain.

Thanks for browsing. Thanks are also due to my alma-mater for giving me the opportunity to interact with the budding entrepreneurs.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 28th December 2022

Postscript 30th Dec 22: Manik Srivastava, an experienced high school teacher wrote, "9th to 12th  Std, is a tricky age. Either it is uphill or a complete  burnout for them. They need guidance  and  good advice  from the best to go forward". Thanks Manik for your feedback.

#entrepreneurship #nep2020 #yeb22 #bitspilani #bphc #hyderabadcampus #bootcamp #youngentrepreneursbootcamp #startups #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #entreprenurshipatschools

Real Vs Virtual Friends

From befriending to unfriending, social media has expanded our friends list. But the definition of a real friend hasn't changed. 

When I clicked the following picture of three friends on a college terrace, it triggered this post. The last of the KBGs in 2022 - our online captions contest- Kaun Banega Ghumakkad KBG-80 is here.

Give a caption to the above picture taken at a college, and win KBG-80.

Here is another copy of the picture minus the contest logo for better visualisation of your caption.

Now go ahead and give a caption to the above picture of three college friends! Let your imagination run wild!

How to Submit a Caption

For the first-timers on KBG, you can respond using any of the six channels below:

1. Leave a comment on this post
2. Send email to hbindia@gmail.com  
3. Respond on the FB post
4. Comment on Instagram @ghumakkadhb 
5. Comment on Twitter @HarshBh21184761
6. Send a WA message. If you want your WA number to be added to Ghumakkad's list, send an email.

So folks, get going and give your caption pronto! If you feel like, you may submit more than one caption.

Previous Contest

KBG-79, the 79th edition of Kaun Banega Ghumakkad Caption Contest had featured a picture of the Stone Chariot Wheel of the Sun Temple, Konark Odisha. It received a huge response summarised in our story 'Konark Sun Temple'. We are sharing two of the winning captions below:

Hope we have succeeded in diverting your mind away from a world struggling to bounce back after devastating impact of Covid on global economy. After long layoff, schools and colleges are back to physical classes. The boredom of online classes has finally ended. We will keep bringing you interesting picture stories! Till then spread joy and cheer all around like our logo shown below. Thank you Ramya Sriram for such a creative logo.

Now, be your creative best and shoot your response. Most catchy captions will be the Winners of KBG-80! All the best.

Thank you all the readers for your continued support.

Stay connected, stay safe.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 20th December 2022

#Friends #collegelife #realfriends #relationships #realvsvirtual #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #KBG #kbg80 #kaunbanegaghumakkad #onlinecontest #takeabreak #captions #creativecaptions #observetheworldaroundyou #learningtogether 

BITS of Social Impact - A Teaser

Social Entrepreneurship (SE)- going beyond the buzzword! National Education Policy-2020 has given a thrust to SE and startups. 

What does SE mean? If it is meant for common good of the society, how does an SE sustain itself? How do we identify the need for an SE?  What are the practical tips for setting up a social venture? Are there some examples of social ventures from Indian context?

To answer above questions and more, here is a new book for you authored by us. Titled 'BITS of Social Impact', it is like a primer on Social Entrepreneurship with 25 real-life stories of founders and co-founders who have set up successful social ventures in India and overseas. These founders have pursued their chosen paths with passion. 

For ease of readability, the stories of these founders and co-founders have been grouped under the following sections:

1. Healthcare (Four stories of founders and co-founders)
2. Education (9)
3. Environment (6)
4. Art and Culture (2)
5. Community Transformation (4)

In addition, the book also showcases nine Emerging Stars who have founded or co-founded NGOs or ventures in recent past. They have displayed incredible empathy for people around their communities and taken up various social causes ranging from organic farming to assistive technology for disabled and from countering hate to mental health.  Some of these emerging stars are current students.

The title of the book was selected through crowd sourcing of ideas from BITS alumni across the globe. The suggestion by Akarsh Shroff emerged as the clear winner.

It was a privilege interacting with these passionate founders who are all alumni of BITS Pilani. The book is to be released during BITS Alumni Association's Global Meet (BGM) being held in Jaipur from 6-8 Jan 2023. All BGM delegates will get a complimentary copy. Later the book will be available on Amazon and other sites.

The book is our humble contribution to our alma-mater as it enters its diamond jubilee soon (1964-2024). The book has been dedicated to BITS Pilani and we have pledged the entire royalty from the book also to BITS Pilani.

We dedicate this book to our alma mater, BITS Pilani, for nurturing the social impact creators…

We are grateful to Dr Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chancellor BITS Pilani for the Foreword. We also thank all those who have helped us in putting the book together. They have been included in the Acknowledgements section. The book would be of interest to entrepreneurs, researchers, students, budding SEs, policy makers, civil service organisations, NGOs, educational institutions, investors and the government.

Once the book is released, do share your feedback. The book is available at Amazon both in hard copy and Kindle versions.

Those interested to browse excerpts from our previous book may click the link 'BITS of Success'.

     -  Harsh Bhargava with Sai Prameela Konduru/ Secunderabad/ 15th Dec 22

#socialentrepreneurship #NGOs #socialventures #reallifestories #NEP2020 #BITSPilani #BITSAA #BITSians #BGM #bitsaaglobalmeet #alumni #changemakers #impactcreators #foundersofsocialventures #BITSofSocialImpact #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh

Magical Sunrise at Puri

From the Sun Temple at Konark, we now move to the magical sun rise at Puri Beach in Odisha. Watching the sun rise from a clean, unpolluted and exclusive beach has its own charm. The forest department of Odisha controls the 3 to 5-kms deep and more than 20-kms long stretch of forest along Puri beach. Visitors to the Balukhand-Konark Wildlife Sanctuary are allowed entry in a controlled manner between 8.30 am to 5 pm. Courtesy Toshali Sands (the resort where we were staying), we obtained special permission for early morning entry. A forest guard accompanied us through the forest till the beach head.

We have captured the sunrise in various stages and hues. Apart from the glory of the sun and the surf, tiny crabs also caught our eye. Our story includes few pictures from an afternoon visit to the same beach, courtesy K Gopu, fellow Navy Veteran. Let the pictures and the videos tell the story.

Wave after wave! Watching the sea waves ashore is very soothing. It can be interpreted in many ways. Each wave washes part of the shore. Like wiping off your worries and problems in life! Enjoy a short video below.

Here is how the Veterans felt after the mesmerising sunrise! See the short video

The agility of the tiny crabs is seen to be believed. See the short video clip below.

East coast of India is home to red coloured sand bubbler crabs. Fascinating to watch, they forage for food in the sand. The following stories by Ghumakkad have appeared on the top in Google search for last several years:

Red Crabs of Surya Lanka

Sand Bubbler Crabs and Sand Galaxies 

Surya Lanka Where You Encounter the Sand Galaxies

Sunrise and sunset are the favourite subjects of every photographer. Apart form the sea coast, there are several spots for spectacular views of a sunrise or a sunset. Few of these are:

Tiger Hill, Darjeeling- from where you see the first rays of the Sun illuminate the highest point on earth i.e. Mount Everest

Sunset Point, Mount Abu, Rajasthan

Sunset Point, Hampi, Karnataka. You may browse our earlier story 'Charm of a Sunset' to enjoy the sunset at Hampi.

Some of our other stories featuring sunrise as well as moon rise are listed below. Just click to browse the picture story.

Why do People Shoot the Sun? - Even a nine-year old got up at 4.45 AM to shoot!

Moon's Magic at Sea - Moon rise is as spectacular

The above visit to Puri beach was part of the Golden Jubilee of Navy Veterans of their Commissioning into the Indian Navy (1972-2022). All the stories of the Golden Jubilee Reunion and associated travel can be browsed by clicking the links below:

Magical Sunrise at Puri Beach - The panorama, the waves, the surf and tiny crabs- the story has it all.

Konark Sun Temple - Stories in Stone

Chandrabhaga Beach- The Blue Flag Certified Beach

Sunset Years to Sunrise - Friends Make the Difference

Meet the Navy Veterans- Intro and pandemic positivity video

Veterans' Choice at Puri Odisha - where to stay

Trees by A Railway Line - Learning from the Trees

We close with Gautam Buddha's famous quote superimposed on a picture of the sunrise.

More stories of our Reunion will follow. Thanks for browsing and stay connected.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with K Gopu/ Secunderabad/ 13th Dec 2022

#puri #Sunrise #beach #Odisha #NavyVeterans #Reunion #GoldenJubilee #ghumakkadharsh #ghumakkadhb #litterfreebeach #forestonthebeach #risingsun #sandbubblercrabs #eastcoastofindia #moonrise #tinycrabs 

Konark Sun Temple

Sun is the giver of life on earth. It is worshipped by many cultures. Konark Sun Temple is one of the many sun temples located around the world in Peru, Egypt, Japan and China. In India apart from Konark, we have sun temples in Modhera (Gujarat), Suryanarayana temple (AP), Surya Pahar temple (Assam), Martand sun temple (Kashmir) and many more in Bihar, MP and other states.

Brief History of Konark

According to Wikipedia, "It is a 13th-century CE (year 1250) Sun temple at Konark about 35 kms northeast of Puri city on the coastline in Odisha, India. The temple is attributed to king Narasimhadeva-I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty. Dedicated to the Hindu Sun God Surya, what remains of the temple complex has the appearance of a 100-foot high chariot with immense wheels and horses, all carved from Khondalite stone. Once over 200 feet high, much of the temple is now in ruins. The structures and elements that have survived are famed for their intricate artwork, iconography, and themes, including erotic kama and mithuna scenes."

Chariot Wheels

The temple is shaped like a giant chariot having 24 wheels carved out of Khondalite stone. Each wheel is 12-feet in diameter with eight spokes. Elaborately carved, the wheel is an icon of Odisha. All the 24 wheels represent two sets of 12 each symbolising different months of the lunar calendar. Khondalite stone found in the Eastern Ghats weathers fast. But it was still used for the sculptures and carvings in the temple. The chariot was driven by a set of B. Remains of the horses can be seen in our pictures.

Ghumakkad visited the Sun temple at Konark recently. We reached the temple with fading sunlight which poses a challenge for photographing any monument. Nonetheless, sharing few pictures of the UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Contest

The following picture of the stone chariot wheel was selected for KBG-79, the 79th edition of Kaun Banega Ghumakkad online caption contest. The contest received more than 50 captions which are listed below. We thank all the participants for their creative captions.

No.	Name	Caption for KBG-79 Contest
1	Zafar Naseem	Ultimate in craftsmanship for detail and symmetry
2	Yogesh	Keep moving.
3	VV Ramani	Sankethik adbhut
4	Vuppala B Umakanth	Kaal Chakra
5	Vinod Dhanuka	Life: Combination of Shine & Darkness
6	Vinod Chaddha	Samay ka chakra!
7	Vijay Uppal	Wheel of our heritage and destiny.
8	Veeky Baths	The poetry on stone!
9	Sunisha C	Dark and light in the circle of life
10	Shyamala Chatyulu	Wheel of Life with all angles
11	Sanjay Patnaik	Superb!
12	Rohini Tiwari	Timeless poetry in stone!
13	Ritu Bhargava	Value of time
14	Ritu Bhargava	Dharam chakra
15	Ritu Bhargava	Gati ki mahamaya
16	Rashmi Bhargava	The wheel of life takes one up or down by turn
17	Ramdas B Dhavare	The Whole Universe has 'Spherical shaped bodies' but it seems the 'Life on Earth is a Full Circle'.
18	Ramanand Baliga	Eternity
19	Rakesh Bajaj	Life is like a wheel sooner or later it comes back where it started.
20	Rajendra Singh	Wheel of karma, rolls on endlessly.
21	Radhika Sareen	समय चक्र
22	PRR Rao	The wheel that squeaks the loudest is the one that gets the grease.
23	Prem Raj Chadha	Beautiful!
24	Prashant Jadenavar	Neither I carry the weight of the Past Nor I Assume the Weight of the future! Just One step forward at a time!
25	Poonam Bhargava	The wheel turns evenly for all
26	Poonam Bhargava	An important invention by Man
27	Peter de Padua	Wheels within wheels
28	Nidhi Bhargava	जीवन चक्र में कभी धूप कभी छांव है जो रहे स्थितप्रज्ञ हर पल,वही सच्चा इंसान है
29	NC Sarangi	Cycle of Time
30	MV Vasudevan	Wheel, the First innovation of homosapiens, a technology marvel, then, is yet to be driven out by AI, innovated by mankind.
31	MN Muralidharan	(Life) Goes on!
32	Manju Khetan	Awesome!
33	Manik Rao	Cadence Cast in Stone.
34	LS Bhargava	A real life cycle of Ups & downs and happiness & sadness
35	Jyoti Dixit	The wheel of life turns gradually to show us pictures of our journey of life. Captain ship ahoy.
36	J Ramamoorty	Jeevan chakra
37	Gopu K	Happy days
38	GR Sreenivasan	The wheel of life takes one up and down  perpetually, ultimately we should learn to enjoy the journey.
39	Deepak Jena	The road to success is always under construction.
40	Deepak Jena	The time of wheels in life, that seems to be the worst, always turn out for the best!
41	CD Sawant	Life is like a roller coaster. You can either scream with fear or enjoy the ride. Choice is yours.
42	C Raghuram	Chakra(view) - the circle of life is permanent
43	BR Natarajan	We all are Abhimanyus in this Kal Chakra Vyuh.
44	Bharat Ladha	उजाले हो या अंधेरे। कभी न रुके कालचक्र के फेरे।
45	Avinash Tiwari	Kaal (Sudarshan) Chakra
46	Anonymous-3	Eternal
47	Jaishankar	सूर्य देवता जीवन दाता, चौबीस चक्रों वाले रथ पर आता भोर सवेरे आसमान में निकला बना दिया समा को उजला कालचक्र का निर्माता धरती मां के प्राण विधाता।
48	Anonymous-1	Sun God fame ...Konark Chariot Wheel cum Sun Dial
49	Amrit Yegnanarayan	Eternal
50	Amandeep Kaur	Not everything needs to go places to leave impact.
51	Amandeep Kaur	Non-movable yet attractive!
52	Ajai Bhumri	Wheel of life, beautifully carved by almighty. Man is to have an eye to see and enjoy.

The Winners

Our Jury has selected the following four winning captions for their creativity, brevity and/or instant appeal. Congratulations to all the winners.

Yogesh is a doctor who loves travelling and photography. A former Colonel in the Army Medical Corps, he volunteers as a medical officer at an Officer's Institute in Secunderabad. His short caption 'Keep moving' appealed to our Jury instantly. He has won the KBG contest earlier also.

Rashmi Bhargava has been a regular contributor to KBG contests. Winner of an earlier contest KBG-41, her caption 'The wheel of life takes one up or down by turn' conveys the reality of life. A post graduate from Rajasthan University, Rashmi has a creative mind.

Poonam Bhargava has been a teacher with compassion for fellow human beings and animals alike. An alumnus of Lady Irwin College, New Delhi, she loves Nature. She has won several KBG contests in the past. Her caption 'The wheel turns evenly for all' conveys Nature's equanimity.

CD Sawant has been a regular participant in KBG contests. His caption 'Life is like a roller coaster. You can either scream with fear or enjoy the ride. Choice is yours.' has a deeper message for all of us. Enjoy the ride and stay positive. A former General, Shekhar as he is known to his friends, loves to travel and interact with people.

Congratulations to all the winners of KBG-79.

The above visit to Konark was part of the Golden Jubilee of Navy Veterans of their Commissioning into the Indian Navy (1972-2022). Other stories of the Golden Jubilee Reunion and associated travel can be browsed by clicking the links below:

Konark Sun Temple - Stories in Stone

Chandrabhaga Beach- The Blue Flag Certified Beach

Sunset Years to Sunrise - Friends Make the Difference

Meet the Navy Veterans- Intro and pandemic positivity video

Veterans' Choice at Puri Odisha - where to stay

Trees by A Railway Line - Learning from the Trees

We end with a quote from the Nobel Laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore who wrote, "Here the language of stone surpasses the language of human."

More stories of our Reunion will follow. Thanks for browsing and stay connected.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Ashutosh Anand/ Secunderabad/ 9th Dec 2022

#Konark #SunTemple #13thCentury #SoundandLightShow #Konark #Odisha #Chariot #Stonewheels #NavyVeterans #Reunion #GoldenJubilee #ghumakkadharsh #ghumakkadhb #restoration #worldheritagesite #sandstone #carving #destructionbyinvaders #religioustolerance #rabindranathtagore #languageofstone