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

#caterpillar #upsidedown #keepmovinginlife #changeyourperspective #lilycaterpillar #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #KBG #kbg75 #kaunbanegaghumakkad #onlinecontest #takeabreak #captions #powerofobservation #creativecaptions #learningtogether #adventureinlife #learningfromacaterpillar

“I wouldn’t trade entrepreneurship for anything else”

“I wouldn’t trade entrepreneurship for anything else” replied Anjali Raj when asked about her entrepreneurial journey. Co-founder of 'ILove9Months', Anjali is driven by the passion to make  pregnancy healthy and memorable. 

Anjali belongs to the 1st batch of BBA from IBS Hyderabad where she was my student. Even as a teenager in 2010, she had her focus to do something different. She participated in many events which involved team work.

She went on to do her Masters from University of Warwick, UK. She followed her passion to become an educator. She is a Certified Childbirth Educator,  Lactation Educator, Pre and Postnatal Yoga Instructor, Prenatal Barre Instructor, Infant and Child Feeding Counselor and has been trained in KG HypnoBirthing.

After working as a birth and lactation educator in Bengaluru, Anjali is now driven to empower the women of India through knowledge, advocacy, and evidence-based techniques. Her ultimate goal is to impact as many women as possible through her skill and passion.

Anjali's story is part of the series titled 'Proof of the Pudding'. "Proof of the pudding is in the eating" goes the old proverb. For a teacher like Ghumakkad, what is the pudding? 'Pudding' for any teacher is his/her graduating students. Then how  this 'pudding' in the form of former students is to be 'eaten'? 'Eating' can be symbolically equated with the placements or performance of former students in real life. This story is about Ghumakkad's former students who have become entrepreneurs. Most of the 2500 or so MBA, PGDM and BBA graduates taught by me have taken up a job. By embarking on the challenging path of entrepreneurship, few of these former students have proven the proverbial pudding beyond doubt! Who are these ten entrepreneurs? Are their business ventures diverse?

Their enterprises may not be huge, but they have followed their heart. They have pursued their passion. It was such a pleasure to reconnect with these former students and to learn their success stories. Thanks are due to each one of them for sharing their journey after graduation.

Name	MBA Graduation	Business Area	Venture Name & Location
Prabudha Saurabh	MBA(HR) IBS(2010)	Career Coaching	HRscope Consultants, Patna
Prashant Jadenavar	MBA(HR) IBS (2010)	Entertainment/ Theatre and Performing Arts	XpressionZ, Bangalore
Kirti Sharma	MBA(Mktg) IBS (2012)	Image Consultant, Corporate Trainer	Tualmagis, Mumbai
Aayushi Kasliwal	MBA(Fin) IBS (2012)	Designer Soaps- manufacture and supply	Soapatite, Indore
Preksha Jain	MBA(Mktg) IBS(2013)	Designer Apparels and Accessories	Preksha Jain – The Fashionate, Kolkata
Anjali Raj	BBA IBS(2013)	Healthy Mother, Healthy Baby	ILove9Months, Kochi
Ishita Raksha and Nidhi Upadhyay	BBA IBS(2013)	A Gourmet Dessert Studio	17 Sugar Street, Hyderabad
Sriram Gundepudi	MBA(HR) VVISM(2016)	Employability Skills Training	Digi Freaks, Hyderabad
Amruth Charan	PGDM(Fin) VVISM (2016)	Digital Marketing, Web/App Development	Aresol India, Visakhapatnam

Anjali shared her entrepreneurial journey with us. Excerpts:

Has your entrepreneurial journey been as exciting as you had expected it to ​be?

My entrepreneurial journey has been a roller coaster ride! It’s definitely been exciting and fun, but this comes with its share of pressure, low times and intensively challenging situations. That said, I wouldn’t trade this for anything else!

What are the key challenges that you are facing in your enterprise and how do you plan to overcome it​? ​

Our biggest challenge is Lack of Awareness and Advocacy at every level of the societal pyramid regarding the importance of maternal wellness and its direct impact on maternal/infant health outcome. Secondly, India being a diverse nation has a lot of age-old tradition and norms including myths. Our challenge is to honour and blend age-old traditions with science, but keep myths at bay. We are managing these challenges by increasing awareness levels at every level and within the multiple stakeholders like the government, hospitals, corporates etc.

Our final challenge remains funding to grow and scale the organization. By proving our concept and increasing traction through our MVP, we aim at raising funds.

What is your message for present students who want to take the entrepreneurial dive​?​

I would always encourage students to take the dive into entrepreneurship. However, know the pros and cons, prepare yourself for extreme hard work, lots of rejection and challenging situations. If someone wants to get into entrepreneurship because they think its easier to be your own boss and work stress is lower, one couldn’t be anymore wrong!

'I love 9 months' is a team of three women dedicated to antenatal and postpartum wellness. In their words "We work towards empowering women to make the right choices during their pregnancy and after. We believe that every woman deserves the right to know how best to take care of her body and mind during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum." 

Anjali and team have won several awards. They were selected to share the stage with the Prime Ministers of India and Israel during recently concluded India-Israel Innovation Bridge. See the pictures below.

Govt of Kerala also honoured them for their outstanding work.

For those readers interested in knowing more about maternal  healthcare and the work done by ILove9Months, here is a short video.

Anjali is not the one to rest on her oars. She is working for her PhD at University of Warwick to assess the benefits of yoga for women who have conceived post a miscarriage. We wish Anjali all the best in her socially relevant endeavours.

Readers may also browse two related stories posted earlier:

Can Startup Management be taught?
Social Entrepreneurship- Learnings

Thanks for browsing. 
More stories of passionate entrepreneurs will follow. Stay connected.

     - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/2nd March 2018

#StartupIndia #IndiaIsraelInnovationBridge #WomenEntrepreneurs #ProofOfThePudding #IBSHyderabad #ILove9Months #GhumakkadHarsh #GhumakkadHB #AnjaliRaj #MaternalHealth