Serves: 2
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Serves: 3
Cooking time: 15 mins
Octillion!
A 7 year old kid told me this. On my return journey from Goa to Bangalore I met this kid and his brother. We struck up a conversation.
I still struggle with names up to a trillion. I would first divide the number of zeros with 3 and then determine the name of the number. The 7 year old boy on the other hand could tell me the name of any number up to 70 zeros promptly!
I tried figuring out how he does that but he couldn’t say. I asked him if he memorized it or if he divides the number of zeros as I do. He didn’t answer. He is shy and speaks very less and doesn’t know what division means.
His parents told me his earlier school had asked them to consult a psychiatrist. I possibly witnessed Asperger Syndrome.
This kid might grow to become the next mathematical genius. He enjoys numbers and watches math videos in YouTube instead of cartoons.
His elder brother was smart as well. He could solve Rubik’s cube under 15 secs. He taught me to solve it too.
I now understand that there are standard procedures, called “Algorithms”, to solve a Rubik’s cube. He taught me the basic Algorithm. It is slow and solves one piece at a time. But it is easy to remember.
It took me about an hour to learn it and now I can solve the cube. Thanks to this helpful boy my time was spent in learning a fruitful skill.
I was then curious if this is all there is to solving a cube. He told me that the advanced solvers use several 100 algorithms. They can look at a pattern and choose the proper algorithm which can simultaneously solve several positions instead of one at a time like the beginners do.
Nevertheless, I am now content with the method I learned. I am now in need of a Rubik’s cube for myself so that I don’t forget it.
The method he taught me closely matches this method described here in the youtube link.
The version I learned is below
22 years ago, when I was in my 10th standard, I had learnt filling up the magic square from a school security guard. I can’t even recollect his face but what he taught me remains with me.
Similarly, I didn’t get the mobile number or social media handle of these guys. I might never be able to meet them again. But what he taught me would remain with me for years to come.
This post will one day remind me that the boy who taught me to solve Rubik’s cube is called Varadraj and is studying in 11th std in 2025. He is aspiring to be an engineer at an IIT. His younger brother is Vedant.
Serves: 2
It was a cool experience to try my hand at guns with school friends..
On Sunday, me and my wife decided to go to a waterfall. Our original destination was a waterfall near my home. Unfortunately, we couldn’t reach there and we ended up getting chased by 3 dogs! We changed our destination to this wonderful Kesarval falls.
A lot of waterfalls form during rains in Goa. We both took my father’s motorbike and went to the waterfall which is just 3 kms from my house. Upon reaching there we found a board prohibiting anyone from going to the falls 😥.
We clicked a few photos and then decided to go down to the lake which is formed from the waterfall. Google map wasn’t showing any route to reach the lake. So, we started on an adventure trip and started exploring.
We reached someone’s private property. It was a plantation farm and we walked into it. The path was very narrow and we made our way down the plantation.
3 healthy dogs suddenly appeared and started barking at us. I was terrified, convinced the dogs would catch us. Shivering with fear, I froze in place, unable to run. Luckily, our savior appeared as a lady. She shooed the dogs away.
We asked her about the route to the lake. She told us that it is a long trek. The dogs had already instilled enough fear not to continue my adventure. I was speaking to her only to calm my nerves.
We slowly left the place and the dogs kept their eyes trained on us all through the way.
We were determined to take bath in a waterfall. After being chased away by the dogs we found the Kesarval Waterfall in the map.
After traveling 40 mins we reached the waterfall. Some people returning from the fall informed that the waterfall is accessible.
The waterfall was not very crowded. Water was at the perfect temperature to take bath as well. We dipped our feet in and were immediately surrounded by lots of fish. It was a free fish spa!
Without wasting any more time we jumped into the fall. The water falling on the head gave a nice head massage. It was initially a bit painful but later I enjoyed it.
Overall, the waterfall was fun. We spent over an hour there before returning home. We took a ferry on the way home.
I took a new and convenient train route to Goa via Hubli. Hubli now has the world’s longest railway platform at 1.5 kms.
I like traveling by train to Goa. But, the direct train to Goa from Bengaluru starts in the afternoon. Since it starts in the afternoon, it wastes half a day.
This time I traveled to Hubli. There are a lot more trains to Hubli compared to Goa. The train I took departs at 11:45 pm on Friday. So, I could take the train after work.
The train reached Hubli at 7:30 am in the morning. Hubli is 5 hrs drive to Goa. There are plenty of Buses available from both KSRTC (Karnataka State Transport) and Kadamba (Goa State Transport).
The KSRTC bus stand is 15 mins from the railway station by an Auto. I managed to catch the 8:00 am bus which was completely empty. It stopped for tea at Ramnagara and I was home by 1:00 pm. Goa greeted us with heavy rainfall.
At home I had requested my Dad to get the goan fish curry (Umant). After a flavourful lunch with lots of fish I concluded my journey with a good afternoon nap.
I wished I had explored this route earlier!
| Route | Start | End | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bengaluru – Hubli | 11:45 pm | 7:30 am | ESVANTPUR – SSS HUBBALLI SF Express (20655) |
| Hubli – Ponda | 8:00 am | 12:45 pm | KSRTC Rajahamsa Deluxe bus |
