SOLVING THE 3X3 RUBIK'S CUBE

The 3x3 Rubik's cube or the 'original cube' is the easiest cube to solve. You go to Google and type 3X3 RUBIK'S CUBE SOLUTION and you get a thousand websites giving you ten different ways to do it. After 18 years of testing, Andre Crowe has discovered an eight step solution, the fastest way. In fact there are a mere 11 ways of solving the cube.

I learnt only one way. Andre Crowes!!! So below I have the website link from where I learned it.

  http://rubiks.com/solving-guide/3x3

This website has not only solutions for the 3x3x3 [length, breadth, height] but also for other cubes 4x4 5x5 2x2.

Kala Ghoda Festival 2013

Last weekend, I went to the   Kala   Ghoda fest. I had lots of fun. 

There were many different installations. In one installation, there were many pictures of actors stuck on cardboard. Some actors I recognised were Rajnikant, Hritik Roshan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Rekha, and Amitabh Bachchan. Though my favourite actor is Hritik Roshan, my favourite picture was of Rajnikant. He had a cool hairstyle, with his hands in his pockets and a huge smile on his face.

I met three of my mother’s friends – Rushikesh uncle, Sudha aunty and Biswajit uncle. We bought many different kinds of things. To name some, we bought a flute in the shape of a sparrow, a hair band with stuffed antlers, and also some postcards.

At a stall run by the Snow Leopard Conservation centre, we bought a keychain and some postcards. In one of the postcards, I recognized the picture of a bird, (it was a variety of a Magpie Robin), and the aunty at the stall was so happy that she gave me the postcard for free! There was also an artist at the venue, who sketched my portrait. That day, I had gone to the dentist to extract a tooth, and so, I could have ice creams! In all, I had 5 scoops of ice cream that day!!! After I came home, I calculated how much money we had spent. It was a total of almost 2000 rupees!

We saw some students making tetrahedrons with paper for an installation. 

They showed me how to make fold the paper and make the tetrahedrons, and even gave one to me! Here are 2 videos my mother recorded...

I also saw a handicapped person painting with his foot. His muscles were twisted and had not grown properly. Yet, it was amazing to see how beautifully he painted. When any of us draw a tree, we will draw two straight lines and leaves. Because he was painting with his foot, the lines went crooked and it gave the real shapes and textures of a tree.

On Sunday, I attended two workshops. They were held in the Museum gardens. The first workshop was the Tinkle Toon Factory. The workshop was conducted by some members of the Tinkle Digest team – editors, artists, and writers. They taught us how to make comics.

Though the workshop was full, one of the writers, Sean D’Mello, allowed me to participate in the workshop. After the workshop, they gave us free Tinkle Digests. I liked the workshop a lot.

The other workshop was conducted by Arzan Khambata, a sculptor. He started his career by making sculptures with scrap materials. He called them ‘Scraptures’. At the workshop, he taught us how to convert 2D into 3D. He gave us a paper and showed us how to make 3D mobiles by cutting, twisting, curving, folding, and stapling.

This workshop was full too, but once again, he arranged for paper for everyone and made sure everyone got to participate in the workshop. I had lots of fun in this workshop too.Here is the one I made....

Kala Ghoda was a totally adventurous experience. You shouldn't miss it!!!!!!

P.S. This post was written completely by Samhith. I have only helped a bit with the punctuation and with the phrasing of a few sentences. Of course, he still can not type fast, so typing and posting has been my job, while he dictated it to me. This post happens to be an important one for us, since this is the first time he has actually written almost 500 words on any single topic. That gives you an idea of how much he enjoyed the festival! 

Scrapbook for School

Its been a while since I have posted anything here, and that was mostly because I was waiting for Samhith to sit down and write something by himself. That doesnt look like its happening very soon, so I finally decided to post something myself.... 

This was a  scrapbook we made for school - one of the rare occasions when they asked us to do something at home! Samhith was all excited about it, since it happens to be one of his favourite topics, but we didn't have too much time since he was going off for his camp and then we were going out of town. We had just a couple of days in hand, and so we sat down and decided what we were going to do. Samhith of course, was very clear about the buildings he definitely wanted to write about, and also the fact that he wanted to write as little as possible. 

He also wanted me to take colour printouts of the buildings he wanted, which I flatly refused, telling him that he had to settle for the buildings he could find in the magazines, just like we used to. So the first thing we did was unearth all the travel magazines we had been storing, and cut out all the pics we liked. Next came the crucial point - How to write and What to write? Samhith wanted the individual titles to stand out, and since his handwriting isn't too good, he wanted me to write. Once more, I reminded him that this was HIS work, and his alone, and I was not doing anything except guide him. We had meanwhile decided on a collage for the cover page, and so I suggested that we could use words cut out from the magazines to make up the titles. So once again, we headed for the magazines, this time in search of words and letters. The words we didn't find, he eventually typed out, used some interesting fonts and printed the list out. To give him credit, he cut most of the pics himself, and also stuck them on the paper - hmm yes, the paper - we went from store to store looking for just the right kind of paper before we settled on these handmade ones. 

To cut a long story short, the scrapbook was completed in record time! Here is what it looked like......  Click on the image for a better view. 

Open publication - Free publishing - More kids

If you are wondering why I have put it up so late, and why some letters are missing, it is because, as I mentioned before, we did it in a hurry, managed to find a shop open on a sunday who would spiral bind the book for us, and hurriedly sent it off to school. There was no time to scan or photograph the pages. It just came back this week, since the year is almost at an end, and I decided that it was still worth posting!

For all his excitement, he did realise that in his desire to write little, he wrote too too less... something his teachers and friends pointed out.... However, that does not seem to faze him, for as he says - "Why should I have to write everything? If someone wants to know more, they can search on Google. Besides, everyone already knows about these buildings!!!" As always, his questions leave me speechless!!

Creativity with stirrers and straws!

Its been a long while since I have posted anything here and the main reason is that we have been too busy with school, as well as gymnastics and athletics, not to mention skating as well as badminton!!! With so many activities, as well as a 4 day camp to look forward to, Samhith has not been much in the mood for anything else.

Yesterday, however, as I met a blogger friend for coffee, he busied himself with straws and stirrers, and I left him alone to do as he pleased, happy that he left me alone to talk!! He later said he wanted to make a man, but didn't know how to make his arms. That was how things stood when we reached home, and I thought he had forgotten all about it. And then, suddenly, after dinner, he comes up to me and shows me the stick-man he has made - having figured out all by himself how to make the arms for the figure!!

It might be a simple thing to make, but do I need to mention how proud I am that he thought of it himself and  actually made it the way he wanted, without any help at all!!!

Our first Travel Scrap Book!

I have been pestering Samhith to write about our travels, and so far, havent had much success. However, this summer, while we were at Pondicherry, I bought him a handmade paper scrap book, on the condition that he would document our travels at every stage by himself. It seems to have worked, and as I put up his work here, I am one proud mom today! Please do leave your comments and suggestions to encourage him!

Urban Leaves Summer Camp

With the vacations in full swing, getting Samhith to write anything is a difficult task. With the IPL underway, it is next to impossible! However, here is something which at least made him write something down – the Urban Leaves Summer Camp. You can read more about the camp on my blog, and see the complete photo album here. Meanwhile, take a look at Samhith’s work…

The very first day, he found a dead butterfly. This seems to have been the highlight of the camp for him., because he couldn’t stop talking about it and showing to everyone!

He collected such a huge number of leaves and flowers, but these were all he stuck on his book…. He was supposed to sit down and name them, but got distracted and never got around to doing that!

A few lines about what he did….

And some pictures of what they made….

A self watering can…

And a method of drip-irrigation!

He made a new friend – who lives in same area, and was born on the same day as him – they were born just an hour apart! And together, they made the most of their last day at the camp – collecting dry leaves for mulching …..

Listening to Julius telling them stories and teaching them new songs….

The highlight of this day was the snake skin… a long one lying by a tree….

We finished the camp with a pot luck breakfast…. And made promises to join them as soon as we get back from our trip! Samhith now has a reason to get up early every Sunday!

Back after a long break - Writing of Soft Toys

Here is something from Samhith's pen after a long long time...... This was triggered by my wish to donate his soft toys, considering that he doesnt play with them anymore, and his insistence that he NEEDS them!

To prove that he still can play with them, he not only arranged them near his bed, he also made up a story about them! He didnt really want to write it down, though,but did when I promised him that I would post it before I posted my own posts on Hampi, and that he could keep his soft toys... for now!

So, here is his work.... first the pic, so you get an idea about what he writes about.......

These are actually two pics he took... I merged them to give you a better look.... 

and heres another pic taken by him...

Finally, here is the story.....

For those of you who are having trouble following that handwriting which becomes a scrawl towards the end, here is the story..... typed by me...

Its Christmas and here's a family waiting for Santa Claus

Here Grandfather bear is relaxing on a cushion, here's Winnie the pooh nicely having a nap on his father's lap. Here his two sons Michel and John playing together happily and waiting for Santa Claus and make a long looooooong wish, Krishna was waiting to play a prank on Santa! Policeman Dev has got a case! The case is to find Santa Claus! Squirrel Oliver is jumping on Krishna, Dalmatian Johnsons is having a nap, Tiger, Tiger's jumping has stopped and he has stuck himself so that he doesnt bump into Santa! Tweety and her father have slept. Just then they woke up! and then Santa Claus came!

Well, so thats it.... What do you think?

Ganesh Chaturthi through the eyes of a seven year old....

Here are a few lines Samhith wrote about Ganesh Chaturthi... The words are all his. I am simply typing them out for him....

We celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi for ten days. We celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi because one time Gowri comes down to earth and Shiva tells Ganesha to bring her back. That time Ganesha stays on earth for ten days. Some Ganesha idols are Lalbaugcha Raja, Siddhi Vinayak, Tilak Nagar Ganpati and Raghuleela Ganpati. In some buildings, there are Ganpatis, like Deep Apartments, Radha Krishna Building. Gowri is special in Karnataka and Ganesha in Mumbai. Ganesh Chaturthi just got over. Ganesha is worshiped as Lambodara, Vinayaka and Gajanana. People immerse Ganeshas. Amitabh Bacchhan and Abhishek Bacchhan visited Lalbaugcha Raja. From my school, we went to see Tilak Nagar Ganpati. Happy Ganesh Chaturthi. 

Please do leave your comments.. They are sure to encourage Samhith to write more....

Usha, I am especially looking forward to your comment, and so is Samhith!

More Computer Art....

Samhith now seems to getting better at using Paint, and keeps trying things out (Of course, when he is in the mood!). Here is his latest creation....

I guess we could call it 'Modern Art'???? Well, according to him, it just something he wanted to draw.. the figure on the right is an animal.. which one? Even he has no idea! He wanted to erase it, but I liked it so much, I persuaded him to leave it alone....

So, what do you think????

Binsar Photographs

Its been a while since I have posted anything here, waiting for Samhith to do some writing by himself. Since that doesn't seem to be happening, here is my contribution to his work......

These are all photographs taken by Samhith at Binsar, in our resort. There is now a perpetual tussle for the camera, and it is becoming quite obvious that I need to upgrade soon and hand over this one to junior! I did try giving him my old Kodak, but it doesn't seem to hold any interest for him, since he cant see the result of his click! What a far cry from the days when I was handed the camera... when I was almost out of school! Well, its inevitable, considering the changed times, and lets accept it, a digicam is much easier to use, and more fun, and best of all, you don't have to spend money and time to develop your negatives! So, we have now arrived at an arrangement where Samhith now shoots all the flowers and plants at the resorts, targets which will not move in time to spoil his shot! So here are his captures....

The first thing to fascinate him at the resort was the towel arrangement on the bed! It was fantastic! Here are two brilliant creations!

Now for the flowers - he has now learnt that Biology is the study of living things, and is thrilled that he could spell it without my help!

 A lone feather...he has been searching for feathers of different colours, but is yet to find them, so is a bit disappointed...

This was a huge ball...I have forgotten its name....a person gets into it, and is then rolled all over the resort! He was fascinated and wanted to try it out, but we convinced him to wait till he grew a little older....

And finally, here is his shot of his mom.... i.e. Me......

Please, please leave your comments and encourage him to write something on his own for the next post!