India So Far...

Well, I have been in India for exactly 1 week now, but to be honest, it feels like it has already been a month. This past week has been so hectic that this 2 days trip to Delhi is our "Getaway" ; on our vacation (-_-) We were in Mumbai this past week, where we were living with my Uncle, who serves in the Indian Army. It was a fun visit, where I got to experience the army lifestyle. We even went to Shirdi, a 7 hour drive from Mumbai, to visit one of the most famous temples in India. We had to wake up at 3 O'clock in the morning to go for the "Kakard Aarti" and surprising enough, that day turned out to be my birthday! It was a coincidence, as we did not realize this at first, but I am gad that I got to spend the first few hours of my birthday getting blessings from the Gods Above! When we came back to Mumbai, we went to visit the Phoenix Mall, which was MASSIVE! It had every possible shop that you could think of there, and I felt that the setting out of the mall, in terms of design was very different and unique. While in Mumbai, we also visited my mum's old college friend, and we ended up staying with them for a day before taking a flight to Delhi! 

This trip so far has been quite hectic, but I am also glad that I got to see a place like Mumbai, because I had always wanted to see this place, solely because of the famous Bollywood stars that live there. We got to see the "Antilia" the 1 Billion USD home built by Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries. We also saw other superstars' homes such as Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan.

However, Mumbai was not exactly the place that I expected it to be. The roads were all dirty and poorly maintained with potholes everywhere. The traffic was undoubtedly one of the worst that I have witnessed in my life so far; there was so such thing as "lane discipline", and you could almost always hear people honking. I think that, compared to Delhi, Delhi is almost a 100 times better than Mumbai!

~Ruchir~

India here I come !!

So I am finally off to India today, after like a year! It really feels great when I see my relatives after so long, and enjoy with them! I will be gone for a month, and I think its going to be amazing!! We are going to Mumbai this year, a place where we have never been to before! I think that its going to be a good trip, meeting new people and gaining new experiences. I will also be staying with my grand parents in Punjab and will meeting all my cousins! We all do try and keep in touch, but sometimes, that is not really possible, because of the different time zones and our busy schedules! Anyways, can't wait to see them!!

~Ruchir~

Wimbledon Final

Did you all watch the Men's Wimbledon Final?! What an epic clash that was! It may have not been as entertaining as some of the finals, but I am sure that it kept most of us at the edge of our seats, trying out various abstruse superstitions so that our favourite player can win. I was supporting Roger Federer, and as much as it saddens me to say, yesterday, Novak Djokovic was the better player. Personally, I feel that one of the major reasons for Federer's loss was probably the age difference. Djokovic is only 28 years old whereas Federer is 33. That was evident in the game because towards the 4th set, we all could see that Federer was a bit fatigued. He made so many unforced errors and his serves were also quite off towards the 4th set. But I do believe that Federer will comeback with a bang, and I am counting on it!

~Ruchir~

Interstellar - A Film Review.

First of all, can we all agree that this movie - Interstellar - was allegedly one of the best Sci-Fi movies to ever be made in the history of English cinema? I mean this movie was probably one of the most intriguing movies I have seen in a long time! I do agree with the fact that the content of the movie may not have been the most lucid, but never the less, this movie was still epic! What I really loved about the movie was the fact that this movie was an extremely simple tale of love and sacrifice, which turned out to be breathtaking, hopeful and heartbreaking. I loved the way Nolan portrayed the character of Cooper and how his priorities were set. I felt that this movie was worth all the hype that it received, and I think that it is a definite watch from me. 

~Ruchir~ 

Sherlock Holmes!

I am sure that you all have heard of Sherlock Holmes right? I mean who hasn't! He is one of the most famous fictional characters in the world of Literature, and one of the most well accepted too. He is famous for quickly tracking notorious criminals and one of his most amazing quality is how he can deduce information, just by looking at someone or something. Personally, I feel that his best quality is his mind palace. For those of you who watch his TV series, you may know what it is. A "Mind Palace" is basically a concept that revolves around the idea that your brain is a hard-drive, and you have the power to delete or add anything you want into it. How this works is that you imagine that the inside of your brain is a room. Inside this room, there are several closets and shelves, where there are a numerous number of files. What Mind Palace allows you to do is that it gives you any information that you want at any time, just by "opening the files in your brain" and reading them! Isn't that amazing! I am pretty sure that it works, but you have to practice it a lot to perfect this "art", as I would call it!

I would encourage all to watch the "Sherlock" series and/or read his books, as not only are they intriguing, but informative too!! 

~Ruchir~

HIDEOUT!!

Hey Guys!

Have you ever been to this place called hideout? Its something like an escape room, where we are given small clues and basically, we have to "escape" the area before the time runs out! Sounds simple, doesn't it? NOT REALLY! The only factor that makes this a really hard quest to solve is the kind of riddles that we are required to solve in-order to gain access to the next part, or the next "room", in this case.

I think that this game involves a lot of critical thinking and thinking outside the box. We can't complete a simple 'room' with calculated thinking, but we need to see the more macro version of the whole situation. Its really fun and intriguing and I would surely urge everyone to try it out!!

~Ruchir~

NEW CRICKET RULES!!

Hey Guys!

Have you all heard about the new cricket rules? I must say that they are now much more fair than they were before. 

The rules are: 

• First 10 overs, there will be no catching players. But only two allowed outside like last time.
• 10-40 overs, only 4 players are allowed outside the 30 yard circle. 
• Last 10 overs five allowed outside the circle.
• No batting power play
• Every no ball is a free hit ( odi and t20).

These rules are quite good, especially the 3rd bullet point, because towards the end, many more people want to hit the ball out of the park! So more batsmen want to hit the ball in the air. With 5 fielders outside the 30 yards circle, its much more fair on bowlers, and have a higher chance of getting wickets!

~Ruchir~

PROM NIGHT!!

Hey Guys!

Yesterday was my prom night! It was one of the most anticipated nights of the whole year where everyone in our year comes together, possibly for the last time ever, and celebrate the end of our IGCSE's! I was part of the prom committee who organised this whole event, and I was also the emcee for the night! It was extremely an exciting night, and I think that everyone had a great time! We had some dancing towards the end, both on EDM's and slow songs :D 

~Ruchir~

Cricket in the blood?

Heya Guys!

I am pretty sure that you all have heard of the great sport that is cricket. It may not necessarily be the most well paid sport, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that it is one of the most watched and loved sport around the world. I consider myself to be a cricket fanatic. I play cricket at the RSC cricket club, and I try to follow almost every cricket game in which India is playing because, obviously, I am from India and I love my country. A funny thing about India is that although its national sport is Hockey, cricket is a much more famous sport in India. One of the reasons India is famous for cricket is because of this guy. His name is Sudhir Gautam. He is spotted in every single India game, and is truly the most "die heart fan" of the Indian cricket team, and more importantly, of Sachin Tendulkar. 

However, cricket, like any other sport, has its negatives. Over the years, many people have tragically died as a result of the cricket ball hitting them on the head as it flies off the bat. 2 of the latest tragedies that have occurred are the deaths of Australian International Philip Hughes and the Bengal U-19 state captain Ankit Keshri. These 2 incidents took everyone by shock, as the cricketing world had lost some of its finest talent.

Many people claim cricket to be the same as the sport of baseball. Although the concept is the same, where a "pitcher" throws a ball and the batter hits it, the rules of the game and the way it is played is completely different. For example, in baseball, there are 3 lives, or "strikes" before a batter gets out, but in cricket, there is only one life. Moreover, we are not allowed to throw the ball to the batter in the same way as baseball players do. It requires a complete roll of the arm, which is hard to put into words, so click here to see the basics of how to bowl!!

~Ruchir~

WORK EXPERIENCE!!

Heya Guys!

So for the the past 7 working days, I have been taking part in a work experience program, that was a school requirement. Basically, I had to gain 8 days of working experience in any place that I wanted. I believe that the aim of this whole thing is for us kids to see and decide whether the job that we do in these 8 days is what we aspire to do in the future, and it is basically a sort of taster of what we should be expecting if we are to go into an occupation that we choose. I choose to work in an engineering consultancy firm called "Ranhill WorleyParsons", which is a joint venture multinational firm, and I worked for the finance department. I have already had 7 days of training and still have one more to go. I definitely think that I have gained quite an in-depth understanding of how important of a role the finance department plays in any company. Along with gaining the experience, I was also required to complete a record book with everything that I do at work! 

I believe that this was quite a wholesome experience for me, and I am quite sad that is will be ending tomorrow! 

Ruchir

Duke of Edinburgh Silver award tonight!

Hey Guys,

Today, I am going to an IA (international Award) certificate ceremony, where I will be receiving an award for completing the silver stage of this full award. This award basically consists of 2 parts; one being the things we do every week, which is again divided into 3 pares, Physical Rec. , Skill and service. The second part is where we go with the school for a trek.

I think that this award is quite prestigious, and it requires a lot of hard work to keep up your fitness levels and complete each of the 3 sections listed above. I think that I deserve this because it requires a high amount of skill, and dedication.

Ruchir

International Yoga Day!!

As you all may already know, the whole world, on the 21st of June 2015 celebrated the International World Yoga Day.  Yoga is basically a spiritual, mental and physical practice that originated in the country of India. On the 21st of June this year, India broke two world records:

• Largest Yoga Class having 35985 people
• Nationalities Participating with 84 nations

This full routine was led by the PM of the country, Narendra Modi, in Rajpath, Delhi. 

~BENDING IT LIKE MODI!!! OVER 35000 PEOPLE FROM 84 NATIONS PERFORMING YOGA TOGETHER~

If many of you were wondering why the chosen date was the 21st of June, the answer is quite unique. It is because every year, in the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice falls on the 21st June. It is the day of the year with the longest day and shortest night. 

The summer Solstice basically marks the Suns transition period from the Uttarayana to the Dakshinayana, according to the ancient and prestigious Vedic Calendar. According to books, it was this day that lord Shiva first taught the art of Yoga to his disciples, and since that day, the art and knowledge of yoga has been descended to all of us in the present world. 

There are many outstanding benefits of Yoga, which include keeping you mentally and physically fit. Furthermore, you will remain disease-free, and will feel more alert and energetic throughout the day. 

Thats all for now! 

Ruchir 

Have you heard of DUDE PERFECT?!?

So have any of you ever heard of this you-tube group called Dude Perfect? Well to give you a brief introduction, they are a group of 5 guys, who do trick shots for a living. And sure enough, they seem to be the best at it! They are the second largest sports channel on youtube, with over 4 million subscribers and over 480 million views on their videos. They started off as a group of 5 young boys, who had graduated from the Texas A&M University, and now are one of the most inspirational group of people out there. Recently, they released their book, "Go Big", with Cory Cotton, one of the dudes from Dude Perfect, being the author of the book. They also have already released 2 games on the app store and the google play store, called "Dude Perfect" and "Dude perfect 2". 

This group of "dudes" have created such a big name for themselves, and just like any other influential group of people, they claim the roots of their success to be due to their immense belief in the Almighty who sits above us. Not only do they perform trick shots, write books and make games, they are also known to be a generous group of people, who work with groups such as Charity Water. I personally feel that being a community helper and volunteer plays a big part in the making of a person, and gives one the respect they deserve. This group of people, in my eyes at least, have earned a lot of respect from me and from around the world (whoever watches them) and I sure will continue to do so. 

Click Here to see their youtube page, and make sure to subscribe to them if you enjoy! 

Ruchir

HELLO WORLD !

Hey Guys!

I'm Ruchirangad Sharma, but everyone calls me Ruchir for short. I am currently 15 years old, and I have just recently finished my IGCSE's from  Garden International School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I have many different past time hobbies that I like to pursue, for example, I am a cricket enthusiast, actually, a sports enthusiast. I like talking about cars and sports in general, although some sports interest me more than others. I am into photography, and will occasionally post any photos that I think are worth showing. I am an avid reader too,with some of my favourite authors being Anthony Horowitz and David Baldacci. Moreover, I love watching movies, be it hollywood or bollywood.

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This blog is basically going to be me talking about anything that happens around this world, from sports, to world issues that really interest me. That's it for now!

Ruchir