Tour de Parbhani!

395 km cycle riding in 3 days

Hello. As a preparation for "Yoga for fitness" initiative of Niramaya Yoga Prasar and Sanshodhan Kendra, Parbhani, Maharashtra, recently I cycled 395 kms in 3 days from Pune to Parbhani. I had done three stages. First from Pune to Ahilyanagar (123 kms), then from Ahilyanagar to Beed (130 kms) and the last stage from Beed to Parbhani (142 kms). Despite of rains and muddy track, I enjoyed it. On the way I also met school students and had interactions with others. The time duration for this cycle ride was just double of a bus travel on the same route. With regular practice, a cycle almost works like a scooty!

“Silent dialogue between my cycle and me!”

... It is more than 6 years now! Cycle tour to Spiti in Himchal Pradesh! World's most treacherous road! At places, just rocky patch! Shimala has lush green nature and it slowly turns gray and dry! Trees and farms slowly lag behind and everywhere it is grayscale and sheer vastness! At some places, there is permanent overhang on the road! Such a difficult terrain! My cycle had to bear everything! Roar of the Sulej! Snow peaks! The road rising from the nadir to whopping heights! Spiti river flowing down the valley! Marvelous Himalayas everywhere! Thrill of cycling there! A silent dialogue between my cycle and me, we both survived and crossed it! My blog about Spiti cycle expedition.

सुलगी सुलगी साँसे 
बहकी बहकी धडकन
महके महके शाम के साए 
पीघले पीघले तन मन 

और इस पल में कोई नही है, 
बस एक मै हूँ,
बस एक तुम हो!
कुछ ना कहो कुछ भी ना कहो!

Fauja Singh- Turbaned Tornado!

Hello. Fauja Singh! When I came to know about him, I had thought it must be some social media hype. But no! It was so unbelievable, but it was true! A man starts to learn running when he is 89 not out! And soon at the age of 90, he starts running marathons- 42 km marathons! He finishes his first marathon in just over 6 hours. And later on he achieves best timing in marathons and running events in 90+ age group and later on 100+ age group! Yes, Fauja Singh born in India in 1911 and shifted to the U.K. in 1992. After deaths of his family members, he took to running, at so late stage. But for him, the AGE was just a STAGE! Remarkable is that as a child, he was bullied for being too weak! 

Fauja Singh just tells us again and again that strength is there. It is already given. We just need to tap it. Even House of Lords has appreciated him. On his last birthday, he had received wishes from the British Queen. He was felicitated in many iconic running events in the world. You can just google Fauja Singh. He also had written his biography- Turbaned Tornado.

Easy multiplication tables up to 99!

Hello. There is so much fun in mathematics. Numbers are organic in nature. They are bound by certain patterns and bonds! If we can help ourselves a little, we can easily understand this and then start enjoying mathematics. Even if we write a simple chart of tables up to 10, we see many amazing patterns in it. We also get square of all numbers from 1 to 10 in this table. And we also have horizontal tables.
 

Many children do not remember tables beyond 10. No worries! For getting multiplication tables, here is the trick. By this trick, anyone can easily make multiplication tables up to 99. Yes. It is very easy. Let’s start with a simple number 12. Separate 1 and 2 from 12. Write their tables separately. As shown in the figure, we just need to add their tables. It is actually easier done than said! 

12 → 

1  2 
2  4
3  6 
4  8
5  0    1
6  2    1
7  4    1 
8  6    1
9  8    1
10 0   2

Now, add those carries in numbers in the first row. We will get this- 

1  2 
2  4
3  6 
4  8
6  0    
7  2    
8  4    
9  6   
10  8 
12  0