MY TRIP TO INDIA

Ajmer Fort

View of Kedar Peak in the Himalayas (22,000 feet) behind Kedarnath Temple

My trip to India


India was a fun trip. The plane ride was 24 hours long and it was really boring. All I could do was sleep and play gameboy. We stopped once at Seoul and then were on the way to Bombay. We stayed there for 4 days and then left for Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. There, the hotels were very nice and the food was also pretty good. We stayed there for 5-10 days. Then we went to CharDham Yatra. It was in the mountains and I got car sick. To make things even worse, the car was a new car. So when we entered we smelled the leather and I hated the smell. The cars in Delhi, Jaipur and Agra didn't smell at all. We went to four places in the mountains, Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. First we went to Yamunotir. This is where the mouth of the Yamuna river is. We had to go on a horse there because it was too small of a path for cars to go on. Then we went down the mountain and stayed in a hotel overnight. The next day we went to Gangotri. This is where the river Ganga is. I splashed some water on myself because it was holy water. Then the next day we went to Kedarnath. This was very long. So we had to stay up there in the hotel overnight. The next day we came down. Kedarnath was Lord Shiva's place. Our final destination was Bardinath. This was Lord Vishnu's place. My parents said it was good to go to the chardham, but I thought it was kind of boring. After that we drove to Delhi and took a plane to Bombay where we stayed for 7 more days. Then we left India and took another boring flight back to San Francisco.

At the Johns Hopkins CTY program (Stanford, Palo Alto)

I attended the CTY Johns Hopkins summer camp at Stanford. I picked Math as my subject. I stayed at Stanford for three weeks. Everyday, except weekends, we did math for 5 hours. We did have breaks but only about half an hour. We woke up at 7AM and had half an hour until breakfast. Breakfwas was 45 minutes. We had a meal card and used it for every meal. We swiped the card to get into the cafetaria. There was a line and we went through the line to get to our food. Then we sat down in a table together and ate. From 8:15 we had half an hour to get ready fro class and have a little free time. Then we got picked up by our teachers and we started class by 9AM. We had class until 11:30 with one break in the middle. Then we had lunch until Noon and break until 12:30PM. Then we had class until 3:45. After that we had something called Enrichment. We had word problems that were very tricky and we usually solved them in groups of 2 or 3. Then we went back to our dorms at 4:30PM and had free time until dinner. DInner was at 5:30PM.

Then it was the fun part. We had activities. We chose them by room numbers or birthday or some random thing. The activities were fun. We had about 10 different activities with different RAs leading the activities. My two favorite activities were soccer and quiditch. On some days we had socials (usually on Friday). Everybody got together and we had free time. There was a movie and we had food and drinks. In my opinion, the social on the last Friday was the best.

Weekends were a whole different thing. We had no class and had two activities every day. We had a talent show once and it was fun to watch everyone do their part. My favorite activitiy on the weekend was the RA fashion show. We got to dress up our RA and there were two judges who picked the RA that was best dressed. We didn't win but it was still fun.

Since all we had was free time on weekends we went places on the weekend. Once we went to Jamba juice. We also went to a icecream place called COldStone which they say is the best icecream place. I didn't think it was that good. We also went to the Stanford bookstore where I bought a few things. Jamba juice and Coldstone were off campus and were a very long walk. We went to Pizza My Heart once and they also said this place was good. This time it was actually really good and I liked it. One time during our walk a palm trees branch broke off and we carried it all the way there. This was a good camp overall except I think the food was a little repetitive.

Video




Pictures

My weeklong camping trip at Camp Chawanakee

Camp Chawanakee

During the first week in summer I went to Chawanakee, a boy scout camp. I spent the week there. It was a lot of fun. The first day Sunday, was basically free. All we did was find out what classes we had and their timings. We learned a lot about the camp. We also tried out for swimming. I didn't pass but only one of my friends did, so I didn't feel so bad.

The next day we started our classes. I had five classes. I had trail to Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class as my first three classes. We did not get merit badges for it but we did do the requirements for them, so we could finish the three. The two other classes were basketry and art. Basketry was just a class that taught us basket weaving. This would get me a merit badge. I got a partial since I didn't finish it. This means I got some requirement done, but not all. I had one left which I could do next time.

After basketry we had lunch. At lunch we had stewards who got the food from the cafetaria to our camp. We ate it at the tables near our tents. There was tons of food but I didn't like it. In my opinion it wasn't very good. Then it was time for my final class Art. In Art, we basically used clay and made pots and other things. I finished this and got a complete. I was happy to get my first merit badge. After class we had free time until dinner.

After dinner, we had a campfire. It was either with the whole camp or just our troops.

THis was our schedule until Friday. We left Saturday morning. I think it was fun overall and I certainly recommend this camp to anyone wanting to go.

THE MISSING PRINCIPAL

“Have you realized that our Principal, Mr. Sid, hasn’t been here for a week?” I said.
“You’re right,” said Tom, “I wonder where he is.”
“There was a rumor that he had been kidnapped by the person living at the house at the end of his street. He did it because he wanted to steal money.”
School had just ended and Tom and I were walking back from school. There was a house at the end of the street that had an ugly face on it. The windows were broken, the door looked like it hadn’t been painted in years, and I couldn’t imagine how old it was.
We rang the door bell and a spooky; ghost looking person opened the door. His face was wrinkled and he looked very old. He did look very nice until I saw the stone in his hand! The second we saw the stone, we ran. He threw the stone at us and it just barely missed hitting us.
We ran all the way home and told our parents. They were shocked and warned us never to go to that house again.
The next day at school, I remembered we had a school detective named Detective Jim.
“Can you bring some people and try to spy on the spooky house at the end of the road?”, I said. “Sure, I can do that.” Detective Jim said.
So the next day Tom, Detective Jim, and I went to the house. This time it was unlocked so we quietly went in. The staircase was almost broken and it was very dark in there. I couldn’t see anything clearly. But I could see so many spider webs that it was hard to walk around.
I heard a noise somewhere but couldn’t find out where it was coming from. We were downstairs and looked everywhere but couldn’t find anything, so we knew it was coming from upstairs.
We went upstairs and peeked into the room. We saw an evil villain named Mr. Crocker and standing right next to him was Mr. Sid. We didn’t go in because he looked very scary.
“TOM, DON’T GO IN,” I heard Detective Jim scream.
But it was too late! He had already gone in and we couldn’t stop him. In a few seconds we were all at home after dodging a stone.
The next day we tried again. This time we all brought some stones with us. We went in and peeked into the same room and Mr. Sid was there.
We made a plan to throw all the stones at once and save Mr.Sid. So we tried the plan. We threw the stones which knocked Mr.Crocker unconscious. In this way, we saved Mr. Sid right in time and ran away.
When we got back to school, Mr.Sid was so happy and gave us extra recess. I was very happy after saving him and lived happily ever after.

The Post Office Fiasco

The Post Office Fiasco

by Ajith and Rishub

March 2007 (Spring Break)

I hate this Post office. It is just like sitting idle. I would rather be at club house. But Balvihaar is worse. I wish I had a DS, WII, TV etc that I could play with here. I would really be happy here if those things were here and I would not complain then. I feel like I am being tortured here. I would be happy to get out of here. This place is only comparable to jail of Balvihar. Overall, this place is boring, stupid and not active.

I see a lot of people and the second I got in into this post office, I knew it was boring. I also knew that we would be here for a long time, as there was such a long line. This place is so dull. All I can see here is stamps, computers, lockers and people. The people here also think that this place is boring. For example, we saw two other kids that were bored like us. The people here probably thought the same thing as me when they walked in. We were so shocked when we were told that we may have to stay here for another hour.

One purpose of being here is to mail stuff. My purpose of being here is to get another passport. Also, people come to buy stamps and envelopes. There is a nice computer here to help buy stuff without standing in line. The computer has 3 options.. First to mail a letter, second to buy stamps and lastly to find information. There is a stamp machine also. It has 16 kinds of stamps and they are regular priced. You get 20 stamps for about $7 or $8.

I heard about Bob ….

Bob's Time Machine

Once, there lived a nice guy called Bob. He wanted to mail a letter to his parents. He went to the post office but he was standing in line the whole day but never got a chance. He got really mad and his face became red. He went to the post office every day for two weeks but he still didn't get to mail it. He got really mad and he broke everything in the post office and ran around it a bit crazy. Bob also set the post office on fire. He owed the post office $1 Million. He didn't have the money and he got arrested and was sent to jail.

Alcatraz was the name of the jail. There, he made a friend. There were a lot of bullies in the jail and his friend saved him every time. In return he taught his friend to read. Bob and his friend thought they could get out. They broke a hole in the wall at night and escaped. They had to swim in the cold water but survived.

Bob and his friend started a business which basically made things that nobody could figure out how to make. The business was called Ban-Anas. They had a lot of customers and became billionaires. They made a time machine as their product. They also made a jet pack, flying cars, a shrink ray, a laser pen and a hover craft. Bob used the Tiime machine and undid what he had done at the post office. But he also made sure he went to jail at Alcatraz, made his friend to eventually become the billionaire.

When Bob became a billionaire, he had to give lots of money away. He was forced to give it to charity. Also, he gave it to the poor people. But he owed a lot of money to the bank and lost it all. He was poor now. But he was very happy. It was a life well lived.

Scoring Machine

Almost there....


No Goal and then..... goal



Goaaaaal

Video Games Rock

Video Games on Weekdays

Are you worried that America’s kids are not having enough fun? Do you think they study too much? The solution to this problem is video games. Every kid should play video games on weekdays.

First, playing video games on weekdays can make them take their minds off their homework. It will also let them take their minds off school too. If they play video games on weekdays, they won’t be pressurized and stressed. Some video games can actually teach kids something. For example, if the game is a sport game but a kid doesn’t know how to play it, it can teach that sport. Playing video games can have many benefits.

In contrast, video games can also be a bad thing. Video games can be fun yet can distract people at school. It can distract them because they could be thinking about video games while working. This is because video games are very exciting and addictive, and sometimes we can dream about video games even when we are not playing them. This could result in bad scores. Fortunately, this can be stopped if kids stop playing video games. They won’t be addicted and it won’t bother them at school. This problem has the same solution, don’t play much and you won’t be lazy.

Most importantly, playing video games will allow kids to have fun on weekdays when they have finished their homework. They will also have a nice break from homework and everything going on in school. Playing will make kids have good hand eye coordination. If they are allowed to play on weekdays, they won’t complain that they are bored or have nothing to do. At school they can also make friends with kids who might have the same game as you. You will learn how to cooperate and team with them, while exchanging tips on how to beat a level in that game. All in all, playing video games will help kids make new friends and also keep them busy on weekdays.

In conclusion, every kid in the U.S.A should play video games. Kids will have a chance to take their minds off their homework and also have fun.

Birth and Death of a Star

Birth and

Death of a Star

All stars are formed from Nebulae. Nebulae are clouds of dust or gas. The gas is mostly hydrogen with a little helium . The gas fills most of the volume of the cloud, but the dust makes it opaque. These clouds are the birth place of the star.

The formation of a star begins with a collapse. This collapse is triggered by a shock wave. The gravitational force now contracts the nebulae and this is the first stage of the star formation. After about 10 million years, the core gets hot and if enough material is present the temperature reaches 10 million degree C and a nuclear fusion reaction starts. With this fusion reaction, lot of energy is released. This energy then heats up the star and stops the collapse. Now the star is stable. An example of a stable star is the sun, considered at its mid life.

When all the hydrogen is exhausted due to the fusion reaction the star dies. The hotter and brighter a star, the faster it dies. Which means the fusion reaction is faster and has exhausted all the hydrogen. Once the star dies, it becomes a black dwarf, or black hole. Our sun is going to live 10 billion years. A star that is 20 times bigger than the sun will only live 10 million years.

Why does Uranus have rings?

Answer - Uranus rings go up and down (and not side to side as most rings of other planets). This is due to the weird tilt of Uranus (98 degrees). There are 11 dark rings around Uranus which were formed from broken up space objects creating dust rings. The small moons around Uranus help the rings stay together through the gravitational effects. The weird tilt of Uranus is due to a planetary collision which probably created a lot of dust that could not escape the gravity. This dust formed the rings.

Question - Why I chose the question? How is it relevant to the future?

Answer - I chose this question as I was interested in this topic and I didn’t know anything about it. Stars forming and then dying seemed interesting and I wanted to investigate it. I looked at the rings of Uranus on the internet and I wanted to know why they were formed.

This is relevant to me as it helps me understand the world. It shows me the vastness of the universe. I learnt that the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second and the distance between the earth and the sun is 93 million miles. It thus takes 8.3 minutes for a light ray from the sun to hit earth. And the sun is the closest star to earth. There are lot more other suns in the universe. We have a lot of the universe that we have not covered yet. The world is huge.

It also shows me that even the largest things die.

March Madness

March Madness is coming up soooooooon. There are some very exciting basketball games I have seen in the last couple years.
Here is my letter published in the San Jose Mercury News last year - April 2006


Can't get enough

I am having a great time watching the NCAA tournament. I have a suggestion for the NCAA: After we have the winner of the men's tournament, we should have a final game the next weekend where the men's champions play against an all-star men's team. We could do the same with the women. We could even have the all-star men's team play with the all-star women's team the day of the NBA draft. Rishub Kumar Saratoga

Año Nuevo State Reserve - Guided Tour

Video of the Año Nuevo Guide Tour Did you know that their are only three places in the world that you can find elephant seals for viewing. All three are in California. Año Nuevo is the only place where we can watch Elephant Seals from as close as 25 feet away. We took the Elephant Seal guided tour yesterday. My dad had reserved the tickets two months in advance, as they are hard to get. People from all over the world join this guided tour. Remember to book them early. Details are here Female Elephant Seals come to theis places to have babies but males come because females are there. When females come to Año Nuevo they are 2000 lbs. but when they leave they are around 800 lbs. Males are 5000 lbs. when they come and are 2000 lbs. when they leave. They have Elephant Seals in various stages (infant, weaning etc). There were almost 4000 Elephant Seals when we visited. The park maintains an accurate count. There, it was very windy and the sand always got in my eyes. On the way back my brother was complaining that sand was in his eyes. Elephant seals are heavy animals and are fun to watch. I think you should go and watch them soon. Fifty-five miles south of San Francisco and the Golden Gate, a low, rocky, windswept point juts out into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish maritime explorer Sebastian Vizcaino sailed by the point on January 3, 1603. His diarist and chaplain of the expedition, Father Antonio de la Ascension, named it Punta de Año Nuevo (New Year's Point) for the day on which they sighted it in 1603. Today, the point remains much as Vizcaino saw it from his passing ship. Lonely, undeveloped, wild. Elephant seals, sea lions, and other marine mammals come ashore to rest, mate, and give birth in the sand dunes or on the beaches and offshore islands. It is a unique and unforgettable natural spectacle that hundreds of thousands of people come to witness each year. Año Nuevo State Reserve is the site of the largest mainland breeding colony in the world for the northern elephant seal, and the interpretive program has attracted increasing interest every winter for the past 19 years. People who hope to see the seals during the winter breeding season are urged to get their reservations early. The males battle for mates on the beaches and the females give birth to their pups on the dunes. During the breeding season, December through March, daily access to the reserve is available via guided walks only. Most of the adult seals are gone by early March, leaving behind the weaned pups who remain through April. The elephant seals return to Año Nuevo's beaches during the spring and summer months to molt and can be observed during this time through a permit system.

Crazy Frank's Desi Pizza

962 W. El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
(408) 736-7585
www.crazyfrankspizza.com/

This restaurant is very good and I liked it a lot.They have Indian pizza which is very good. It comes on a tray and you can pick a flavor and eat as much as you want. You can always ask for more or request a different one to be made. I ate cheese pizza and another that had corn on it. I liked them both.

There is also a buffet and you can eat as much as you want from there too. There are different subzees as part of the buffet and they will give you hot fresh roti to eat with all the subzee.

I recommend going to this restaurant.

On to Science camp

My Science Camp Trip - Click to view pictures

Video snippet (very short)

My science experiment - Egg Drop or Balloon Drop

Objective:

•The object of the challenge was to somehow get the whole egg into the bottle without harming the egg. (You can substitute the egg with a balloon.)

Play Video to see the experiment

Procedure: First get a bottle, an egg, a lighter, and a piece of paper.
Use the lighter to light the paper on fire.
Put it in the bottle and place the egg in immediately after.
The egg will slide inside with a popping sound.
Now blow all the smoke out.
Put your mouth on the bottle and blow while the bottle is upside down.
Then keep it upside down and the egg will fall out in a few seconds.

Tricks:
Put vegetable oil on the rim of the bottle so the egg will slip a little more easily.
If you wet the egg the egg will also slip a little more easily
Make sure the opening of the bottle is smaller than the egg but reasonable big.
Make sure you put the lit paper inside the bottle and the egg on top of the opening very quickly

How it works
The burning piece of paper heats the molecules of air in the bottle and cause the molecules to move far away from each other.
When the flame goes out, the molecules of air in the bottle cool down and move closer together.
This is referred as a "partial vacuum ".
Now the air outside the bottle would come rushing in to fill the bottle. However, the egg is in the way!
The "push" or pressure of the air molecules outside the bottle is so great that it literally pushes the balloon into the bottle.



Application
Weather Patterns - This tells me how the low pressure and high pressure areas impact weather. "nature abhors a vacuum."

Haveli Indian restaurant - Dublin

Haveli Indian Cuisine
Address: 4582 Dublin Blvd, Dublin, CA 94568
Phone: (925) 551-8759

We went to this restaurant on the way back from the mandir.
I liked their garlic naan and cholay.
The dahi batata sev puri was also very good - almost as good as chaat paradise.

My dad really enjoyed the Ooondhio (a vegetable dish). He said it was the best ever he has ever had. He said the srikhand (comes with the Ooondhio) tasted like home made, was very very good too.

This restaurant is definitely worth checking out.