Vedang Mahajan

There was a young fellow from Trinity Who took square root of infinity Square root of But the number of digits Gave him the fidgets; He dropped Math and took up Divinity. -- George Gamow (One Two Three...Infinity)  So what really is infinity? Infinity is an idea. It isn't really a concrete number. It is something that never ends, it goes on forever.  Transfinite Numbers As kids, all of us have baffled over the idea of the largest number there is. That’s when we came across “infinity” and we were told that it is the biggest “number”. Nevertheless, our curiosity wouldn't settle. Is there anything beyond that? If so, what is it? What if it told you there is. Well... sort of. Some infinities are bigger than others.  This idea can help you say that there are more points on a 1cm line than there are rational numbers in the universe or that there are an equal number of even numbers and even and odd numbers combined.  There is an infinite number of natural numbers (1,2,3 and...

Picture yourself as a cop. You are in your jeep (which is stationary) on a patch of sand which happens to be one one of the sides of a cement road. On the other side of the cement road, there is an identical patch of sand on which there is a notorious criminal in his vehicle. You have been assigned to capture the criminal and bring him to justice.      To chase him, you need to approach him in your vehicle, but there is a catch. As soon as you start, the criminal will hear the sound of your engine. As of now, he/she doesn’t know where you are but the hum of your engine will give yourself away. You need to find the fastest path to the culprit and remember your jeep is much faster on the road than it is on the dust track. The question here is, — what will the fastest path look like? The answer may surprise you at first. The fastest way to get to the criminal will be by meeting the road at a 42 degree angle. This is because of  Fermat’s Principle . Here we introdu...

Panchatantra, Aesop's Fables and some similar folktales - what do they have in common? They are all allusions. Allusions are stories that have a true meaning or moral that is expressed without directly mentioning it, but it can be easily understood by the reader. Another thing they have in common is that many are rather dull and cliched. So, I made one myself! Mine isn't as cliched but most of all, it is thrilling. The Blood Moon Even at night, the swamp was full of life. The wet scent of wet mud filled the air, providing an eerie aura to the landmark. The chirping of crickets and the croaking of toads was loud enough for someone to hear from even a kilometer away and yet no one dare to approach, for this was the lair of the most ferocious killer - The swamp’s GREEN BEAST! The sunlight filtered through the leaves of the great banyan tree and the air tasted sweet. The forest’s mammals were up and running, going about their normal routine - feeding, socialising, sleeping, playing...

T oday I decided to compare online classes with real classes. By online school I mean the classes held during the pandemic with the help of video calls and online assignments. Normal school refer to the classes we have in school and the experience at school. This comparison explores the pros and cons of the two types of schools.  Online School:      Pros  Assignments : With Google Classroom it is much easier to keep track of assignments.  Internet : The internet can be a useful resource while studying. Recordings : Online classes are often recorded, which allows anyone to go back to them and watch them if needed to revise or if a class is missed.     Cons   Distractions : Since online classes require you to use a device, it is easy to get lost or distracted. Internet connection : During an online class, either your internet or other people's internet can have problems that disrupt the class or do not allow you to participate. Participation : ...

I t is hard to believe that it has been an entire year since I started this blog (almost). I haven't seen my friends or school in a long time. When we came back home, the virus had just started spreading. All of us expected to go back to school by June (2020). However, plans changed and we were told that we would come back in November. Since the number of cases continued to rise, our arrival was postponed to February of 2021.  Unfortunately, we still couldn't go back to school - thanks to the rapid spreading of the infection.  You must be wondering - "It couldn't get worse, right?" Well, not at all. It gets much worse. Our arrival was postponed to 1st July, but it is highly unlikely that we will actually go back. I might have to do another year of online classes. Like I predicted earlier, I wouldn't be able to play basketball too well after an 8-month break. Turns out that I was absolutely right! I did manage to play basketball for 4 months but now, there'...

A s I got out of my bed, it occurred to me that today was my birthday. It did not feel like it. Usually, I would celebrate my birthday at school, with my friends, but I was glad that my parents were with me. Usually, at my school whenever It was anyone's birthday, boys from all over the building (that had 4 dorms) would scream "happy birthday!" just before breakfast. At breakfast, the birthday boy's (or girl) entire class would come over to his/her table, ring the "silence" bell, and yell "happy birthday!" It did feel awkward and different but it certainly was quite a fun birthday. Homemade cake and pizza made me happy and so did my family. Yes, a birthday at school is amazing, so is one at home. My birthday was at home (obviously), but I could not go out and play or do anything outside my house for that matter. I also talked to my friends and relatives, who wished me and asked me about my plans for my birthday. I told them that I had not really th...

M y summer holidays are not off to a good start. Spending my summer vacations stuck at home was definitely not my plan. So now we have a plot twist!...No, not amusing at all! As days roll by, so do big black clouds. It starts to rain often and this is not a good sign. Despite how much I like rain this is totally the wrong time for rain. I am sure you know why, of course, the virus survives in lower-temperature  and gets killed by sunlight ... blah blah blah! I am sure that 10 years from now, students will be studying the Coronavirus pandemic in history class! I can probably narrate a slightly spiced up version of my experience to the next generation, I am sure that they will be stunned! To beat the boredom I watched this movie called Onward. I have to say it was pretty good. It is about how a planet used to be full of magic, but the magic faded away and the planet became modern. In the midst of all this, there is a boy(Ian)who had lost his father before he was born. With the help o...

T hat night we had a stargazing session where we also admired the beauty of the moon and Venus using powerful telescopes. At  Agastya,  they also have a planetarium with a dome-shaped ceiling on which a documentary on space exploration was screened for us to watch. It was a pain to look at the ceiling for so long, but in the end, it was totally worth it. There also was a moving model of all the planets in our solar system which showed the speeds of the rotation and revolution of the planets. It was quite a fascinating experience. After that, we called it a day and went to bed. We had bunk beds in our room which made it a lot better. I slept on the upper bunk. I lay in bed thinking about what would unravel tomorrow! We woke up kind of early the next day. We were told that we were going to have a small walk and then a scavenger hunt! On our walk, we saw some interesting plants and butterflies. We then reached a park, full of various peculiar shrubs and trees. We were given clues...

I woke up one morning to find birds chirping outside my balcony. For a city like Bangalore this is quite unusual and surprising! I am quite used to bird calls at school but bird calls in Bangalore is a completely different mystery, or is it? Actually it is quite simple. Due to the lock down no one is outside driving a vehicle. For a change Bangalore has attracted some birds (not counting pigeons). Speaking of birds, every day an enormous flock of pigeons gather around the swimming pool and enjoy life there. They drink to their heart's content and fly away, only to return a short while after and quench their thirst. I have been doing this really fun thing recently. I was gifted this clay whistle which makes the sound a normal whistle makes. However ,when you fill it with water, it sound like the chirping of birds. People turn their heads my way when I blow it in my balcony! The whistle is also really cool because it looks like a bird! While I was folding the clothes I recalled my s...

I  sat on a stool in the balcony as the melody of music filled my ears. I was watering the plants but I was too lazy to bend, so I got myself a stool. As I watered the plants I started to think. I was supposed to start wiping all the furniture next! Due to Coronavirus,  helpers were not allowed in, which meant that we had to do a lot of chores here and there. With my ninth grade coming up I will be taking the next big step, the step into senior school. Maybe our school reopening might get postponed. It might sound great to you fellow reader but it is not the same case for me. Our school is a boarding school situated in the middle of the Horsley Hills range in  Andhra Pradesh . It is possibly the safest place to be in during times like these and... "Vedang! You need to start dusting!", the words came from my mother. As I dusted the chair in my room, I realised how filthy my room was becoming. With this going on, we will soon die of exhaustion. Recently PM Narendra Modi ann...

C oronavirus, a recent pandemic, has pretty much ruined my summer vacations. Why? Why my summer vacations? When we got to know that our school was closing down early, everyone cheered and hooted! Now instead of normal summer vacation, I have 3 MONTHS of summer holidays! Now, comes the bad part. I can't do ANYTHING outside! I can't swim, I can't play basketball, NOTHING! Even though I have 3 months of vacations, it's not going to be all that fun. I am just hoping that scientists find a cure soon because the swimming pool awaits me!    Lucky for me, my cousin brother has come over to our house. He will probably be with me for two months. Now I have a partner in crime (even though we aren't the criminals). Due to the Coronavirus, they also suspended the NBA playoffs, so now I can't even watch basketball! To keep myself occupied I invented an alternate way of playing basketball. Surprisingly there is no ring involved. Using a pilates ball, the player is supposed to ...