Block by block
The author writes about India's competitive cubers and their obsession to reach world records for the speediest solves
 "Rubik's Cube")
It's very basic," Akash Rupela said, fiddling with a scrambled Rubik's Cube. "There are millions of algorithms to solve a cube. You have to choose the one that suits you best." Less than 15 seconds and a series of colourful blurs later, he set the cube on the table between us, each face a uniform colour. Rupela holds the Indian national speed-cubing record in four categories, including the best single solve time for the three-by-three Rubik's Cube - the standard kind, with nine colourful squares to each face. We spoke in late March, outside a cafe at Delhi's Indian Institute of Technology, where he studies mathematics and computing. Rupela is 21 years old, short, and with a head of messy curls. At the Indian Nationals in Mumbai last year, he solved a randomised three-by-three cube in 6.91 seconds, cementing his fame on India's growing and fanatical speed-cubing scene.
About two weeks later, I met Rupela again at the National Cubing Region Open 2015, one of the country's largest speed-cubing events. Over a hundred participants from across India crowded into a dim temple hall in Malviya Nagar, a cramped residential area in south Delhi. Most looked in their mid-teens or younger, and twiddled obsessively with a bewildering variety of multi-colour blocks-cubes and cuboids large and small, triangular pyramids, icosahedrons. The event was sanctioned by the World Cube Association, speed-cubing's global governing body, and Rupela was its official delegate for the occasion. Rupela introduced me to the star of the day: 14-year-old Jithin Prakash Karimbanakkal, from Kerala. Karimbanakkal had just broken his own national average record for the four-by-four cube, one of speed-cubing's 18 competitive classes.
These classes cover the conventional solving of 11 types of three-dimensional puzzle, the blindfolded solving of several types of cube, and even one-handed solving and solving by foot of the standard Rubik's Cube. By WCA guidelines, except for blindfolded cubers, each competitor must complete five timed solves. The single best time is recorded, as is an average time that disregards the fastest and slowest solves -"to eliminate luck factor", Rupela said. On the basis of these, WCA monitors national, continental and world records and rankings. Karimbanakkal was given 15 seconds to study each randomised cube before his solves-also a uniform practice in all non-blindfolded categories. "I had broken the record two or three months before too," he told me. "Now it's 37.46 seconds."
Speed-cubing's progress in India has been swift. "In 2011, there were barely one or two competitions across India," Girish Bhatia told me at the event. "Now, there are 40-plus" every year. Bhatia, a member of the collective Speed Cubing Mumbai Unlimited, co-founded an online speed-cubing shop, India's first such outlet, which funds the group's workshops, competitions and other events. "Our first order when we opened the store in 2011 was for 12 cubes," he said. Their current sales average about 3,000 block puzzles a month.
India's first speed-cubing competition was held in 2008, at IIT Kanpur, with about 50 registered participants. After this relatively late start, Indian cubers have generally lagged behind their international peers, though they do occasionally climb into the top-100 lists. Many cubers I interviewed spoke of the need for India to catch up, and I found a forum on a speed- cubing website asking "Why are Indian cubers so slow?" Bhatia has great hopes for the youngsters now coming through. "I think in one, one-and-a-half years, India will lead the global scene," he said. Standing beside him, Ankit Gupta, another co-founder of the SCMU store, said, "I'll give it three." After a moment's thought, Bhatia offered, "At the most I'll give it two." "Chal, mandavli," Gupta replied, using the Mumbai slang for a bargain. "Let's give India two years."
This is an extract reprinted with permission from the June 2015 issue of The Caravan, ©Delhi Press www.caravanmagazine.in
About two weeks later, I met Rupela again at the National Cubing Region Open 2015, one of the country's largest speed-cubing events. Over a hundred participants from across India crowded into a dim temple hall in Malviya Nagar, a cramped residential area in south Delhi. Most looked in their mid-teens or younger, and twiddled obsessively with a bewildering variety of multi-colour blocks-cubes and cuboids large and small, triangular pyramids, icosahedrons. The event was sanctioned by the World Cube Association, speed-cubing's global governing body, and Rupela was its official delegate for the occasion. Rupela introduced me to the star of the day: 14-year-old Jithin Prakash Karimbanakkal, from Kerala. Karimbanakkal had just broken his own national average record for the four-by-four cube, one of speed-cubing's 18 competitive classes.
These classes cover the conventional solving of 11 types of three-dimensional puzzle, the blindfolded solving of several types of cube, and even one-handed solving and solving by foot of the standard Rubik's Cube. By WCA guidelines, except for blindfolded cubers, each competitor must complete five timed solves. The single best time is recorded, as is an average time that disregards the fastest and slowest solves -"to eliminate luck factor", Rupela said. On the basis of these, WCA monitors national, continental and world records and rankings. Karimbanakkal was given 15 seconds to study each randomised cube before his solves-also a uniform practice in all non-blindfolded categories. "I had broken the record two or three months before too," he told me. "Now it's 37.46 seconds."
India's first speed-cubing competition was held in 2008, at IIT Kanpur, with about 50 registered participants. After this relatively late start, Indian cubers have generally lagged behind their international peers, though they do occasionally climb into the top-100 lists. Many cubers I interviewed spoke of the need for India to catch up, and I found a forum on a speed- cubing website asking "Why are Indian cubers so slow?" Bhatia has great hopes for the youngsters now coming through. "I think in one, one-and-a-half years, India will lead the global scene," he said. Standing beside him, Ankit Gupta, another co-founder of the SCMU store, said, "I'll give it three." After a moment's thought, Bhatia offered, "At the most I'll give it two." "Chal, mandavli," Gupta replied, using the Mumbai slang for a bargain. "Let's give India two years."
This is an extract reprinted with permission from the June 2015 issue of The Caravan, ©Delhi Press www.caravanmagazine.in
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First Published: Jun 13 2015 | 12:03 AM IST