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A family that cubes together stays together

Avril-Ann Braganza talks to the Narasimhan family about bonding over the Rubik's cube

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The Narasimhan family: Rekha, Bhargav, Deepshika, and Lakshmi
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With loads of excitement, a packed lunch, and a goal to have tons of fun, that's how the Chennai-based Narasimhan family sets out for their Rubik's cube tournaments. It's not your typical scene though, where the parents simply accompany the kids; all four of them take part.

It started about seven years ago, when Bhargav Narasimhan learnt cubing from his cousin in Bengaluru. Little did he realise then that one day he'd be competing with his parents and sister. While sister Deepshika is now among the top five in the country for Rubik's clock, Bhargav holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest time (1 minute 23 seconds) to solve 5 Rubik's cubes (3x3) in one hand! The previous record, which stood at 1 minute 52 seconds was broken by Bhargav in 2015. He has also been part of a nine-member team from India, which solved the most number (2,456 cubes) of Rubik's cubes in an hour, at IIT Madras.

While Deepshika taught their father Lakshmi Narasimhan, Bhargav taught their mother Rekha. "Our parents would accompany us to all our competitions, and I thought of getting them involved so that they too could participate," says 24-year-old Bhargav. While their father was quick to learn the 3x3, their mother wasn't too keen to try it because of the algorithms and complications involved. So Bharagav decided to teach her something really simple—the Rubik's clock. Apparently he taught her too well, because she beat Bhargav and Deepshika, when both got a 'Did Not Finish' (DNF) at the graVITas Open, in 2016.

Each member of the Narasimham family has his/her own practice time; Deepshika prefers practising in the evening and spends more time cubing just before a competition. "A month before a competition, I practice for about 3-4 hours a day, especially for my main events—Rubik's clock, megaminx and 3x3 one handed," she says. Bhargav, on the other hand, practices early in the morning and joins his mother again at around 10pm when she takes up the cube for about two hours, after her chores. "Lakshmi is based in Dubai, so he practices whenever he gets time off work, perhaps in the night and on holidays," says Rekha. With around 100 cubes (20 different types, including approximately 40 3x3s, 3 Rubik's clocks, 6 megaminxes, 2 pyraminxes and a gigaminx), there's never a lack of Rubik's cubes at home. While Deepshika and Bhargav participate in 10-17 events during tournaments, Lakshmi prefers the 3x3 and pyraminx, and Rekha focuses on the Rubik's clock.

It's all healthy competition in the family. "My sister has beaten my official record at Rubik's clock. When either of us sees the other about to break a record, we're motivated to try harder," says Bhargav, who has participated in 48 competitions, broken 36 national records and two Asian records so far.

"I learnt the Rubik's clock in a day," says 45-year-old Rekha, who began cubing around three years ago and has participated in three tournaments till date. "The first time, it took me about a minute and half to solve, and this inspired me to compete. It's also a stress buster, and I hope to beat my kids at the Rubik's clock more often," she laughs

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