Riya's Ramblings

The BTS tour across the US is breaking all records!

So, in this episode, I interviewed 3 wonderful guests (who have all been fans for over a decade) on all things BTS. 

Listen to the full episode to hear about the early days of the band, how my aunt baked a cake for the band's emotional support dog (hi Stoney Blue!) and how the band brings family members closer!

As always email me at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ with anything and everything for a shoutout!

I have known Ms. Daisy all of my life because she's my mom's friend and my friend's mom 

 I'm excited that I got a chance to talk to her about her recent experience in the MS 150 bike ride which is a 150 mile ride to raise funds for MS.

A 150 mile bike ride!

She has great advice for anyone wanting to take a biking or any other hobby:

1. Start small.

2. Find a group of people who share your interest (shout out to Plano Bicycle Association)

3. If you're doing an outdoor activity use apps like Strava to find inspiration and information. 

Listen to the full episode to hear about her take on superstitions, rituals, and how she stays engaged and fights boredom during long rides. 

 As always email me at [email protected] with your feedback, and be sure to listen, rate, and share. 

I am so excited that I got to see the Australia vs Egypt FIFA football (or soccer) match in person at the Dallas stadium!

I have been playing soccer since I was in pre-school and this was a bucket list moment for me, I will never forget it! The best part was the energy and the atmosphere of being surrounded by all the fans. The music, the costumes, the dances, the cheering - all amazing!

And to top it all - the match went into overtime and then PKs!

And the celebrations after the match were epic! So much joy. So much friendlyness - even among complete strangers.

The next couple of weeks of the FIFA World Cup are going to be fun. Make sure you watch and enjoy the experience.

As always, email me at [email protected] with your comments and feedback.

Also, be sure to listen, rate and share to friends and family!

I can hardly believe it! This is the 100th episode of this podcast!!

A big THANKS to all of you for listening, supporting and writing in to me. Couldn't have done it without you.

When I first started this podcast in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I had no idea I would talk to so many people about so many things. I have interviewed NASA scientists, local politicians and even the winner of a BBC cooking show! What?!?

I am so glad my parents are my cheerleaders and have helped me so much to get here.

And I have learned so much in the course of these 100 episodes.

These lessons apply to other parts of my life too. And I hope they help you to do the things you have always wanted to do.

My top three takeaways are:

1. Start. You can tweak but you need to start

2. Don't overthink

3. Keep going. Discipline beats inspiration.

And don't forget to tell people about what you started,

Equal pay!

Questions, comments, feedback: Email me at

[email protected]

Here's to the next 100 episodes!

I have been telling all my friends and family about Project Hail Mary and now I am telling you :)

I LOVED the movie - I have not read the book but my family has and they were hyped for the movie.

I didn't know what to expect but I walked out a SUPER FAN of the movie. I loved the music, the story, the acting and the message of working together to solve the biggest problems.

"You just have to find someone to be brave for" - what a line!

And if you had told me that I would get emotional over a faceless rock, I wouldn't have believed you. But I did.

If you have seen the movie, write to me and tell me what you loved. I have seen it twice. How many times you have seen it. Question.

And if you haven't yet seen the Project Hail Mary movie, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? It's available for rent or purchase.

Email me: [email protected] with your thoughts about the movie and other things.

Equal Pay!

I want to ramble about the Artemis II mission
I will be honest - I didn't know enough about the mission till my dad told me about it.
And I found out that my friends had no idea either
So I want to share
Friends, this is HUGE news! It is a BIG DEAL!
4 astronauts, a big rocket, 10 days and a trip around the moon.
The crew for the mission was:

Reid Wiseman - the commander: he named one of the craters after his late wife, Carroll. See the clip where they named the crater and I bet you will be moved.

Victor Glover - the pilot - the first person of color to leave low Earth orbit

Jeremy Hansen - mission specialist - a Canadian - the first non-American to go to the moon

And my favorite, Christina Cook

She is the first woman on a lunar mission.

She is also the most overqualified human to leave the planet

Before this mission she held the record for the longest single space flight by a woman. And she participated in the first all-female space walk.

I mean... come on!

I am super impressed by all of these astronauts.

They launched on April 1 (no joke!) 

To be clear, this mission was never about landing on the Moon. That's for a future mission. 

This mission was to test many of the new systems - from the SLS rocket to the Orion crew capsule.

They went further than ANY human has ever gone - to the other side of the moon.

And the return was pretty dramatic too. Their capsule got half as hot as the sun before they splashed into the Pacific ocean off San Diego.

Why San Diego? There's a naval base and the weather is more predictable than Florida. 
This proves NASA's rocket design can reach the moon. And that the crew capsule can support a crew for a long space trip.

Check the edits of their videos and interviews on TikTok and YouTube.

And my challenge now is to talk to one or more of the crew on my podcast. Can you please help me? Share this with everyone you know and hopefully, I will have them on a future episode.

What did you think of this episode? 

Email me at [email protected] to let me know.

I was in Austin recently to cheer my brother run his full first marathon

- 30,000 participants (across 5K, half and full marathon)
- 100000 fans
- 1050 feet of elevation
- 4000 volunteers
- 22 aid stations
- 11 cheer stations
- $64 million in economic impact
- 1st place men's full marathon: 2 hrs and 13 min - which is a course record
The expo before the race was a lot of fun - got to see some cool new products
Race day started bright and early.- actually it was early but not so bright.
Before the race, my brother had mapped out where we could see him: the start, mile 6, mile 19 and the end
I had made a couple of signs. "The Devil Wears Strava" (which got some recognition!), "26.you" and an inside joke with my brother related to LeBron
The atmosphere was so much fun. Cheering on strangers, seeing other people cheering and just so many good vibes
The finish line was full of energy and love
I had such an amazing time just being on the sidelines.
And I had such a great time interviewing my brother about his experience

- Injuries are the worst because you need to stop and let the body recover
- Amount of time that training takes - just have to arrange your life around it.
- There are chapters to the race -
-- First 13 miles is full of supporters
-- Miles 14 to 18 was a tough stretch - it got hotter and the crowds thinned out
- The Austin race is notorious for being hilly; miles 12, 18 and 26 featured brutal inclines.
- The finish line was a mix of exhaustion and elation
He said that he loves running because "You put in the work and you get better"

Let me know what you think of the episode. Are you a runner?

Got any tips for aspiring runners?

Email me: [email protected]

In this episode, I talk about a recent movie I had the privilege of watching, Laalo. This movie is in my mother tongue - Gujrati - and teaches a very important lesson through the Hindu religion. In this episode, I talk about the movie, the records it broke, and how the movie affected me personally.

Email - [email protected]

Listen, rate, and share!

Happy 2026!! In this episode, I stay true to my name and ramble about everything I've learned whilst having this podcast. Additionally, I share my visions for the upcoming year!

Email: [email protected]

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Hi, this is part 2 of a series about my family's recent vacation to Italy.

Part one was about Florence, a fantastic experience.

This one is about the Amalfi region - near Naples, in the southwest part of Italy.

We took a train from Florence to Naples and enjoyed the experience. From Naples we took a taxi to the town of Praiano, about 90 min away. The drive was along the side of a mountain with the sea on the other side. Some really beautiful views.

We stayed at a family owned hotel called the Tramanto D'Oro with absolutely gorgeous view of the coast and the mountains.

We hiked up to a convent in the mountains and I am really glad we did that. The entire hike was beautiful and the views from the convent were worth the 1200 step hike.

And we met a group from Liechtenstein there!

We enjoyed delicious food and small, cute stores in the village.

I got to practice my Spanish a little because there was a sandwich place where the lady didn't speak English, we didn't speak Italian and so Spanish it was.

We took the taxi back to Naples and spent an afternoon there. Very different vibes than Florence and Praiano. We enjoyed a traditional Neapolitan pizza - very floppy but very good. Also tried a fried pizza and I must tell you - it was much better than I had expected.

Shoutout to Quinn who emailed me after hearing the Florence episode. She had visited there a couple of years back.

You can always email me at [email protected]

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