Riya's Ramblings

In the first episode of 2022, I talk to Ms. Prachi Mistry, member of the winning team of the second season of the "Big Family Cooking Showdown" on Netflix.

If you haven't seen the series on Netflix yet (2 seasons), do so right now! It's a fun competition where families compete with each other to cook some really delicious food.

We talked about many things including how the show boosted her self confidence.

Her participation helped helped her with getting a job since the show showed leadership, fast thinking and problem solving skills.

It was cool to know that it was so much more than a cooking competition!

Her three ideal dinner guests: Oprah, Paulo Coelho (author "The Alchemist") and Shah Rukh Khan (the Bollywood superstar)

And she would cook a typical Maharashtrian meal for them.

Listen for more fun questions! :) 

I am so thankful to her for agreeing to this interview.

I learned so much and even snagged an invitation to her house when I visit London! :)

And listen to the episode for the answer to the last riddle and a brand new riddle.

Email me: [email protected] with your feedback, idea, resolutions, riddle answers and everything else.

Follow, rate and review on your podcast app.

And tell your friends and family!

What a year!

So many good things (vaccines!) and some not-so-good things (the pandemic is still around. boo!) 

A few accomplishments that stood out to me are: 

- Zaila winning the national spelling bee. 

- Wally Funk’s space flight on the Blue Origin rocket. 

- Gov Kathy Hochul as 1st woman gov of NY. 

GIRL POWER!! Yay!

Also, I started middle school and my older brother went to college - both life-changing events.

And I interviewed some really interesting people:

I am excited for the new year and have some interesting plans for this podcast.

Stay tuned and recommend this to your friends and family.

And email me - [email protected] - with your ideas and comments. 

Wishing you all a wonderful new year! Let's rock it!

And remember, listen, rate, and share!

If you like sports, you will love this episode. If you don't, you'll still love it!

This episode, I talked to Mr. Corey Smith, an athletic trainer, about sports medicine, staying healthy when playing and how the treatment of concussions has changed over the years.

He has worked with pro teams as well as high school teams. He was part of the stretcher crew when Argentina played Mexico. He saw Messi play! In person! O M G! So cool!

He loves sports because playing sports teaches valuable life lessons like how to handle failure. I know this first hand. We had a disastrous soccer tournament last weekend. :(

But only 1.6% of college footballers make it to the NFL, so very few people can become pro sports players. Mr. Smith explains the many different opportunities in sports other than playing. Sports medicine is one such option. You can help pro sports players perform their best. How cool is that!

I loved learning the details about sports medicine as a career. I am really thankful to Mr. Smith for his time.

If you have questions about a career and want to learn more, let me know. I love learning about different jobs.

Here's last week's riddle: What’s common between a lion, a horse and New England?

Answer: They all have Mane/Maine

Shoutout to Disha for trying. 

Here's this week's riddle: I can fly but have no wings, I can cry but have no eyes, where ever I go, darkness follows me. What am I?

If you know the answer, email me at: [email protected] If you have questions about a career and want to learn more, email me! I love reading your emails!!

And email me your questions/comments/ideas for future episodes. 

Listen, rate, and share with your friends and family!

I recently visited Austin with my parents had a great time. We saw the Texas Capitol building, saw millions of bats and ate some really good food.

The best part? I planned it all.

My parents had asked me decide what we saw, where we ate and what we did during our stay in Austin.

I used travel blogs to look at all the many different things to do and see in Austin and then picked a few for our trip.

I didn't want to over-plan - because part of the goal was also to just chill in the hotel. :)

We visited the Texas Capitol and took a guided tour (no cost!). The dome of the building is breathtaking - more from the inside than the outside.

Make sure you take the tour when you visit if you can. The tour guides have a lot of great stories and information about the Texas legislature.

We also saw hundreds of thousands of bat streaming out from under the Congress Ave bridge at sundown. We had a funny moment when my dad couldn't see the bats while I was gushing about them. He wasn't losing his eyesight - but he did have a streetlight in his vision that was messing up his view of the bats. Once we moved to another location, he could see them too.

These are Mexican free-tailed bats, which migrate each spring from central Mexico to various roosts all over the southwestern U.S.

They also have cruises on the Colorado river to watch the bats fly out but we watched from above and from below the bridge.

Tip: the view from above (standing on the bridge) is better.

We hiked on Mount Bonnel - don't worry it's not a mountain and has steps and a trail. No rope climbing needed. ;)

I also planned our meals but was also flexible depending on where we were.

We went to the Cheesecake factory for the first time but also tried some local favorites like Gourdough's Big Fat Donuts. It was sooo yummy!!!

Last episode's riddle: It has keys, but no locks. It has space, but no room. You can enter, but can’t go inside. What is it?

Answer: A keyboard. Get it?

This episode's riddle: What is common between a lion, a horse, and New England?

If you know the answer, email me: [email protected].  You can also email me about literally anything else!

Like always, listen, rate, and share!!

It's been a few weeks since my last episode - and that's because I got really busy with school, soccer and other activities.

This one is episode 50 - the big 5 0. Wow! Thanks for all your support and encouragement!

Here's the deets:

* 9 weeks over in middle school! Yay!

* I think I like it. Figure I will stay for a couple of years. :) Ha!

* We visited Austin for a couple of days. First time in hotel after 18 months! I will share more details later but we saw bats! Thousands of bats! It was AWESOME!

* I am playing flag football at school. I like watching it more than playing it but it's quite an experience.

* I am part of the debate club at school. My older brother is really good and I'm hoping to learn from him! I am planning to participate in extemporaneous speaking and oratory. A friend and I are also going to do some lip sync. :) This should be a lot of fun. I will let you know how I do  in my first competition.

* We just did 'garba' - a traditional Indian dance that I didn't get a chance to do last year. It was SO MUCH FUN!

* I love watching talent shows like 'America's Got Talent' with my Dad. And I binge "This is Us" with my mom. It's a serious family drama 

And we all love to see "Bob Hearts Abishola" - it's a fun, quirky show that shows us aspects of Nigerian culture in the US.

Previous riddle: I am ahead of you but you can't see me. What am I? 

Shout out to Disha for getting this right. The answer is 'your future'.

This week's riddle: It has keys, but no locks. It has space, but no room. You can enter, but can’t go inside. What is it?

As always, email me [email protected] with your answer, questions and comments.

And make sure to Listen, rate, and share! And follow the podcast in your podcast app.

This is Riya's Ramblings where I talk about what I am experiencing, my likes, and some advice.  In this episode I interviewed my cousins who own a dog treat business in Maryland as do I in Texas.  We talked about the benefits of owning a business, the challenges we faced, as well as some steps for owning a business at the end. 

All of us started our businesses in the pandemic and we talked about that as well.  It was a lot of fun to learn about their thoughts about V&S Dog Treats, their business.      

If you are in the Baltimore area and love your dog, check out their business for delicious treats!

Check out their website: https://www.vsdoggytreats.com/

Their TV interview is at: https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/two-parkville-kids-start-doggy-treat-business-to-help-pay-for-college

And if you are in the Dallas-area, check out my Pupilicious Dog treats Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/415299576114982/ 

Or my website: https://riyaramblings.wixsite.com/pupilicious

If you have a small business or are thinking of starting one, email me! I would love to hear more about it! Maybe you can also be on the podcast!  Write to me at [email protected]

Previous Riddle: I am in Mercury, Earth, Mars and Jupiter but not in Venus or Neptune. What am I?

Answer: The letter "r" :)

This week's riddle: I am ahead of you but you can't see me. What am I?

Email me or drop me a voice message: [email protected]

Equal pay!

In this episode I speak with Ms. Brenne Gregory, a data analyst at the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia.

Here’s some of the really cool facts she shared that stuck out to me!

- Radio telescopes listen to radio waves from the universe

- Unlike optical telescopes that work best in the dark, radio telescopes can be used 24 hrs a day

- Since it snows a lot in West Virginia, the satellite dishes at the observatory have a special position called “snow dump” to minimize the amount of snow on the dishes.

- The Green Bank Observatory is in a “radio quiet zone” – that means no WiFi, no cell service and no Bluetooth. Can you imagine? 😱

- The Green Bank Observatory has multiple radio telescopes – including one for use by students.

- The coolest thing she has studied at the observatory is a pulsar. A pulsar is a really dense rotating neutron star that emits radio pulses.

- She really helped me understand it by comparing it to the light from a lighthouse

We also talk about aliens! 👽

Listen to the episode to learn more about radio telescopes! I bet you will learn a lot!

I now have the Green Bank Observatory on my list of places to visit. It sounds like a really interesting place. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to use my phone but it sounds like it will be worth it!

Here are some websites for more information about the observatory:

https://greenbankobservatory.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bank_Observatory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bank_Telescope

I am very thankful to Ms. Gregory for sharing her knowledge and time with me.

I learned SO MUCH about radio telescopes and how they are used by scientists to explore the universe.

Previous riddle: What word becomes shorter when you add 2 letters to it?

Answer: The word "short"

Shout out to Brooke (my classmate) and my grand-aunt, Vandana Fai for sending me their answers.

This week’s riddle: I am in Mercury, Earth, Mars and Jupiter but not in Venus or Neptune. What am I?

Email me: [email protected]with your answers or anything else! I love reading your emails!

Equal Pay!

The new school year has started!  Lots of new experiences!! Middle school!!

I have done a few back to school episodes, and this one is about my start of middle school.  

It's been different than elementary school in many ways.

Here's what I talk about:

If you are worried about middle school, here's some advice:

Previous Riddle:  I have a tail and a head but no body.  What am I?

Answer: A coin! Shoutouts: My Grandaunt Vandana, my classmate Brooke, and my cousin Disha again!  Wow, she's on a streak!!

This episode's riddle: What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?

If you know the answer email me at [email protected]! I hope you enjoyed this episode about my experiences back to school in middle school! 

Listen, rate and share!

EQUAL PAY!!

I have been participating in the science fair at school since kindergarten and have enjoyed learning lots of different things. My older brother is my inspiration - he even qualified for the International Science Fair in 2020! 

Here's the projects that I worked on and what I learned over the years

Kindergarten: What's the best way to clean pennies?

I found that soap wasn't always the best. Can you guess what works best?

Email me your guesses!

1st grade: Which ball sinks the fastest?

I learned about density and how the larger ball may float but a smaller one may sink.

2nd grade: Which apps/games use most battery on a smartphone?

This one was FUN! I played games and also learned about what factors use most battery.

I won grand prize at school and 2nd prize at the regionals!

All because I played games on my iPhone! 😊

3rd grade: Does amount of salt affect how quickly water boils?

I am now the expert pasta cook in the house. 😊

4th grade: Which phone model is fastest for data transfer?

I was hoping to get a newer phone by showing that my older model was the worst.

It was the worst but I didn't get a new phone ☹ Looks like my parents didn't care about the results..

I got the grand prize at my school (yay!) but no regional event due to.. you know.. the pandemic.

5th grade: Zoom or Google meet - which one is faster?  (My favorite project out of all of them :)

I was curious because I did remote school for most of the year.

I measured different scenarios and found that Google Meet was faster in most cases.

What I have learned over the years - try different things. My original ideas didn't always work. And I had to re-think my project and my approach a few times. Don't forget the scientific process! 

Previous Riddle: What is the only word in the dictionary that is spelled wrong?  Shoutout to Disha for answering the riddle!

Correct answer:  Wrong!  It's the only word spelled W-R-O-N-G!  

Riddle of this episode: I have a tail and a head but no body. What am I?

Email me at [email protected] with your answer to the riddle, and you'll get a shout-out!  You can also email me you experiences at a science fair, or just about anything!

As always, listen, rate and share! Equal Pay!

In this episode, I spoke with a very good friend - Shivani - who is a fantastic person and an accomplished Girl Scout!

I was curious about Girl Scouts and her experience - so we chatted about what she learned and how being a Girl Scout has helped her.

If you thought it was only about cookies, think again!

She camped through a tornado warning and flooding! She is one tough cookie!

And a true G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)!

She also learned leadership and teamwork and is using that to run a summer camp for her neighborhood kids! Impressive!

And her summer camp had goats! Goats, people! G O A T S!

Are you a Girl Scout? If so, let me know what you are learning!

Email: [email protected]

Previous riddle: What belongs to you but your friends use it more?

My older brother thinks the answer is "Nintendo Switch" console but the real answer is your name! Get it? 😉

Shoutout to Disha for getting this right! I definitely use her name more than she does. :)

This week's riddle: Which is the only word that's spelled wrong in the dictionary?

Email me your answer - [email protected]

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