My Cubing Journey - Saseeth Majeti

Hi, my name is Saseeth, a 15-year-old speedcuber studying 9th grade in Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Virugambakkam, Chennai, India. I currently average around 10 secs in 3x3 and 13-15secs in 3x3 One-Handed, which is my main event. In this blog, I will share about my cubing experiences and how it has brought joy and purpose to my life.

My Cubing Journey 

It all started in July 2019 when I was 12yrs old. I had friends who used to solve Rubik’s cubes in a minute and I was very eager to learn to solve them. The first cube I solved was a Pyraminx. I used a trial and error method in which I kept randomly solving each color until the cube was solved, but it only works for a Pyraminx. Being able to solve it motivated me more to start cubing.

Managing time for cubing and studies wasn’t the hard part. I used to study each day without procrastinating and by keeping up with school. This way I could practice daily and efficiently.

I learned to solve my first 3x3 Rubik’s Cube from YouTube in early September 2019 which I had bought from Amazon. After 4 months of cubing, I started losing motivation because I did not know how to improve further and got bored. But then, I started practicing other cubes like 2x2 and 4x4, which brought back my enthusiasm.

Practicing big cubes like 4x4 and Megaminx improved my 3x3 as well. By this time, I came to know about an upcoming competition, called CMI Tessellate Cube Open 2020, conducted by WCA (World Cube Association). This was my first official cubing competition.

A glimpse of CMI Tessellate Cube Open 2020

This was the competition for which I started practicing 3x3 One-Handed. It was the best experience ever and I wished to attend more comps and meet new cubers. But by the time I attended my first comp, covid broke out and the lockdown was initialized. Due to this, all WCA competitions were canceled and my dreams went into the dark.

Cubing in Lockdown

At the start of lockdown in 2020, many people started cubing and some had quit cubing due to a loss of motivation. But during this time, I came to know about Cubelelo and its Online Cubing competitions, which had motivated a lot of cubers to continue including me. These competitions were held every month with 1000+ competitors. This was popularly known as CSUL (Cubelelo Speedcubing UnLocked). 

Live battle against Aryan Chhabra

Even though CSUL was online, Cubelelo had done a great job in creating an atmosphere that kept me motivated to practice more and start other events too. This also helped me to improve my timings because of the immense participation. I also got a chance to meet a lot of WCA and experienced cubers through CSUL by competing and getting a chance to participate in the live battles. My first live battle was for 3x3 OH. I was averaging 14-16s at that time. I made it to the finals and I had to compete with Aryan Chhabra, one of India’s elite cubers, and secured 2nd place. This was a huge achievement for me. After that, I also got to participate in many 3x3 Live Battles. Even though I had lost in many of them, it was a great experience.

I even won a lot of certificates for acquiring podiums in various CSULs.

Cubing as a Career

During this time, I had also started a YouTube channel named SSM’S Cubing Skills to motivate fellow teenagers to start cubing as well.

I even picked up a hobby of cube photography which I had posted on Instagram.

I met a lot of cubers through social media with whom I talked about cubing and shared our stories. We used to cube together through meets with a lot of fun and kept the cubing spirit alive.

Practicing with other cubers

All these things are and will be a huge part of my cubing career and have impacted my cubing life a lot. CSUL has kept me motivated, and I have received great tips from experienced cubers who I had met through social media. I always thought I would be cubing as a hobby but it turned out to be a huge part of my life and also helped me develop myself both mentally and socially. One of the main reasons for this is my family and friends, especially my dad, who has supported and never gave up on me throughout this wonderful journey.

I would like to end this with a small note. Ups and downs are part of the journey, but you should never give up. And remember, there are no full stops for success but there are only commas and never think you have reached your destination cause there is always more to explore.

I am very honored to Cubelelo for giving me this opportunity. Thank you so much for reading the blog!
Happy Cubing!