Joggers and walkers, this summer, on their usual route along the pavements and road outside MGR Stadium were drawn to an interesting, familiar ‘toy’ being twisted and turned by a curious boy in spectacles.

Visiting his grandparents in Madurai for the summer, this Hyderabad-based ninth grader has made it his mission to introduce the Rubik’s cube—which is not as widely known here—to the athletes and joggers who frequent the area early in the morning.

Every morning, P. Sai Aniruddh arrives early with a bag full of Rubik’s cubes for sale. To catch the attention of regular joggers, he posts an informational flyer on the pavement railing, challenging them to a game where they can win a prize.

Although he feels people here are not as enthusiastic as they are in Hyderabad—where such public competitions and events are common—he says it is still exciting to catch the attention of passers-by, who stop even for a minute to stare at the toy in his hands.

Combining his morning routine of challenging the public with selling the cube, he reached out to a Rubik’s cube company to procure them at a discounted rate.

This allowed him to sell each cube at a profit of ₹60. “I bought about 18 Rubik’s cubes from the company; so far, I have sold seven or eight in Madurai and five earlier in Hyderabad,” he says.

Aniruddh’s father, A. Prasath, was happy to see him spending time outside interacting with people instead of being glued to gadgets or video games.

Mr. Prasath shared that this was not his son’s first venture; last year, inspired by characters in Hollywood movies, Aniruddh set up a lemonade stand to interact with people.

This year, however, he chose to sell Rubik’s cube, a passion he regularly practices and competes in through World Cube Association events.

While the cube has already caught the public eye, his father hopes the hobby will grow in popularity and help the younger generation break away from their smartphones.