Musings on Vedic Mathematics

Looking back at my life, I can confidently say – there wasn’t even a moment when I was a fan of math. Not even one confused second where I thought I liked math or could like math. Algebra was the worst but numbers, anyway, were a nuisance. As it goes, I passed all my classes avoiding the red line in my report card but couldn’t get my hands off math because it is needed to judge your aptitude for a long, long time. This Math is a nasty thief; it owes me many a good-night-sleep. It said it shall not leave me till I was well-versed with the hows and whys of this blunder-full thing.

Very well.

It was during my MBA prep days that I learnt the ropes of calculation. Half my life I spent in the ignominy of math-o-phobia and now I got my hands on something cool. For the first time, honestly, I looked forward to exploring more and learning the interesting things I never knew there were.

The world seemed to be a better place now.

I mean, come on, whoever would have thought that you could solve a problem like 9996 * 9994 in almost five seconds. A few simple steps and, yo, it’s finished. If you ever want to see smugness, look at a customer calculating his whole purchase and giving the total before the shopkeeper can even press ‘=’  on his calculator. I have been there, done that. People look at you as if you are, I don’t know,… Einstein? 

Awesome feeling.

It was sad to hear, though, that Vedic Math, that originated in India, had to fight for its own copyright from the western world. Good that we won, but we can’t let it rot in papers, right? It’s a concept, I believe, that should be inculcated from the primary level of education. The next gen kids will love math, unlike the children I grew up with. Free from calculators and free from inhibitions.

But it isn’t being given much importance in the academic books. Who fears change when it’s for the good? Let’s not waste any more of our time in lauding, contemplating and procrastinating. Gaurav Tekriwal has taken an initiative to get everyone’s attention to the Vedic brilliance and get our mental machinery to work again. It would be nice to see people using their mental bucket rather than pen and paper to calculate any set of numbers that the mind can come up with.

What’s amazing about Vedic Math is its simplicity and power. Perfect for me and many others I know. There is so much you can learn and so much you can discover. Do not wait for me to give examples and, hey, your thanks can wait, really.  
Abhi ke abhi - Google karo about Vedic Math.



Written for:
Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012.