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Tick-tick-tick the clock ticked, but faster ticked her brain. A wizard, a genius, Shakuntala Devi solved in her mind what people couldn't solve on paper. A revelation in the field of mathematics - even a computer would fall shy in front of her!
Died on 21st April 2013
Think of a tough arithmetic question you got as homework some time in your life. You rushed in for a calculator, put in the numbers and in seconds receive a solution. What if I tell you that a calculator or a computer is not the only thing that can solve even the most complex problems of arithmetic in seconds? There was another - with hands and legs like yours but a brain as sharp as a computer.
Mathematics has been an important part of civilization and has been in development ever since its inception. But never before did history witness such wizardly magic in the world of math. Shakuntala Devi's journey as a math prodigy began in her father's circus when she was three years old. Recognising that his daughter was a mathematical savant, he organized roadshows to display the unusual skills his little girl showed in numbers.
On stage, she would be asked questions and even before the audience began thinking about the possibility of her answering, out came the reply - always accurate. Then what? A journey began, of travels and shows, of math and magic from Mysore to Europe to the US to the history textbooks.
In one of her performances at a University in Texas, she was asked to calculate the 23rd root of a 201-digit number. A computer did it in 62 seconds. She did it in 50!
Devi not only solved the problems herself but tried to teach the world how to catch the fish. Like a wizard, she demystified the complex concepts of arithmetic. She put forward various mental models and methods to solve complicated problems. All this began when she started mastering the Vedic and western methods of mathematics under the guidance of her grandfather.
If there was fame, there were also challenges. Many claimed that Devi's answers were incorrect and wrong but she passed with flying colours to every test she was put on. Eventually, she received the name "Human-Computer".
Everybody looked at her keenly as she was asked to multiply two 13 digit numbers, chosen randomly. After 28 seconds, she started saying a number. It took more time to speak out the number than to calculate it in her brain! This went straight into the Guinness Book.
Devi has made many contributions beyond the mathematic world. Great minds rarely settle at one thing. She explored everything from astronomy to literature. In 1977, she published a book on homosexuality that called for a total acceptance of sexuality in the country. This book was a dedication and response to her failed marriage to a gay man.
On April 21, 2013, the mathematical prodigy went on rest, never to solve another problem, from heart and kidney complications. She was 83. A mathematician, feminist, activist, philomath, mother and writer, she lived a full life like her numbers. Though with an analytic mind, she was full of compassion and humanity always.
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