Don't be intimidated by mathematics: Shakuntala

Dubai, May 3 (UNI) Well known mathematician Shakuntala Devi has urged students "not to be intimidated by Math" at a workshop on Mathematics held at the Manipal University in Dubai recently.

Nicknamed 'human computer', she is in the emirate to teach students from six schools and a university in the UAE. She will be conducting an eight-hour workshop at Delhi Private School in Sharjah today and promises to "transform those poor in Math into brilliant students." Shakuntala Devi, 69, who conducted workshops in Dubai schools 20 years ago, told Khaleej Times, "I introduce students to the family of numbers. I teach them puzzles and quick ways of calculating so that they could become friendly with numbers. I teach students concentration, memory and various techniques by which they can calculate quickly." "If you make the subject fun, students like it and are not afraid to deal with numbers," added the mathematician, who was a child prodigy.

Concentration, reiteration and self-confidence opens the mind to Math, she said. Her refrain is that if the subject is taught with love, it would make things easy for students.

Shakuntala teaches her Math tricks to people from the age of eight to those over 80. "People over 80 like to be better than what they are and that is why I teach them," she says.

Known to have been in love with numbers since the age of three, Shakuntala Devi demonstrated her mathematical prowess to Manipal students.

She told the university students, "To be brilliant in math, the mind has to be clear." The interactive session saw her enthral college pupils with tricks of mental math, where she even boggled the minds of faculty and students alike. Her primary aim, she says, is to "spread the perfume of Math." UNI XC NC HS1113