Shakuntala Devi: Some lesser-known facts about the “Human-Computer”
Some lesser-known facts about the lady who believed in challenging herself.
Shakuntala Devi was a well-known mental calculator who was known for her prowess in numbers. Because of her rare talent, she was popularly known as the “Human-Computer”. Born in a humble background in the year 1929, Shakuntala Devi made her talent known to her father at the tender age of three. Here are some of the lesser-known facts about the life of a genius, Shakuntala Devi.
Her father was an artist in the circus. He came to know about her daughter special abilities while he was teaching her some card tricks. He then left his job and started street performances where he took Shakuntala Devi along and presented her extraordinary skills at calculating in front of the audiences.
At the tender age of six, Shakuntala Devi displayed her talent at the University of Mysore. Shortly after that, her father took her to London, and her fame was known worldwide.
In the year 1950, she was presented with a complex mathematics problem by BBC host Leslie Mitchell. She gave her answer in a few seconds, which surprisingly was presumed as incorrect. Later, after rechecking, it was found that Shakuntala Devi was right after all. It was then she was known as “Human-Computer” by media worldwide.
Not only she could solve complex math problems, but also could tell you the exact day when a date fell in the last 100 years!
Even when most of the world called her “Human-Computer”, Shakuntala Devi despised this title. According to her human brain is much more complex and capable than that of a computer. It would be an unfair comparison.
Apart from being a Math prodigy, she was a writer as well. She wrote books on Astrology, Math, Cookbooks, and even a novel!
She secured a place in the Guinness Book of World Records by multiplying 13 digits number in 28 seconds!
Her Biopic was released on 31st July 2020 in which Vidya Balan played the role of Shakuntala Devi. It was well-received by audiences and critics alike.
She even tried her hand in politics. She ran for the parliamentary election as an independent candidate. Unfortunately, she was not able to woo the voters and lost the election.
Her love for numbers inspired many by her countless books on this subject. As she always said, ”Numbers have life; they are not just symbols on paper”.
