Shakuntala Devi was born in Bangalore on November 4, 1939. She came from a rather unusual background. Her parents were extremely orthodox Brahmins. Her father rebelled against becoming a temple priest and instead joined a circus.
Shakuntala Devi was only around three years old and she was roped in to help her father with card tricks. Her father left the circus and took her on road shows that displayed her amazing ability at number crunching.
Shakuntala Devi’s first major show was at the age of six at the University of Mysore. This was followed up by other shows during which she displayed her skills at solving arithmetical problems including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and calculation of square roots and cube roots of numbers with digits varying from 13 to 200. She shot to world-wide fame when she visited London at the age of 15.
In 1977, she received standing ovation from an audience of learned mathematicians when she extracted the 23rd root of a 201-digit number in 50 seconds flat! A high-powered and sophisticated computer thentook 62 seconds. In 1980, she multiplied two 13-digit numbers and provided the answer to her audience in 28 seconds. This feat is even more remarkable when you consider that this includes the time taken to recite the 26 digit solution to the problem.
Unlike many mathematical prodigies, Shakuntala is a normal, well-adjusted person. She has traveled widely, demonstrating her incredible talent and encouraging others to develop the latent talent buried within. Shakuntala Devi has heart, soul, humour and skills which blows your mind away. With her, the term extraordinary appears an understatement.
A Guinness record holder, thisoctogenarian Shakuntala Devi has also authored several books on mathematical calculations, astrology and even cooking. These include Puzzles to Puzzle You, Awaken the Genius in Your Child, Book of Numbers, In the Wonderland of Numbers, Perfect Murder and Astrology for You –this by a person who has never attended school!
Read Shakuntala Devi Exclusive Interview with KYS.