LOCATION: Surat
DAY JOB: Std IX student
CLAIM TO FAME: Mental Square Root World Record holder, World Mental Calculation World Cup 2010 winner.
DAY JOB: Std IX student
CLAIM TO FAME: Mental Square Root World Record holder, World Mental Calculation World Cup 2010 winner.
First, some numbers: In 2010, Priyanshi Somani participated in her
first Mental Calculation World Cup, an event that tests exactly what
its name suggests. She was 11, it was her first time and she’d only been
practising for a month. Other competitors, 37 of them from 16 countries
had been at it for far longer – the oldest person there was 61. Somani,
however, trumped them all. She not only solved 10 assigned tasks
correctly in 6.28 minutes but went a step further. She was expected to
extract square roots from 10 six-digit numbers up to eight significant
digits in 15 minutes. She did it in 6.15, setting a world record,
winning the championship and the Fastest Calculator Trophy as well.
Early this year, Somani went up against the new square-root world record holder, Turkish Hakan Gürbaslar. The result? Square roots for another 10 six-digit numbers extracted, this time in 2.43 minutes. A new world record.
Somani’s family has strong calculating skills, and her own abilities were evident when she was only six, watching her brother solve sums and trying to do the same. “The best part about doing calculations is the speed,” she explains. “I love anything and everything that has speed. When a math problem is in front of you, there are lot of processes that go on in your mind – the eye seeing the problem, the brain analysing it and trying to solve it in the least possible time, and finally putting it on the paper or screen. Challenging the speed of this cycle is what fascinates me. Making a new record is the target, every time.”
To make sure Somani meets her targets, the whole family helps out, especially her mother, Anju, who is careful not to pressure her. “Being her mother, all I have to do is forget myself, get completely involved with her in all her activities, take care of her health, schedule, academics, mood swings, preparations etc,” Anju says. “But at the end, her fabulous performance brings immense amount of pride to the family.” At home, however, it’s Somani’s dad who still does the family accounts.
Early this year, Somani went up against the new square-root world record holder, Turkish Hakan Gürbaslar. The result? Square roots for another 10 six-digit numbers extracted, this time in 2.43 minutes. A new world record.
Somani’s family has strong calculating skills, and her own abilities were evident when she was only six, watching her brother solve sums and trying to do the same. “The best part about doing calculations is the speed,” she explains. “I love anything and everything that has speed. When a math problem is in front of you, there are lot of processes that go on in your mind – the eye seeing the problem, the brain analysing it and trying to solve it in the least possible time, and finally putting it on the paper or screen. Challenging the speed of this cycle is what fascinates me. Making a new record is the target, every time.”
To make sure Somani meets her targets, the whole family helps out, especially her mother, Anju, who is careful not to pressure her. “Being her mother, all I have to do is forget myself, get completely involved with her in all her activities, take care of her health, schedule, academics, mood swings, preparations etc,” Anju says. “But at the end, her fabulous performance brings immense amount of pride to the family.” At home, however, it’s Somani’s dad who still does the family accounts.
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