Abacus or Vedic Maths

Scratching your head sitting in a nerve breaking competitive exam where even a shortfall of .005
point can make a huge difference in your career- do not really know how to multiply nine digit
number with another nine digit number in just three seconds? Well you can possibly try some
thing that apparently sounds too primitive or old fashioned- The Vedic Math.

Consider this. Dhananjai Chitlangia a 2nd year student of IIT Kharagpur too lacked confidence
while doing large problems that required calculations without a calculator until at the suggestion
of one of his friends he attended the High Speed Vedic Maths workshop that was held in Kolkata.
And after the course in Vedic maths, Dhananjai says, “I used some of the methods that I had
learnt during my course like the Base method, All from 9 and last from 10, simple squares etc.
and found to my amusement that not only was my time saved during the exams but also my
accuracy level has increased dramatically.” Suvra Roy, a teacher of St. Teresa's Secondary
School who too attended a workshop on Vedic Maths, held in his school said, “How would you
find squares of numbers ending with 5 in less than 3 seconds? Forget about the conventional
method that you may have been taught in your school and see this. Take the case of 35, for
instance. The word formula is simple: “By One more than the One before” to the ten’s place. So
what’s 1 more than 3? It is 4. Therefore one has to multiply 3 with 4 to get 12. That’s the first
part of the answer. To get the second part of the answer one has to multiply 5 with 5. The second
part of the answer therefore is 25. Now let the second part sit next to the first part to get the final
answer. The final answer is 1225. One can keep on trying the same method with 45, 55, 65, 95,
105 and so on.……..”

Is Maths your Achilles’ heel too? Do the numbers play truant with you and give you nightmares?
Many people all over the world find handling numbers, tricky. But thanks to the two oldest
schools of Mathematics (Vedic Maths and Abacus), many have overcome their struggle with
numbers and are now finding the calculations easy and interesting. Both the schools have
emerged widely successful in doing away with math-phobia among students. 10-15 times faster
than normal maths these two techniques sharpen the mind and improve mental agility and
intelligence. While calculations in Vedic Maths are done mentally, Abacus uses an instrument of
moving beads.

Vedic Maths Forum India, the first Indian organization engaged in imparting knowledge and
training on Vedic Mathematics has already set up bases across seven countries and now has plans
to spread its wings across 20 countries over the next three years. According to Gaurav Tekriwal,
President, The Vedic Math Forum India, “Vedic Maths is becoming far more important with
every passing day in India. The reason for this being the Phobia for math which exists in Kids.
Students are unable to cope up with Maths. Infact the phobia is so much that they hate it. In such
a scenario Vedic Maths makes Maths fun and enjoyable through its ingenious methods.”

While Vedic Maths has its roots in India, Abacus school of Mathematics has its origin in
China. “Known as the world’s oldest “calculator” Abacus is now used by children across the
globe to improve their numerical efficiency, concentration and energy” says Sunandita Dey, The
Head of Learning, SIP ABACUS & BRAIN GYM, Kolkata. SIP ABACUS & BRAIN GYM with
500 centers in India and student strength of more than 1 lakh, is the most popular program taught
in the country. Working with the motto of “make numbers your friend” Sunandita has been
successful in running her institution with an enrollment of more than 50 students in the
centre. “The age group of students interested in abacus varies from 8-16, as it’s easy for them to
learn Abacus than Vedic Maths at such a tender age,” says Dey. Vedic Maths, believes,

Sunandita, “is for the students taking preparations for competitive exams, and for engineering and
commerce students…Abacus, provides the students with an instrument of moving beads, which
helps the children to do the calculations easily. However, a student who practices sufficiently and
has reached a certain level can visualize the abacus and does not need the instrument in front of
him every time.” Janaki Venkatramani, State Head, SIP Academy India Pvt Ltd, who has
personal exposures to both Abacus and Vedic Math said, “Abacus, helps building picture
memory in the kids. And visual impression is very important and that comes to one’s mind first.
Abacus is a tool that builds listening skill, attention or concentration skill, retention skill and
recall skills.” “Abacus also builds one’s left (logical) and right (creative) brain in an even and
balanced manner. Quite like one goes to gym to build muscles, one need to go to brain gym to
build one’s mental muscles. It develops the ability to visualize and builds other mental
capabilities,” she said. The other facet of SIP Academy's Brain Gym is that it is often used by
leading companies for stress management of their employees and by parents of special children,
said Venkatramani. The popularity of Abacus is growing rapidly and more and more schools are
showing interests in the subject. SIP ABACUS & BRAIN GYM has already tied up with schools
like South Point, M P Birla and Garden High. Parents too are gradually becoming aware of
Abacus and have started appreciating the effort and teaching techniques. Sruti Thakur, a PR
professional, whose son Swapneel is learning Abacus at SIP ABACUS & BRAIN GYM,
said, “At times I noticed that my son Swapneel was afraid of numbers. He was not confident
enough to do his mental maths. After his introduction to algebra, I decided to put him through
Abacus classes, so that he can be strong in mental calculation. He seems to be more confident
than before, and ready to learn the different wings of maths.”

Vedic maths which is essentially Indian in origin is increasingly becoming acceptable even
popular in the western countries, whereas, in India Abacus the Chinese school of maths is gaining
a strong foothold. The Vedic Math Forum India, with operational bases in seven countries has
now been entrusted by the South African government to teach High Speed Vedic Math Methods
across 9000 schools in South Africa.