MATHPHOBIA! I have always felt that mathphobia is probably the most common phobia in the world of students surpassing arachnophobia, claustrophobia etc. It is universal, and I feel to a certain extent \’taught\’. Though I did not hate math in school, I definitely did not like the way it was taught. I found it too be complex, and boring!

Fast track 20 years; another generation, but math has not changed. It is still being taught the same way as it was during my school days. Therefore I feel there is a need for change and Vedic Mathematics does just that. Its changes the perspective, you can see it from another angle, it makes it more interesting and, I believe, its makes your concepts clearer.

I have now given about a hundred lectures in vedic maths to a wide spectrum of people; from students in schools to the \’ordinary Jane\’ wanting to know a bit more about this interesting subject to mathematics lecturers. Everytime I have felt that the response to the introductory lecture has been overwhelming. The interest it generates is far from ordinary and I still remember a three day workshop that I took in Kolkata, India, where there was no room for the participants to sit! The organizers expected about a hundred people and double that amount turned up. It was mayhem, chaotic, disorganized, but at the same time, for me, it was fulfilling.

Another incident which I recall was in an up-market school in Mumbai where I was asked to demonstrate the use of vedic maths. I had asked all the teachers to be present, most importantly the maths teachers. I asked for a final examination question paper of class VIII (2 years prior to O level). It was a 2 hours question paper and I asked one of the maths teachers as to how long would she take to complete this paper excluding the geometry construction part. She told me about an hour. I completed the entire paper (arithmetic and algebra) in 20 minutes without writing down a single sum!!!!

What distinguishes vedic mathematics from pure mathematics? Its amazing subtlety, its clarity of concept, its tremendous flexibility and innovative and brilliant structure. You often wonder what unparallel insight Tirthaji, the rediscover of vedic math had, to come up with such a unique vision. As the Hindu scriptures mention,

\’whatever is consistent with right reasoning should be accepted, even though it comes from a boy or even from a a parrot; and whatever is inconsistent therewith ought to be rejected, although emanating from an old man or even from the great sage Shree Shuka himself.\’

All said and done, the real beauty and effectiveness of Vedic Mathematics cannot be fully appreciated without actually practising the system. One can then see that it is perhaps the most refined and efficient mathematical system possible.
The system has more scope than the abacus. In abacus you can only do the four operations whereas with Vedic Maths you can do much much more including Algera and Trigonometry.

Author Bio: Sarah Jacobs is as associate of The Vedic Maths Forum India. She works in the field of Vedic Maths and revolutionizes the way students do Mental Math.The Vedic Maths Forum India has trained over 10 million students across the world in Vedic Maths.Her organization can be reached at http://www.vedicmathsindia.org

Category: Self Help
Keywords: career,mental maths,vedic maths,education