Can learning Vedic Maths give you an edge in competitive exams?

Can you multiply 98 with 97 and come up with the answer in less than five seconds? Gaurav Tekriwal can. And his secret code is Vedic Maths, which he wants to share with everyone.

Teaching Vedic Maths has been a lifelong passion for Tekriwal. He founded the Vedic Maths Forum India in 2008 and has recently published the book The Great Indian Mathematicians. Tekriwal says Vedic Maths can actually make math fun and easy. Sounds unbelievable? Here’s what he told us.

Edugraph: What is Vedic Maths? How is it different from the regular mathematics that is taught in the school curriculum?
Gaurav Tekriwal: Vedic Maths is the simplest and easiest way to do math. There is this book by Tirthaji (Bharati Krishna Tirtha), called Vedic Mathematics, published in 1965. This book was very popular because it contained a lot of easy methods to solve math problems. What was more surprising was that math could be solved in split seconds. For example, I give you a sum like 98 multiplied by 97. Firstly, the numbers will scare a child, and you will take some time to do it. With Vedic Maths sutras, you can do the same in less than five seconds.

What are the benefits of learning Vedic Maths?
GT: Vedic Maths teaches you to be creative with mathematics. It helps you solve your math problems in a much simpler, easier and faster way. When students appear for competitive examinations, they can solve math in very little time, giving them an edge over others.

There are Vedic Maths applications in research and academics. It even generates employment for teachers. It dispels fear of mathematics.

In what areas is it used or applied?
GT: Vedic Maths can be used to do additions, subtractions, multiplications, divisions, decimals, percentages, ratio proportions. It can be used in trigonometry and other higher applications as well. We keep Vedic Maths for students in school and for those preparing for competitive examinations.

How did you get into Vedic Maths?

GT: I was in college in 1999 when I was introduced to Vedic Mathematics. I was preparing for CAT and for business school. The book transformed me. I started teaching it to my friends and friends of friends. I also started rediscovering the concept of Vedic Maths because at that time, apart from the book, there were no teachers, websites or friends who were aware of the subject.

Vedic Maths is a passion for me. I started teaching and conducting workshops. I took it up as a career. I founded the Vedic Maths Forum in 2008; it operates out of Kolkata. I had been working towards it since 2000. My aim is to make math fun and easier.

What kind of activities does the Vedic Maths Forum India undertake?

GT: We partnered with Tata Sky in 2011 and launched the Active Vedic Maths programme pan India. We did a programme for Reliance Big TV called the World of Vedic Maths. I have authored a couple of books like Maths Sutra: The Art of Indian Speed Calculation in 2015 and Maths Sutras from Around the World: Speed Calculations on Your Fingertips in 2018.

We launched our video courses on platforms like Udemy and Skillshare. One can download our app, Vedic Maths India, from Playstore. The idea is to take this knowledge of ancient India and spread it like yoga and Ayurveda.

Teacher training courses are one of the most important aspects of our organisation because there’s a lack of teachers in Vedic Maths. There are over 300 teachers who have signed up for the programme. We have also received requests from city colleges for collaboration programmes.

Tell us about your latest book, The Great Indian Mathematicians, published by Penguin Random House India. What is it about and who is it for?

GT: The Great Indian Mathematicians is about 15 pioneers who put Indian mathematics on the world map. It took me about two to three years to pen down this book. I was looking for a lucid book on Indian mathematics but hardly found any.

Mathematics across the world is viewed from the Russian point of view. Credits have been given for certain themes, ideas and fundamentals which were Indian. Pythagoras Theorem was given by Indian mathematician Baudhayana. You talk about the fundamental ideas of Calculus. Those ideas have been given by the Kerala School of Mathematics.

Is there a demand for Vedic Maths in countries like Africa, Australia, UAE and the US where the Forum offers tutoring?

There is a big demand in other countries, which we don’t know about. I discovered it in 2006 when I launched my website. I had posted a few books and videos on Vedic Maths. It received an amazing response in the US. They wanted to connect to the Indian roots. There’s an amazing Indian diaspora out there which not many people know about and I just discovered it by chance.

There’s a big demand in the South African region too. I worked there for some time. South Africa had a total system collapse, because of apartheid. A whole generation of math teachers was not given training. Those are the countries where Vedic Maths works. Children love to do calculations. There’s a big demand out there among the Indian community who migrated from India to South Africa to work in the sugarcane fields. It’s the same in South America.

I was in college in 1999 when I was introduced to (Bharati Krishna Tirtha’s) Vedic Mathematics. I was preparing for CAT and for business school. The book transformed me.

- Gaurav Tekriwal, the author of The Great Indian Mathematicians