At the Sree Narayana Gurukulam College of Engineering at Kolenchery, Kerala, recently, Vivek Raj, 26, steps on stage and asks for a two-digit number from the audience. One of them says ‘24’. In breathtaking speed, Raj adds up 24 iteratively for 20 times (24 + 24 = 48 + 48 = 96 + 96 = 192...) till he reaches the figure 1,25,82,912 in just 10 seconds.
Give this mathematics whiz kid a single or double-digit number and he can multiply or add it to itself as fast as lightning, to reach seven to 11-digit numbers. Raj, who is into conducting shows titled ‘Mathemagics’ to instil love for the subject among others, developed a fascination for numbers when his father gifted him a Casio calculator when he was a Class VII student at Alleppey.
But the turning point in his life came, when, one day, his Class XII English teacher Father Titus Chullickal asked the students about what they could think of number 7. While some spoke about the seven colours of rainbow, and the seven continents, Vivek multiplied seven by itself for seven times (7 x 7 = 49 x 7 = 343...). And reached an 11-digit number. “Fr Titus told me that I had an extraordinary talent,” he says. “That was a big boost for me.”
As soon as Raj wakes up, he sees digits. “You look at the clock, or the calendar or mobile phone or cars. You see numbers all the time, but you don’t pay attention to them,” he says.
But Raj does. As a result, he hit the spotlight in April, when he received two Limca Book of Records certificates from the then Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy. The first was for the fastest multiplication. Raj was given the number 67 by the examiners, and he multiplied it five times (67 x 67 = 4,489 x 67 = 3,00,763...) within 15 seconds and got an 11-digit answer. And the second one for the fastest addition; he added the number 23 for 19 times in 10 seconds.
This mechanical engineering graduate constantly practices his skills and says that students should also learn to do this because it will be of great benefit in competitive exams.
“In an exam, the maximum time to answer a math problem is just 56 seconds,” he says. “In that period, we have to read the question, find the solution and write it. But if your calculation is fast, you can reduce the time needed, and devote more time to other questions.”
Raj, who has performed in many schools and colleges in Kerala, says, “The most amusing moment is when I ask students for a two-digit number. They will invariably say 99 because they think it is a very difficult number to multiply. But for me, it is child’s play.”When asked about his future plans, he says, he wants to do more shows, as this is his passion.