ONGOLE: Singaraju Venkata Lakshmi Narayana Rao, a 52-year-old government mathematics teacher, goes beyond his regular duties, striving to instil enthusiasm in school children, students, and youth for mathematics through his captivating ‘Mathema’tricks’ skills showcased in ‘Ganita Avadhaanam,’ a distinctive mathematical show performed across Prakasam district.
‘Avadhanam’ is a Telugu literary skill form, performed by language stalwarts proficient in Telugu literature and grammar, demonstrating vast knowledge and the ability to solve tasks related to various Telugu language writing methods. In this unique art form, a language expert answers spontaneously, captivating the audience with astonishingly fast, accurate, and sensible responses in a poetic way, all without external assistance.
SVL Narayana Rao adopted this ‘Avadhanam’ form, transforming it into ‘Ganitha Avadhanam.’ He replaced Telugu literature with funny and amazing mathematical solutions, attracting both math teachers and students to explore mathematics further. “Just like ‘Ashta Avadhanam’ programmes in Telugu literary art, I started ‘Ganitha Avadhanam’ shows lasting around 2 to 3 hours. I perform 8 to 10 various, funny, and highly difficult mathematical problems from different experts, providing correct answers poetically. The questions cover week-day calculations, year calculations, square roots, cube root, 5th root values, Pythagorean theorem, magic squares puzzles, and pi value calculations up to 21 to 22 decimals,” explained Narayana Rao.
Born into a middle-class family, Narayana Rao developed an early interest in mathematics. His father, Singaraju Sitapathi Rao, is also a teacher and his mother, Raghava Rani, is a homemaker. His academic background, including a BSc from Guntur-Hindu College, MSc from Kakinada-Ideal PG College, and a BEd from Rajamahendravaram Government College, led him to a career in teaching.
During his youth, he prepared for competitive exams, focusing on maths and benefiting from his earlier practice of Vedic Maths. Despite several job opportunities, he chose a teaching career, serving as a mathematics School Assistant in Pedda Gollapalli-ZPHS, HM Padu Mandal.
Taking Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan as an inspiration, he aimed to encourage students by using the Ganith Avadhanam, removing math phobia from them. Narayana also said, “I feel very proud and happy for my family cooperativeness and support for my initiatives taken to enhance maths teaching.”
In his 26-year teaching profession, he extended his services beyond school children to local youth and degree/engineering students preparing for competitive exams. He provided free coaching, especially helping students secure Navodaya seats.