A television programme was being recorded in which many participants had written difficult questions with them, hoping to outwit Shakuntala Devi, who gained world fame as the ‘Human Computer’.
When they started asking questions, Shakuntala Devi patiently answered all their questions, and within a few minutes, she surprised everyone by giving the correct answers.
A person participating in the programme asked him the question, ‘What day was April 25, 1960?’
She immediately replied, ‘Monday, and was ready for more questions.
This programme was aired in the year 1977 by India’s state television channel ‘Door Darshan, and its video is available on YouTube, showing that the title Human Computer’ given to Shakuntala Devi is not a misnomer.
During an interview
During an interview with Shakuntala Devi, the host asked the question, ‘Can you tell me how you do it?’
She spontaneously replied that it is a gift given by God, and I have been doing it since childhood.
Shakuntala Devi was born in Bangalore, United India, in 1929, and only at the age of three did her father realise that his daughter was not an ordinary girl but possessed extraordinary abilities.
According to ‘Vogue India’, her father, Sundar Raja Rao, while playing cards with his three-year-old daughter, realised that his daughter was not winning every game with him and thought that she must be being dishonest and cheating on her. She managed to find the father’s cards somehow, but they were wrong.
Shakuntala was sitting there keeping a close eye on the cards and was constantly calculating in her mind which cards her father had been dealt, and that was the secret of his victory.
Shakuntala Devi is said to have never received formal training in mathematics. But her grasp of mathematics was extraordinary.
His father worked in a circus, where he had to perform tricks by walking on a tightrope and was also responsible for keeping the rampaging lions calm.
Her father recognised his daughter’s talents and played his part in nurturing her.
At the age of twenty-one, Shakuntala Devi went on a tour of Europe. She gave an interview to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). And answered a complex question about mathematics and numbers from the host in a few seconds.
The host declared his answer wrong, but he soon realised that Shakuntala Devi’s answer was correct. And the answer coming on his calculator was wrong.
The American newspaper ‘New York Times’ wrote about Shakuntala Devi in an article in 1976. That ‘She takes as much time to answer the most difficult math question correctly as it takes to ask the question. If you tell her any date from the last century. She will calculate and tell you what day and week that date was.
How did Shakuntala Devi get the title of ‘Human Computer’?
In 1980, at Imperial College London, Shakutala Devi correctly multiplied two 13-digit numbers in just 28 seconds, earning her a place in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1982. He also got the title Human Computer’.
In an interview given to the Asian Television Network. She said, ‘When she was born, an elder in her family said that this girl would grow up to be a tall person. And everyone thought that maybe I would become a great musician or dancer.’
When she was ask what her opinion is about computers. She said, ‘My view is that man is still superior to computers. Because computers were create by men, and computers discovered men.” Didn’t do it.’
Shakuntala Devi’s love for mathematics also attracted her to astronomy. And because of this passion, she became so famous that 60 people a day came to know her fortune.
He also wrote a book on astrology, Astrology for You.
Few people know that Shakuntala Devi also tried her hand at politics. In the 1980 elections, she contested two Lok Sabha seats as an independent candidate and lost both seats.
He was defeat by Indira Gandhi of Medak district. Shakuntala Devi strongly criticised Indira Gandhi during the election campaign. But she could not convert her popularity into votes. And Indira Gandhi defeated her to become the Prime Minister of India.
In the year 2020, a film was also make in India on this intelligent woman called ‘Human Computer’. In which Bollywood actress Vidya Balan played the lead role.
The film was release seven years after his death. He died on April 21, 2013, in a hospital in Bangalore.
Shakuntala Devi does not continue to surprise people in her life, but even now. When people watch or read a video about her. It is natural for them to be surprise because before and after her, no human being has done title ‘Computer, which accurately reflects his intelligence.