In this town, number crunching is kids' play

SHUJALPUR: At first glance, there is nothing striking about dust-smothered lane of Punjabi Mohalla in Shujalpur town of Shajapur district. But a visit to a house, one of six identical ones, along an otherwise non-descript lane, changes your perception. The house is literally a hub of child prodigies and for them solving complex arithmetic equations is literally a child's play.A small centre of Universal Concepts of Mental Arithmetic System (UCMAS) in Shujalpur, which hones their mathematical skills, has produced a number of international champions, many of them from far flung areas in district.
The centre, which currently has an intake of 50 students, has been awarded by the UCMAS three times as the best centre from among 500 in the country in eight years of its existence.
For Brij Mohan Verma, 19, a student of BSc second year Holkar Science College, his efforts to get passport ready at the last moment paid off when he won first runner-up prize at international contest in the 8th level of UCMAS world wide-centre competition in November 2011. "I was one of the four students, who was sponsored from India to appear for international competition. While others raised money through their own means to participate in competition held in Malaysia, my parents could never afford to do so," said Brij, who now assists his professor at Holkar College to solve statistics papers.
If that is not enough, there is another child prodigy Mayank Nema. He holds world record of cracking 10 questions containing 10 digit-10 rows questions in two minutes and 10 seconds, beating a record made by Marc Jornet Sanz of Spain, who could do in three minutes 19.42 seconds. "I still haven't thought of choosing subject in Class XI," said Mayank, who is busy taking Class X board exam. Mayank said he would like to break a Guinness Book World Record. Mentor of student, a Public Administration graduate from Indore, Kamlesh Nema, said many students' brain works at the speed of light. He said, "But proficiency comes after hours of burning the midnight oil. It is a small town, which lacks basic amenities like electricity and water. Children practise for hours, even for 18-20 hours a day."
Class XII maths student Rishabh Kaneria is set on breaking arithmetic world record of solving complex sum of 10 digits divided by five digit number. "The existing record is of five minutes 45 seconds and I have solved it in two minutes 20 seconds. We have applied for Limca Book of Records and plan to demonstrate skills before Limca Book officials next month," asserted Rishabh, who has big plans for his sister and mother.
There are many 'maths experts' at the centre who come from vernacular medium and compete with best brains at international level. Class VIII student Ashok Mewade at Dipti Convent School travels by bus to Shujalpur from Dehandi village to attend school and mental arithmetic class every Sunday and is working hard to make it big at all-India level in May. "Not many are aware what a wonderful thing it is to know mental arithmetic. We use our brain efficiently than other children," Ashok said excitedly.