A group of students from private institutions and government-aided schools are of the view that the legacy of preeminent mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujam should be made more easily accessible to those interested in the subject of mathematics.
“Many of us are under the impression that mathematics is a dry, dull and an uninteresting subject. It is not so,” said G. Pooja Varshini, a class VIII student from the government-aided Jaigopal Garodia National Higher Secondary School in East Tambaram.
Echoing her sentiments were many other students who took part in a day-long workshop held on Wednesday as part of the 125 birth anniversary celebrations of the mathematical genius at S.D.N.B. Vaishnav Women’s College in Chromepet.
The event was organised by Pie Mathematics Association along with the department of mathematics of the women’s college, the only one of its kind in the city’s southern suburbs. Seventy-two students from schools around Chromepet and Pallavaram as well as from East Tambaram took part. According to the students, the history and contribution of Ramanujam was dismissed in a few lines in Tamil and Mathematics at the school level. “We should and want to know more about him,” said J. Priya Darshini, K. Aishwarya and R. Sangeetha, students of class IX at S.C.S. Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chromepet.
“Mathematics can be fun, thought-provoking and inspiring, all at the same time,” said G. Rani, principal, Vaishnav College.
R. Sivaraman, founder-trustee of the association, traced the history of Ramanujam from his early days in Kumbakonam to when he reached the zenith of his popularity owing to his skills.
The students were uniformly of the opinion that apart from those addicted to the subject, the interest of other students towards mathematics could be drawn through practical, ‘joyful learning-methods’. The students later interacted with volunteers from the foundation and learnt formulae and theorems through models.
The students were taken in by the acumen of Ramanujam, the mathematical genius, who died at the young age of 32, the college teachers observed.
The rest of the world, particularly the west, knows and values Ramanujam, but we hardly ever hear of his genius. This has to change,” said Akshaya, one of the participating students.
