Celebrating an innovative maths teacher

P.K. Srinivasan’s commitment to make the subject easy for children recalled

N. Ravi, Publisher of The Hindu , and Suki Sivam (right), popular orator and a scholar, exchanging pleasantries at the golden jubilee of the publication of Memorial Volumes I and II of Srinivasa Ramanujan in Chennai on Saturday. Arvind Gupta, Indian Toy inventor, and D. Balasubramaniam (left) of The Institute of Mathematical Sciences are seen.

The golden jubilee celebrations of the publication of the memorial volumes 1& 2 on Srinivasa Ramanujan, authored by P.K. Srinivasan, was held on Saturday.

Organised by P.K.S. Math Education and Research Centre, the celebrations had orator Suki Sivam, deliver the keynote address. He spoke about the need for teachers to be invested in the subject and reach out to their students.

N. Ravi, Publisher of

The Hindu , said Srinivasan was committed to teaching and making maths innovative and fun for children.

“He had told me that his goal was to remove the fear that people had of mathematics and hoped that his writing would convey the magical way that numbers behaved. He was someone who showed how maths need not be dull and boring and believed that the lives of great mathematicians, such as Srinivasa Ramanujan, could prove to be interesting to students who were considering research in the subject,” he said. “The books proved to be a great eye-opener for people who wanted to know more about Srinivasa Ramanujan. Many mathematicians have spoken about how books even helped them expand their research and widen their perspective,” said Kannan Srinivasan, Srinivasan’s son.

Stating that he was someone who had a ‘gleam in his eye’ when it came to working with numbers, Arvind Gupta, Indian Toy Inventor and science expert said Srinivasan was a great proponent of activity-based mathematics.

R. Balasubramanian, Director of the Indian Institute of Mathematical Sciences, recalled how Srinivasan had attended the International Congress for Mathematical education four times.“From the conference, he would imbibe and share innovative methods which could be adapted into teaching the subject,” he said.

Srinivasan’s innovative teaching methods and how he encouraged students to look at mathematics around them — from calenders to coins — were also discussed.