It all began when I was ten. The lure of math competitions got to me, and I participated in and won the prestigious Aryabhatta math competition and finished runner up in equally renowned Ramanujan competition. The run up to the events lasted all year and mock tests replaced daily assembly sessions. Most people would be cursing themselves for getting into such a position, but I couldn't have been happier. That one year spent rubbing my eyes in between solving math problems at 6 in the morning changed my life forever.
To most, any mention of mathematics may evoke memories of long nights involving excessive hair pulling and paper tearing, but to me, it signifies the beginning of my tryst with a lifelong companion.
Fundamentally, mathematics is the white on the rice of numbers. It makes sense then, that a passion for mathematics be born out of a penchant for numbers.
Numbers have forever defined me.1 describes the way I think. 2 indicates the number of hours I spend travelling in a day. The elusive 8 is the number of hours of sleep I'm supposed to get. 666 isn't the number of the Devil to me, it is the approximate number of hours I have spent in my enrichment class, learning the complexities of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics that are beyond the scope of the school curriculum. Come to think of it, numbers form an integral part of every process. Let's consider indefinite integrals. Integrate a polynomial and you end up with another polynomial. However, throw in a set of numbers as limits, and we have a definite value, suitable for practical use. And what would one do without zero, the Higgs boson of mathematics? The world, as we know it, wouldn't exist. The consequences are paradoxical and infinite.
When not on the competitive grid, or marvelling at the infinite splendor of numbers, I engage in other activities to satiate my mathematical thirst. A recent venture in this direction is a math help website that I started, to help students world over. This idea bore fruit when my math teacher at school assigned me to help a boy with his studies. Looking back now, I am glad that my efforts have helped people in their academic endeavors.
Be it as a wobbly 10 year old or a robust young adult, mathematics has been the definitive aspect of my being, one that has stood strong in the face of video games and Manchester United. It all boils down to this then: Why do I like math? The reason is as perceptible as the subject is labyrinthine. Math is abstract, yet absolute. It is man-made, yet the entire universe is modeled around it. I call it the 'perfect science'.
To most, any mention of mathematics may evoke memories of long nights involving excessive hair pulling and paper tearing, but to me, it signifies the beginning of my tryst with a lifelong companion.
Fundamentally, mathematics is the white on the rice of numbers. It makes sense then, that a passion for mathematics be born out of a penchant for numbers.
Numbers have forever defined me.1 describes the way I think. 2 indicates the number of hours I spend travelling in a day. The elusive 8 is the number of hours of sleep I'm supposed to get. 666 isn't the number of the Devil to me, it is the approximate number of hours I have spent in my enrichment class, learning the complexities of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics that are beyond the scope of the school curriculum. Come to think of it, numbers form an integral part of every process. Let's consider indefinite integrals. Integrate a polynomial and you end up with another polynomial. However, throw in a set of numbers as limits, and we have a definite value, suitable for practical use. And what would one do without zero, the Higgs boson of mathematics? The world, as we know it, wouldn't exist. The consequences are paradoxical and infinite.
When not on the competitive grid, or marvelling at the infinite splendor of numbers, I engage in other activities to satiate my mathematical thirst. A recent venture in this direction is a math help website that I started, to help students world over. This idea bore fruit when my math teacher at school assigned me to help a boy with his studies. Looking back now, I am glad that my efforts have helped people in their academic endeavors.
Be it as a wobbly 10 year old or a robust young adult, mathematics has been the definitive aspect of my being, one that has stood strong in the face of video games and Manchester United. It all boils down to this then: Why do I like math? The reason is as perceptible as the subject is labyrinthine. Math is abstract, yet absolute. It is man-made, yet the entire universe is modeled around it. I call it the 'perfect science'.
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