A 20-year-old Hyderabadi Neelakanta Bhanu Prakash emerged as the fastest human calculator in the world and he is the first Indian to win the coveted title.Barely 20 years old, this Hyderabad lad, a graduate in Mathematics from St. Stephen College Delhi, won the first-ever gold for India in the Mental Calculation World Championship at Mind Sports Olympiad held in London recently.
A mathematical whiz kid from early childhood, since 5 years of age when he enrolled himself for the SIP Abacus program, he honed his skills so much that he has won several titles, broken records and set his sight on more challenging things in life.
He completed 9 levels of Abacus, a Grand Master program offered by SIP Academy.
Prakash went on to win the International Abacus Champion'13 and National Abacus Champion '11 and '12.
He fought with 30 participants from 13 countries such as UK, Germany, UAE, France, Greece, Lebanon and many other countries and reached the top in his very attempt itself.Talking to reporters, the Telugu pride Prakash said “ My vision is to Eradicate Math Phobia, Improve Cognitive Abilities in students through arithmetic learning, Help students explore infinite capabilities of human brain, Make Math Fun and Promote Brain Games as a dtructured sport.”
He refers how several countries have started defining Maths as an Art and not as Science.
I broke a record called the Fastest Human Calculator weed Record which was once held by the likes of Shakuntala Devi and Scott Flansburg, he said Scott is an American dubbed "The Human Calculator" and listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for speed of mental calculation.
I want my records to be broken soon. I want to get challenged, the Maths Prodigy added.
The Mind Sports Olympiad was first held in 1998 and the latest one was made virtual because of the prevailing restrictions.
