Shakuntala Devi as we all know was an Indian mathematician, writer and mental calculator. She is more popularly known as the 'Human Computer'.
Born on November 4, 1929, Shakuntala Devi hailed from Bangalore. Shakuntala Devi's father was a circus performer who performed trapeze, tightrope and cannonball shows. Her father discovered her calculation abilities while she was playing cards with him. She won the game by simply memorising the cards.
Her father left the circus and took her on road shows that displayed her ability at calculation. She did this without any formal education. At the age of six she demonstrated her arithmetic abilities at the University of Mysore.
This talent of hers earned her a place in the 1982 edition of 'The Guiness Book of World Records'. However, the certificate for the record was given posthumously on 30 July 2020, despite Devi achieving her world record on 18 June 1980 at Imperial College, London.
Shakuntala Devi demonstrated the multiplication of two 13-digit numbers 7,686,369,774,870 x 2,465,099,745,779 picked at random by the Computer Department of Imperial College, London on June 18, 1980, in just 28 seconds. Till date, it is known to be the fastest human calculation.
She could also tell the day of the week of any given date in the last century spontaneously.
In the year 2020 a Bollywood movie was made tracing the life of the mathematician. The biographical drama written and directed by Anu Menon stars Vidya Balan in a titular role as Shakuntala Devi.
In addition to her work as a mental calculator, Devi was a notable astrologer and an author of several books, including cookbooks and novels. She started with writing short stories and murder mysteries, and had a keen interest in music.
She passed away on 21 April 2013 at the age of 83 due to heart and kidney complications.
