A phobia of mathematics is not a new phenomenon. Now teachers and students are going back to ancient teachings to make learning the subject easier. Baishali Mukherjee reports.

Scratching your head sitting in a nerve-wracking competitive exam where even a shortfall of .005 points can make a huge difference to your career? Don't really know how to multiply a nine-digit number with another nine-digit number in just three seconds? Well, you could possibly try something that might sound to many as primitive or old-fashioned -- Vedic maths.

Consider this. Dhananjai Chitlangia, a second year student of IIT Kharagpur, lacked confidence while solving problems that required calculations without a calculator until, at the suggestion of a friend, he attended a High Speed Vedic Maths workshop organised in Kolkata. Says Chitlangia, "I used some of the methods that I had learnt during my course like the Base method, All from 9 and Last from 10, Simple Squares, etc and found to my amazement that not only was my time saved during the exams but also my accuracy level increased dramatically."

Is maths your Achilles' heel too? Do numbers give you nightmares? Many people all over the world find handling numbers tricky. But thanks to two of the oldest schools of mathematics in the world (Vedic maths and abacus), many have overcome their struggle with numbers and are now finding calculations easy and interesting.

Both schools have emerged widely successful in doing away with maths phobia among students. Ten to fifteen times faster than normal calculation methods, these two techniques are said to sharpen the mind and improve mental agility and intelligence. While calculations in Vedic maths are done mentally, the abacus is an instrument of moving beads.

Vedic mathematics is an ancient Indian system of mathematics rooted in Vedic times. It was rediscovered through research by Bharati Krsna Tirthaji between 1911 and 1918. According to the research, all of mathematics is based on sixteen Sutras or word-formulae principles contained in the Ganita Sutras.

"These formulae describe the way the mind naturally works and are therefore a great help in directing the student to the appropriate method of solution," says the website of Vedic Maths Forum, India. This forum is engaged in imparting knowledge and training in Vedic mathematics and has already set up bases across seven countries. It now has plans to spread its wings across 20 countries over the next three years.

According to Gaurav Tekriwal, president of the forum, "Vedic maths is becoming far more important with every passing day in India. The reason for this is the phobia for maths that exists among kids. Students are often unable to cope with the subject. In fact, the phobia is so strong that they hate it. In such a scenario Vedic maths makes the subject fun and enjoyable through its ingenious methods."

Suvra Roy, a teacher of St Teresa's Secondary School who also attended a workshop on Vedic maths at the school, elaborates: "How would you find squares of numbers ending with 5 in less than 3 seconds? Forget about the conventional method that you may have been taught in school. Take the case of 35, for instance. The word formula is simple: "By One more than the One before" to the ten's place. So what's 1 more than 3? It is 4. Therefore one has to multiply 3 with 4 to get 12. That's the first part of the answer.

"To get the second part of the answer one has to multiply 5 with 5. The second part of the answer therefore is 25. Now let the second part sit next to the first part to get the final answer. The final answer is 1225. One can use the same method with 45, 55, 65, 95, 105 and so on."

While Vedic maths has its roots in India, the Abacus School of Mathematics has its origin in China. "Known as the world's oldest 'calculator' the abacus is now used by children across the globe to improve their numerical efficiency, concentration and energy," says Sunandita Dey, head of learning, SIP Abacus & Brain Gym, Kolkata.

With 500 centres in India and student strength of more than 1 lakh, it is the most popular programme taught in the country. Working with the motto of "make numbers your friend" Sunandita has been successful in running her institution with an enrolment of more than 50 students.

"The age group of students interested in the abacus varies from 8-16, as it is easier for them to learn the abacus than Vedic maths at such a tender age," says Dey. Vedic maths, she believes, "is for students preparing for competitive exams, and for engineering and commerce students (though Tekriwal contradicts this saying that Vedic maths can be learnt at any stage).

Abacus provides students with an instrument of moving beads, which helps make calculations easy. However, a student who practises sufficiently and has reached a certain level can visualise the abacus and does not need the instrument in front of him every time.

Janaki Venkatramani, state head, SIP Academy India, who has personal exposure to both abacus and Vedic maths says, "Abacus helps build picture memory in the kids. Visual impression is very important and that comes to one's mind first. It is a tool that builds listening skills, attention or concentration skills, retention skills and recall skills."

She claims the abacus also builds one's left (logical) and right (creative) brain in an even and balanced manner. "Quite like going to a gym to build muscles; one needs to go to a brain gym to build one's mental muscles," she says.

Venkatramani reveals that SIP Academy's Brain Gym is often used by leading companies for stress management of their employees and by parents of special children. It has also tied up with some leading schools in Kolkata.

Says Sruti Thakur, a PR professional whose son Swapneel is learning abacus at SIP, "At times I noticed that my son was afraid of numbers. He was not confident enough to practice mental maths. After his introduction to algebra, I decided to put him in abacus classes. He seems to be more confident than before, and ready to learn about the different wings of maths."

Ironically, while the Indian-origin Vedic maths is increasingly becoming popular in western countries, abacus or the Chinese school of maths is gaining a strong foothold here. The Vedic Maths Forum, India, has now been entrusted by the South African government to teach high-speed Vedic maths methods across 9,000 schools in that country.