13-year-old Aditi Sharma has won the Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Championship. (Representational)
Complex calculations are a source of nightmares for most, but for 13-year-old Aditi Sharma who can perform mathematical problems in a matter of seconds, it is, quite literally, child's play.
Aditi emerged as the winner of the 'listening competition' in the 12th State level Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Championship held in New Delhi recently, where 60 students aged between 5-13 years showcased their calculation skills using UCMAS, an ABACUS arithmetic technique.
Aditi orally solved calculations from one-digit to four-digit numbers up to 100 rows at a speed "faster than one takes to write on paper".
"I take an hour-long class and practise it back at home for 10 minutes on a regular basis and that is how I only take few seconds to solve all the calculations requiring 1 to 5 digits. Not only have my calculation skills got sharper and faster, my learning speed has also increased," Aditi said.
She was awarded with a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 5,100.
Students Daksh Agarwal and Anish Roy Chowdhary who were the first and the second runner-ups respectively, received cash prizes of Rs 3,100 and Rs 2,100 respectively.
"UCMAS is an international concept developed from 'Zhusuan Methodology' for brain development of children of age group 5-13 years.
"It effectively activates children's latent mental power and develops mental and creative skills and a photographic memory resulting in self-reliance and self-confidence," Rajeev Garg, organiser of the championship, said.