Shakuntala Devi: The story of a human computer.
IMDB : 6.5
(The spoiler of the main story of the film is not given. However, you can avoid it if you want.)
Goddess Shakuntala. He was born on 4 November 1929 in a Kannada Brahmin family in Bangalore. Her father was in the circus. Sometimes he worked as a trapeze artist, sometimes he played the lion, sometimes he walked on a rope, sometimes he showed magic. When Shakuntala was just three years old, her father went to show her a game of cards and discovered that her daughter also had a wonderful magical ability. Shakuntala can solve any mathematical problem in his mind.
Her father made no mistake in taking advantage of her power. Leaving the circus work himself, he began to show the magic of mathematics with his daughter, wandering the streets. At one stage, Shakuntala also received calls for shows from different schools, clubs, etc. At the age of six, he did a show at the University of Mysore, although he never had the opportunity to pursue a formal education.
In 1944, at the age of fifteen, Shakuntala moved to London with his father. There, too, he continued to show his magical skills. And at one point his name spread all over the world. Throughout the fifties, he toured various European countries for shows. He also appeared on various TV shows, even losing the then-best computer Univac 1101 at Southern Methodist University in 1986.
He took out the 23rd route of a 201-digit number in 50 seconds. But Univac had to write a special program for that complex calculation on the computer. Even then the computer rate means close to Shakuntala’s speed. Thus Shakuntala got the title of ‘human computer’.
On June 17, 1970, he was allowed to find the product of two 13-digit numbers, which he solved in just 28 seconds. That is why his name was included in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1982.
Indira Gandhi once said to Shakuntala, “Shakuntala, I have many ambassadors worldwide, but you are my most special ambassador. Because you can win the hearts of many friends with your mathematical skills.”
However, the surprising thing is that Shakuntala at one stage sat in opposition to Indira Gandhi. He ran as an independent candidate in the 1970 Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai South and Medak. Indira Gandhi herself was her rival to Meda. Shakuntala said, “Mrs. Gandhi has been fooling the people of Medak. I want to protect these people from her.”
Sadly, Medak lost that election miserably. He came in ninth with only 1.46 percent (6514) votes.
In her personal life, Shakuntala was married to Paritosh Banerjee, an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer in Kolkata. He returned to India in the mid-sixties for this marriage. The couple has a daughter, Anupama Banerjee. But in 1989 they got divorced due to personal problems.
In addition to being a mental calculator, Shakuntala was also a renowned astrologer. He also wrote several books. Among them were cookbooks or novels, as well as essay books. One of his most talked about books is The World of Homosexuals. It is the first book on homosexuality in India for which he has faced a lot of criticism.
Shakuntala later claimed in a documentary titled ‘For Straits Only’ that the main reason for her interest in the subject was her ex-husband’s homosexuality. That is why he has a desire to understand homosexuality more deeply.
In April 2013, Shakuntala was admitted to a hospital in Bangalore due to respiratory problems. It was later revealed that he also has kidney complications and heart disease. He died at the same hospital on April 21, at the age of 63.
Shakuntala Devi’s biopic ‘Shakuntala Devi’ was released on Amazon Prime Video on July 31, 2020, starring National Film Award winning actress Vidya Balan in the title role. Directed by Anu Menon, the film also stars Yeshu Sengupta, Sania Malhotra and Amit Sadh.
In this film, Shakuntala’s issues ranging from being a mathematical magician to a world-famous figure have been covered in detail, but the issues of his book controversy or election failure have been omitted after a few mentions. On the contrary, the tension in his daughter Anupama’s relationship with Shakuntala is more important in this film.
Shakuntala’s younger sister died without treatment as a child. No attempt was made to treat her, as she was a burden to the family. Besides, Shakuntala’s father did not send him to school but only showed him around, using him like a golden egg-laying duck. In those days, her mother was silent even after seeing everything, not saying anything on her husband’s face. As a result, Shakuntala was very angry with his mother, which over time turned into hatred.
Shakuntala wanted to live as an independent and self-reliant woman, and never become like her mother. But at one point it is seen that his own daughter is hating Shakuntala in the same way as Shakuntala once hated her mother. Even the incident went so far that Shakuntala’s daughter Anupama filed a criminal case in the court in the name of her mother, which led to the fear of Shakuntala going to jail.
The mother-daughter relationship is so bitterly affected by any event, and what exactly is Shakuntala’s role there? If you want to know about the answer then you should watch the movie.
Credit : Jannatul Naym Pieal
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