A lot of students in our country will admit to the fact that they face a lot of difficulties in understanding mathematics. Most students fear numbers; calculus and equations give nightmares to most students.

Ever wondered how pop culture can help in overcoming this fear of mathematics? Anand Kumar, the founder of Super 30, has some great ideas regarding that.

Most people might not know about it, but every year, December 22 is celebrated as National Mathematics Day. December 22 is the birth anniversary of globally celebrated mathematician S. Ramanujan. Ramanujan is considered to the greatest Indian mathematician, whose work has been used as a reference in many prestigious organizations all around the world.

A Hollywood movie called ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’ was also made in the year 2015, depicting the life and journey of S. Ramanujan how he became the greatest mathematician in Indian history. The movie was directed by Matthew Brown and actor Dev Patel played the role of S. Ramanujan,

Anand Kumar, who himself is a very popular teacher spoke on the occasion of National Mathematics Day that how with some efforts from the side of teachers, math phobia can be cured. He said that teachers need to use creative methods to present maths as a fun and enjoyable subject.

He also emphasised on having math quiz shows and other interesting activities to increase the interest of students in the subject. He said if teachers would use virtual tools and organize competitions and quizzes at regular intervals, they can make the subject interesting for students.

He also gave an example of the education system in other countries where they use such creative ways of teaching. He mentioned about countries like Russia where students have ‘mathematics circle’, that helps students to learn mathematics in a group.

Anand has been teaching mathematics to underprivileged students since the year 1992. He also appeared on the famous television show Kaun Banega Crorepati where he told his story about how he has helped underprivileged children achieve their dreams of making it into IITs and NITs.

Recently released Hindi movie, Super 30 was based on his life where Hrithik Roshan played the role of the protagonist. The movie was directed by Vikas Bahl.

He also informed that he aims to launch a free channel that will have fun-filled ways to learn and understand mathematics on YouTube by National Mathematics Day 2020.