Aaryan Shukla, a young math prodigy from Maharashtra, stunned the world by setting six Guinness World Records in a single day at the age of just 14, as stated in a report by Hindustan Times.
Last year, the youngster made headlines by setting the record for being the fastest to mentally add 50 five-digit numbers in front of a live audience. What made this feat even more astonishing was that he completed it in just 25.19 seconds — averaging nearly one addition every half a second.
Recognising his extraordinary talent, Guinness World Records invited Aaryan to Dubai, where he was challenged to attempt some of the most difficult mental calculations ever recorded.
Rising to the occasion, he broke six records in one day: the shortest time to mentally add 100 four-digit numbers, add 200 four-digit numbers, add 50 five-digit numbers, divide a 20-digit number by a 10-digit number, multiply 10 sets of two five-digit numbers, and multiply 10 sets of two eight-digit numbers.
Guinness World Records also spoke to Aaryan and his family about his intense training regimen. “Daily practice is one of the important aspects to prepare for competitions, […] so I practice for about five to six hours daily,” he shared.
A maths prodigy
Aaryan described the rapid mental processes that enable him to perform such complex calculations. “A lot of things in mental calculations happen in a flash of a second, so I cannot say what happens inside my head, […] I just do it naturally. Basically, it’s so fast that you can’t think, you just need to do the calculations,” he said, crediting yoga for helping him maintain focus and composure.
His mother recalled how his fascination with numbers was evident from an early age. “He enjoyed studying and playing with numbers. At the age of six, he started practising mental calculation, and he was very good at it, so we started doing some research on it. At the age of eight, we went to an international competition, and he won medals and trophies, which were great achievements,” she shared.
