The reality of real numbers

RS Dalal

I was summoned by my elder daughter to Panchkula from Gurugram to take care of her two daughters studying in classes IV and V during the first two weeks of their summer vacation. She had made plans to be with her husband, who was posted away on deputation.

‘Why don’t you take them along?’ I argued as I was in no mood to upset my early-morning golf schedule. ‘Oh no! They have so much homework to do and there are tuition classes as well,’ she shot back. ‘And please, don’t give in to their demands for junk food. Rather, remove their doubts in mathematics,’ she said, giving me a terse order. I could sense the effect of working in the high court on her, as I wasn’t pleased with the matter-of-fact directive. And she left the very day I reached Panchkula.

‘Nana, you help us finish mathematics homework first,’ the girls said impatiently. ‘Let me first find out where I can play golf,’ I replied in a bid to shrug them off. ‘No, mama told us not to let you play golf,’ both said. I stood with my eyes wide open. I couldn’t believe that my daughter had done this to me.

‘Okay! Let me first take a test. Let me check what you know about real numbers, integers and prime numbers,’ I said with authority, though I was clueless about the whole thing. ‘You are the one who has to explain the concepts of mathematics to us, nana,’ the girls insisted as I pulled a long face.

But then, in a flash, I remembered Master HS Bedi, who was the mathematics teacher at my school in Ludhiana. After retirement, I have been in touch with him on the phone. He is 90 but still going strong. He was hero-worshipped by students. Wearing a crisp-white kurta-pyjama and holding a piece of chalk, he made an iconic figure in the school. He continues to be revered and loved.

‘Come on! Before we start with mathematics, you must get blessings from my guru,’ I said, trying to shake off my embarrassment. I made a video call to him. There he was on the screen. ‘Masterji, here are my granddaughters. I have to teach them mathematics. Kindly bless them to be better than me in this subject,’ I said. The girls were stumped by my promptness as I coaxed them to greet him.

‘Do you remember the difference between natural numbers, whole numbers and prime numbers?’ he quizzed me. ‘Sirji, that’s the problem we are grappling with,’ I said in a meek tone.

‘First, I have to brush up your knowledge of the fundamentals of mathematics. By the way, when can you come to Ludhiana?’ he asked. My granddaughters, seeing and hearing all this on the video call, burst into a laughing fit at my predicament and ran away to their room.

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