What makes math wizard Anand Kumar’s life less ordinary?
He is your average common man. More common than the men who are flaunting caps emblazoned with aam aadmi logos and are hogging the news headlines. Yet, Anand Kumar is a newsmaker in his own right. As recently as at the time of filing this story in February end, Kumar was making headlines of a different kind. He is to feature in a book on education being published in Poland by Polish journalist Jonna Irzabek. Irzabek has called Anand an international figure and Super 30 “something that is globally known”. Earlier, Kumar featured in a Japanese book, Indo No Shougeki, that had a chapter exclusively on his struggles and the success of his Super 30 initiative. Kumar has been covered by media in the US, UK, Canada, Dubai, Taiwan, Oman, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Philippines, and his fame continues to reach wider shores.
When I meet Kumar, his utter humility throws me. Acclaimed mathematician and Founder Ramanujan School of Mathematics and world renowned Super 30, the unique programme that has made the hallowed gates of IITs open up for 30 super talented economically backward students every year, has no time to sit on ceremony. There is more of Shastri than Gandhi or Nehru in this son of the soil. Soft spoken, courteous and humble, Kumar says “I was like any other child,” dashing all my hopes of finding a sensational modern day wunderkind Abhimanyu.
His tale is also the ordinary middle class story of struggle and sacrifice. “My parents loved me and wanted me to do well in life.” The discovery of his mathematical genius happened along the way. “It first came to fore, when I was in class 9 and gradually grew,” informs Kumar. Kumar though was good in mathematics since childhood and tended to spend more time with the subject. India’s original mathematical giant, Srinivasa Ramanujan too, had demonstrated unusual mathematical skills at school. Incidentally, Kumar named his school after the original whiz.
Kumar’s life was in a way shaped by his father who was a major influence. “When I entered college, my father was impressed with my interest in mathematics and wanted me to pursue higher education in Cambridge, Harvard or other acclaimed institutions.” Kumar applied accordingly and received a call from Cambridge University. But it was not to be. His father, Rajendra Prasad, an employee in the Department of Posts, passed away leaving his family in penury. All the plans also came crashing down.
The struggle for sustenance that ensued would have put paid to the dreams of an ordinary man. But Kumar was made of uncommon grit and passion. His merits too are unique. He set about helping his mother to fund the family kitty. “I had to sell small edible items prepared by my mother door-to-door.” Sometime later, he started giving private tuition to students for a small fee. “Some of the students from poor families were provided free tuition, as they were unable to afford even the nominal amount,” he says, revealing the philanthropic bent of mind that was to infuse his endeavours later. Through all these struggling years he remained undeterred in his pursuit of mathematics. “But still, I continued my studies.”
Did he never think of studying another subject? Mathematics is the bane of a large population of students. It was a wonder to find someone so fond of number crunching. “Never”, says the teacher whose aptitude for the subject is legendary. I was startled to learn then that Kumar is just a graduate in mathematics. “As I got into teaching quite early, I did not study after my graduation. I could not find time,” he says simply.
Remarkably, the mathematician is feted across the world and regularly writes for foreign journals. Unlike ordinary mortals he does not begrudge anyone for his destiny. There is no trace of bitterness or regret when he says, “For me teaching started quite early due to family hardship. Initially, it was a source of sustenance and later I began enjoying it. Once Super 30 took shape, it became a full time involvement. I realised it was close to my heart. After that, there was no desire to look beyond.” Teaching is a notoriously low paid job. But Kumar has no love for the tinsel. “Money does not attract me too much. I do earn enough for a decent living.”
It is this selfless giving culture of a gurukul that made Super 30 a model of success. Kumar who never dreamt a future beyond being a mathematician is today the architect of many an impoverished student’s engineering dream. The shades of the guru were visible in the graduate student of mathematics at B N College, Patna. He started Ramanujan School of Mathematics as a college club in 1992 and also a free training programme in mathematics. Kumar’s genius was meanwhile being noticed by his teachers, chiefly Devi Prasad Varma, Md Shahabuddin and BG Prasad, whom he calls major influences in his life. They helped him in these early projects and satisfied his thirst for query.
The child who was very fond of mechanical toys and often dismantled some transistors bought from the local mechanic’s store, in 1994 set about systematically putting together the building blocks to a different model of Ramanujan School of Mathematics. This school would train small groups of talented students for nominal fees and the most economically backward for free for competitive exams. The foundation of the school was laid over the bricks of his own shattered Cambridge dream.
The vision for Super 30 is also as simple yet far reaching as its founder. “It is to bring smiles to the faces of as many people from underprivileged section as it can by empowering them in the real sense. Its mission is to bring them to the mainstream deservedly and once they reach there, generations change,” says Kumar. In the age of mass commercial coaching, it is strange to find a teacher spouting gospels of no winning formulas or shortcuts. “There is no formula. The only thing is that I select talented students from underprivileged families through a screening test. Poor students don’t lack in talent; they lack opportunities. At Super 30, it is like an extended family, where students don’t have to care about anything except studies and they get round-the-clock mentoring.” His confidence is infectious.
Super 30 had come about later in 2003 when Kumar called upon his brother Pranav, a gifted violinist, to strengthen his hands and start the super innovative programme, a still more evolved version of Ramanujan school. The two brothers got deeply involved in the project that was to shake the nation. It helped that the family was supportive. While their mother Jayanti Devi provided home cooked food for the resident students, Kumar took extra tuitions to arrange for funds and Pranav took over the reins of management.
A decade on, the structure remains intact. “It has an informal structure. It runs from my home. The funding comes from my efforts. This is the source of my livelihood as well as a source of sustenance for Super 30.” The only difference is the expanded family of the Kumars—Kumar’s wife and son and Pranav’s wife and daughter who have to live off the same source. It is a full time involvement for the Kumar family, but he is fulfilled. “The students live like my family members.” With so many mouths to feed one would expect him to look for help or at least accept it when offered. But by now I knew Kumar’s answer before he articulated it. “Yes, many people have offered help, but I don’t take funds from any private or government agency.”
Kumar is a man much in demand, travelling all over the country and abroad giving talks at one institution or the other. Yet, he has no thoughts of replicating Super 30 and going commercial. “I don’t do it for profit. It is a novel initiative.” Some state governments have requested him to start Super 30, admits Kumar, “Perhaps a variant of the model may work. Let’s see how it shapes up,” he shrugs. The spirit is anything but commercial or selfish.
When Tokyo University professors had come calling, they wanted the students to pursue careers there. “They will also provide financial help to them,” informs Kumar. But for now, they are content pursuing the IIT dream. “So far, close to 300 students have reached IIT,” Kumar shares, whose simple reason for this labour is “because I like doing it.”
In Kumar I see Everyman, an unashamedly common man who only courts good deeds.