A peek into Shakuntala Devi's life before the film's release
Vidya Balan is all set to play the role of 'Human Computer' Shakuntala Devi in her upcoming film, which is set to release on July 31 on Amazon Prime Video.
Shakuntala Devi earned the moniker 'Human Computer' for her impressive ability to remember and count numbers in record time, a talent that earned her a place in The Guinness Book of World Records in 1982.
As we await the release of the film, let us take a look at some interesting facts about the talented woman.
No Formal Education
Born on November 4, 1939, Shakuntala Devi could not receive any formal education due to financial constraints. In class 1 she was admitted to St. Theresa Convent in Chamarajapet (Bengaluru), but had to leave because her parents could not pay a monthly fee of Rs 2. When she was just six years old, Shakuntala demonstrated her arithmetic abilities at the university Of Mysore.
The Math Genius
In 1977, at Southern Methodist University, Shakuntala Devi gave the 201-point 23rd root in 50 seconds. His answer- 546,372,891-UNIVAC 1101 was confirmed by calculations made by the computer at the Bureau of American Standards, for which a special program had to be written to make such a large calculation.
Shakuntala Devi contested for Lok Sabha election
In 1980, Shakuntala Devi contested the Lok Sabha election from Mumbai-South as an independent candidate. He also stood against the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from Medak. Devi then stated that she wanted to "protect the people of Medak from being fooled by Mrs. Gandhi".
Her Marriage
In 1977, Shakuntala Devi's book, The World of Homo, created quite a stir in India. Homosexuality was discouraged in India in 2018, but it was abolished before then and every attempt was made to silence discussions around it. The book was not put aside, but it was not allowed to reach more people and take it to center stage.
The inspiration to pen the book came from a private place. Shakuntala Devi married Paritosh Banerjee, a Kolkata-based IAS officer in 1960. However, the relationship broke up when Banner was revealed to be gay. This inspired Shakuntala Devi to free herself from society's ignorance and prejudice towards homosexuals.
In his book, he challenges the flawed notion that homosexuality is immoral. He said that those who disrespect, discriminate and make fun of people on the basis of their sexual preferences should see within themselves.
Tags:- Shakuntala Devi , Her marriage, Job Se Paisa
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