Guinness World Records awards Shakuntala Devi with certificate for ‘fastest human computation’ four decades later

On Thursday, a day before the release of Shakuntala Devi: The Human Computer, the Guinness World Records honoured Indian Mathematical genius Shakuntala Devi with the long overdue title for ‘fastest human computation’. The official certification  comes four decades after Shakuntala Devi achieved the feat. 

The feat was achieved by Shakuntala Devi on June 18, 1980 when she successfully multiplied two randomly selected 13 digit numbers in 28 seconds at the Imperial College in London. The certification was received by Shakuntala Devi’s daughter Anupama Banerji. 

"It is an overwhelming moment for me to be able to receive this honor on my mother’s behalf. To be conferred with the certificate of ‘Fastest human computation’ is an exciting feat that only my mother was capable of,” said Anupama Banerji. She further expressed, "I am glad that I had the opportunity to provide significant inputs while developing the biopic, Shakuntala Devi, to ensure that people get to know my mother the way she was in real life – full of life and truly amazing. Her mad love and passion for maths is well-known, she always wanted to take this a level ahead. This is exactly the kind of recognition that would have made her extremely happy and thoroughly proud of her mathematical abilities which far surpassed anyone else’s."

"While shooting for Shakuntala Devi in London, we would meet Anupama Banerji often. In my conversations with her, I realised that the late Shakuntala Devi, didn’t have an official certification from Guinness World Records - it wasn’t the norm then. Vikram Malhotra and I were therefore very keen to make this happen and along with the Amazon Team, we reached out to the Guinness World Records team who provided us with every support. I am thrilled that Anupama will now have the certificate to cherish forever. This is my tribute to the legend,” said actor Vidya Balan on essaying the role of Shakuntala Devi in her biopic.

She added, "I am glad to be part of this interesting journey and being able to witness such a ‘1 in a 100 years’ woman who wore multiple hats being felicitated for her exemplary work. To be able to portray someone who continues to inspire us is truly an honour for me."

Meanwhile, Sanya Malhotra will be seen playing the role of Anupama Banerji. The film directed by Anu Menon also stars Jisshu Sengupta and Amit Sadh and will be released worldwide on Amazon Prime Videos on July 31. 

ALSO READ: Did you know that Shakuntala Devi pointed out a mistake made by a computer during her BBC London interview and got the name ‘Human computer’?