The Lucky Number

The International Mathematical Olympiad is a world championship mathematics competition for high school students that aims at testing innate problem solving skills and identifying talent at a young age. The championship is held in a different country every year,and what began in 1959 in Romania with seven countries,has now expanded to over 100 countries from five continents.

VV Acharya,the Maharashtra and Goa region co-ordinator for the Regional Mathematics Olympiad (RMO),explained that the procedure for selection involves a Regional Olympiad that takes place all over the country on the first Sunday of December. “From each region,qualifiers in the RMO appear for the Indian National Mathematics Olympiad,and those who qualify,get to attend a month-long IMO training camp where,after further selection tests,the top six students are identified who will represent the country,” he says.

When asked about the journey so far, Dhariwal said,“I secured a gold medal in the International Astronomy Olympiad junior category when I was in standard VIII and that was when I got to know about the Maths Olympiad and decided to attempt that. Ninth standard was when I got selected for the camp but couldn’t make it to the team. I’ve been trying ever since and now have finally cracked it.”

At last year’s Olympiad,he even secured an honourable mention,which is the recognition after the bronze medal,a commendable feat. When asked about any coaching that was undertaken,he said,“Since the questions asked at the Olympiad are vastly different from that of our syllabus,we took guidance from M Prakash sir of Prakash Academy,who trains students for IIT JEE Maths.”

Thatte’s inspiration to take this up comes from her love for the subject. Her sister,who had represented India in the 2005 edition of IMO and secured the gold medal,was another reason. She too began preparations since she was in standard IX and cleared the National-level Olympiad that time. “I received a lot of training and guidance from the teachers atBhaskaracharya Pratishthan and Prakash Academy and last year I was able to win the bronze medal at IMO. I’m very happy to be in the National Team this year.”