Ishwar Karthik (centre) with Dr Ken MacLeod (fourth right),  Charles Cron (third left), Karthik Ramaiah (second right), Essam Ghosheh (right), regional sales manager of event sponsor Texas Instruments and staff members of the Mathematics Department at CNA-

Ishwar Kalyan Karthik is just 10, but he finds talking about advanced mathematical concepts “easy peasy”. So, it was quite apt that he gave a speech on “The Beauty of Pi” during the recent third annual Pi Day Celebration at College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q).

The event was organised by the Mathematics Department of CNA-Q in a bid to raise awareness about the beauty and application of mathematics in people’s lives. Ishwar, fascinated with numbers and their applications in life, is a Year 5 student at Doha College.

Detailing the different aspects of Pi, which he said was the second-most important number after ‘c,’ the speed of light, the aspiring mathematician and scientist showed the different ways to appreciate it. The boy’s witty and interactive presentation elicited spontaneous appreciation and applause from the audience. He also won the first prize in the Pi Day Memorisation Contest, held as part of the event.

Ishwar was the only child to participate in the contest in which all the others were college students. Ishwar, with a Math IQ of 160, has earned High Honours in the Centre for Talented Youth Talent Search from Johns Hopkins University, US.

When he is not spending time with numbers, Ishwar pursues his passion for science and astronomy.

One of the most anticipated events of the day was the Pi Recitation Contest, wherein students competed to determine the one who could recite the most digits of Pi.

Dr Ken Macleod, president of CNA-Q, said: “The highlight of the day, and a confirmation of young Ishwar’s stardom, was his presentation titled ‘The Beauty of Pi’. All those in attendance were awed by the mathematical knowledge, fervent passion regarding mathematics and the engaging presentation style of Ishwar, made even more remarkable by the knowledge of how young he was.”

Scott Walsh from the Mathematics Department at CNA-Q recalled that he received a request from the parents of a
10-year-old boy who heard about the contest through social media and indicated that their son, Ishwar Karthik, was interested in participating.

“It was an excellent opportunity to encourage outreach into our community and so we welcomed him along,” said Walsh, who declared that “Never before during my years of mathematical education had I witnessed someone so young exhibit such natural talent. The college student body and staff applauded his engaging performance after riddling off 121 digits of Pi in less than 30 seconds.”

Christine Walker, vice-principal, head of Primary at Doha College, described Ishwar as an “extremely able mathematician with a great thirst for both mathematical and scientific knowledge”.

Charles Cron, consultant (mathematics) with the Supreme Education Council (SEC), said Ishwar “was well prepared with a flip chart for each aspect of his talk showing us some interesting aspects about many mathematicians and their studies.”

Ishwar’s parents are from India and residents of Doha since 2003. His father, Karthik Ramaiah, is the general manager of Petrofac Qatar and Techknowledgie Solutions, while his mother, Sumathi, is a homemaker. Ishwar’s seven-year-old brother, Aditya Kalyan, is a Year 2 student at DPS-Modern Indian School.

“We are quite pleased with the high quality of education provided by Doha College for Ishwar. We seek the support of the SEC and other educational institutions in Qatar to come up with gifted education programmes, which will help create the right learning opportunities and tap the full potential of such children,” said Karthik.

Sumathi said Ishwar has always been a precocious child who could recite his multiplication tables before the age of four and do double-digit mental arithmetic before starting school.