Meet teen ‘Human Calculator’ who broke six world records, reveals how he aces the toughest competitions

Teens are making India proud and in varied fields- sports and education. They are being best in what they are doing. Now these teens have made their mark by being named in Guinness World Record (GWR). One of them is Aaryan Shukla who is a 14-year-old ‘Human Calculator.’ 

Who is Aaryan Shukla? 

Aaryan Shukla is a 14-year-old is a math genius who hails from Maharashtra. He left a big audience speechless by setting the record for the fastest time to mentally add 50 five-digit numbers on the set of GWR’s Italian TV series Lo Show Dei Record. 

Shukla’s calculation took a mere 25.19 seconds, that means it took him 0.5 seconds to calculate one addition! This approximation earned him the title of ‘Human Calculator’. 

Calculation at this rate is not possible for billions of people on earth, infact, this is as good as a calculator which is why he has been given this name. Aaryan Shukla did not use any electronic device nor a pen and paper. The young mathematician goes beyond what is simply a math lover and maybe he is a math passionate lover.  

Competing the toughest 

The GWR invited him to Dubai to take on the world’s toughest mental calculation records. These are his records: 

Fastest time to mentally add 100 four-digit numbers - 30.9 sec 

Fastest time to mentally add 200 four-digit numbers - 1 min 9.68 sec 

Fastest time to mentally add 50 five-digit numbers - 18.71 sec 

Fastest time to mentally divide a 20-digit number by a ten-digit number (set of ten) - 5 min 42 sec 

Fastest time to mentally multiply two five-digit numbers (set of ten) - 51.69 sec 

Fastest time to mentally multiply two eight-digit numbers (set of ten) - 2 min 35.41 sec 

How was Aaryan Shukla able to achieve these? 

Since he completed this record, he has been practising, competing and pushing his limits every day. Talking to GWR, Aaryan explained his daily routine. “Daily practice is one of the important aspects to prepare for competitions, […] so I practise for about five or six hours daily.” 

As a teenage mental math whiz, Aaryan performs incredibly complex calculations at incredible speeds. Despite his busy schedule of daily practice and schoolwork, he emphasizes the importance of relaxation to maintain a healthy balance in life. 

“Sahaja Yoga meditation helps me to keep calm and focused,” he said.  

Aaryan also enjoys reading books, specifically adventure and mystery genres, playing video games and cricket. Aaryan’s parents knew his talents at a very early stage. His mother said, “Since childhood, he was very good […] with numbers. He enjoyed studying and playing with numbers. At the age of six he started the practice of mental calculation, and he was very good, so we started doing some research on this.  

“ […] At the age of eight we went for an international competition and he won medals and trophies, which were great achievements.” 

Aaryan is even one of the founding board members of the Global Mental Calculators Association (GMCA).