Children and women learn abacus at Ashiana Garden. Picture by Srinivas

Jamshedpur, Jan. 20: Dipika Gutgutia, mother of seven-year-old Pranav, is working hard at gaining an expertise in mathematics by training herself in abacus.

She believes her initiative will give her an edge in guiding her son in fast calculations.

Not only Dipika but several like her has joined the abacus classes at Ashiana Gardens at Sonari to learn the advanced method of calculation apart from honing their mathematical skills.

Learning nuances of fast calculation, which till date was confined to children aged six to 14, is now steadily gaining popularity among women.

The fad became more apparpent during the workshop inaugurated at Sonari on Saturday. About 60 women were present in the batch of 100 people at the International Concept of Mental Arithmetic System (ICMAS).

Abacus has evolved from China and Japan. The standard Abacus has 23 rods, each with five beads — the bars are placed one above the other. Experts believe that abacus training helps in improving memory, concentration, observation, imagination, enhanced analytical thinking and a greater grip on solving mathematical problems.

Some women have joined abacus classes to improve their mathematical skills in everyday affairs, some to teach their children. For some, it was to overcome the fear of mathematics and while for others, it was a move to build their career further.

“We do not want to be great mathematicians but we cannot ignore the value of mathematical calculations. Be it maintaining the budget of the house, or shopping to teaching children, mathematics is required in almost every field. I am very impressed with the training,” said a lady in her forties.

Anjula Mohanka, principal of the ICMAS said she never expected women to join abacus classes along with children. “I never thought that women would also enroll themselves for these classes. We are getting good response from the city,” said Mohanka.

ICMAS offers class once a week for two hours at Sonari.