Mathematics and Urdu Intersections Decoded

what is common

between khalib and the theory of

infinite sets

yo have a look at this

this is just me writing that my name is

arjun

but how did i get here well

let me introduce you to something that i

believe is one of the most significant

parts

of my life right now the nastali script

which is the calligraphic font of the

urdu language

now how did i reach here why nastali

let me take you back to june 2018.

dazzling lights elaborate costumes

elaborate sets my family and i were

waiting in the auditorium

waiting for mukhlayasam to begin and no

not the mugly azam which you reminisce

about being in black and white

but the one which was recently adapted

as a musical

at ncpa in mumbai wow

certain stories stick with people either

for the plot or the message

this was one of those stories except it

stuck with me for a very peculiar reason

the language now being an

unusually great bollywood lover

urdu dialogues were never too unknown

for me

but this was the first time i was

watching something

which was fully scripted in urdu and

that

set the train running and i started

thinking of every single indication

that was telling me to learn urdu well

so why urdu and why would a teenager

just get up one day

and decide to learn the art of reading

and writing it

let me tell you urdu is actually all

around us

at least in mumbai yes it is every

single day as i went to school on my

school bus

and as the bus pass by my locality i saw

that there were urdu signboards

everywhere

on top of restaurants shops banners

billboards and all along there was only

one question that plagued me

what does it feel like to be in your own

country

in your own city and not be able to read

the language on these birds

every single time i picked up a piece of

hindi literature

i realized that the sporadic urdu

vocabulary

actually gave me an outlet to imagine to

grow

for my love to grow now

it had been a long time since i had

learnt a language

since english hindi and marathi are

native to me

you must be wondering what this nastaliq

is that i keep talking about

it is the same script which if i show to

my friends today

they would say oh the one that looks

like arabic and they are not wrong

nastali is the peugeot arabic form of

writing urdu

and persian or farsi it is the same

script which was used in the courts of

mughal emperors

the ones we studied in history now

let me tell you three things there are

three reasons why i fell in love with

nasa

and why you should do first

where do you find a language with such

magnificent

strokes second

where do you find a script which goes

from right to left

when the whole world is accustomed to

the left to right way of reading and

writing

and third my personal favorite where do

you find a language which has

etiquette decency respect embedded in it

as a native would say so that actually

set the ball running

and i started thinking of math learning

and language learning as a concept

going one step behind let me talk about

the concept of multilingualism

something which has always intrigued me

basically i kept thinking about how the

brain

can quickly switch between different

languages

between math and a language how these

neural connections actually adapt to the

varying syntax

vocabulary punctuation grammar

and that’s when i realized like the mad

scientist in a movie

what better subject to experiment on

than yourself

and therefore i have five observations

for you

these five observations have broadened

my perspective and hopefully will do the

same for you

coming to number one let me start with

my journey learning nastali

obviously the first challenge was

getting used to the right to left way of

reading and writing it

at first it seemed uneasy the space felt

limited

everything seemed like it was upside

down

and that’s when i realized oh god my

brain is

really challenging me right from the

outset

and then i realized isn’t this like

something else we do in math

working backwards reverse engineering

that’s right reverse engineering a

technique which we use in math so often

think about that inverse function which

you had to find

or that geometry mcq which you had to

solve

working backwards is everywhere well

as recent as the induction inequality

which i had to prove in my test

was something i worked out backwards so

isn’t

math learning somehow connected to urdu

learning

or any language learning well

time for number two since we’re anyway

on this topic

let me tell you about urdu letters and

the urdu alphabet as used in nastali

urdhu words are written as one

continuous stroke

where the writer does not have to lift

his hand

unlike other languages there are no

spaces between letters

hence isn’t this very interesting

add a pinch of complexity to this and

then you get a script

where each letter looks different

whether it’s placed in the start

in the middle or at the end of a word

quite complex yet interesting for me

another interesting aspect actually is

the pronunciation

you must be knowing that these urdu

pronunciations are quite popular and

even daunting for

for hindi speakers considering they have

arabic roots

now it would not be uncommon for someone

to walk into my room

at two am in the morning and hear me

enunciating my

ho go and go i mean

quite an experience this is primarily

due to

the guttural articulation or from the

epiglottis as you see

since we’re already on this topic let me

pose one more fun fact in front of you

in the nostalic script there are four

different

letters all making the z sound

three different letters all making the

sound

and two different letters making the

third sound

so in such a scenario how does one know

which one to use where

how to spell a word the answer is there

is no way

it’s all about getting used to the

patterns and knowing which letter comes

where in a word

do you see a link yet yes math for me

is a language of patterns and i for math

patterns

is needed just like an eye for nostalgic

patterns is needed

think of the first conjecture which was

formed think of maybe an olympiad

problem which you had to generalize

think about that progression which you

thought oh this looks like an arithmetic

progression to me

it’s all about patterns and patterns

actually link

my love for math learning and language

learning

well it’s time for number three

since we’re already on the topic of

alphabets and letters

year this out the nastaliq form of

writing urdu

conveniently omits the short vowels and

considers them implied for readers

heavy statement i know let me break this

down with an english analogy

suppose you were writing the word

biscuit

if you were writing in nastali you would

write

b s c t and leave it for your readers to

interpret

whether it’s basket or booskit or buskut

or buscat anything this has happened to

me

whenever i read urdu nastaliq i have to

quickly put in an

o e or u and check which one makes sense

as long as i sound like say

a normal human being and not an alien

invading the earth

then oh good i have a right word and

this brings me to trial and error

a very important concept and technique

in mathematics

it’s all about trial and error right

think about that number theory question

in which you have that last co prime

integer pair

or think about that diophantine equation

which you had to solve in an mcq

it’s all about trial and error if it

fits well

then you’re at it great if it doesn’t

you need to try different combinations

math learning urdu learning you see what

i’m getting at

right now time for number four

let me talk about the construct of

grammar

hindi urdu grammar is so popular

worldwide

it’s world renowned grammarians call it

to be

complicated refined elegant why

because there are so many verbs in hindi

and urdu which have connotative meaning

you have to string together these

conjunctions prepositions

nouns verbs and it’s all in the brain

i would like to give you an example in

the tenth grade my hindi teacher used to

tell me

suppose x is a synonym for y that does

not mean that a sentence with

x would also work with y quite baffling

but that’s hindi and urdu grammar in a

nutshell

what is this like is it something like

we’ve encountered in mathematics

that’s right the art of proof writing

writing proofs for me is like grammar

you need to figure out how these numbers

symbols all come together in an elegant

structure

once you have that you have a good proof

therefore i always say that for someone

to be good at writing proofs

you need to have that grammatical

prowess

you need to know how to fit in your

corollaries lemmas

theorems propositions to make an elegant

proof

hence math learning is again like

language learning

now that was a lot of information but

behold number five

i will now come to the literature aspect

of urdu

urdu literature is world renowned as we

all know

the razzles the poems the short stories

everyone knows them take ghalib for

example

the revolutionary urdu writer now

i just pick up one gazelle from him

one share one couplet and you will see

that there’s so much ambiguity and so

much abstractness in it

the depth of that is capable of drowning

a hundred humans

therefore when i read a hazel i’m always

thinking

um okay is this a cry for help

is this an expression of love is this an

expression of jealousy

is it a call to my beloved and all of

them will make sense at the same time

hence what i am saying is that this

ambiguity

this abstractness is also seen in the

world of

pure math think of that abelian group

a ring a field everything in pure math

can toss set theory even understanding

infinite sets

it’s all about embracing the ambiguity

embracing the enigma

and then realizing the abstract nature

of it

therefore i always say that math

learning is like urdu learning even in

this aspect

and i hope that question which i asked

you in the beginning

what connects ghalib and the theory of

infinite sets

that has been answered till now but

coming to the main point

what do i want to drive through this

talk what do i want to tell you about

when research in neuroplasticity is so

trending

it is seen that the neural connections

which are involved in learning language

learning syntax grammar vocabulary is

similar

to the neural connection which is

involved in learning mathematics

just as you code switch between english

to hindi to marathi

in the same way you code switch to

english and mathematics as well

because english and mathematics are both

languages to me

languages of patterns just like urdu and

nastalica’s

so what has this done for me urdu

learning

learning nastali has actually opened up

so much for me

it has opened up new literature for me

past

mysteries the rich cultural heritage it

has shown me all that

math learning has shown me a whole new

world of numbers

i look at the world differently today

therefore

when i learn both simultaneously i

realize

that urdu learning was just like math

learning for me

so what is in it for you

we have often segregated the stem fields

and the linguistic fields

but what about the magic that lies in

between

what about the wonders that float

between stem learning and language

learning

i consider it to be a symbiotic

relationship

one is incomplete without the other and

i think it’s high time you should too

think of language learning it’s just

like you’re learning a math topic

or think of math learning it’s just like

a learning nastali

so the point that i am trying to drive

here again is that

if you feel you want to learn a language

go ahead

don’t think about it the opportunities

are there your resources are out there

all you need to do is make a decision

hesitance that is good being reluctant

that is good if you have any sort of

hesitation it only means

that you will be able to appreciate the

wonders at the end of it

better therefore don’t be scared

today go sign up today learn a new

language

learn a new math topic it’s all i want

to tell you

when you start learning the languages

you will realize that you will

understand numbers better

when you start learning mathematics you

will realize

that not only have you opened up a new

avenue for language learning

but you’ve also opened up a treasure

trove of rich

literature therefore i always tell you

that once you learn a language once you

learn mathematics

just like learning nastaliq for me was

i was anyway passionate about

mathematics but when i learned nastali

i realized that the streets which i

travel weren’t the same anymore

you will also realize that the streets

which you traverse every day

will not be the same for you the lengths

with which you view the world

is not going to be the same i can assure

you of the fact that the world is going

to turn

and make a full 360 degree turn for you

every single aspect of life is going to

be different

and the day won’t be long when ralib in

your imagination

explains the schroder-bernstein theorem

and a euclidean algorithm flows like the

lines of a ghazal

every step of the way thank you