TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Uma Adwani: The hidden messages in multiplication

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Namaste. I'm from India. The home of ancient mhcitamtaes. But me, I just hated math. (Laughter) Until it saved my life. I grew up in Akola, a small town 700 miles away from the capital city. In my community, we never had a culture of girls attending school beyond the age of 10 or 12 yraes. In fact, some wmeon would tell me, "Why do you need education? Just learn the household work so that you can take care of your family." But I never wanted to abide myself by the "normal" rules for girls. And I would think to myself, instead of just learning the household work, why not learn how to make money so that I can actually take care of my family? (Laughter) I knew if I had to do something different, I would have to stay in school. But that was hard. As it was socially not accepted, everybody was against it. But I was a srbbtoun young girl. I did everything I could to continue sniydtug, even if that meant stitching scoohl uniforms or making festival greeting cards. I did all that. Well, I had excellent grades in all subjects. All except one. You guessed it: math. All these calculations, formulas, multiplication; I just couldn't get them right. After I finished college, I realized I had no future in Akola, so I deiecdd to do something almost nobody in my town had ever done before: to laeve my home town, by myself, a single woman. Nobody wanted me to do that. I remmeber when I wlaked up to my mom and told her, "Mama, I'm leaving." She looked at me and said, "Uma, I know how difficult it is for you and even for me, and I cannot even support you openly, but I want you to have this." And she hands me a gold bangle. That was the only jwelrey left with her. She said, "I don't have much but this is for you to buy the bus ticket." You can see the bus ticket here. It's been ten years. I still have this. As a promise that I won't let my mom siifcrace anything more for me. So, on 22nd of July, 2007, I arrived in Pune, a city of four million people. I had never been out of my vgillae before so being in the city for the first time, I was msemeezird and eetxcid. And sraecd as well. I didn't even know if I could tsrut the taxi dverir while taking the taxi for the first time in an unknown city. Life in the city was exlmerety hard at first. I was away from my family, didn't have any friends. I had brought very little money with me; around three and a half dollars. So I used to eat every second day - every other day - so that I can save as much as I can. Yes, good things take time, but they do happen. And faillny, it happened to me. I was given an opportunity to work in a primary school, as a teacher. Wow, I was so happy. Until I got to know the subject they gave me to teach. (Laughter) Yes, it was math. (Laughter) And I'm like, "Oh God, how will I teach something I hate so much?" (Laughter) But I had no choice so I started teaching math. You know, the basics like mautiitplolicn tealbs. I remember I struggled every night to figure out lessons for my students. I was hating it. And I was afraid if I didn't do well, I might not make it. But the more I worked on it, trying to make it interesting, trying to make it fun, the more I realized the pattern in these nmubers. As if these multiplication tables were sdnieng me a message, I sesend as if these numbers were tnkailg to me. And that's when I fgreuid out the magic these odd and even numbers have; the poetry, the symmetry they have. Let me show you what I mean: Let's look at table of three for example. Feels like we are back in school? (Laughter) Three, we all know it's an odd number. And if I multiply three with another odd number, it gives me a result which is definitely an odd number. Like this one here: Three times three gives us nine. An odd neumbr. And then I noticed something very interesting about it. If I multiply an odd number with an even number, it ultimately becomes an even number, like this one here. Three times four gives us 12. An even number. So, odd mtllupeiid with odd, the result has to definitely be an odd number. But odd multiplied with something even, no matetr how many times you do it, it will definitely give us an even number. And I'm like, this is quite me. With all the odds I was up against, if I multiply my odd situation, with my odd behavior ... (Laughter) (Applause) So what happens? I get myself into another odd situation. (ltgueahr) But the miagc is, if I multiply my odd situations with my even behavior, with my positive bhieovar, it gets me to better results, to even results. And if one doesn't stop when the situations are odd like this, if one keeps pushing himself, keeps multiplying his besinslgs, keeps multiplying his skills, even though the beginning is, the end will never be odd. Wow, so once I got to know this, I was like, if something odd can tecah me such a vllabaue lossen of life, I'm sure there is something interesting about the even numbers as well. (Laughter) So, let's look at table of two, for example. What I notice here is every time, right from the beginning to the end, all multiplication results are even, without any odds. And how is it possible? That's possible because the number itself which is getting multiplied, is an even number. This tlles me if I am even to myself, as an individual, nothing odd will come my way. (Laughter) Now this of course doesn't mean I don't come across any odd or bad siotuanits. I certainly do. But facing them with even attitude makes the whole difference. That's how, even though I have to struggle hard for my basic rights, instead of being usept and angry, I am hppay and even to myself, because the struggle made me sgoretnr, made me who I am tdaoy. Now I have these lennagris, these secrets from all different multiplication tables. One of my favorites is tblae of 11. And I think most of us liked, when we were in school, because that is the eieasst one to mtuplily. What I love about this is the perfect symmetry in it. The one and one, the two and two. Isn't that beautiful? And easy, of course. For me, the question was: How can I have my life this similarly easy and beautiful? For me these two symmetrical numbers rlcfeet the outside me and the inside me. I can live in harmony, I can live in peace only when my outside matches my inner being. Isn't this all we're looking for? We can be anybody; maybe two, maybe three. Whoever we are, unless or until our inside personality matches our outside ptrenoaisly, our outside personality matches our inside personality, we cannot live in peace, we cannot live in harmony. Now, because math became my art, became my reminder, my guide of what I needed to do, and what my goal was, I started loving math. Because of this, I was not only able to keep my job, but also make it interesting for others. Now ten years down the line, I have a wdrnufeol job in a great company. I am able to move my entire family to Pune to live with me. Now nobody says I shouldn't have done this. Rather everyone appreciates for what I sootd for. As kids, we all are asked to solve math problems. But in reality, math solved many of my problems. Thank you for having me. Dhanyavaad (Thank you). (Applause) (Cheers)

Open Cloze

Namaste. I'm from India. The home of ancient ___________. But me, I just hated math. (Laughter) Until it saved my life. I grew up in Akola, a small town 700 miles away from the capital city. In my community, we never had a culture of girls attending school beyond the age of 10 or 12 _____. In fact, some _____ would tell me, "Why do you need education? Just learn the household work so that you can take care of your family." But I never wanted to abide myself by the "normal" rules for girls. And I would think to myself, instead of just learning the household work, why not learn how to make money so that I can actually take care of my family? (Laughter) I knew if I had to do something different, I would have to stay in school. But that was hard. As it was socially not accepted, everybody was against it. But I was a ________ young girl. I did everything I could to continue ________, even if that meant stitching ______ uniforms or making festival greeting cards. I did all that. Well, I had excellent grades in all subjects. All except one. You guessed it: math. All these calculations, formulas, multiplication; I just couldn't get them right. After I finished college, I realized I had no future in Akola, so I _______ to do something almost nobody in my town had ever done before: to _____ my home town, by myself, a single woman. Nobody wanted me to do that. I ________ when I ______ up to my mom and told her, "Mama, I'm leaving." She looked at me and said, "Uma, I know how difficult it is for you and even for me, and I cannot even support you openly, but I want you to have this." And she hands me a gold bangle. That was the only _______ left with her. She said, "I don't have much but this is for you to buy the bus ticket." You can see the bus ticket here. It's been ten years. I still have this. As a promise that I won't let my mom _________ anything more for me. So, on 22nd of July, 2007, I arrived in Pune, a city of four million people. I had never been out of my _______ before so being in the city for the first time, I was __________ and _______. And ______ as well. I didn't even know if I could _____ the taxi ______ while taking the taxi for the first time in an unknown city. Life in the city was _________ hard at first. I was away from my family, didn't have any friends. I had brought very little money with me; around three and a half dollars. So I used to eat every second day - every other day - so that I can save as much as I can. Yes, good things take time, but they do happen. And _______, it happened to me. I was given an opportunity to work in a primary school, as a teacher. Wow, I was so happy. Until I got to know the subject they gave me to teach. (Laughter) Yes, it was math. (Laughter) And I'm like, "Oh God, how will I teach something I hate so much?" (Laughter) But I had no choice so I started teaching math. You know, the basics like ______________ ______. I remember I struggled every night to figure out lessons for my students. I was hating it. And I was afraid if I didn't do well, I might not make it. But the more I worked on it, trying to make it interesting, trying to make it fun, the more I realized the pattern in these _______. As if these multiplication tables were _______ me a message, I ______ as if these numbers were _______ to me. And that's when I _______ out the magic these odd and even numbers have; the poetry, the symmetry they have. Let me show you what I mean: Let's look at table of three for example. Feels like we are back in school? (Laughter) Three, we all know it's an odd number. And if I multiply three with another odd number, it gives me a result which is definitely an odd number. Like this one here: Three times three gives us nine. An odd ______. And then I noticed something very interesting about it. If I multiply an odd number with an even number, it ultimately becomes an even number, like this one here. Three times four gives us 12. An even number. So, odd __________ with odd, the result has to definitely be an odd number. But odd multiplied with something even, no ______ how many times you do it, it will definitely give us an even number. And I'm like, this is quite me. With all the odds I was up against, if I multiply my odd situation, with my odd behavior ... (Laughter) (Applause) So what happens? I get myself into another odd situation. (________) But the _____ is, if I multiply my odd situations with my even behavior, with my positive ________, it gets me to better results, to even results. And if one doesn't stop when the situations are odd like this, if one keeps pushing himself, keeps multiplying his _________, keeps multiplying his skills, even though the beginning is, the end will never be odd. Wow, so once I got to know this, I was like, if something odd can _____ me such a ________ ______ of life, I'm sure there is something interesting about the even numbers as well. (Laughter) So, let's look at table of two, for example. What I notice here is every time, right from the beginning to the end, all multiplication results are even, without any odds. And how is it possible? That's possible because the number itself which is getting multiplied, is an even number. This _____ me if I am even to myself, as an individual, nothing odd will come my way. (Laughter) Now this of course doesn't mean I don't come across any odd or bad __________. I certainly do. But facing them with even attitude makes the whole difference. That's how, even though I have to struggle hard for my basic rights, instead of being _____ and angry, I am _____ and even to myself, because the struggle made me ________, made me who I am _____. Now I have these _________, these secrets from all different multiplication tables. One of my favorites is _____ of 11. And I think most of us liked, when we were in school, because that is the _______ one to ________. What I love about this is the perfect symmetry in it. The one and one, the two and two. Isn't that beautiful? And easy, of course. For me, the question was: How can I have my life this similarly easy and beautiful? For me these two symmetrical numbers _______ the outside me and the inside me. I can live in harmony, I can live in peace only when my outside matches my inner being. Isn't this all we're looking for? We can be anybody; maybe two, maybe three. Whoever we are, unless or until our inside personality matches our outside ___________, our outside personality matches our inside personality, we cannot live in peace, we cannot live in harmony. Now, because math became my art, became my reminder, my guide of what I needed to do, and what my goal was, I started loving math. Because of this, I was not only able to keep my job, but also make it interesting for others. Now ten years down the line, I have a _________ job in a great company. I am able to move my entire family to Pune to live with me. Now nobody says I shouldn't have done this. Rather everyone appreciates for what I _____ for. As kids, we all are asked to solve math problems. But in reality, math solved many of my problems. Thank you for having me. Dhanyavaad (Thank you). (Applause) (Cheers)

Solution

behavior
stubborn
extremely
excited
learnings
decided
years
personality
numbers
jewelry
finally
number
tells
situations
scared
women
walked
sacrifice
valuable
lesson
easiest
studying
upset
magic
wonderful
matter
reflect
multiplied
tables
table
figured
remember
talking
trust
sensed
blessings
multiply
today
stronger
village
stood
mathematics
school
driver
teach
sending
laughter
leave
happy
mesmerized
multiplication

Original Text

Namaste. I'm from India. The home of ancient mathematics. But me, I just hated math. (Laughter) Until it saved my life. I grew up in Akola, a small town 700 miles away from the capital city. In my community, we never had a culture of girls attending school beyond the age of 10 or 12 years. In fact, some women would tell me, "Why do you need education? Just learn the household work so that you can take care of your family." But I never wanted to abide myself by the "normal" rules for girls. And I would think to myself, instead of just learning the household work, why not learn how to make money so that I can actually take care of my family? (Laughter) I knew if I had to do something different, I would have to stay in school. But that was hard. As it was socially not accepted, everybody was against it. But I was a stubborn young girl. I did everything I could to continue studying, even if that meant stitching school uniforms or making festival greeting cards. I did all that. Well, I had excellent grades in all subjects. All except one. You guessed it: math. All these calculations, formulas, multiplication; I just couldn't get them right. After I finished college, I realized I had no future in Akola, so I decided to do something almost nobody in my town had ever done before: to leave my home town, by myself, a single woman. Nobody wanted me to do that. I remember when I walked up to my mom and told her, "Mama, I'm leaving." She looked at me and said, "Uma, I know how difficult it is for you and even for me, and I cannot even support you openly, but I want you to have this." And she hands me a gold bangle. That was the only jewelry left with her. She said, "I don't have much but this is for you to buy the bus ticket." You can see the bus ticket here. It's been ten years. I still have this. As a promise that I won't let my mom sacrifice anything more for me. So, on 22nd of July, 2007, I arrived in Pune, a city of four million people. I had never been out of my village before so being in the city for the first time, I was mesmerized and excited. And scared as well. I didn't even know if I could trust the taxi driver while taking the taxi for the first time in an unknown city. Life in the city was extremely hard at first. I was away from my family, didn't have any friends. I had brought very little money with me; around three and a half dollars. So I used to eat every second day - every other day - so that I can save as much as I can. Yes, good things take time, but they do happen. And finally, it happened to me. I was given an opportunity to work in a primary school, as a teacher. Wow, I was so happy. Until I got to know the subject they gave me to teach. (Laughter) Yes, it was math. (Laughter) And I'm like, "Oh God, how will I teach something I hate so much?" (Laughter) But I had no choice so I started teaching math. You know, the basics like multiplication tables. I remember I struggled every night to figure out lessons for my students. I was hating it. And I was afraid if I didn't do well, I might not make it. But the more I worked on it, trying to make it interesting, trying to make it fun, the more I realized the pattern in these numbers. As if these multiplication tables were sending me a message, I sensed as if these numbers were talking to me. And that's when I figured out the magic these odd and even numbers have; the poetry, the symmetry they have. Let me show you what I mean: Let's look at table of three for example. Feels like we are back in school? (Laughter) Three, we all know it's an odd number. And if I multiply three with another odd number, it gives me a result which is definitely an odd number. Like this one here: Three times three gives us nine. An odd number. And then I noticed something very interesting about it. If I multiply an odd number with an even number, it ultimately becomes an even number, like this one here. Three times four gives us 12. An even number. So, odd multiplied with odd, the result has to definitely be an odd number. But odd multiplied with something even, no matter how many times you do it, it will definitely give us an even number. And I'm like, this is quite me. With all the odds I was up against, if I multiply my odd situation, with my odd behavior ... (Laughter) (Applause) So what happens? I get myself into another odd situation. (Laughter) But the magic is, if I multiply my odd situations with my even behavior, with my positive behavior, it gets me to better results, to even results. And if one doesn't stop when the situations are odd like this, if one keeps pushing himself, keeps multiplying his blessings, keeps multiplying his skills, even though the beginning is, the end will never be odd. Wow, so once I got to know this, I was like, if something odd can teach me such a valuable lesson of life, I'm sure there is something interesting about the even numbers as well. (Laughter) So, let's look at table of two, for example. What I notice here is every time, right from the beginning to the end, all multiplication results are even, without any odds. And how is it possible? That's possible because the number itself which is getting multiplied, is an even number. This tells me if I am even to myself, as an individual, nothing odd will come my way. (Laughter) Now this of course doesn't mean I don't come across any odd or bad situations. I certainly do. But facing them with even attitude makes the whole difference. That's how, even though I have to struggle hard for my basic rights, instead of being upset and angry, I am happy and even to myself, because the struggle made me stronger, made me who I am today. Now I have these learnings, these secrets from all different multiplication tables. One of my favorites is table of 11. And I think most of us liked, when we were in school, because that is the easiest one to multiply. What I love about this is the perfect symmetry in it. The one and one, the two and two. Isn't that beautiful? And easy, of course. For me, the question was: How can I have my life this similarly easy and beautiful? For me these two symmetrical numbers reflect the outside me and the inside me. I can live in harmony, I can live in peace only when my outside matches my inner being. Isn't this all we're looking for? We can be anybody; maybe two, maybe three. Whoever we are, unless or until our inside personality matches our outside personality, our outside personality matches our inside personality, we cannot live in peace, we cannot live in harmony. Now, because math became my art, became my reminder, my guide of what I needed to do, and what my goal was, I started loving math. Because of this, I was not only able to keep my job, but also make it interesting for others. Now ten years down the line, I have a wonderful job in a great company. I am able to move my entire family to Pune to live with me. Now nobody says I shouldn't have done this. Rather everyone appreciates for what I stood for. As kids, we all are asked to solve math problems. But in reality, math solved many of my problems. Thank you for having me. Dhanyavaad (Thank you). (Applause) (Cheers)

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
odd number	5
multiplication tables	3
ten years	2
odd multiplied	2
personality matches	2

Important Words

abide
accepted
afraid
age
akola
ancient
angry
applause
appreciates
arrived
art
asked
attending
attitude
bad
bangle
basic
basics
beautiful
beginning
behavior
blessings
brought
bus
buy
calculations
capital
cards
care
cheers
choice
city
college
community
company
continue
culture
day
decided
dhanyavaad
difference
difficult
dollars
driver
easiest
easy
eat
education
entire
excellent
excited
extremely
facing
fact
family
favorites
feels
festival
figure
figured
finally
finished
formulas
friends
fun
future
gave
girl
girls
give
goal
god
gold
good
grades
great
greeting
grew
guessed
guide
hands
happen
happened
happy
hard
harmony
hate
hated
hating
home
household
india
individual
interesting
jewelry
job
july
kids
knew
laughter
learn
learning
learnings
leave
leaving
left
lesson
lessons
life
line
live
looked
love
loving
magic
making
matches
math
mathematics
matter
meant
mesmerized
message
miles
million
mom
money
move
multiplication
multiplied
multiply
multiplying
namaste
needed
night
notice
noticed
number
numbers
odd
odds
openly
opportunity
pattern
peace
people
perfect
personality
poetry
positive
primary
problems
promise
pune
pushing
question
reality
realized
reflect
remember
reminder
result
results
rights
rules
sacrifice
save
saved
scared
school
secrets
sending
sensed
show
similarly
single
situation
situations
skills
small
socially
solve
solved
started
stay
stitching
stood
stop
stronger
struggle
struggled
stubborn
students
studying
subject
subjects
support
symmetrical
symmetry
table
tables
talking
taxi
teach
teacher
teaching
tells
ten
ticket
time
times
today
told
town
trust
ultimately
uniforms
unknown
upset
valuable
village
walked
wanted
woman
women
wonderful
work
worked
wow
years
young