I have never been good at mathematics. Mathematics has always been my weak point. Somehow I have always fumbled with figures and numbers. I must say this is not a very good thing. You are supposed to be good at your calculations to run a household judiciously. I will be eternally thankful to the guy who invented calculator. I am indebted to him and his sheer genius. He has made life extremely easy for the likes of me.

My weak mathematics has been a subject of slight disappointment to me whole my life. I always had doubts if I added, subtracted, multiplied and divided the numbers properly while buying things for home. I must say- in this process my mom helped me a great deal.

My mom somehow understood my problems and never scolded me for them. Infact she always encouraged me and used to help me out. I remember when we used to go out together, she would motivate me to check the bills. She would consciously make mistakes in adding up and when I would point them out- she used to be happy like anything.

I particularly remember my tryst with multiplication tables. Somehow I could never get the hang of them. I was always so confused. I remember I used to revise all the tables everyday and in the evening my mom used to take my test. It was nothing serious but very, very lighthearted way. She used to cook and I used to help her out. Meanwhile we used to play this game called- dodge the table. She would suddenly ask me what is four multiplied by nine and I had to come up with the answer in one minute. It was like that.

I remember spending many evenings with my mom practicing the tables. It was fun. It helped me a great deal. My mom has always been very good at maths. If things are not adding up as she has said then it means that something is definitely wrong with the bill. I am extremely proud of her.

Let me take your leave now. It is getting late. Take care. Bye.

The ‘common man’ was in a hurry because his kids were waiting for a fun game of multiplication tables. This is something they had grown up playing and enjoyed to the hilt. Every time, they answered correctly- the common man’s face was lit up with a smile.