Arithmophobia- Fear of numbers

Last fortnight has been one that has lent me very little time to post a blog. I have been in and out of induction sessions in advanced (?) project management concepts. Now read that as counting stars and trying to sight the moon on a new-moon night! Not that the sessions kept me busy, I guess I’ve been busier nursing my feelings of inadequacy about my inability to read and interpret numbers!

Most sessions talked about project metrics and numbers relating to progress of the project. Yeah lets face it.. I have an innate fear for numbers. I believe organizing, co-coordinating and networking are my strengths; and am a reasonably good manager (or so thought my team mostly!); number-crunching is not my cup of (Green) tea! Or else, I would have been at the stock exchange now.

Right from school days, I could relate to biology sketches (yeah the anatomy kinds, am not talking nude pictures here!) than Venn diagrams. If I make a list of people who made me feel like ‘shit’, I bet most of the contenders in the list will comprise of Math teachers! Ya, Valsala ma’am, Omana ma’am, Daisy, Krishnamurthy sir (I called him Kaka as in crow), and the list continues…I was never on the favorite student list of any of my Math teachers! Things changed from class X onwards, Mrs. Sampath (I used to attend her tuition classes) maybe discovered the hidden gleam (he he) and polished it as well as she could. For once matrices, trigonometric equations spoke volumes to me, and I didn’t feel ‘unequal’ for once in a class filled with the Anshuls (this guy was a maths geek in my class) of the world! Still, numbers are not my primary comfort zone.

Talking of more interesting interpretation of numbers…a friend of mine wrote an interesting post recently of how we refer to one’s favorite songs as numbers. So the second-half of my post, I’ve decided to write about one of my favorite numbers.

It’s a tamil song called Un samayal arayil from the movie Dhill. This is a song tuned to near-perfection by Vidyasagar and rendered by Unnikrishnan and Sujata. It’s a song, the lyrics of which for the first time appear crazy, considering the simplicity in the context of narration. Over time and of course with better understanding of the lyrics, am amused time and again how the simplest of lyrics can send you on a tickle tour in the softest spots.

Here come the lyrics and my interpretation …

Un samayal arayil, naan uppa sakkaraiya?

In your kitchen, would u consider me the Salt or the Sugar?

Nee padikkum arayil, naan kangalaa pusthakamaa?

In your study, am I the eyes or the book?

Nee viraLkal enraal, naan nagama modirama?

If you are fingers, am I the nails or the ring?

Aaa, nee idalkal enraal, naan mutthama punnakayaa?

If you are lips, am I a kiss or a smile?


Nee azhagu enraal, naan kaviya oviyana?

If you are beauty, am I a poet or a sculptor?

Un samayal arayil…


Naan vekkam enraal, nee sivappa kannankala?

If I am shyness, are you the blush or the cheeks?

Naan theendal enraal, nee viralaa sparisangala?

If I am the touch, are you the fingers or the sensation?

Nee kuzhanthai enraal, naan thottilla thalaatta?

If you are a child, am I the cradle or the lullaby?

Nee thookkam enraal, naan madiya thalaiyana?

If you are sleep, am I the lap or a pillow?

Naan idhayam enraal, nee uyira thudi-thudippaa

If I am a heart, are you the life, or the heartbeat?

Un samayal arayil…


Nee vithaikal enraal, naan vEra viLainilamaa?

If you are seeds, am I the root or the fertility?

Nee virunthu enraal, naan pasiya rusiya?

If you are a feast, am I hunger or taste?

Nee kaïdi enraal, naan siraiya dhandanaiya?

If you are a prisoner, am I the jail or the punishment?

Nee mozhigal enraal, naan tamizha osaigalaa?

If you are language, am I Tamil or the sound?

Nee pothuvai enraal, naan bharathiya bharathithasana?

If you are Pothuvai*, am I Bharathi or Bharathidasan?

(*Pothuvai is the local name for Pondicherry, the land of great poets Bharati and Bharathidasan)

Nee…

Nee thanimai enraal, naan thunaiya dooratthila?

If you are solitude, am I your company, or far away from you?

Nee thunaithaan enraal, naan pesava yosikkava?

If you are my company, should I speak or think?

Nee thirumbi ninraal, naan nikkava poyvidavaa?

If you have your back turned to me, should I stay or go away?

Aa…Nee pokiraay enraal, naan azhaikkava azhuthidavaa?

If you go away, should I call out to you, or weep?

Nee kadhal enraal naan sariya thavara?

In your (if you are) love, am I right are wrong?

Un valathu kayyil paththu viral

On your right hand, there are ten fingers

En idathu kayyil paththu viral

On my left hand, there are ten fingers

Dooraththu megham, thooralkal sintha, Theertha mazhayil, thee kulippoo…

The clouds far-away, start a drizzle. Lets immolate ourselves in the rain…