A Mathematician's Choice: Family or Numbers?

It may sound trivial, but sometimes even the smallest cracks, have the ability to fracture even the sturdiest of ties. In this post, I'm going to share an intimate story that demonstrates this notion, a story that continues to echo inside my head.

It happened during the scorching summer of 2010, when I was still very much of a teenager. My family and I lived in a small rural town where the time seemed to go by slowly. Though we were small in number, we were a supportive unit- my parents, my senior sibling and I. We were always there for each other, and our love was deeply rooted, just as the mango tree that shaded our front entrance.

One fateful evening, my father received a letter,

and Inside this letter, was a special invitation (for my dad) to a prestigious mathematics competition hosted in the neighboring town. He had also been a brilliant mathematician, and his fervor for digits glowed vivaciously inside him. The letter filled him with excitement, and he could not restrain himself from sharing the information with the rest of his family.

"Hey, you two, over here!" he hollered, shaking the letter in his hand. My brother and I rushed into the lounge, eagerness swirling around. "Check this out," my dad said, grinning. "I've been invited to participate in the area math contest. What a fantastic opportunity it is!"

My brother and I traded looks, reflecting our shared excitement. We had constantly admired our father's intellect and were enthusiastic to observe him demonstrate his abilities on a grand stage. Little did we know that this occasion would be the catalyst for a rift that would test the limits of our familial ties.

The fast approaching event caused my father to delve profoundly into reading, and preparing for the D-day (designated day). For lengthy periods, he pored over formulas and theorems, scarcely raising his eyes from the books in front of him- Only for food would he exit his workspace, his mind still ensnared in an arithmetic maze.

My brother and I watched in horror, as an obsession claimed our father, gradually altering the man we knew.
The man who once played ball with us on the lawn and captivated us with stories of his boyhood had transformed into an unfamiliar figure, swallowed up by the chase for mathematical perfection.

The sun rose and set as his absence began to wear on my mother. Her appeals- begging him to weigh passion and his family alike went unheeded. His eyes saw only the allure of triumph and recognition.

The anticipated day came, and our dad ventured to the lively town. The ambiance buzzed with expectation, an ocean of hopeful mathematicians filled the amphitheater. I observed as my dad assumed his position amidst them, his eyes gleaming with resolve. He appeared heedless to the tension that had descended between the rest of us, and centered only on the numerals that danced in his mind.

The atmosphere grew heavier with anxiety as the contest wore on. My father's figures were faultless, his answers graceful and exact. However, when the evaluators added up the totals, a slight difference in the computation of one task clouded my father's ambitions, causing his position to fall from the peak spots to a middling position.

The sorrow painted on my dad's face was distressing. I discerned the burden of his forfeiture, the levy it had demanded of him and our family. And in that instant, I grasped the true cost of his unwavering quest. The difference in computations had not merely dented his odds of triumph but had driven a partition amid us.

At that instant, with tears dropping down my cheeks, I neared my dad, resting an appendage on his trembling upper limb. "But Dad, this is just a competition," I murmured gently. "We long for your presence. We desire the return of our dad."

The silence continued as my words lingered, suspended in the atmosphere.

Shortly after, my dad's eyes overflowed with tears. In a split second, the gap between us disappeared, and the affection that had been eclipsed by figures and formula came back to the front. My father hugged me firmly, expressing regret for his nonappearance and pledging to reestablish the equilibrium in our lives.

The wounds that had torn us apart gradually knit back together from sunrise to sunset. Our family ties, which had been stretched thin, slowly thickened once more. My dad found pleasure anew in fellowship with our family again. The joyful sounds that had fled our dwelling trickled back in.

Looking back at this, I comprehended it wasn't the competition that constituted the difference; it was the acknowledgment of the significance of affection and bonding. The journey of our family had edified us that the chase of individual aims should never come at the forfeiture of those we embrace preciously.

And so, the difference(mistake) in my dad's calculation, functioned as an axis, and an aid for evolution and comprehension. It transformed into a reminder that in some occasions, the most meaningful or significant difference dwells not in numbers or accomplishments but rather in the relationships we cultivated and the affection we choose to emphasize.

Thanks For Reading