As Smriti Bagry whips out a paper with numbers, I’m overwhelmed by the sheer number of mathematical figures sprawled on it. On the page was the value of Euler’s number (e) — the mathematical constant — written up to 2,500 decimal points. Soon, Smriti starts recalling the numbers from memory with ease as I cross-check. I realise I am reliving an iconic Guinness World Record moment along with the record-breaker herself.
While preparing for her Class X board exams, Smriti could memorise multiple pages of text and if given a couple of hours per page, she could memorise it to the letter. “Back then, I thought everyone had this kind of a memory. Never did I think that it would lead to something this big,” says the 27-year-old MBA graduate and Math tutor, who officially broke the Guiness World Record for memorising Euler’s number to maximum number of decimal points — 2,500 decimals, to be precise.
Born in Delhi, the artist with a penchant for business did her schooling and undergraduation in Visual Communications in Chennai. “I was into graphic designing for a while and realised that I was more interested in the marketing and business side of things, and decided to give the GMAT exam,” says Smriti who later went to Yalefor MBA. “I was probably the only one who thought it was a fun exam, especially the quantitative part of it,” she laughs.
Her Record attempt was born out of the desire to challenge herself. “I’ve been wanting to break a Record for a while. If you ask me why, it is like asking someone why they climbed the mountains — it’s challenging and you just want to do it,” says Smriti who had initially applied to the Guinness World Records for four titles — two existing and two new — in an effort to get through the application process which she found daunting.
“No one can break a Record instinctively, you need a lot of patience,” she says.
One of the new titles, she recalls, was aimed at recreating the world’s smallest portrait of Mona Lisa. “But they reverted saying that a computer has already done it,” laughs Smriti. The entire process took about eight months, of which she solely dedicated one month to memorising the decimals.
“My RAM memory is good, but over a period of time it gets quite bad. So, it took a lot of learning and recalling to keep the numbers in mind,” says Smriti. However, the most interesting part about the preparations leading to her success, was the fact that she had to prepare in secret. “I wanted to surprise my parents, so I would practise early in the mornings or late at night,” says Smriti adding that her mother was shocked when she heard the news.
Smriti memorised meticulously. She divided the numbers into groups of five, so that there would be 60 decimals in one line. “The placement of the numbers was very important. I linked the numbers to each other or found patterns and relations making them into equations. I’ve always found equations easy,” smiles Smriti. Since the GWR relies heavily on rules, she had to record the video of her breaking the Record in the presence of two witnesses a couple of times.
She adds that the Guinness World Records rejects almost 50 % of the final submissions. The key is to stick to the rules and abide by all the requirements stated in the application; otherwise the entire process would take another six months. “The funniest part is that after memorising these many numbers, I forgot to memorise my 10-digit application number. So I had to redo the video all over again,” laughs Smriti.