Facebook post — 11 August 2021

facebook 11 August 2021

Yesterday the kids and I had a long chat about activities they might pursue seriously over the next few years. Maths is a topic of interest to Kavin. I told him that I once qualified the RMO and sat in the INMO exam. If he is serious about maths, the IMO is not a bad goal to pursue.

Today I dug up the INMO 2021 exam paper. In 1996, I had traveled from Bhopal to Jabalpur to attempt the four hour INMO exam. The 1996 paper was as confounding to me then, as the 2021 paper is today. One hour into the paper, I had suffered a spontaneous nosebleed.

Back then, there were centers in Nagpur/Pune that coached students for the INMO. After 25 years, those are still the leading centers for INMO/IMO prep. But really, just look at this paper. Why would I want to subject my child to this?

21 comments

Sameera SatijaLeave aside this particular issue for a moment and look around!! Do you think we are getting the basic infrastucture in return of the amount of taxes you pay? If your ans in NO then this protest is justified as it is to demand answerability
Anshumani RuddraI remember my INMO exam. It felt daunting at that point because I hadn't seen such notations used before during JEE prep. Lots of number theory and solving inequalities. By end of the 2nd year in IIT I had taken enough extra credit math to realise that INMO/ IMO was just trying to cram college level problems into an exam essentially meant for high schoolers. Hide
Shailendra SinghNot sure, if the one I attended was RMO, but we went from our school to Lucknow to participate in a math competition. Ravi Kumar, do you remember if it was an RMO or something else? Don't remember the kind of questions, but it was a surprise for me to get to know the level at which we were ( we were not even close, I think I didn't even attempt even 4-5 questions ). Hide
Suhas MathurIncidentally this was a topic of discussion in our household a few days back. The IMO exam is definitely useful to have under one’s belt, but I’d think the math training / the journey would be the main reward, assuming of course that one has the aptitude. Training only for the exam is probably not worth it Hide
Faaraaz KahnMaths is such a beautiful subject but thanks to our teachers they completely ruined the fun and alienated us from it. I remember bina Prakash and I pity everyone who studied. After 12th when I started studying on my own I realized how much fun it is and I make sure for my kids to have strong fundamentals. I have a personal bias as kids who don’t study maths in high school struggle at higher Ed. Hide
Tushit JainYou can use the questions to teach them how to "prove" some of them through computer simulation. It'll make some interesting new programming problems. Hide
Rahul RajendranDont these efforts make people into better problem solvers, or disciplined in their approach, later in life? Or do they? Hide
Tirath MehtaYou know your earlier post about phobias.. I wanted to go hide under my bed after seeing this!!!!! Hide
Hai DangChild play Hide
Saurabh Jhttps://olympiads.hbcse.tifr.res.in/.../INMO_2021... the solutions, for those of you who are interested. I did spend about 40 days at the Panjab University in Chandigarh, in the summer of 1996, learning number theory. All I learnt was that this is definitely not stuff that I am interested in.
Jaspreet SinghThere is no maths without philosophy .. getting a idea of philosophy will certainly help them .. but if u are weak in philosophy .. it could be frustrating Hide
Anshumani RuddraAnshumani Ruddra · 4y · by authorI remember my INMO exam. It felt daunting at that point because I hadn't seen such notations used before during JEE prep. Lots of number theory and solving inequalities. By end of the 2nd year in IIT I had taken enough extra credit math to realise that INMO/ IMO was just trying to cram college level problems into an exam essentially meant for high schoolers.LikeReplyHide
Shailendra SinghShailendra Singh · 4y · by authorNot sure, if the one I attended was RMO, but we went from our school to Lucknow to participate in a math competition. Ravi Kumar, do you remember if it was an RMO or something else? Don't remember the kind of questions, but it was a surprise for me to get to know the level at which we were ( we were not even close, I think I didn't even attempt even 4-5 questions ).ReplyHideEdited
Suhas MathurSuhas Mathur · 4y · by authorIncidentally this was a topic of discussion in our household a few days back. The IMO exam is definitely useful to have under one’s belt, but I’d think the math training / the journey would be the main reward, assuming of course that one has the aptitude. Training only for the exam is probably not worth itLikeReplyHide
Faaraaz KahnFaaraaz Kahn · 4yMaths is such a beautiful subject but thanks to our teachers they completely ruined the fun and alienated us from it. I remember bina Prakash and I pity everyone who studied. After 12th when I started studying on my own I realized how much fun it is and I make sure for my kids to have strong fundamentals. I have a personal bias as kids who don’t study maths in high school struggle at higher Ed. LikeReplyHide
Tushit JainTushit Jain · 4y · by authorYou can use the questions to teach them how to "prove" some of them through computer simulation. It'll make some interesting new programming problems.LikeReplyHide
Rahul RajendranRahul Rajendran · 4y · by authorDont these efforts make people into better problem solvers, or disciplined in their approach, later in life? Or do they?LikeReplyHide
Tirath MehtaTirath Mehta · 4y · by authorYou know your earlier post about phobias.. I wanted to go hide under my bed after seeing this!!!!! ReplyHide
Hai DangHai Dang · 4y · by authorChild playReplyHide
Saurabh JSaurabh J · 4y · Authorhttps://olympiads.hbcse.tifr.res.in/.../INMO_2021... the solutions, for those of you who are interested.I did spend about 40 days at the Panjab University in Chandigarh, in the summer of 1996, learning number theory. All I learnt was that this is definitely not stuff that I am interested in.LikeReply
Jaspreet SinghJaspreet Singh · 4y · by authorThere is no maths without philosophy .. getting a idea of philosophy will certainly help them .. but if u are weak in philosophy .. it could be frustratingLikeReplyHideEdited