This Couple Quit Their Well-Paying Jobs to Make Math Fun and Fearless for Kids

Imagine a Mathematics lesson. Fractions, trigonometry, permutations, numbers, decimal points, square roots – an endless list.

If you are someone who was, or still is, put off by the subject, you might be thinking about how numbers and symbols can be best kept at a distance.

Math is a scary subject for many. And this fear is so real that there is an actual phobia associated with it, called the Math Phobia, or Math Anxiety that stops a person from efficiently tackling mathematical problems.

This exactly is the fear that Kannan and Bharathy Bhardwaj, a couple currently living in Vadodara, are trying to solve.

With a passion for using technology and computers to simplifying education, they founded Math Buddy in 2010, with the vision to develop hands-on and interactive activity-based learning products. It is a complete package for teachers, students, and parents, with both offline and online solutions, and a full-fledged curriculum that helps make math engaging and fun.

“Many children develop a fear of mathematics when their concepts are not clear. Our main objective behind Math Buddy is that this fear should not develop at all. Students should understand the very basics and truly enjoy solving problems and sums,” says Kannan.

The Beginning: “How Do I Help My Child”

The couple comes from a technology background and has spent nearly 15 years outside India. In addition to their BTech degrees from IIT Madras and Madras Institute Of Technology respectively, both Kannan and Bharathy finished their Masters in the US, after which Kannan spent most of his career in the automobile industry. They witnessed technological tools being used effectively in other countries, along with activity-based learning techniques.

“We wanted to use our background to create tools that could help teachers teach better and for students to practice mathematics while having fun,” says Kannan.