A US citizen posted a picture of a book he had received from his Indian math teacher and asked the “fine people of India” to explain the inscription. That post has since gone viral on social media, garnering one million views and around 9,900 likes.
Curious about the inscription on the math book, X-user named Martin wrote on the social media platform, “Dear people from India! Could anyone translate this inscription into English? This book belonged to my Indian math advisor/professor in college, who gave me the opportunity to study with him for a whole year. When I graduated, he gifted it to me.”
Dear lovely people from India! Could someone translate this inscription into English? This book belonged to my Indian math teacher/professor in college and he gave it to me to study with him for a year. When I graduated, he gave it to me as a gift. pic.twitter.com/Km6ev4pUVL
– Martin (@martinmrmar) 15 August 2024
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The post received hundreds of comments that helped Martin understand the inscription, which turned out to be in Tamil. One of the X users wrote, “It says Shri Ramajayam. Just as Lord Ram achieved victory, we write it before starting any good endeavor and pray to him to help us emerge victorious in our endeavors.”
Martin responded to the comment by saying: “It’s so beautiful!”
Explaining the significance of writing God’s name in the math book, one of the X users said, “It is in Tamil. People with religious beliefs write ‘Sri Ramajayam’ or variants of it to seek God’s blessings to give them strength and positivity to succeed in the activity they are about to embark on. It can be considered as a form of prayer or faith. To each his own!”
Martin, apparently understanding the meaning of the word written above it, which he had previously thought was his professor’s name, said, “This makes perfect sense now. My mathematics professor said he had bought this book in an Indian bookstore in Bombay and wanted to take it with him because he had been accepted to study pure mathematics at the University of Toronto, Canada.”
The inscription on the math textbook Martin received from his Indian professor spoke of blessings and positivity before starting the subject. Martin said he appreciated his professor’s gesture and wrote, “For me, it’s just so beautiful.”
