Maths and Logic are fascinating. I remember when I studied Descartes, who tried to prove the existence of God using pure logic. I understand the drive to do that - just like I understand Tara's need to use a theorem to find friends. Can a foolproof Friendship Theorem exist? Can we actually use a Venn diagram to find friends? Tara and the Friendship Theorem is a lovely book about big changes and making friends. Like with Ramanujan, I enjoyed the facts at the head of each chapter; they help me get into Tara's very particular character. Just like Tara (and the author Chitra Soundar), I, too, played pallanguzhi as a child too, though my rules were a little different from the ones at the beginning of the book. But I played all things mathematics - Cheese Buzz, Magic Squares, even mental maths games. Unlike Tara, however, I never attempted to use Maths to find friends. And more importantly, I … [Read more...]