“0 (zero) is a number, and the numerical digit used to represent that number in numerals. It fulfils a central role in mathematics as the additive identity of the integers, real numbers, and many other algebraic structures.
Zero sits in the middle of the number line, separating the positive numbers from the negative numbers, and is thus the starting point for building our number system. As zero was the additive identity, one is the multiplicative identity. ... The natural numbers are our most basic numbers.”
This is what I found on the net when I searched for ZERO, but for me Zero means something entirely different.
Zero is such an unquestionably beautiful number. It’s has been a game changer in the lives of humans since decades. We humans have got the most powerful ability to start from nothing but still create something. And that nothing is often remembered as zero. I feel like this number has created such a dark impact on the minds of humans. Well, I may consider this as a hierarchy - where is the lower class while other number are the dominant class. The world is nothing without zeros. But do we actually admire this oval number, we usually refer zero with failures.
I remember when I first got a zero. So, it was a sunny day and I was in 6th standard. My teacher gave me my paper. And my eyes got stuck on this oval shaped number named as zero. So basically, not even a single answer was correct. My hands started shivering and I almost started imagining my future that I would be unemployed rest of my life. Obviously, that was a bad day. But still I can’t thank zero enough. It taught me so many values that a human would never have been able to teach me.
Well now I in 10th standard think about this, I have a large smile on my face. Zero taught me patience to achieve great things and also that I should never give up. Rejections are there to spark the creativity inside us and trust me there is no success without rejections and zeros.
I am not the only one to get inspired by a number though. The fact that we have been perceiving the numbers in all the same way. I know math is all about creating sense. But there is no sense without imagination. Rene’s Descartes would not have been a great Mathematician without imagining the combination of a spider web and the older idea of latitude and longitude.
“Your brain is the best Math lab where you can foster all your dreams,
There is always in Mathematician who worship Pythagoras instead of God.
Who is adorned by numbers but not jewels,
Whose brain creates history by thinking about the World War 3 between Rational and Irrational numbers.
Who always ignores the toxicity and follow numbers,
From gibberish, the numbers carve the future,
And turn into actual living creatures.
I am safe inside my hostel,
So are my numbers beautifully scripted inside my notebook,
Preserved and safe.
We were always the same, but I never imagined that way,
Thank you zero for being such a great guide!”
by Jhalak Mall, Class X C
