An Indian man with a remarkable memory, Deepu V, recently set a new world record by reciting an astounding 14,000 digits of Euler’s number in just 49 minutes. Known for his incredible ability to retain numbers, Deepu had already made headlines by reciting 2,000 digits of pi faster than anyone else in India and memorizing 500 phone numbers. When he learned of a world record for reciting the most decimal places of Euler’s number, he saw an opportunity to etch his name in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Deepu dedicated four months of intense preparation for the challenge, smashing the previous record of 10,122 digits. Euler’s number, like pi, is an irrational number. It begins with 2.71828 and continues infinitely without repeating. To prevent cheating during such attempts, strict rules are in place—contestants are blindfolded, and their ears are checked. A single mistake or a pause longer than 15 seconds leads to disqualification. But Deepu remained unfazed due to his highly organized “tabular” memorization technique.
He explained his method, saying, “In a table, there are 10 columns and 20 rows. I added five digits in each column, so each row contains 50 numbers. With 20 rows per page, I could include 1,000 digits on each page. Using this method, I managed to memorize 14,000 digits on 14 pages.” Over four months, he memorized 250 digits per day, Monday to Thursday, and spent the remaining three days reinforcing his memory. Deepu even recorded himself reciting Euler’s number to catch mistakes during his preparation.
His dedication paid off. In just 49 minutes, Deepu V obliterated the previous record, reciting 14,000 digits of Euler’s number and securing his place in history.
