Do Aur Do Paanch (2 and 2 is 5)

A retro song of hindi film industry was playing in the car radio while I was bringing kids home from school during my ultra luxurious lunch break. My kids picked up a portion of the song and asked, “How can 2 and 2 become 5?”. Their recent expertise in summation has questioned the validity of the song. (If you do not know the song here is the Youtube video)

I did not know the answer and I did not want to tell them that it is not possible. I rather gave them the task to find the answer themselves. I have not heard any good to accept explanation from them till date neither I could find any myself. But I did not want to give up here.

The whole point here is not that when you add two 2s whether it becomes 5 or not. It is about can you get more than the actual when you add two numbers. Now that extra can be 5, 6 or 10.

Recently a situation came when due to various strategic decisions a relatively old and a very high performing team had to split into two logical parts based on the product they are serving. Disappointment took over the team’s morale till the point when a usually shy and occasionally courageous individual got up to say that we will not let our team divide but multiply. All confused but upset eyes looked at him to understand his mathematical googly. He continued saying, “We all are in a mission. We love this group not because we worked together for many years together. We love this group because we have built a great group which performs at it’s best whatever may be the situation. We have a great work culture and we are here because of that. We are here because we perform and get desired results. We know the tricks. We are extraordinary as a group. This is a great opportunity for us to spread the greatness of our team’s culture and understanding of utilizing human capabilities by connecting with more people outside our team and ensure in coming days we get more people to believe and act the way we do. Today we are a group of 50 people and let’s ensure next year by this time we have at least 70 people following this philosophy. Let’s stop mourning friends over the separation and get excited about the mission. We are the best, we will remain the best”. This somehow made me understand that division can help in multiplication by defying the principles of mathematics. Which means if I think more I can really find a way to get more than the actual after summation.

Then came recent Delhi assembly election. There were two major political parties in Delhi for a long time. They together used to get 70 to 80% of assembly seats of Delhi. But this time a new political party came into picture which could convince the people that it is against both these traditional parties and it is more democratic and socialist party than any other. Interestingly it took over 95% of the seat share. So this means it got more than what the opponent parties would have got together. So it was little closer to the philosophy 2+2 is 5. But this would be extremely difficult for me to explain my 6 and 7 year old kids.

Now, if you had patience to read till this point I am sure you will not try to convince me to leave it and help me explaining how 2+2 can be 5 to my kids. Kindly post your replying by commenting on this post.

Namaste!!!

– Stray Dog