Mathematical Thoughts in Bengali Proverbs: A Study from Folk Cultural Point of View

Abstract

Undivided Goalpara district which is situated in western part of Assam is rich in religious, social customs and rites. Most of the people in this area speak in Bengali Language. The socio-economic life of Bengali peoples is full of festivals. In their festivals and fun-fairs these people apply some poignant forms of mathematics or mathematical thoughts knowingly or unknowingly. The application of pure simple mathematics plays a most dominant part in Bengali proverbs. The proverbs find a fair play in the very core of the domestic and social activities in the life styles throughout the entire culture of Bengali speaking people in the western part of Assam. A proverb is usually some utterances or saying that passes on from generation to generation irrespective of the nature of users. It would be pointless to look absolute rationality in some of them in the sense we often take in conceptual terms. This paper investigates the pivotal role played by mathematical ideas behind Bengali proverbs. How informal learning of mathematics occurs and how mathematical cognition develops in everyday life are the important aspects of this study.