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and television and publishing professionals. The team has been working on the comics since March.

The stories are in three categories, based on age of students. Thomas Tallman and Friends, meant for the youngest age group, deals with numbers seen in nature. Zero Squad is an Enid Blyton- esque story of two children who use mathematics to solve crime. Kalina and the Shards of Singularity is the tale of a rebel travelling through space breaking complex codes and figuring the mathematical origins of stars.

Learning music or a sport is easy because children are engaged but that engagement is usually broken when it comes to teaching mathematics. Khurma says creating content as an education tool is not easy for today’s students who are exposed to books, comics, video games and movies. He is, however, confident of getting this right over time. “We have really good people working on this, some of the best in the industry. We are also doing research, rather than just bringing in our biases. We are actually looking at what kids will like,” he adds. Cuemath has about 2,500 centres in the country where teachers coach 20,000 students in a set mathematics curriculum. The curriculum sets Cuemath apart from its peers because of the focus on fundamentals without delving too deep into school syllabi. This makes Cuemath less favourable to parents who are constantly seeking ways to help their children score better marks in examinations. Khurma, however, emphasises the need for problem solvers and analytical thinkers in today’s world. “We are up against an entrenched mindset that has been in place for decades, if not centuries. The only yardstick for success in the education system is marks. Unless and until the education system shifts focus to learning rather than just acquiring marks, I do not see this problem going away,” he says.