Srinivasa Ramanujan: A Clerk in India Wrote a Letter… and Cambridge Wrote Back
In 1913, a poor, self-taught clerk in India sent pages of strange formulas to a famous mathematician in Cambridge. Fraud or genius? Learn five B2 words and as if / as though with the true story of Srinivasa Ramanujan.
Coming 24 November 2026, 3:00 pm New York time
Transcript
Tap a time to jump to that moment. Highlighted words have a meaning: tap them. Words in bold show today's grammar.
In 1913, a poor clerk in India sent strange to three mathematicians at Cambridge.
Two of them sent his papers back without a word.
The third could not stop thinking about them.
This is the story of Srinivasa Ramanujan.
Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.
. A is a young person with an amazing natural talent.
As a boy, he was a mathematical .
. If you are , you have learned something by yourself, without a teacher.
He was largely .
. A is a statement in mathematics, written with numbers and symbols.
His notebooks were full of without proofs.
. is the ability to know something without working it out step by step.
He seemed to find his by .
. means working together with someone to create something.
Their lasted five years.
Now, one pattern: as if, or as though.
We use it to say how something seemed.
It looked like the work of a genius.
It looked as if a genius had written it.
Ready? Let's begin.
Ramanujan was born in 1887 in southern India, and he grew up in Kumbakonam, a temple town.
His family was poor.
As a boy, he was a mathematical .
At about sixteen, he came across an old book with thousands of mathematical results.
He worked through them alone, often on a slate, because paper was expensive.
He was largely .
He studied mathematics as if nothing else existed.
He failed his other subjects, lost his college and never finished a degree.
By 1912, he was a clerk at the port in Madras, earning about 30 rupees a month.
His notebooks were full of without proofs.
He seemed to find his by .
In January 1913, he sent a long letter of to Hardy, a famous mathematician at Cambridge.
At first, Hardy was annoyed.
Was this man a fraud, or a genius?
That evening, Hardy and his friend Littlewood read the letter together.
Some of the , Hardy wrote, defeated him completely.
It looked as if a genius had written it.
Hardy later explained: "They must be true because, if they were not true, no one would have had the imagination to invent them."
Soon, he invited Ramanujan to Cambridge.
His family worried about him crossing the sea.
But in 1914, he sailed to England.
Wartime Cambridge was cold and grey, and vegetarian food was hard to find.
Still, he and Hardy worked side by side, often with Littlewood too.
Their lasted five years.
In 1918, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society, one of the youngest in its history.
Once, when he was ill, Hardy visited him in taxi number 1729, and said the number seemed "rather a dull one".
"No," Ramanujan replied, as if the answer were obvious, "it is a very interesting number."
He explained, "It is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways."
In 1919, he went home to India, and he died the next year, aged only 32.
Decades later, a lost notebook of his was discovered in Cambridge.
Mathematicians still study his ideas today, even in research on black holes.
And India celebrates his birthday as National Mathematics Day.
Let's review. As a boy, he was a mathematical .
He was largely .
His notebooks were full of without proofs.
He seemed to find his by .
Their lasted five years.
And remember: it looked as if a genius had written it.
Srinivasa Ramanujan's story teaches us: great talent can come from anywhere.
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Step 3
Words from the story
Say the word, guess its meaning, then flip the card. Keep the ones you know, and practise the rest again.
Great work, you know every word in this story. Now try the quiz below.
prodigy noun
a young person with an amazing natural talent
“As a boy, he was a mathematical prodigy.”
self-taught adjective
having learned something by yourself, without a teacher
“He was largely self-taught.”
formula noun
a statement in mathematics, written with numbers and symbols (plural: formulas)
“His notebooks were full of formulas without proofs.”
intuition noun
the ability to know something without working it out step by step
“He seemed to find his formulas by intuition.”
collaboration noun
working together with someone to create something
“Their collaboration lasted five years.”
infinity noun
a number or amount without end
“Many of his formulas are sums that go on to infinity.”
prime number noun
a number that can only be divided by 1 and itself, like 7 or 13
“He also studied prime numbers.”
scholarship noun
money given to a student to pay for their studies
“He lost his college scholarship.”
Grammar in the story
as if / as though + clause
We use it for: to say how something seemed — often with a past form for something imagined or unreal
- It looked as if a genius had written it.
- He studied mathematics as if nothing else existed.
- Ramanujan replied, as if the answer were obvious.
From the story
- It looked as if a genius had written it.
- He studied mathematics as if nothing else existed.
Find it in the story 5 times
Your turn
It looked a genius had written it.
He studied mathematics as though nothing else .
He answered at once, as if the answer obvious.
Step 4
Story Challenge
8 quick rounds: choose, fill the gap, build the sentence and match the words. Answer in a row to build a streak and earn bonus points.
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Take it further
Before you watch: Have you ever taught yourself something difficult without a teacher? How did you do it?
After you watch: Write three sentences with as if or as though. For example: She talked as if she knew everyone. It looks as though it’s going to rain. He ran as if his life depended on it.
Think about it: Two professors sent Ramanujan’s letter back. One read it carefully. How many talented people are never noticed? What can we do to notice them?
