One two ka four, four two ka one

There are songs, and then there are cosmic equations disguised as songs. The 1989 hit number 'My Name is Lakhan', sung with heroic gusto by Mohammed Aziz, Anuradha Paudwal and Nitin Mukesh, from Subhash Ghai's blockbuster, Ram Lakhan, is unwittingly a template for today's India in 4-4 time. The bilingual multi-numeric chorus says it all: '1 2 ka 4, 4 2 ka 1, my name is Lakhan', a line that has so many layers of meanings for mathematicians, numerologists and anyone who ever passed Class 5 maths.

Let's deconstruct. '1 2 ka 4': already, we are in mystical territory. 2 multiplied by 1 is 2, not 4. Unless, of course, epic brothers being interchangeable, Bharat in the form of Lakhan inhabits a special place where multiplication tables are astrological. '4 2 ka 1': here, the algebra collapses entirely. 4 x 2 is 8, not 1. But Lakhan, a.k.a. Bharat, reduces 8 to 1 by invoking the sacred principle of digit sum reduction. Voila - obtuse Pythagoras meets acute Anand Bakshi. 'My name is Lakhan' is not just about a character but also about Digit-al India, the song a talisman for an India whose future is not just double-digit growth, but is set to reset mathematical impossibilities into believables, data deliverables into metadata. In Lakhan's algibberaic world, audacity is of a far higher value than accuracy. As for 'Ek Do Teen' from the 1988 hit Tezaab...