2 + 2 = ... ?

It happened this morning when I was driving Diya and Aadi to the Ridgedale Mall Play Area. We left Ankur behind at home (she desperately needed a break). The weather was pleasant outside - just the perfect combination of sunshine and breeze. I was enjoying the drive, despite the constant chattering coming from the backseat.

Diya asked, "Baba, do you know what is one hundred plus one hundred?". Before I could say anything, she reminded me that I am supposed to pretend that I don't know the answers. I decided to play along and said, "No". She promptly said, "Two hundred!" I have to say I was a little bit impressed considering the fact that 2-3 weeks back she was still making mistakes adding two single-digit numbers.

I decided to test her with a few more (two hundred plus two hundred, one hundred plus three hundred, etc.) and she immediately answered all of those, all correctly. Then she remarked, "You know Baba, I have decided to be good in Math. So I am counting the numbers now, and I have stopped guessing".

I was still thinking about when did she learn the trick of adding hundreds, when she asked her final question on the topic, "Baba, do you know what is infinity plus infinity?" When I remained silent, a bit stunned by her question (when did she learn about infinity?), she remarked, "It's two infinity! Just like the hundreds."

I didn't have the heart to correct her 'indisputable deduction', and decided to relish the moment without adding anything further to the conversation (anyway, by then she already moved on to her next topic!).

I did remember later that I told her about infinity a few days back when she asked me what is the largest number. At that time, she laughed and remarked, "Is that even a number? I have never heard of it!"