autopsies.

486 multiplied by 3 without a calculator

Begin from right to left, that is 6, 8, 4.

Subtract 6 from 10. That equals 4. Multiply 4 by 2. It equals 8. Write 8 down

Subtract every other number in '486' from 9. Multiply the answer by 2 like you did with number 6. Then add it to half of the number standing on its right.

So, 9 minus 8 is 1. 1 x 2 equals 2 plus half of 6( 6 is the number on the right of 8) equals 5. Write 5 down.

9 minus 4 is 5. 5 x 2= 10. 10 plus half of 8 (8 is the number on the right side of 4) equals 14.

Your answer becomes 1458.

This is the secret of multiplying any numbers by 3 without using a calculator. It is called the Trachtenberg Method. Genius young students use it to dazzle their friends by solving these kinds multiplications in seconds without writing a jot!

There was once a married man living in front of my house who could do this math in 4 seconds no matter how long your question was. He could do so for division problems too!

I thought I'd reach the limit of his knowledge in mathematics so that I might gloat a little but but he crushed all the questions I downloaded from the internet with annoying ease.

His mind was rarer than radium...quite like Good Will Hunting from the movie or Albert Einstein from history except that his was in a neglectful environment where intellect alone doesn't give one opportunities.

He taught in a local secondary school from which he supported his new born daughter and wife.

He spent his evenings outside; on the edge of the street; solving quadratic equations for senior school kids with assignments by wincing his eyes and spurting the answer like those advanced CASIO calculators. No requests for papers, No writing. Nothing.

Every calculus problem went through his head and the answer came through his mouth in seconds.

If it was Mathematics, it was easy like water for him.

I went on to school to study Medicine and on one of my holidays, I returned to learn he had died.

"What happened!?" A painful concern grew on my face.

"He just slept and didn't wake up!"

"Any autopsy report?" The doctor in me was rising up

Mummy's eyes rolled and I got the answer already.

There was none. He was just another statistics of those who die unexpectedly. But like his talents, the cause of his death is hidden; buried in his grave forever.

It is difficult to talk about the benefits of autopsies to those who are grieving and want the experience quickly behind them. So, bodies are hastily covered in earth; from dust to dust and ashes to ashes.

The secret of death lay still beneath a 6 foot crypt except that every once in a while, it rises up to sting another sibling;another offspring because the secret was inherited, genetic, familial and it went undetected the first time.

Sudden death from ruptured berry aneurysm and Left ventricular hypertrophy can be stopped if it was discovered the first time in an autopsy. Families that suffer a double tragedy from sudden Unexpected deaths can limit their exposure by submitting the deceased for an autopsy.

The fact that someone dies is excruciatingly hurtful but it pales in comparison when a preventable repeat episode occurs.

This is my bit to let you know that autopsies don't only have scientific benefits but they unmask the mystery that haunts us as we grapple with the soul-deep pain of grief.

Autopsies give those left behind the weapon against the surprise of another death.