In Wikipedia, on the page about abacus and in the Indian section it says that the second-century CE philosopher Vasumitra said that:
placing a wick (Sanskrit vartikā) on the number one (ekāṅka) means it is a one, while placing the wick on the number hundred means it is called a hundred, and on the number one thousand means it is a thousand
Wikipedia also adds that this is unclear about what it means.
My work with the abacus, made me create a new operation, that I believe is exactly what Vasumitra was talking about (and today is a unknown operation).
I already have a Portuguese name for this operation (presentar) and lack a English name for it, so, since it is lacking, in English I am calling it vartikā.
Explaning Vartikā
The operation Vartikā consists of a way to add numbers. And when you add two numbers, you count first, the number that you are adding to, as an add of 1, then you countinue the addition. For example:
4 vartikā (.) 3 -> you count 4, as a vartikā 1; 5 as a vartikā 2; and 6 as a vartikā 3; so the result is 6.
When doing this addition, you don’t jump aggressively to the next
number; you recognize first, the first number as a totality of an entity (with the vartikā 1 
). Then you go foward to the next number (vartikā 2), etc..
You can go forward or backwards with vartikā… I mean you can add and subtract with vartikā. To vartikā 4 and -3 you go and count -> 4 vartikā -1 = 4 , 4 vartikā -2 = 3, 4 vartikā -3 = 2; so the result is 2.
Conclusion
The mathematical operation described here, makes more sense to the mind, since it is softer and numbers are seen as a whole before going forward.
Using vartikā also adds the ability of creating groups in the mind.
For example, in talking, I am gonna reply with vartikā to the question: ‘How many fish do you want?’.
The vartikā answer is: ‘I want 2. The one (3 fishes I already have), and one.’ The “normal adding” answer is: ‘I want 1 more.’
