The last two weeks have been quite hectic on the professional front. After being re-located to Kuala Lumpur and having assumed charge, it has been a series of meetings with clients and contractors dealing with the myriad issues and requirements all major projects are inherently associated with.

In all these meetings, I rely heavily on my memory, which has been often acclaimed by colleagues to be quite good.

In one of my earlier assignments, after two or three meetings with the client, my chairman tactfully hinted that I should consider carrying a notepad  to impress the feelings of clients that I am serious in my task!!!  It seemed that no one could accept that I could talk from memory on the various aspects of the project!!!

I started carrying the book/laptop, but other than doodle on it, there has been nothing noted of worth !

Learning to recite the arithmetic tables by rote in class 4 is the oldest memory I have of consciously trying to memorise data. I still remember how I used to stand in front of dad and chant the tables, hoping to get them right first time so that I could get a release and get back to my playmates.

Thinking back, I feel that exercise was a very good grounding for forming the process of association by numbers, between numbers and to numbers of the umpteen facts, figures and data that are stored in my mind, as is the case with all humans. Each one of us may be having a unique mind process by which it stores what needs to be. The recall from such stored memory is what makes each one of us different from the rest. I may recall  data by association with some preferred numbers, while someone else may do so by simply recalling a key word  which associates with a specific watershed experience.

Telephone numbers are my particular favourite. I remember almost all the numbers I use frequently. Obviously it is the repetitive recall  which makes it more firmly entrenched in the memory bank while frequency of use makes the recall times very short.

The present age of Internet and its associated features like e-mail, e-banking and a horde of other facilities, require the user to have a password. I have about 7 email accounts,  three bank accounts and some other sites which require me to have passwords.

Though I have a unique password for each of these, remembering each is not a difficult task, since I have formed a process of association between functions of each account, parts of human anatomy and one specifically linked  landmark event in my life, to make the passwords as well as the recall route.

In all probability, a second person would fail to see any rhyme or reason in my association of thoughts. It is such absence of logic  to all except me that makes it secure to be a password.

I am not a music buff at all. Of course I do enjoy some songs that catch my fancy. I can recall the lyrics of my most favourite songs word by word, but I would not be able to explain how I do it. Must be the fact that I like those songs, so I remember the words. No fancy association of ideas or thought process there!!  Just plain liking for the words and/or melody, so I remember.

Jokes are something I can never recall when needed. Occasionally, at parties when people are cracking jokes left, right and centre I find myself tongue tied because I can’t remember any. Not that I don’t get to hear jokes. I do. I also get a lot of forwards that make me howl with laughter, but I read, I laugh and promptly forget everything about it!!  Wish I could remember more jokes.

Shopping lists given by my wife are something I always remember! Though I don’t write them down, till date I have an above average record of buying all that has been asked for, without the assistance of a shopping list.  The ability for remembering shopping lists  comes easily to me, the reason being so very obvious, what with the originator being my wife !!

Time was, when I could remember long stretches of prose verbatim. Some word processing and association through key words in my mind enabled me to recollect with ease. It definitely helped me in the oh so boring social studies and other prose oriented subjects, wherein the exams required students to be able to remember and reproduce long passages on their exam sheets.

I distinctly recall one nursery rhyme that set me on the path of memorizing by association of words and ideas. Each line in this rhyme had an association to the next, and once you get the hang of it, remembering the rhyme was quite easy.

I reproduce the rhyme below.

This is the house.

This is the house that Jack built.

This is the mouse that lay in the house.

This is the mouse that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the rat that ate the mouse.

This is the rat that ate the mouse that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cat that killed the rat.

This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the mouse that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the dog that worried the cat.

This is the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the mouse that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cow with the crumpled horn.

This is the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the mouse that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the maid who is all forlorn.

This is the maid who is all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the mouse that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the man all shattered and torn.

This is the man all shattered and torn that kissed the maid who is all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the mouse that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the priest all shaven and shorn.

This is the priest all shaven and shorn that married the man all shattered and torn that kissed the maid who is all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the mouse that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cock that crowed in the morn.

This is the cock that crowed in the morn that woke the priest all shaven and shorn that married the man all shattered and torn that kissed the maid who is all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the mouse that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the farmer that sowed the corn.

This is the farmer that sowed the corn that kept the cock that crowed in the morn that woke the priest all shaven and shorn that married the man all shattered and torn that kissed the maid who is all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the mouse that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the house and the horse and the cart.

This is the house and the horse and the cart that belongs to the farmer that sowed the corn that kept the cock that crowed in the morn that woke the priest all shaven and shorn that married the man all shattered and torn that kissed the maid who is all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the mouse that lay in the house that Jack built.

Simple enough, one would say! (Do try memorising and see how you fare!!) I still  have the vivid images of a dog sailing through the air, with an ill tempered cow standing by, and a maid waiting to milk it while the tramp seeks blessings from the priest in the nearby church...

Over the years I have made use of this simple ditty  as an exercise in memory tasks, and nine times out of ten, grown adults have failed to see or form a pattern in the lines.

Along with my daily dose of Sudoku, Crosswords and other mental exercises , I recite the above as well. If nothing, I relax  mentally during these very private sessions in the morning, mostly during my walks.

While on this, I see fit to mention the relevance of chanting of prayers or religious passages by rote in ones mind, as an exercise in calming oneself. I do this every day and feel that it has benefited me by way of my being able to calm myself  when I am agitated at something during the course of the day. I just take 2 mins off mentally and chant to myself.

While on long drives, chanting of hymns or even rhymes or ditties help me focus on the road by not taking my mind away to more serious or  emotion charged thoughts. I may not have explained it very well here, but the feeling is very real and the benefits I reap from this simple practice, considerable.

The human mind is a very remarkable thing. It can be at its best one moment and sink to utter immobility in the next. How we keep it active and engaged in fruitful  pursuits is up to each one of us.

A good memory is an asset. Nurture it, engage in activities meant to stimulate the brain and mind, have a fruitful life.

Best wishes to all.