A story to remember

“My Very Eager Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets,” I repeated after my mom.

It was the late 90’s. Pluto was then still a part of the ‘Planethood’. As I had struggled to memorize the names of all the planets of our solar system, my mother had simply smiled and introduced me to the world of mnemonics. A series of unfamiliar, dissociated, impersonal names had suddenly converted into a simplified, relatable phrase.

Since then, acronyms and the power of visualization have translated information into a form that has helped in easier retention for yours truly.

The rainbow colors became VIBGYOR.

The knuckles represented 31-day months.

The two hands were used to explain Fleming’s electro-magnetic rules.

BB ROY of Great Britain was constantly remembered in the engineering labs. 

And biologists would know that Dirty, Kinky People Could Often Find Great Sex.

For most part of my academic career, apart from rote learning, my memory techniques toggled between acronyms and visualization. It was only during a teen-birthday-party-game that I stumbled upon a new way of memorizing - the ‘link system’.

The game was quite straightforward. I was led into a pitch-dark room and a gentle, female voice stated a two-line instruction from the far end of the room: “When the lights switch on, you will be given 30 seconds to observe the items placed on the bed. Memorize as many as you can and list them down afterward.”

She gave me a moment to absorb the instructions and recognize the importance of the next thirty seconds. 

The lights turned on and I spent the first three seconds on the girl. Cute. Then I turned and quickly scanned the items placed on the bed. There were at least 30 household items. It was impossible to remember all of them by mentally chanting out their names repeatedly for half a minute. It was at that moment of crisis that a story popped up in my head. I imagined myself to be in a poorly scripted scene trying to form a link among all the given items.

“I exercised using a skipping rope, then took a shower using Dove shampoo, combed my hair, applied some French perfume, polished my shoes, and left for shopping, carrying a laptop bag. I had to buy four things: light bulb, an external hard disk, head phones and a novel. On the way back home, I met with an accident. At the nearby clinic, the doctor cleaned my wound with Dettol, covered it up with bandage and injected some pain killer. I looked at the clock and realized that I had to…”

You get the drift. It was the first time I had visualized a story in my head to remember things and it is a technique that I have continued to use to date, albeit for short term memorization. It was only during the course of my MBA that I read more upon improving recall and organizing memory impressions. It was simply not enough to have a set of vivid, clear images. The association of these images had to be emotionally striking as well.

So, when one of our professors taught us UN’s eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and insisted about its importance for our final paper, I knew it was time to shift from the rehearsal mode of learning to an innovative technique of story-telling.

The professor sternly asked us to maintain the exact order of the eight goals. I was happy to oblige.

A STORY TO REMEMBER

Tottertown was not one of the ideal places to live in, people said. Eve was one of them.

Eve, a nine year old orphan, was living on the battered streets of Tottertown, collecting alms and left-over food from the rich. [1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.] Despite being homeless and starving for days together, Eve was fiercely determined to achieve her one dream in life: To be an educated woman. [2.Achieve universal primary education.]

So, off she went to the only school in town - St. John’s boys’ school. But, neither tears nor her pitiable state of condition could convince Satan, the head of the school, to let her into his class. Imagine his reputation if he were to let a girl into his school! Eve walked out dejected at the injustice she had to face for no fault of her own. [3.Promote gender equality and empower women.] Nevertheless, the next day she was back at the school with a new plan in her mind. She sneaked in through the gates and crawled by the corridors and camped in the shadows, trying to listen to the lectures from outside the classroom. Little did she know that there was more than one pair of eyes to be feared. Once she was caught, Satan threatened to kill the poor child if he ever happened to see her again. [4. Reduce child mortality.] Eve took the downtrodden path with her dreams crushed.

Adam, the average student, watched in silence as the girl who had dared to enter the man’s world walked past him with her head hung low. After school time, he tracked her down and offered her help. Days rolled into months. Months rolled into years. And soon, friendship turned into love. The educated couple decided to get engaged. A series of nocturnal activities ensued and soon Eve was carrying a child. But, as it happens, their poverty attracted illnesses and Eve fell sick. With no decent facilities for mothers in the town, they began to fret about their lives. [5. Improve maternal health.] But this time, lady luck smiled upon them and they were blessed with a beautiful baby girl, Adrea.

One year later, fate intervened in their lives again on a larger scale. A plague called malaria struck Tottertown and it ate its way through the town, poisoning the rich and the poor alike. It took the combined effort of doctors and witches to combat the deadly disease. [6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.] The citizens of Tottertown came to a consensus that a remarkable transformation of the town was required to keep everyone healthy and safe.

Six months of sweat and blood led to cleaner streets, bigger drains, more greenery and lesser pollution.  [7. Ensure environmental sustainability.] Adam and Eve took a step further and decided to encourage other nearby towns to follow their model for a better standard of living. Soon people joined hands to work together for a better world. [8.Global partnership for development.]

And then, everyone lived happily ever after.

THE END

But the question remains: In today’s internet-driven world where information is available through a single thumb swipe, is it worth spending all that time and effort?

I am not really sure.

What I do know is, irrespective of the importance or practicality of the aforementioned goals, two years down the lane, I would still be able to recall them by visualizing this story. And that thought in its own simplicity brings forth an inexplicable sense of contentment.