Jul 19, 2008

Down the memory lane

Ever since I received that sms, my hands were itching. I am a supposed priviledged customer of Pantaloons having ensured them a good revenue. So, they keep tempting me with their promotional smses highlighting the words D I S C O U N T and S A L E. Most of the times, I abide by what my head instructs rather that getting led by what my heart pleads. But this time was different. I was not exactly in a good mood thanks to some cold war in office and pampering myself was one way to unwind.
So, off I went to their outlet. I selected 2 dresses but then saw a big queue at their trial rooms and decided to just pay up and get them. I came home and then, I found one of the dresses was well...err.... tight. I dare not tell you which size I had picked up. So, as per the norm, I returned promptly to their store the next day to get it exchanged. Well, I might write another post someday on this capricious mind of mine!
All formalities done, I was checking some dresses, when I felt someone tapping on my shoulder. I turned and saw a woman of appx my age, squinting her eyes and pointing her finger at me asking me "are you so-and-so".
I said "yes"... and then I searched every nook and corner of my brain for some hint as to who this person was. But all I drew from there was a blank response which I promptly returned to the lady and with an embarrassed look questioned "and you are ....???".
She seemed taken aback by my display of bad memory and replied "Aprajita". The name sounded familiar and I needed some time to get to the exact point in time where I could relate to her.
So, I involuntarily answered "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, How ARE you? Its been ages!" keeping my fingers crossed that it should not so turn out that we met just a few days back. Meanwhile, my mind did a quick ctrl+f on the name "Aprajita" and there I landed nearly 20 years back in time, to class 7 where I did happen to have a classmate by that name.
But I needed to confirm it and asked her "so what did you do after leaving the school", and while she answered all my doubts were cleared and I realised that she indeed was the one!
She had changed a little in terms of her hair style and the attire. She used to be more of long hair and orthodox sort of a girl. Now here she was in her blunt cut and clad in Jeans and T. No wonder, I consoled myself, I could not recognise her.
On the other hand, there I was. All bloated up and double, triple the size, and still she DID remember me. It was good really meeting her and going down the memory lane but later I mulled over why my memory fell short. I found this on the net

Time plays a major role in the memory process. Weakening and blurring engrams we never use, is a reality. Past experiences are constantly slipping away from us,
some rapidly and others imperceptibly. Daniel Schacter, M.D. says, "Forgetting,
though often frustrating, is an adaptive feature of our memories. We tend to
remember only what is important and meaningful in our lives -- we don't need to
remember everything that has ever happened to us; engrams that we never use are probably best forgotten. The cognitive psycholgoist John Anderson has argued
convincingly that forgetting memories over time is an economical response to the
demands placed on memory by the enviornment in which we live. We are better off forgetting trivial experiences than clogging our minds with each and every
ongoing event."
This makes it worse. Did I treat that friend of mine as trivial while she retained me as important? Too much to think! Forget it! But this incident did remind me of Ushas, this post.



23 comments:

Monika July 19, 2008 at 4:13 PM  

It's just like that with me. I have no memory of teh bad things that happenined to m ein life it seems. This last weke I met an old friend & we had parted ways due to some tiff between us & I cannot remember what that was exactly..... Lol abt the "Sale" attraction. I am just the same & resisting like crazt this year around coz I have run out of space to keep stuff.

mystiquedew July 19, 2008 at 5:38 PM  

hmmm

People with Alzheimer must think nobody is important in this world :D

*smiles*
Hope the second time around u got a lovely dress :)

Bouncing-Bubble July 19, 2008 at 5:42 PM  

This also indicates that u have been more popular and so she remembers u :)

and strangely I'm reminded of one incident, will post that soon :)
that is an eg. of good memory on both sides, for all wrong reasons :))

Neera July 19, 2008 at 5:43 PM  

I, on the other hand, am like ur friend. Remember b'days of people I have long lost touch with. Everyday things fail my memory. I have my priorities all screwed up according to Daniel Schacter :(

You know what I actually checked on the internet all the sales going on and then I landed here :)

aMus July 21, 2008 at 6:54 AM  

finally u posted :)


i wish i had a working ctrl+f :) esp at family functions where they gherao u and say 'u know me'...scary i tell you...

lol at pantaloons temptation...

Mama - Mia July 21, 2008 at 3:21 PM  

isnt it terrible when other person remembers and you dont!! :(

i remember once i met a school girl at optician! her face was very familar and knew she was from my school! but for life of me i cudnt remember her name, while she did!!

i too kept saying vague things that seem like conversation wo getting into specifcs!! :p

and dont think you thought of her as trivia! you just have a better personlaity that is not easily forgotten! :D

cheers!

abha

couchpapaya July 21, 2008 at 10:10 PM  

happens to me a lot too ... worst is the embarassment of not remembering. atleast u cld bluff ur way out of it! and maybe she's just one of those people blessed with great memories!!!!

second time am reading abt that pantaloon sale!! must check the place out when i get there .... hope u got something gr8 the next time arnd!!!

/p

Mystic Margarita July 22, 2008 at 11:28 PM  

I usually remember names and faces but am dreadful with birthdays, anniversaries and such. And it takes the willpower of errr...a Vishwamitra... to resist the allure of a sale!

Swati July 23, 2008 at 12:10 PM  

Ohh I have a bad bad memory , while hubby has a great memory. He remembers so much from his childhood with granular details that I feel like I never had a childhood :P

Anonymous,  July 23, 2008 at 2:11 PM  

Hehe... nice post... I've been in many an embarrassing situation because my Ctrl + F function doesn't work always... :)

Anonymous,  July 24, 2008 at 4:44 PM  

hehehe we are alike...I mean both as far as shopping n memory are concerned :D

I still rememebr my inital days in college, I was busy remembering names and then I asked this lovely looking neighbour of mine, "ehy am sorry have forgotten ur name can u please tell me again" I got a bad stare and she said this is the last time am telling u my name. Errrr i rememebrh er name even now...

So imagine how wud I be in remembering faces :D

S
(not logged in so as anonymous ;0))

Usha July 26, 2008 at 8:17 AM  

Everyday story of my life - I either cannot place them or I totally confuse their history and geography!
But you are too young to have my excuses girl!

vimmuuu July 29, 2008 at 4:05 AM  

Cntrl-F works fine with me. but its equally embarassing when we approach a person knowing him and when that person doesnt remember us with the best of hints. There was a time when I almost did the antics of Sadma/Moondram Pirai's Kamal Haasan for a person to recognise me!!!

WhatsInAName July 29, 2008 at 10:28 AM  

Sorry friends. Am late in responding.

Monika, :) hehe. You know I end up forgetting what we fought for too. Same pinch!!!

Mystique, Oh yes, I got a nice dress the second time round ;)

Bouncy, lol.. thats a wonderful way to put it. I am famous indeed!
I am curious about that incident. Please do share!

Neera, hahaha. I think I should more of such common words now so that more people land on my pages. ;)

Suma, ;) Yes finally I posted. And yes, I do remember that tag of yours. Will do it in a day or two.

Mama-Mia, :D Hugs to you!!! We are indeed soul sistahs!

Papaya, please let me know when you come down to Mumbai. You, me and hum can shop together ;)

Margarita :) You bet. I just cant resist them, the SALE! I even end up buying just for the sake of it :(

WhatsInAName July 29, 2008 at 10:44 AM  

Swati :D
You bet! Even I feel the same; as if I never had any childhood. hehe

Nikhil :)
You are younger than me! You should not be saying that :p

S :P
Do you think Linda Goodman says right? ;) Or should we ask MystiqueDew!

Usha :(
I know! Thats why I am worried. I am not even 40 yet!

Vimmuuu lol
That was too funny. I am sure my friend would be thanking her stars that she didnt have to resort to those antics ;)

Vee July 29, 2008 at 9:32 PM  

Haha, u talk of 20 Yrs. I bumped into my college friend in the office cafeteria 3 months back. I recognized him though unlike you but when we exchanged numbers he could save mine with my name and he said laughingly, "u know my name na". I did not want to embarrass him so I said of course I remember and soon changed the topic whilst storing the name as 'OffzCafeExCollegeFren'. I later did find out his name through our internal website but have kept the name as it is in the cell.

Scooting to home. Curious to read Ushas 'that' post.. Tomorrow may be.

vimmuuu August 7, 2008 at 10:03 PM  

u stopped writing or shifted to somewhere else?

Mama - Mia August 13, 2008 at 5:49 PM  

you been tagged!! pls to do it!!!

Anonymous,  August 15, 2008 at 10:40 AM  

A good reasoning, if I may.. we have met a lot of people over the years, and our hard disk memory is full. So, we delete the old files, and keep only the relevant ones in mind. Thats what I say! :-D

Nice one.. :-)

Anonymous,  August 16, 2008 at 7:14 PM  

Um... Where are you? Why aren't you posting anything new?
And i may be younger than you, but my brain is already rusted and has the alacrity of a 90 year old! :)

Che August 19, 2008 at 11:44 PM  

oh boy you suffer from OCTSD too. I thought I was the only one!

Long time no blog?

Avionic Spanker August 20, 2008 at 12:31 PM  

I have a theory .. though you felt you had changed a lot in the intervening years, its possible you hadn't changed much, eh? No wonder she recognised you. This theory is good coz you don't have to blame yourself at all. Nice?

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