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Saturday, September 8, 2012

Don't Forget



All of us are afflicted by ‘forgetfulness’ to some extent at different points of time. Normally this is not something very serious but can be a cause of great stress especially when we are hard pressed for time. At times it could be uncomfortable or even amusing!

While leaving for office how many times does one forget to keep the handkerchief in the pocket or a makeup kit in case of ladies in the purse! There are times we keep some important papers in a secure place hoping to find them when the need arises, but to our utter dismay it becomes a wild goose chase when we really need them. Frustrating, it takes away a lot of time to locate things!

I was once traveling from Mumbai to Matheran, a small hill station with my daughter and my wife riding on the pillion seat of the scooter. It was a fairly long ride and it was getting dark. It started to rain and we reached an intersection. I stopped for a while to enquire which road to take and my wife got down. My daughter was clinging to my back. After a while, I started the scooter and moved leaving my wife behind. My daughter realized her absence and started yelling! I was horrified to see her missing and wondered as to what happened! I turned back and drove some distance when I saw a lady waving. I did not recognize her immediately and went past a few yards when it dawned that it was her! I leave rest to the imagination of the readers about what happened thereafter!

Yet another time, I was stepping out of the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai when I met my shipmate who was a philosophical guy! I asked him as to where he was heading? I was stumped when he replied, ‘Sir, not sure whether I am going, to the city or to the ship’!

I kept the keys of the car as I remembered, back in the regular place. It was getting late so I looked around at the usual place but was unable to find it for almost eternity. I suddenly realized that I had left it in the drawer of the dining room after cleaning the car in the morning! Often we go to the refrigerator to pick up something and with a moments distraction , forget what we came to collect.There is a galore of gaffe which I could keep narrating.

In the humor classic ‘Three Men in a Boat’ by Jerome K Jerome, one of the main protagonist was busy packing his bag for a holiday boat trip according to the list prepared by him. When he was almost done, he was unable to find a packet of butter which he had just kept by the side that seemed to have vanished in the thin air! After a few minutes of futile search he asked his friend if he had seen it some where.  He noticed the packet stuck on his pant on his butt and pulled it and handed him over!

Each one of us would have similar stories to share. According to the medical science, ‘Forgetfulness’ or ‘retention loss’ refers to apparent loss of information, already encoded and stored in an individual’s long term memory. It may be spontaneous or a gradual process. The phenomena become more pronounced with advancing age, incorrect eating habits and sedentary life style. Those with good eating and exercise habits are lesser afflicted.

These days several things are suggested for improving the memory and overcoming forgetfulness, such as:

1. Physical exercises   improve the oxygen intake to the brain thereby keeping it healthier

2. By sleeping over it. Literally, a sleep deprived brain functions less optimally and the incidence of forgetfulness rise.

3. Healthy relationships- according to a study conducted by Harvard School of Public Health, those who network most and are socially more active, are less likely to have memory decline

4. Laugh a lot and keep company of children

5. Remember things which make you happy

6. Meditation is a very effective stress buster and also helps in enhancing the memory

7. Eat healthy diet which has high content of Omega 3 like Salmon fish, fruits and vegetables, green tea and wine too! Avoid saturated fats.

8. Try learning some new skill, language, a game of puzzle or Sudoku.

Forgetting birthdays or anniversary could cost dear! Like everything in life there are two sides even to ‘forgetfulness’. Famous quotes as mentioned below amply illustrate this.

“The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.” 
 
Friedrich Nietzsche

“Forgetfulness is a form of freedom.” 
 
Khalil Gibran

PS: Image Kind Courtesy Google

85 comments:

  1. Good way of expressing the importance of exercise to the community. Good post indeed.

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  2. Good post Rahul! Your scooter episode brought a smile on my face today, but years ago, I stood in a similar situation with anger much to the amusement of the onlookers!
    I liked the quote by Friedrich Nietzsche.. it is very much true with me, even if I have watched a movie umpteen times, I feel I am watching it for the first time :-) so much for my poor memory!

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    1. Each one of us have seen something similar to share! Thank you Padmaja:)

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  3. haha...forgetfulness is surely catching up with the list of other ailments. We have so many things running in our mind simultaneously, that sometimes it becomes difficult to categorize our memory shelf. Great tips at the end, Rahulji!

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    1. Multi tasking js also responsible for memory loss at times Uma! Thanks:)

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  4. Forgetfulness could be a form of freedom depending on what one forgets.....I once forgot where I had kept the property documents. We had moved in a new house and the papers were missing.....it was scary. An hour later, I found them along some other files....but these incidents remain etched in memory.

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    1. I agree Alka that such things when lost at times make the day very stress filled till you recover them back:)

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  5. Even I have a long list, I normally make a note or else I forget. Your scooter incident reminded me of something stupid I did when I was kid. Like your family, we were going on a bike, Rajdoot, may be and we were travelling on village road. My mother fell as the road was bumpy and I started laughing. My mother was very thin and may be my dad was pre-occupied in some thoughts. I was laughing like hell and when my dad asked what happened, I said nothing. He turned back to realize that my mom was lying on the road far away. That is one of the most comic memories of our family. Need not say, what happened to me after that...

    I agree we have to be fit to enjoy things and not forget them...

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    1. Saru, even till now I am like you to laugh at a sight of someone falling! I know it is bad but somehow it looks that it will be difficult to change:)

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  6. Oh god, you left your wife alone on the road! I can imagine the after effects!

    As soon as we got married, my husband took me to a theatre. While coming out from the theatre, he asked me to wait at the entrance and went for collecting the bike from the backside of the theatre. I was just waiting there at the steps and in front of my eyes, he just drove off! He had forgotten that he was married and had a wife! He came back after half an hour with a sheepish face!

    “The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.”
    ― Friedrich Nietzsche

    “Forgetfulness is a form of freedom.”
    ― Khalil Gibran

    Very apt for the title of the post! My son always says while watching movies to my husband that I had already watched the movie twice! I had forgotten!

    Yes, exercise helps in everything!

    Very nice post, Rahulji!

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    1. A huge thanks Sandhya for sharing this incident! This added a bit more punch to this post:)

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  7. i often use to forget my bike keys, search them here n there and finally find it in my pocket...so it happens every now n then with all of us i suppose...
    Multitasking may be the one major reason behind this bcoz our mind remains engaged in something and we keep doing something else, in the run we tend to forget things in between....

    Good post Sir, and i just imagine that finally you got dinner that day at home after leaving our wife while riding scooter....:))

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    1. Yes key are culprits in every house, be it motorbike, car or house keys! Thank you for liking!

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  8. Interesting post Rahul,sadly it is important items which we stash very carefully,that are most difficult to locate.

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  9. Many men including my father recall forgetting their wives at least once in their life time.Is it as innocent as it seems? I wonder sometimes!!
    I once found the TV remote in the Freezer compartment.Not a soul owned up of course!

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    1. Good one Sharmila! You know one girl in our office mentioned that she left her mobile phone in microwave oven while heating food! So you were a shade lucky:)

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  10. Nice read Rahulji. Very common thing in every household. Hubby n mil are famous for keeping things 'safely' and forgetting thhem successfully...:) on the contrary, I keep them openly and never lose them. They think I am careless, but that's ok..I don't have to dig the entire house...:p..btw, I don't agree to some of the tips. Hubby's ex-manager Doesn't sleep well and everything is on his tips. You make n appointment and he is there 15 mins early.. May be he keeps reminding the stuff to himself instead of sleeping. ;)

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    1. You know Latha that all people do not need same amount of sleep and even five hours for them of quality sleep is equivalent to eight hours for others:)Thanks for liking and agreeing we are same in many respects!

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  11. LOL - forgetting your wife! Oh dear...

    The more active we keep, and the less stress we have - then the less forgetful we are.

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  12. Yeah, sometimes funny things happen.

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  13. Very well written, I always had excellent memory but off late I am forgetful. Age, I tell you :)

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    1. Ghazala you are not alone we are there to give you company:) A big thanks!

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  14. We all begin losing grey matter from the memory section sooner than later. Even those with elephantine memory forget things at some time or the other. I had chronicled my memory lapses once: http://cybernag.in/2011/01/forgetfully-yours/

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    1. Read your nice post Zephyr! You will keep leading in matters of writing:)

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  15. Very interesting topic, those instances are quite amusing! I have a tendency to forget things as well and hence have cultivated a habit of writing down things that need to be done and then checking them out. Its really irritating sometimes but as the quotes towards the end imply, forgetfulness also does have its share of charm after all.

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    1. I agree Arti that despite To Do lists we sometimes absent mindedly forget:)

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  16. hahahah forgot your wife behind.Hilarious!!!Once my father forgot me behind. :P
    good read.

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    1. Hilarious now but not hen, Sunakshi:) You too must have felt that way:)

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  17. My memory is going for a six too! Nice post :)

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  18. I can be very forgetful, but luckily I remember the important things :). One confusion I always have after I leave the house is that I left something on the stove with the gas on. I've had to call neighbors a few times to check, and each time my fear had proved wrong.

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    1. I will write anther post on an episode of leaving a stove on and consequences in yet another post , now that you reminded me , Rachna:)

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  19. Ohmy, I can imagine the expression you had when you released you had forgotten your wife - and her reaction! This story does sound slightly humorous though - sorry! I am also terribly forgetful, and often wondered why this happens at a younger age too. thanks for sharing these valuable tips and ideas for improving our brain power. Theres something here, a herbal supplement called Ginko Biloba that many people take, especially students when we are studying, it does seem to help. Do you get it there?

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  20. Thanks a lot Sam! Yes, the life is peppered with a lot of humor! I now need to learn about Ginko Biloba as I was not aware of this:)

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  21. I don't know why the scooter episode is common with almost everyone who has had a scooter. You must remember, the blog I had written a blog about what happened to my parents when they went on a jolly ride in the scooter.
    Yes we are forgetful many times about such small things and wonder what is wrong with us.

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    1. I do remember your scooter episode well, Rama:)Thanks for reading this one!

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  22. But strangely it is so difficult to forget what you want to!

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  23. hahahhahahaha...sir the part on forgeting your wife on the road was extremely funny...cant stop laughing at it...m sure maam must have been furious...! :D

    Loved reading this one..

    And I am quite a forgetful perosn myself so can relate to it! :D

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    1. Thanks Madhusha for liking! I was at the receiving end later, was a different story:)

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  24. Thanks a lot fotìr sharing these tips, I have some issues with my short term memory!!

    Don't Call Me Fashion Blogger
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  25. hahhaah RahulSir :D good one :D loss of concentration leads to forgetfulness in me :D
    yes those tips you have shared really helps and is very true! :D Superb write up :D BTW :D I am ramya your blog friend ;)

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  26. My blog friend dear Ramya, a big thanks for liking:)I look forward to seeing your nice comments each time, without being forgetful:):)

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  27. Hahaha....That scooter incident happened to so many ppl!!....Thanks for sharing your experiences....and 8 lovely suggestions to improve memory!

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  28. Thanks a lot Valli! Basically we are all same with only a few shades of differences :)

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  29. A very important post for someone like me! I'm guilty of forgetting within seconds! It certainly is very stressful at times...

    ❤Not Just My Allegories❤

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    1. You are not the only one to forget, Anisha:) Thanks for your comment!

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  30. Nice post Rahul- See I have already improved- I did not forget to comment:-)

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    1. Happy you liked and good to see you again , Nisha:)

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  31. So true!! I could identify with so many things!!

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    1. Thanks a lot, Radhika that you could relate to the post:)

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  32. Rahulji, this is indeed quite a different topic :-)
    I often have things which I want to say, but when I have to , I end up forgetting it. And yes, we often go into the hall to get something and when we are there, we cannot recollect what we came out for !

    The remedies are great, I never knew there were remedies :-) Great read rahulji as always!

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    1. I am delighted that you liked the subject Jenny, and also some remedies to address forgetfulness. Despite all this we still forget many things:)

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  33. where did my comment go .. oh or did i FORGET to press the publish button ... :)

    I better pick up some of the remedies you have said ...

    Bikram's

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    1. That was a perfect comment for this post, Bikram:)

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  34. Touchwood, as of now I have not succumbed to forgetfullness. Its very rare that I forget close friends' birthdays or anniversaries.

    I just could not stop laughing at the scooter episode. How could you forget your wife?

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    1. Rachna you sure are blessed to be safe from this affliction.I did no forget her but was just absent minded at that point in time:)

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  35. Great post on the rising trouble! Forgetfulness happens to everybody and the tips u have given are reliable. Thanks for sharing your experience on forget... it’s so funny :)

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  36. Great Post Rahul G ... i liked your blog nd i 'm your latest follower ...

    way2express~

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    1. Welcome to my blog and a huge thanks for following! You made my day :)

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  37. What a wonderful post! Loved it!
    I have this habit of keeping important things (like a ring or a lone button that I need to sew later or the key of a lock that will be used rarely...) at a very safe place and then a few days later, I forget about my "safe" place!! :D

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    1. A big thanks Shilpa to find familiarity with issues:) Very nice to see you again after a long time!!

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  38. You are right we all have our moments of forgetfulness. Lol.
    www.thoughtsofpaps.com

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  39. i think we all should notice that apart from memory, many of ailments can be improved by the same list of having healthy relationships, doing/learning something new, meditation, laughing, having a healthy diet, having exercise and proper sleep....yet we go after unhealthy working hours, concentrating on work only just to earn A LOT, neglecting relationships..................
    Very nice post Rahul sir....I like the way you point things out...
    and did you really forget you wife ?? haha....yea we can imagine the " what-after-that" :-D

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    1. Thanks a lot Priyaa for that nice comment:) The trade off between good life and desire to make money needs a fine balancing act!
      I did not forget her but went through a bout of absent mindedness:)

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  40. have a good week, Rahul and thanks for your sweet comment!!

    kiss


    Alessia

    THE CHILI COOL


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  41. Loved what u have said here Rahulji! Forgetfulness is so common these days.

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    1. Thank you Ria and good to see you after a long break:)

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  42. Yes, I too forget a lot these days and u have done a great job highlighting the issue. Interesting post and I liked the incidents u narrated on getting forgotten.

    Hugs n kiss
    Shilpa

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    1. Thanks a tone Shilpa and am happy you liked! Love your blog :)

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  43. Nice post and thank you for sharing the tips.

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  44. Thanks a lot Ashwini!We are all the same when it comes to being forgetful!!

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  45. A topic so dear and of so much fun.
    I had my share of laughs reading ur post and remembering about my forgetful incidents...
    The tips were nice..

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    1. Happy you liked this one, Manjulika:) We all have a long list of things we tend to forget!Thank you!

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