memorisation
August 2nd
You’re never too old
to memorize, you can never escape memorisation. Be it phone
numbers, otp’s, to do tasks etc. the only thing about it is that, it’s hard.
When I was younger, I
was that one student who scored well in a language exam foreign to her. Hindi.
Ever since I selected Hindi as my new second language after preschool of it
being Telugu, I aced all my exams. Did
I perform better than my fellow Hindi students? Yes. Did I get the highest
despite being a Telugu speaker? Yes. Did I understand it? No.
I can comprehend Hindi,
meaning I can decode it pretty well, but encoding, it’s not my cup of tea.
My Hindi is book-smart
type. My vocabulary is nowhere to be used now. More like, nowhen to be used.
Whenever I spoke in Hindi with my friends, I would use the textbook-old version
of the word. It’s quite funny. For example, instead of saying, “Yoo dude, that
class was fire!” I used to say, “Oh comrade of mine, the lecture was amusing/
fascinating.” Get it? It was a skill issue. (Still is)
Anyways, along with me
many of the people in my life wondered how I scored really well. Though my
teacher was not just wondering, she was very much suspicious. I still remember
that day, clear as day. She asked us to write a gist of the chapter. I took
that seriously and started working on it. Our textbooks, back then, had this
about the author section before each text. And in the ending of that section,
there is a brief gist of the text, like what’s it about. My smart4ss thought
that if I just modified it, it would work. And so I did. I even went through
some websites and mind you, I did not copy. I do not condone copying. And so I
worked hard on that half a page ‘essay’ for the whole night. Next day, I read
it before the class, proud. She immediately stopped me in the middle and said,
“You copied. I asked everyone to write on their own.” I absolutely lost it. I
defended myself but she just wouldn’t believe me. After a heated argument she
relentlessly accepted it but to this date I don’t think she believed me. That
was my villain origin story. Anyways.
Just like her, many
people wondered how I was scoring well in another language. My only answer was
memorization. Now that is a skill.
I wrote all my exams
on memorization basis until 7th class, when my brother made a big
deal out of it and pulled me out of that hypnotization. Indian system greatly
encourages memorization. He basically called it the matrix but my brain (unwoke)
could not comprehend it. My brother was one of those who couldn’t, for the love
of their lives memorize sh, so they grew up disliking the culture. Well, he
influenced me and instilled the idea of ‘understanding’ text, what the teachers
alas the school should be teaching altogether. I felt like I defeated the
matrix. I then studied the text, learnt it, understood it and wrote the answers
on my own. Not so surprisingly, my marks in Hindi started decreasing. But it
did feel better when I lost 5 marks now rather than losing 1 mark before. I now
had that feeling of content and satisfaction that I wrote Hindi on my own. The
character development and self realization were lost in translation when I told
my parents, and since then I followed the liberal policy for all except one, Hindi.
Now now, this isn’t a
post about my self-love journey with Hindi, which would be named hatred for Hindi.
This post is about memorization and how we can never escape the wrath of storing
matter in our brains. For 5 years, I went on avoiding memorizing (except for
the love of my life) but soon life caught up with me. It is like; I went to a
store and bought a shovel to dig my own grave. I dug up 6 feet and I’m now
sitting inside it. The career I chose, CA (Chartered Accountancy), is ALL about
memorization. Oh and I should definitely write about all the knives I’m
stabbing myself with selecting this course. One day.
Anyways, now that I’m
studying ca, I realized the weight of that skill. But there is a teeny tiny
problem here. I forgot it.
I forgot how to
remember. I don’t remember the tricks and tips I used for all my life. I do
remember the ‘tricks’ like mnemonics and acronyms but I don’t remember ‘how’ to
use them. The theory is in place but the application is missing. Or just
misplaced. I used to be able to memorize a whole speech of 600 words in one
night but now I can’t even remember the to-do tasks of the day. It is getting
out of hand.
Before that, lemme
just watch another 30 min video essay on YouTube.
Also when I opened YouTube
in the middle of writing this, the first video that popped up was “how 3141 digits
of pi fixed my memory” by Answer In Progress. HUGE coincidence. Love that video
btw.
One of the techniques
used was ‘memory palaces’.
I just got used to understanding and writing in my own words but it is
not the solution all the time. In law, everything needs to be precise. Word to
word precision is required. And for that, one should be able to memorize it.
And remember my deal with it? I’m BAD AT IT.
The whole concept of memorization has been pulling my leg since I
started my ca couching. I keep losing marks for the simplest answers. The
tricky ones are easy once you have the conceptual knowledge but the essay type
questions need a whole lot than just understanding. I am still learning what I
somehow unlearnt. I still can’t believe how I unlearnt years of practice in
just a matter of months. Kind of silly of me. So quirky.
Sorry.
This imbroglio is something I need to grapple with. If not, I’d forever
get embargoed from my intrinsically formulated perfectionism and though it may
not seem virulent, it is a game with the devil in the purgatory. I would rather
go frantic than be reprimanded of inconstancy in the impalpable nebulous of
being enervated.
That is all for today.
I feel better after expressing my dilemma and stress-cause.
In my coming posts, I will
be talking about my life (when do I not) so do not miss “the life of a teenager
that is of no use to you at all.”
Thank you again for
reading and reaching the end. Hope you reach the stars just like this. I love
you already. Have a great October ahead!!!!!!!!!
Byee
Yours lovingly,
Rini.
TDD- ten day diary
Well I am just lost. Enjoy
my posts. I will not stop posting though. I will post something or the other
every ten days. Have a great month. Love you, byeee!!!
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