Ranjani | Tharkuri

Commit to memory

Over the last couple of years, I’ve lost more things that I’ve gained. Here is a list of all my losses and the conspiracy theories around them.

Last week I sent out an SMS with the wrong text on behalf of my employer to a huge database. An SMS is all of 160 characters. What are the odds that one could go wrong with that? Well, I did.

I used to be known as what people now proudly call themselves – the grammar Nazi.  Now, I almost always write line for like and vice versa.

I used to know the telephone numbers of all my friends from memory. Now, I can hardly remember the password of my work computer that I changed just yesterday.

I used to remember the numbers of all channels on my TV. Now, the only button I remember the location of is the home button on my remote.

As a child, I recited Bharathiyaar’s Achamillai Achalimmai on stage in front of 500-odd people. Even in high school and college, I was much of a debater, orator etc. Now, I can hardly speak coherently to a friend without looking for the right word during a long pause.

I knew about 200 Thirukkural by heart my mom says. Ippollaam ‘Yen uchi mandaila surrungudhe’ paattoda adhutha vari kuda nyabagam illai.

I was known to be meticulously organised. I still am. I just don’t know where I put the item in the first place.

Well, that’s a lot lost. To put this in perspective, below are the major events that happened in the last couple of years. Pliss to match the following.

I dropped a few *habits*. Altogether.

I got myself a smartphone – in which – I saw time, set alarm, called people, mailed them, texted them, tweeted to them, liked their status on Facebook, took down notes, nailed tasks to the wall, made meaningless calculations and spent time fiddling with when I was nervous.

I got myself a Macbook – that has even my Internet password stored on stickies.

I got myself a job that takes 12 hours of my day, practically every single day. All my reading, learning, trying, thinking goes into work.

I also got myself a twitter account (and a 1000 odd followers) – self-explanatory.

I turned 25.

In

8 responses

  1. Sreekrishnan Avatar
    Sreekrishnan

    Your TV remote has a home button?

    The english part comes from watching hollywood movies and exposed to American English. When i first wrote a mail explaining a situation to my American manager – he called me back and asked if i was writing a Legal document. I said thats the english i know. He said as much as he admired it he found it too formal. [may be he meant ‘innaba sokkaikkirya’ eq. in english]. My english grammar, usage and what not went for a toss. Now, I don’t know what the hell i am talking.

    PS: Somewhere there is a Kamal Hassan in you :).

    Reply
    1. ranjanik Avatar
      ranjanik

      Yeah. My Tata Sky remote. See? I forgot to mention that! 😛

      Kamalagaasanaa??? *runs*

      Reply
  2. Vinay Avatar
    Vinay

    Adhu ellam seri dhan. 25yrs aachae, oru kalyanam pannikaliya? #TambrahmRage

    Reply
    1. ranjanik Avatar
      ranjanik

      Yov!

      Reply
  3. arzvi Avatar
    arzvi

    Losing ‘Memory, organization, fearless’ – you are growing up 😉

    Reply
  4. Kumar Avatar
    Kumar

    Well, I would say you have gained more than you have lost.

    1) Wrong SMS – now you must have experienced first hand that even the consequences of big mistakes don’t are not as bad as we imagine.
    2) Not a grammar Nazi anymore – good, you automatically become more likable by others
    3) Incoherent speaking – When you were young, you argued and debated swiftly because there was far less thought put in to what you were debating, it must have been debating for the sake of debating rather than to arrive at the most logical conclusion. Now, you seem to be thinking more, that naturally translates in to talking less and stuttering.
    4) 200 thirukural – Mindlessly remembering a string of words is not important to you anymore. I am sure you can now contemplate the meaning and applicability of each of those kurals better than you could have ever done a few years back

    A thinking person only gets better with time and that will be the case with you as well.

    I have a two year lead over you and so I might always be a tad bit smarter in comparison 😉

    Reply
    1. ranjanik Avatar
      ranjanik

      Thanks Kumar.

      That’s definitely a fresh new perspective! 🙂

      Reply
  5. psankar Avatar
    psankar

    Throw away your smartphone and get a nokia 1100 or some such dumb phone. You will automatically start improving your memory capacity to old levels. When searching for information (smartphone) takes less time, brain discards storing the information in itself. Experiment for one week.

    Tata sky ? Periya panakkaranga neenga. I have local cable connection where I pay 250Rs. per month with a set-top box and get more than a dozen tamil channels (kalaingar murasu etc. does not come even in my hometown in tn) Video quality is also very nice even on a 32 inch tv.

    Reply

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