Akshatha can teach you how to remember 1,000 cellphone numbers

The Hindu

Mangalore, 19 May 2011: Akshatha, a final year pre-university student in Mangalore, claims to remember up to 1,000 cellphone numbers using a memory technique, which she is willing to tell anybody who wants to learn it.

 

Akshatha

 

She said she has tried informing the Guinness Book of World records and the Limca Book of Records.

 

While the former is yet to respond, the latter has responded, she said.

 

She said at one memory test held by one records’ body, she remembered 100 numbered objects. A room filled with 100 random objects were assigned numbers and she was allowed to observe them for two hours. Later, she was asked in a rapid-fire fashion which number belonged to which object and she was able to recollect all, she said.

 

Appearing as a private candidate, she said she scored 62 per cent in the pre university examination after studying for one week. She opted out of regular school in order to get more time to devote to her interests, which are playing “tabla”, learning to play flute, mimicry, and Carnatic vocal music. She can mimic 85 animals and musical instruments. She learnt the memory techniques from Gopadkar Swaroopa Adhyayana Kendra, she said.

 

At a workshop held by the “Kendra” last week in Mangalore, at least six other students said they could remember mobile phone numbers. Some of them said they could remember upto 30, 50, or 80 phone numbers. However, Akshatha said she could remember 1,000 cellphone numbers. All the students, including her, said that they could recall the number and names any time.

 

She said the technique was no secret. She said, “Anyone can learn the technique. I have no problem telling anyone how the technique is. Even a class 5 student can learn the technique. It is to do with the imagination. It is up to you how you use your imagination to remember the objects, that is all.”

 

She said she wants to study psychology. “But before that, I want to be more emotionally strong as I want to be tough,” said Akshatha.