Absent-minded

I am surrounded by people who seem to have elephantine memories!!  All, except me!

My mom seems to remember every thing in painstaking detail much to my discomfort sometimes. So it is impossible to dodge her questions with excuses because she will remember every minute detail that I might have told her. But she is the one who reminds me whether I have my purse, watch, etc with me, when I venture out. She is the one I call before I come back from shopping, to check if I have missed anything. In short I can count on her to be my second (rather First) brain behind my memory for anything and everything. 

Dad seems to have a huge memory too! He can recount incidents from his childhood from when he was as young as 7 or 8 years old! He has always managed to keep us regaled with funny instances and stories. I fail to understand why I cannot recount anything from my childhood! Memories are so blurry that they hardly seem existent. Actually, I cannot recount anything from yesterday, so childhood definitely is light years away. I have to depend on him to tell me what I did! And whatever I know now is only due to the constant repetitions of the tales he has told me.

The other day, my ex-colleague reminded me what a prankster I had been during my stint with the organization. I was at a loss to remember even a single event. ‘You don’t remember anything?’, he asked me.  It was only after he recounted what all I had done, did I remember those lovely days! It is not that I completely forget everything. But someone has to keep jogging my memory all the time!! He also narrated how I had sms’ed  a poem to tell him I’ll be late for the meeting, which went something like this-

“I am stuck in the rain,

In a busy crowded lane..”

blah blah blah…

I did manage to recollect the day and had a hearty laugh. But I also pitied myself for forgetting such beautiful moments.

Thankfully I have had wonderful friends who have kept in touch with me and each of them have their share of amazing memories that they are kind enough to keep sharing with me.

I have often trembled at the idea of having to attend an interview because I am pretty sure I would just blank out as if I have not even attended kinder garden. I am sure I would not be able to answer even the most basic question! Luckily, my first interview was in the midst of my final examination of graduation. And bingo! I made myself and the panel proud but not only performing very well but also landing the job! I stayed long enough in that organization to avoid any interview again for many years. Luckily enough, when I attended my next interview, the panel was too happy to see the bright and chirpy side of me (or so I presumed) and did not ask anything that would embarrass me. Of course, I landed the job this time too!

I realized this when my neighbour’s husband had got transferred and they were moving to Ranchi. She asked me if I knew where Ranchi was. And I stumbled and errr’ed and hmm’d and haw’ed, till she told me, it was the capital of Jharkhand. Of course! I knew it. I had just taught that to my son a couple of days before, for his GK exam! How could I forget that! She told a red faced me, that I need to brush up my geography. How do I explain to her that I need to brush up my memory and not geography!

My mom tells me that I am not forgetful, just absent-minded, whatever that means! She tells me I am multitasking, too much, probably, and that leaves me flustered all the time. I am plain happy there is an explanation to my disorder, if I can call it so. She tells me to keep little stic-it notes handy for all the reminders that I may need. So my house is full of them! You will find little yellow stic-it notes on the larder, kitchen cabinets, doors, mirrors, computer, refrigerator and all possible places! I religiously jot down everything I need to remember.

My forgetfulness also means a lot of forgotten birthdays, anniversaries, appointments, pending works, blah, blah, and blah! And a lot of angry people!

So my mobile is in use not so much for making a call or sending an SMS but for putting in reminders for things to do, birthdays and anniversaries to remember..(psst… I even keep reminders for my favorite shows to watch on television…)

My dad being the optimist he is, tells me it is good for my married life to have a memory like this. True to his words, I cannot remember the fights we have, beyond the night after. Even if I do, the topic of the fight is always lost on me and I can see no reason why I should keep sulking. My hubby is a happy man because he has a crib-free, nag-free wife!

I have often walked to the refrigerator, and stood there with the door open, wondering why I opened it in the first place! I can forget things just like that, in a matter of seconds! Then I have to walk back to from where I have just come, so that I can try to remember it.

Such incidents keep happening, every moment of my life. I put the milk on the gas stove and conveniently forget about it, only to be alerted by the smoke emanating from the kitchen. Oh, yes, I have reprimanded myself for being careless, but somehow have managed to burn the milk every single time!! I have a lot of burnt vessels that were the victim of my forgetfulness!

I can never remember where I have kept my keys, my watch, my purse, etc…though I am pretty sure I kept them in the same place as yesterday( wherever that was!!)

When I have a story developing in my mind, I have to put it to paper immediately or else the idea would be completely lost! Even if I have to write it in the middle of the night, I do it, because it would be completely erased out of my memory by next morning!

I often think whether I would survive alone in this world. That is without my little helpers, my parents, my hubby, my kids, friends, my nose, the little yellow stic-it notes, and my mobile who have chosen to ignore my ant-like memory and help me when I need them.(by the way, that means each moment) . But on the brighter side, like dad says, I find it very easy to forgive anyone because I cannot remember why I am nursing a grudge against them. I might have had a fight one day, and if the same person happens to talk to me next day, as if nothing has happened, well…good for him, I will never hold it up against him (as if I can….)

*Sniff* can I smell something burning? I better rush, before I cause a fire!