Note: This article about my recent talk was published about by the Times of India, here. I share it here, unedited. More coverage of my talk can also be found in this article from The Hindu.

CHENNAI: Imagine a loaf of bread soaked in milk, grains of rice bouncing
off an umbrella or a hot boiling cup of coffee being poured over your
mobile phone. Instead of remembering these objects mentioned
individually in the form a list, placing them in a visual and spatial context
makes it automatically easier for your brain to remember them, according
to international memory athlete Daniel Kilov who interacted with students
at Anna University on Wednesday.

Kilov, who has won several memory championships, spoke during the
international techno-management fest of Anna University, Kurukshetra, on
the campus.

“The language of memory is association. There are two ways to remember – one is through memory for things and other being
memory for words. Don’t treat your memory as a filing cabinet but as a laboratory where alchemy takes place,” said Kilov. He
stated that practising recalling and testing ourselves over and over again was a better technique for embedding long-term
memory rather than even writing. He also encouraged using mnemonic techniques like the ‘method of loci’ which is based on
linking something to a place you are familiar with to embed it in your memory.

The fest was inaugurated by governor Banwarilal Purohit who said the fest will help bring about more industry-academia
exchanges. Higher education minister K P Anbazhagan, who was also present, said the university was taking up all
preparations to conduct the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions online for the first time this academic year.
This 12th edition of the fest which will continue till February 3 will feature more than 35 competitive event.