Saturday, October 25, 2008

Memories...

Memories are such funny things...the most unexpected ones suddenly pop up out of nowhere. You have completely forgotten some experience or a person and then for no apparent reason you recall everything and the memory is not even blurred...its crystal clear and if only you close your eyes you can see everything that happened in full technicolour. So how and where is memory stored and what makes some memories lie deeply buried? Its awesome, the kind of multi-channel and whacky storage system our brain uses!  

I read in the news the other day that people have found some way by which memories can be erased and this apparently will prove a boon for people who are haunted by bad memories and perennially depressed but would I ever be ready to give up even one of my memories? The grossest, most painful memory still holds a part of a past me and I don't think I would ever want to lose that part...would that not make me incomplete? Perhaps I find it easier to say this since I have not had any really terrifying memory...and most events when looked at as memories appear not as bad as they seemed when I was truly living through those moments. This has been an area that has fascinated story tellers and filmmakers. Two movies I have seen recently that deal with the loss of memory (willingly or by accident) are "Memento" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". I would not say that they have brilliant actors or directors but the stories are so off-beat and crazy that I just kept watching till the end. 

Some memories are beautiful and warm and comfortable and filled with the brightest light and sparkling laughter and a pure happiness while others are tinged with a little sorrow while others still are dark and dangerous and brimming with hatred, yet they are all so "individual" in nature since, what I remember of an experience that I shared with you shall forever be different from your remembrance of it. Its almost as if my memories too make me special.


6 comments:

Manasi said...

Yeah...that movie (Memento) is so well etched in my 'memory'. You know what's the craziest thing about memory: You don't have the ultimate power to decide whether a particular incident will be more remembered than the other.
Love to read your blogs. Keep blogging.

Mukta said...

thanks manasi for tht :) and yes, Memento is deeply etched in my memory too, if only for the fact that watching it was such a tortuous process...hehehe. Though I must thank Onkar, coz otherwise I would have never gone on my own and seem the film!

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Adwait said...

great blog...this is wot i heard about memories- memories,strange things,they crowd around u wen u r alone but leave u alone in a crowd..
keep blogging...

Prajakta said...

I completely agree on the 'individuality' of each memory and how precious each one is for it becomes the part of your personality as it evolves. I really like to look back through the memories, rather sometimes it just happens involuntarily.
I would never like to discriminate between good and bad memories, each one is equally valuable once you get over the anguish and excitement of potentially bad and good memories respectively.

Suneel Madhekar said...

Never seen Memento... Our experiences are an important factor in defining us, and our memories are what are left of those experiences. So, our memories, are an integral part of what defines us. Though, in normal circumstances, none of us would want to erase any memories, there might be certain special circumstances, like a psychological or psychiatric condition, where it might be necessary to erase memories...