Memory gives people their special identity but it deceives too

Without memory, language, relationships and even an individual identity would never have developed. Related to the neuron, memory is a data processing system. Particularly, working memory serves as a processor capable of encoding and retrieving. What would have happened if forgetfulness ruled in the absence of any memory, plunging the past and the present into an abysmal vacuum or darkness! Not only human beings but also other animals would not develop and Darwin's theory of evolution and even civilisation did not come into being.

There are individual and collective memories. An individual may have the memory of something that came his or her way for a fraction of a second. Such personal memories are diverse and wide. There are, however, memories to be treasured. But not all are treasured memories, some are treacherous too. Every individual has a surfeit of both. Some may admit openly how sweet their memory of a particular period or event was! Then again, they can in equal measure express their bitter memories of some incident or relationship. Usually, people cherish the memories of their childhood unless they are not born to hapless families.

Jilted lovers are overtaken by the happy and at the same time painful memories. Betrayal can lead to one's self destruction or great achievements. It depends on the frame of mind. Even highly promising people can go totally out of mind in order to forget the pangs of separation from the beloved. They seek distraction into some pernicious addictions to their slow but sure self-annihilation. The younger among them are prone to taking the ultimate decision for ending their lives. It is because the memories are unbearable to them.

Happily, some use the estrangement of relations as an inspiration for highly creative genres of human achievement. For example, John Keats was rejected by Fanny Brawne and this only spurred the exceptionally gifted poet to give the world some of the best poems ever written by anyone. Maitreyi Devi and Mircea Eliade also immortalised their lost love by their respective novels they fashioned on their treasured memories. There are others who opted to remain single only to perform exceptional service to the humanity by way of their invention, discovery and other creative works.

As a sensory processor, memory is capable of performing explicit and implicit functions. This is because some memories have to be rejected outright and some stored for retrieval. But yet there are memories that suddenly flush upon mind without even the slightest hint of desire for those. This is the result of implicit functioning of memory people are not aware of. Maybe, just some remote associations not quite clear to the mind help retrieve those. They are embedded in the subconscious mind and are rarely active. Thus some long forgotten faces or incidents can stage a comeback after 50-60 years.

Individual memories can at times betray the person involved. The same incident can have different versions from eye-witnesses. It is the varying perspectives of view that make the difference. In extreme cases, hallucination or witnessing mirage of someone or something one fondly loves or dreads can appear. Like an apparition, the unreal becomes real and one tends to believe in the supernatural which may be permanently etched into mind. Even a simple sight, a person, a place or an occasion one has never known, visited or attended to can appear in the memory as if it was real. Mind is a magical box that unfolds unlimited treasures for the memory to savour or shrink from.

On the contrary, encapsulated collective memory does not bother for minute details. But they provide for the backbone of tradition, culture, folklore, fables, fairy tales, taboos, myths and even the history of a people. Fairy tales, rites and rituals of communities have enduring appeals for children because of the collective memory inherited throughout generations. Recorded history is different because it has tried to be as authentic as it can be.

Unfortunately, myths are at times passed as history. Early histories everywhere did not follow the strict rule because of a lack of verification and memories often deceived the historians. More importantly, history of the dusky period of human civilisation is about kings and emperors and it is mostly written to eulogise the valour of the conqueror and in rare cases of the vanquished. So the collective memory also builds on fabricated stories because hardly anyone ever challenged the facts and figures. Some historians, however, secretly recorded the things as they happened and those divulge the lies they themselves passed as history in order to please the powerful king or emperor.

Finally, it is prudent to note how forgetfulness can set with age as against such kingly deliberate misrepresentation of information and facts. When age catches up with, forgetfulness is a natural outcome. Forgetting names and some essential details comes as a natural process. But where it hurts is the failure to recollect if the eye drop has been administered or the scheduled medicine was taken on time. There are other more serious embarrassing situations on account of forgetfulness in old age. Thus the elderly people need particular care during this time and this is a duty the young ones ought to take on themselves to religiously perform.