Table Of ContentThis is one of those rare books that can help all of us with something that is both troublesome
and worrisome – our memory. It does this with ease, not by attempting to teach some exhausting
rote-memory techniques, but in 12 easy and effortlessly smooth steps.
Shakuntala Devi’s down-to-earth writing and encouraging step-by-step approach puts super
memory in reach of everyone. As she says, ‘Take my word. You can start applying my memory-
enhancing techniques immediately, right now. Before you will realize, applying my methods and
strategies will become your second nature.’
Shakuntala Devi has been honing and teaching her memory improvement techniques for more
than 40 years. Super Memory is the result of her life's work, specially tailored to our needs as we
age, and encompassing all of the many ways we can use a better memory every day.
The Author
Born to an orthodox Brahmin family in Bangalore, Shakuntala Devi manifested
an extraordinary love for numbers at a very early age. By the time she was five
years old she had become an expert in complex mental arithmetic. The rest, as
they say, is now history. Problems that took learned men hours to solve, she
could solve in seconds; she could out-speed and out-calculate the fastest of
computers. Put to test in the UK, her admirers and critics alike were left in daze
by her mental abilities. BBC called it a ‘mind-collapsing’ proof of her mental
abilities, and hailed her as an authentic heroine of the twentieth century.
An ardent proponent of the infinite capabilities of the human mind, she
regularly conducts seminars and workshops on ‘mind dynamics’ in which she
demonstrates and teaches techniques for developing the latent potential of
human mind, including a range of memory honing techniques. The feed-back
from these workshops has been enormous, and this book, Super Memory, is born
out of her intense desire to help each of us to benefit from the brain-power we
possess.
She has authored several international bestsellers which have sold millions of
copies worldwide and have been translated into many languages. She is also the
recipient of Ramanujan Mathematical Genius Award, which was bestowed on
her in Washington, USA, in 1988.
www.orientpublishing.com
eISBN: 978-81-222-0507-7
Super Memory: It Can be Yours
© Shakuntala Devi
Cover Design by Vision Studio
Published by
Orient Publishing
(A division of Vision Books Pvt. Ltd.)
5A/8 Ansari Road, New Delhi-110 002
Electronic edition produced by
Antrik ExPress
Contents
The Author
Title Page
Copyright & Permissions
Introduction
Chapter 1. Get Set For An ‘Unforgettable’ Experience!
Throw Out the Mental Clutter
Keep an Open Mind
Rev Up Your Powers of Concentration
Take it Easy!
Check your Diet
Memory Foods: A Ready Reckoner
Check your Alcohol Intake
Get into that Sun
Muscle Up your Memory
Get Good Medical Care
Think you Can — and You Will
Crush These Memory Myths
Do You Lead With Your Eyes or Your Ears or...?
What is Your Orientation?
Workshop Extra
And One Last Thing...
Chapter 2. Think ‘Like Crazy’ — and Remember Like a Wizard!
Mind Pictures: Why we Remember Nicknames Better
How to Remember a List of ‘Things-I-mustdo-today’
Workshop Extra
And One Last Thing: Practise, Practise ... Just Do It!
Chapter 3. How to Remember Names
Whats in a Name? A Great Deal!
Two Kinds of Poor ‘People Memory’
Reinforcing Active Memory: Filing the Name for the Short Term
Reinforcing Super Active Memory: Filing the Name in Your Long-term Memory
Use Absurd Association
Workshop Extra
Chapter 4. How to Remember Faces
Remember the Person by Remembering the Personality
The Eyes
The Facial Features
Distinctive Features
Gestures
Smile and Laugh
The Voice
How to Link the Name to the Face
Chapter 5. How to Remember Telephone Numbers
The Grouping Method
The Rhyming Method
Chapter 6. Memorise the Longest Number in the World!
The Number-Sound Code Explained
Get Set Now for Some Net Practice!
Words to Numbers, Numbers to Words
How to Remember Those L-O-N-G Numbers!
Workshop Extra
Chapter 7. Mind-boggling Card Tricks for Everyone!
Card trick # 1: Who’s Got Which Card?
Card trick # 2: Guess the Missing Cards
Card trick # 3: Guess My Hand
Card trick # 4: Spin off the Sequence
Card trick # 5: Read My Mind and I’ll Read Yours!
Chapter 8. Develop the Memory of a Chess Champion!
Chapter 9. Instant Recall through Classification
How Should You Group?
Catalogue Your Personal Library
Classify Your Clippings
Classify Your Stock-in-Trade
Classify Your Work Material
Classify Your Time
But Isn’t ‘Order’ Inimical to Creativity?
Chapter 10. The End of ‘Absent-mindedness’!
Clear out the Clutter
Have ‘A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place’.
Get into the Efficiency Habit
Cure Yourself of ‘Hurry Sickness’
Don’t Allow Yourself to Become One-Dimensional
Learn to Say ‘No’
Do not Strive for Perfection
Delegate, Delegate!
Live for Today
Workshop Extra
The Best Ways to Take Notes
Keep Two Notepads. Here’s Why...
Self-conscious About Writing? Why?
Chapter 11. A Good Memory Makes A Great Speaker!
Don’t Memorise Your Speech!
Do Put Your Memory to Work on Your Speech
Prepare a Speech Plan
Don’t Worry About Nervousness
Do Look at Your Audience
Do Trust Your Memory
Trust Your Memory’s ‘Reserve Power’
Chapter 12. Memory Tricks and Treats
A Year’s Calendar At Your Finger-tips: The Sunday Treat!
Easy Verse for Recalling Dates: The Rhyming Treat!
Remembering The Right Spelling: The Letters Trick!
Abbreviations As Cues: The Short-and-sweet Treat!
Sentence Formation: The Stand-in Trick!
Two Final Memory Tricks
Workshop Extra-I
Workshop Extra-II
