Allow Ann to Babble, Please!

In the vast landscape of our cognitive abilities, memory is a cornerstone, having immense influence over our academic, professional and personal endeavours. The key to having a sharper memory is not merely memorising everything, but rather enhancing our overall cognitive capability by training our minds using various memory techniques. Some of these techniques I practise (or try to practise) include: Mastering Visualization: Imagine a bright pink strawberry, glistening with water droplets. The vividness of this mental image is precisely the potency of our visualization power. This technique involves creating mental pictures that are not only clear but also strikingly memorable. When given the task of remembering items, try to create a sequence of mental images that are easy to recall which will be imprinted in your head. Mnemonic Devices: These devices turn seemingly complex information into easily digestible nuggets. Acronyms, rhymes and associations are included in these devices. For...

'Little Women', a classic novel by Louisa May Alcott was adapted into a movie under the direction of Greta Gerwig (one of my absolute favourite directors of all time) in the year 2019. It portrays the lives of four sisters- Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy- navigating love, aspirations, and societal expectations during the Civil War era. The film beautifully captures their individual journeys and the evolving dynamics of sisterhood. Jo March, who is the second of the four March sisters, is the protagonist who aspires with every fibre in her to become a well-acclaimed writer. It's even more interesting how the character of Jo is actually based on Louisa May Alcott herself, making the story sort of a semi-autobiography. Played by Saoirse Ronan, Jo is portrayed as an extremely independent woman, challenging the gender roles and the restraints placed upon women in society.  Even though the whole movie is something that strikes the very depths of our hearts, there is one particular monolo...

Procrastination has been my number one enemy for as long as I can remember. Yet, I haven't been able to completely cut ties with it no matter how much I've tried to. It's almost like I have attachment issues with it like none other. Like, imagine me in the place of a wife who suffers daily due to an abusive husband (which is procrastination here) yet seems to never really muster up the courage to leave him because he's all she has and all she knows. Yeah, that's the relationship I have with this unruly habit of mine. Once you take a look at the number of alarms I set to wake up in the morning, you'll understand the grave extent of this. Even though I wish to wake up at five in the morning and be a bit more productive and peaceful right from the day's start, I snooze and I stop, I snooze and I stop, all the alarms ranging from 5:00, 5:15, 5:30 right until 7:30. It's only then that I allow myself to fully wake and it's only by my 7.45's alarm that ...

 When most people my age are asked about how they first came into contact with Greek mythology, their answers usually end up being Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson book series. But in my case, it's not that. And I don't necessarily mean this as a flex but what made me fall head over heels for the complex tapestry of Greek mythology is Madeline Miller's (absolutely brilliant writer, she is) 'The Song of Achilles.' And oh man oh man, the way that book is one of the most soul-crushing yet beautiful literary pieces to ever exist on this planet! It's the way you know that the story of Achilles, the famous Greek demi-god, is an absolute tragedy, yet Miller's story-writing skills make you pray to every form of divinity to not let it end so. And I think that's an elevated level of tragic experience to the readers in itself- to know how it ends, to know it's not actually rainbows and unicorns, yet (YET!!) to be forced to wish upon every dying star to save the...