Old Blog 4: Are You Creepy?

I think I’m a creep.

I have a photographic memory and let me tell you a windy story of how it creeped someone out.

Many years ago, I visited IITB for its annual cultural fest (mood-indigo). I had fought with my father to visit, and won after a tearful battle because he wouldn’t let a girl go alone to Mumbai.

After the battle was won, I went out of my birdcage for the first time. It was such a shining experience, that I remember everything that happened those 2 days, including what I was wearing, the people I met, and the conversations I had, like how the girl sitting in front of me was complaining about the maggie pakoda being ‘stale’. It has all been etched in my memory. 

But the algorithm to read/write information into my head fails often. It sometimes skips writing info on important facts and people, or writes too much of it.

So, let me tell you another story of a day in Atlanta. I was introduced to and spent many hours next to a friends friend, a young lady, lets call her "K", at a Kathak show. 

About a month later I met K at a friend's house. My memory failed me. I lost all recollection of her existence…..I didn’t remember her name or face. Please note, loveable readers, that I made it a point to tell her:

‘Sorry, I don’t remember you at all!’ 

which is precisely what an intelligent person does right? Well, K got angry and stopped talking to me, and even better, her boyfriend stopped talking to me too!

So why am I telling you this now?

Last night, I was invited to my friend's place in California. As soon as I step through the door, whom do I see? I see the girl whom I had stayed with during my visit to IITB. I remembered everything about her. In that instant, I told her: 

1) Her name

2) Which school she went to 

3) Where she’s from

4) and that she was rearranging furniture in her room, during the 2 days I was in Mumbai. 

By this point, I had crossed the line from being amiable and friendly to being a creepy freak.

I had this sense of deja vu. (I did this once before to some random guy I met at a friend's house, who mentioned his PhD thesis (it was about DFX). I met the same guy 2 years later with the same friend; the bell in my head went off, and I told him I remembered which school he went to, and loudly recalled his PhD thesis topic DFX. He freaked out.)

I must learn to contain myself when it comes to identifying people. 

I offend or scare people away so I will implement this newfound algorithm, as a bandaid to the badly designed algorithm that is innate to me.  Next time you meet me and I say I remember you, don't believe it :) Here's my algo

Stay safe people.