Postgraduate students at JNTUH discover the science of memory and the excitement of Memory Sport
What was planned as a two-hour seminar at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad (JNTUH) turned into something much more.
A special session introducing Memory Science and Memory Sport was conducted for postgraduate students at JNTUH, with the objective of showing students that memory is not simply an ability we are born with—it is a skill that can be understood, trained and developed.
The session was organised at JNTUH's Center for Biotechnology and was led by Dr. P. Srinivas Kumar, a JNTUH alumnus and Chief-in-Charge of Championships of the Indian Memory Sports Council.
A Distinguished Gathering
The programme brought together academic leadership and a special guest from the United States.
Dr. G. Venkata Narasimha Reddy, Principal, UCESTH, JNTUH, attended as the Chief Guest, while Dr. V. Padmavathi, Vice-Principal, UCESTH, attended as the Guest of Honour.
Adding an international dimension to the programme, Srikanth Thogarchedu, President of Cronus Pharma and based in New Jersey, USA, attended the seminar as the Special Guest.
Srikanth Thogarchedu also shared his experience of using memory techniques to overcome the difficulty of remembering numbers in his professional meetings, and spoke about how he was introduced to these techniques by Dr. P. Srinivas Kumar.
Introducing Memory Science To Postgraduate Students
The session went beyond the usual idea of memory as simply remembering what we study.
Students were introduced to the principles behind Memory Science, including techniques that can help organise, encode and recall information more effectively.
For postgraduate students, who routinely deal with large volumes of academic information, research material, presentations, technical terminology and data, the session demonstrated how memory techniques can become a practical learning tool.
The importance of such techniques in academics was also highlighted during the programme, with the potential to help students handle and recall large amounts of information more effectively.
The Two-Hour Seminar That Didn't End At 1 PM
The seminar was originally scheduled from 11 AM to 1 PM.
But something unexpected happened.
The students simply did not want the session to end.
Instead of concluding at 1 PM, the interaction continued after lunch and went on until around 5 PM.
That four-hour extension became one of the most memorable aspects of the programme.
Postgraduate students are not always easy to engage for an entire day through a conventional seminar. Their academic schedules are demanding, and maintaining their attention beyond the scheduled duration can be challenging.
Here, however, the students' curiosity kept the session going.
What began as a two-hour introduction became a full-day exploration of memory techniques and Memory Sport.
When Memory Sport Came Alive
One of the highlights of the programme was a live memory demonstration by Dhruv Thogarchedu.
The demonstration gave students an opportunity to see memory techniques in action rather than simply hearing about them.
Dhruv Thogarchedu, who was based in New Jersey, USA, demonstrated his memory abilities live before the audience, leaving the students amazed.
For many students, this was perhaps the moment when Memory Sport stopped being an abstract concept.
They could actually see what trained memory could accomplish.
From Memory Science To Memory Sport
The seminar also introduced students to the competitive side of memory.
Memory Sport transforms memory training into a structured competitive discipline, where participants develop techniques to memorise and recall information under specific conditions.
The session helped students understand that memory training is not restricted to examinations or academic learning.
It can also become a skill, a discipline and a competitive pursuit.
The event also connected naturally with the upcoming Indian National Memory Championship 2024, with students being encouraged to explore the possibility of participating.
A Vision That Began At JNTUH
For Dr. P. Srinivas Kumar, the programme carried a special significance.
As a JNTUH alumnus with a Ph.D. in Biotechnology, returning to the university to introduce Memory Science and Memory Sport to students represented an opportunity to connect his academic background with his larger mission.
His vision was to take Memory Sport across India, identify talented individuals, provide them with training and eventually see an Indian athlete win the World Memory Championship.
The JNTUH programme was therefore more than a standalone seminar.
It was another step towards bringing Memory Science and Memory Sport closer to students and educational institutions.
More Than A Seminar
The most significant outcome of the programme was perhaps not a particular demonstration or presentation.
It was the curiosity it created.
A session that was supposed to last two hours continued for almost an entire day because students wanted to learn more, ask more questions and experience more.
That response demonstrated something important:
When students are given an opportunity to experience learning differently, curiosity can take the session much further than the timetable ever planned.
From 11 AM to 1 PM on the schedule, to 11 AM to 5 PM in reality, the JNTUH session became a memorable introduction to the possibilities of the human memory.
And sometimes, the best seminars are the ones where the audience simply doesn't want them to end.
Learn. Train. Compete. Inspire.
Indian Memory Sports Academy continues its mission of taking Memory Science and Memory Sport to students, educational institutions and communities across India.
