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At 82, he has the memory of an elephant

Dubai - Sometimes in life being weak actually becomes the key to becoming strong and this is what is the story of the Indian genius.

People say that as we get older it's harder to remember things and our memory tends to degrade. However, Indian Dr Francis Xavier at the age of 82 is known as the pioneer of memory movement in India. The octogenarian is known to have successfully trained many students and trainers in sharpening their memory in the last five decades. And he is visiting Dubai to train students and their parents in a unique memorising technique he calls the Memory Filing System (MFS) that, he says, can sharpen one's ability to memorise.
Talking about the technique, he said: "A person with average intelligence can learn it in a week and an intelligent person in two days. MFS acts like a filing system. Through this, facts can be stored in the memory and retrieved without difficulty when needed, using creative memory methods."
Sometimes in life being weak actually becomes the key to becoming strong and this is what is the story of the Indian genius. The story of Dr Xavier is remarkable because despite of his adversities he overpowered his weakness and conquered it. Dr Xavier, who passed all his exams in third class grades as by birth inherited a very poor memory, was rejected for the post of a high school teacher, attributing to his unimpressive physical personality. But instead of falling in to despair, innovated a powerful technique called Memory Filing System.
He went on to study further and became a college lecturer and among other achievements, wrote fifteen books on diverse topics published in several Indian and international languages. His publishers are reputed international publishers like Tata McGraw Hill, McMillian, Jaico, Pustak Mahal and ATC.
Addressing the media in Dubai before starting his training courses, Dr Xavier, who hails from Tamil Nadu India, said: "Anyone can improve their memory skill, by using these special techniques that transformed a poor mediocre student (himself) in his primary classes in to an author.
At this age also, Dr Xavier can recollect 100 telephone numbers. He can register and recall even 100 digit numbers within a short spell of 7-8 minutes, he remembers more than 100 telephone numbers, 400 stories, the entire periodical table with atomic weight and several other things. He is also capable of remembering 2,200 years calendar. Further, he can also tell the first Sunday of the month for all these 2,200 years. (1800 - 4000 AD).
 "Tension and stress can affect anybody's memory power and even in this digital era where everything is available through Google or other digital platforms, good memory makes it easy to study and learn any topic," he said adding that while his memory is fading in his eighties, the techniques that he developed help him easily retrieve numbers dates or other information stored in his brain.
"Most people use only a fraction of their mental capacities. One needs to develop one's capacities by removing mental blocks. And that's what my training programmes motivate people to do," said Dr Xavier.  Dr Xavier's memory seminar is brought to the UAE by Future Point Children Centre which was established in 2004 with a vision to empower children in mental arithmetic and communication skills, which play important role in boosting the students confidence levels.
Xavier's memory sharpening technique
MFS is a combination of techniques that helps store and retrieve information stored in human brain. He says anyone with average intelligence can master his techniques within a week and an intelligent person within two days.
Dr Xavier can recall and remember:
> 100 telephone numbers.
> 100 digit numbers within a short spell of 7 - 8 minutes,
> About four hundred stories,
> The entire periodical table with atomic weight and several other things.
> 2,200 years calendar.
> Can also tell the first Sunday of the month for all these 2200 years (1800 - 4000 AD)
sathish@khaleejtimes.com