This Jain programme can improve your memory, scientists back claim

A programme for improving one's memory that the Jain community has believed in for years has now been scientifically proven. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists have revealed the results of research done on 104 students who followed the Saraswati Sadhana programme for 36 days. The results were revealed in a ceremony organised in Mumbai by the Saraswati Sadhana Research Foundation.

A team of six people, including clinical neuropsychologists Dr Urvashi Shah and Yuvika Kamdar and clinical psychologists Somini Mehta, Tanvi Dingankar, Aishani Desai and Mayuri Jain Kalika, headed the research on the Saraswati Sadhana programme, which was initiated by Acharyashir Naychandrasagarsuri. The programme is aimed at enhancing the memory of students.

It is based on one root mantra — 'om aim namah — used during Saraswati puja. The programme also comprises meditation, mantra chanting with and without music and repeatedly writing the mantra down. The whole programme is supposed to be practised for half an hour daily for 36 days.

The research included students studying between classes VII and IX, who were divided into two groups — a 'controlled group' and a 'Sadhana group'. The controlled group was given tests for 30 days, after which they were asked to practise Saraswati Sadhana, while the Sadhana group was given the tests before and after practising the sadhana. The results derived from both the groups were then scored and compared.

Dr Paresh Joshi, a neurosurgeon who was a part of the team, said, "We have seen a good amount of difference in the children we evaluated. There was a change not just scientifically, but socially as well. We at Jaslok Hospital are planning to give this study a larger platform, with a larger sample size."

At the ceremony in which the results were revealed, two students demonstrated their memory power on stage by repeating 25 words that the audience had suggested. One of the students repeated the words in ascending order while the other did so in descending order. Talking about his experience, one of the students, Vraj Bramhabhatt (17), said, "I did not have interest in studies but I have now become more mature. I have seen a lot of change in myself. I have been able to grasp things more, apart from focusing and concentrating better."