Telepathy for the non-believers

Hello Thane of Cawdor my friend Gulan greeted me and I went very still Goosepimples broke out along the nape of my neckAn hour earlier while driving Id passed some cows and among other things had been reminded that methane from cattle farts accounted for a part of global warming The word methane had reminded me seamlessly of Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor The phrase Me Thane of Cawdor had floated into my head briefly MeThaneAn hour later Gulan could not explain why she had used those particular words to greet me She murmured something about the flux someone else spoke of synchronicity I wondered for the entieth time in my life is this the big T again Are we talking Telepathy hereFortunately for me Ive never had any difficulty believing that we dip into each others minds all the time Since my schooldays Ive believed that we are innately telepathic Ive had far too many experiences that have refused to be explained in any other way1973 was a telepathic year for me My school friend Dr Sugata Mitra who would later go on to win the TED 2013 prize of a million dollars visited me in my penurious Calcutta loft excited by some tests his father had brought back from a Russian institute of parapsychology The tests were used to gauge the telepathic potential of people who walked in claiming to be mind readersIts a simple experiment requiring two people to sit comfortably in the same room not quite facing each other While one telepathically transmits a geometric figure chosen randomly from five mdash a triangle a circle a cross a square and waves mdash the other will try to receive it Both will record what was sent and received Each round has 20 triesSee explained Doc my father says its a little like like talking to someone in a language they dont understand You must assume that your transmitted thought reaches at once The problem is that to the receiver it feels like one of his own thoughtsA success rate of about 20 per cent is considered mathematically insignificant However the higher your score goes over 20 per cent the better the chances that some extrasensory business may have been going onDoc and I scored around 70 per cent consistently Not only were we school chums but now it looked like we could also read each others minds Could we broadcast to others Might we be able to make people do things mdash against their will perhapsBoggled by the implications we rushed to Calcuttas Deshapriya Park before darkness fell It was sweltering summer and the park was full of people mdash couples students families sportsmen We sat down in their midst and began to beam telepathic instructions at them Simple stuff like mdash shift from your left elbow to your right look at your watch straighten your back look up at the skyIn every case the subjects followed our instructions exactly usually within a few minutes There was a pattern almost as soon as wed start thinking thoughts at someone he would become restless as if something indefinable was bothering him Hed fidget shift about and glance around until almost by chance hed arrive at the position or action we intended always with great naturalnessAfter that peace would descend upon him againDoc not prone to fuzzy thinking and totally free from confirmation bias thought our success could be explained without parapsychology I suggested we try to make someone do something impossibly absurd Fifteen feet away facing away from us his terylene shirt stuck to his enormous back with sweat sat a lone Bengali Reach back and touch the middle of your spine we commanded him That sounded about as farfetched a gesture as anyIt took him about three restless minutes before he did what wed suggested Straightening up he reached behind to the middle of his back got hold of his sweatsoaked shirt and aired himself a bit It was an utterly natural move no one would have dreamt he was acting under ordersI believe you can develop your telepathic muscle through practice Work with a friend in a quiet place without pressure There are no rules really except that you should not strain either to send or to receive All sorts of random images and thoughts will normally flow through your mind Do nothing whatsoever about them Observe them almost idly and wait without waiting if you can do thatSuddenly without much notice when youre not trying at all one thought will stand up and say MeAnd that will probably be telepathyIm interested in other peoples brushes with telepathy If you have had any experiences or insights worth sharing please do write to me at cygopigmailcomHere viewed from there C Y Gopinath in Bangkok throws unique light and shadows on Mumbai the city that raised him You can reach him at cygopigmailcom Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paperCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates