"Dates fascinate me. And I don't mean the edible ones or the jaunts that people go on. What I am referring to are the actual dates on a calendar," says Darius Daruwala. He's quite used to people testing his talent, and as I give him the date, month and year of birth of a friend, in a few seconds he tells me what day of the week that was. I test him once more, and in a flash he tells me the day again!

It started when Darius was 7. "We had a calendar on the wall where the dates were in big, bold black print. During my summer vacation in the afternoon I would stand in front of it and study it. Today I take a calendar and randomly go through it. The days and dates just get registered in my mind. Playing with them is like a game for me, a hobby," says 32-year-old Darius, who works in an MNC as a customer service executive.

Darius can tell you in seconds what day your birthday fell on if you give him the date, month and year starting right from 1955 onwards. (Anything before that, Darius needs a few more moments to calculate.) He can also tell you what day your birthday would fall on in the coming 10 years. With equal ease, he can tell you what day all events, festivals and holidays fell on in the past 12 years. He is simply never wrong! At work, colleagues test him often, and are amazed at his accuracy.

With this gift, Darius would invariably get full marks when it came to dates in history! He can even rattle off the time, date and day in 1980 on which his uncle purchased his new car. "My uncle must have forgotten it but it is still so fresh in my memory. It all simply registers here, and I can recall it in an instant," he says as he points to his head. On a parting note Darius says: "If I meet you after 10 years, don't be surprised if I can tell you the day you came to meet me."

Darius can be contacted at 56286298

Khursheed Dinshaw