You shouldn't have to have money to have luxury fragrance ~ Lady Gaga. When I read this quote in a magazine few years back, I was not sure what it meant. It took me many lonely days to realize its significance. Being alone in an alien land, you certainly know what you are missing. Rain doesn't smell good here. Even summer is not that sweaty. Everything is just perfect, which reminds me of the lines I wrote a couple of years back -
'It's perfect here, too perfect for me.
Like dead flowers, adorned as potpourri.'
When I saw the 'Smelly Air to Smiley Air' contest by Ambi Pur on Indiblogger, the first thought that came to my mind was a song - Smelly Cat from Friends. But after that, memories came rushing in...
- Of mothballs and woolens - I loved when my mother used to take out or put back woolens on the arrival or end of winter. I happily volunteered to pack/unpack. It felt clean to me. I used to dug my face in the sweater and hold it long enough to get the fragrance transferred on my body. It felt so childish but it felt really good.
- Of paranthas in the morning - It was those days when we had only exhaust fans in the kitchen. After cooking two parathas, the house used to be filled with the
smellaroma of desi ghee and spices. As a kid, it was a signal for me to come out of my room and savor at least two butter laden parathas. Good-old-less-fancy days when we never thought of calories. I still miss both; the fragrance and my mother's cooking. To tell you, my timing was always impeccable - coming out of the room like a rat chasing the bread crumbs.
- Of wet soil in summer evenings - During summer vacations, my after nap activity was to re-fill the water cooler and water the plants. I love playing with water and took at least double the time for a 45 minute activity. The best part was the fragrance of wet soil. With folding chairs and table fan in the backyard, my summer evenings were amazing. I think my love for poetry started from there. And yes, very recently I came to know the word of this fragrance - it's called Petrichor.
- Of petrol from Dad's Chetak - Hamara Bajaj was our source of amusement for various reasons. One, if we were going on Scooter, it meant we would go to Purana Bazaar in Ambala with narrow lanes and a treat of chaat and golgappas. And second, the moment Dad opened the tank's lid to check the petrol level, I sticked my nose in his business, I mean literally. I thought it was weird and I had some addiction but later I realized many like it and did so in the childhood. Well, I do it even now.
- Of smelly socks - Well, this tops the list of things I hated. After school, when my brother took off his shoes, what followed next was nose-twisting from my side and teasing from his. It smelled so bad that I demanded that he should rather wash his socks not face and hands after coming from school. It was a task to open the washing machine, in which we stored dirty clothes after he put in his socks. Boy! His feet stinks too.
- Of sticky gum bottle - Near end of all vacations brought a mix of feelings. I loved going to school but the fear of not completing the 'Holidays Homework' was tremendous. I disliked doing project work, completing files and charts. I hated the glue available in those days, we called it 'Gum.' It used to be sticky and the smell unbearable for me.
Ah! This brought back many happy memories. Senses does have unbelievable effect in your lives. Mothballs still reminds me of old iron trunks and petrol reminds me of Chetak. Some may find my choices weird. They would prefer to replace the word smell for fragrance or vice-versa. But, why change anything, just stock some room refresher in your home and ta-da, you are sorted. Find the sea of aromas at www.facebook.com/AmbiPurIndia.
