"Perfume became the candle that illuminated memory so it could be relived, reworked, reshaped and tamed."
-- Maggie Mahboubian in Persia, Poetry and Perfume: My Journey Home
The other day when I was in the middle of my golf swing on No. 10 at Tolly, a heady scent wrapped itself around me and I was flown to my childhood as many moments, in forever formed frames, fleeted and filed past in a polychromatic procession. The whiff had come from an adjoining Madhavilata creeper , slung across an iron mesh by the side of the Tee box, much like the two we had in our house in Dhanbad - luxurious green foliages, entwined around the verandah drainpipes, joined at the top to hang like a green canopy interspersed with prints of white, pink, peach and red blossoms.
But more than the sight of that Madhavilata , it was the
Smell unsheathes our individually experienced or episodic memories with greater sharpness and completeness than either sight, sound or even taste can. More than the percussive connect between the mother's heartbeat and the child's ears, it is the smell of close contact, probably due to breast feeding, which is a bigger bond. RD Burman's puja songs - Akash keno dakey, Aami boli tomaey dure thako, Chokhe chokhe kotha bolo - in themselves do not take you the full distance to the para puja pandal unless you have smelt the fragrance from the white and brown carpet of Harsingar ( or Shiuli ) or inhaled the dancing wisps of dhunno . More than the sight of your daughter's school pencils, it could be the scent of the fascinatingly twirly and curly wooden flakes coming out of the sharpener which delivers a stab of nostalgia - conjuring up images of your late Dad doing it for you in your Kindergarten days.
Anyone with a head cold will attest that food " tastes' different when the sense of smell is impaired. Infact, as human beings we possess the quality of 'retronasal' olfaction which sets us apart from all other animals. Okay, no need to honk, I will explain it. It is the ability to send back aromas from the back of our throat to the nose even as we chew food - other animals can smell only by sniffing. Talk to a tea taster, he will explain better. Scent goes in our food as well - especially as the Muslim influenced cuisine in North India uses up a lot of kewra jal, gulab gal, kesar and meethha attar. 80% of perfumes produced in Kannauj, the perfume capital of India, is actually is used up by the gutka and zarda manufacturers
To move on from one end of the alimentary canal to the other, smell has been found to have laxative qualities as well - a friend of mine would pavlovially feel the tenseness in the stomach when entering the bookshop and getting the gust of fresh book odour. This was probably due to the habit of reading books on the toilet seat. And even though out of politeness, or social correctness, people do not talk much about flatulence , the breaking of wind' at the wrong time and place have been occasions of shredding of reputations, levelling of accusations and counter -accusations, much consternation and ,quite often,mirth and jollity. The latest we now have , from the scientists of University of Exeter, is that hydrogen sulphide, (present in flatus in small amounts) could be a possible 'healthcare hero' due its positive effect on the mitochondria which is the powerhouse of our cells( see Times of India dated 12/7/14).
Smell is a boundary marker, the MacMohan or Durand or the Radcliffe Brown line in the lion kingdom. Infact, the development of perfumes in many European countries was to do with the urge of the rich to ward of the body odour on account of infrequent bath- and to a large number of Indians, there is this deep rooted notion that the Firangs bathe, defecate and brush their teeth much more infrequently- hence, the need to perpetually envelope themselves with perfumes, deodorants and mouth fresheners.
But to be fair to them, the charm of fragrance has been an old one . The Egyptians associated them with the gods - infact Nefertum, the God of Perfume was also the God of Healing and can be said to have been the world's first practitioner of aromatherapy which has now become a billion dollar business. Attar or ittar is a common gift in India - presented in small bottles or in cotton swabs on small sticks. Causal theories have been built around impact of ambient odours on mall shoppers emotions, cognition and spending. But what carries forward perfumes to their obsessive popularity is the fact that when it comes to sex and mating, smell is the most important sensory organ .Males and females release pheromones which are odourless chemicals, activated at puberty and produced by glands in the armpit and genitals , and processed throughout the olfactory system, which influence sexual behaviour and attractiveness.
Aromas, fragrances, scents, oils and unguents have been used for centuries to enhance the experience of seduction and lovemaking - Cleopatra's special blend of rose, cardamom and cinnamon , the use of sandalwood oils in Tantric sexual practices to stimulate the second chakra, and even the scent of cows in the cattle raising Dassanetch of Ethiopia which makes the men wash their hands in cattle urine and smear their bodies with manure even as women rub butter in heir heads, shoulders and breasts! In short, fragrances make us desirable and a host of deodorants, splash colognes and perfumes today are marketed as agents to enchant and ensnare the opposite sex.
The ability of a fragrance to make us feel desired , connect us with memories, help us to escape and show our individuality is phenomenal. All these account for making the perfume industry a huge one - perfumes, flankers, eau de cologne, era de toilette, But with desire being a human weakness, the probability of fraudsters and tricksters to make merry on ignorance and gullibility is huge.Perfume samplers hang around like 'urban cowboys', choose their targets, accost them aggressively, glib talk and exaggeratingly flourish the sampling strip with deft fumigation techniques and you are sold as a sucker shelling a few grands for some fruity, nutty, or shitty bottle of perfume.
Tourists are often the prime targets and the fellows did not spare my Bhaiya who had gone to Egypt, famous in Antiquity and no less even now for its perfumes. Unfortunately, he succumbed to the aggressively polite salutations of 'Effendi, Effendi', and was conned into buying bottles of perfume oil from a shop in Khan Khalili AL Azhra . On arrival in India, they turned out to be basically ethanol . For a person who could identify Single Malts by blind tasting, it was particularly bad to be fooled by a type of alcohol.
So I was not expecting any gift from him at a party thrown by one Manguram Sekhsaria he had got me invited to at the Grand the other day shortly after his return to India. I had reached the party earlier, Slick Back Cut and Straight to Heaven-ed, and settled to my first Caol Ila before piling on a quartet from a clutch of Dented Painteds (DPs) who were discussing about Grasse and its perfumeries .
"You know what is petrichor," I asked and paused for the Greek sounding word to form ripples of curiosity and, more importantly, to allow me in.
" What? Is it some kind of moussaka? " the Naughtily Knotted-choli asked, playing with a tendril of hair around her left ear.
" Far from it," I said and proceeded to explain that it is a word coined from Greek which meant scent of rain on dry earth or the scent of dust after rain, that it was derived from two Greek words: Petros meaning stone and Ichor for the fluid flows in the veins of the gods.
"Wow!" the Deep Neck let out ever so slowly, drawing a circle of mauve lipstick with a how well- informed -well -read -despite- being -a -cop wonder in her kohled eyes.
"Oh I just looooove that smell," the Backless Blouse cooed.
"I too looove that smell," the Netted Blouse DP puckered, " but it hardly rains in Delhi."
"Ooh la la!! I can give anything to have a whiff of that mitt ki sondhi sondhi khushboo," the Engagingly Buxom heaved pneumatically to make her presence felt in more ways than one.
"Anything, my Lobongolata?" a familiar voice floated across.
And we all looked around. There was Bhaiya, his not very insubstantial frame covered in a golden Indo- western jacket and black Jodhpuri, his eyes and moustache smiling in competition, and before we could wish him or the Engagingly Buxom lodge a mock protest of " Call me Lovey" , Bhaiya fished out a tiny bottle from his pocket, and rubbed small amounts of attar on the back of the palms of the DPs.
As expected, he did not rub the ittar on me, and I, too, did not let down his wink and proceeded to sniff, snuggle, palm and nuzzle in soft succession.
"Oh My God, it smells like petrichor," we all gushed in wondrous symphony.
"Yes, but this is not Greek, but from Teen Darwaza area of Old Ahmedabad" Bhaiyya said in a matter - of - fact tone.
" This scent reminds me of my last journey to Jaipur when it rained after lunch at Nimrana Fort ," the Netted Blouse started.
"What do you call this?" I asked him, offering a cigarette,a match box, a Talisker and the Engagingly Buxom .
"Oh, this is called Mitti Attar,'' he announced through a smoke, " you can also call it itr-i-khaki."
" More like Attar -i- Akhiri Hansi," I muttered as I saw Bhaiya Last Laugh his way with the Engagingly Buxom in tow.
Vivek, what can I say?You hide your aesthetic self so well behind all your blustering flippancy that sometimes I find it difficult to connect the two. The sights and smells of our privileged childhood, - you have brought it out so well. Each blog gives me a chance to peep into your soul and I feel humbled and honoured. Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lali.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly,like human beings, animals also have their favourite smells- cats like valerian, lions mint and camels tobacco while snakes are known to hang around a host of strongly scented flowering plants alike nagchampa, raat ki rani and champa. In The Enchantress of Florence there is an interesting anecdote of the condemned Niccolo being saved from the elephant Hiran because he had applied on himself a perfume that perfectly synthesised with Akbar's odour.
Haha wah re ‘akhiri hansi’! What a khusbudaar piece this one The dented and painted engaging buxoms adding to the overall kill and thrill of the chase. Now if only I can learn to earn from my copyright I would also be having the last laugh. Brilliant writing with a magician like sleight-of-hand touch, to it.
ReplyDeleteBut mine is a lasting satisfaction to have been liked by you.
DeleteYou know smell is the most sensitive of the senses- it can have a 65% recall after a year as compared to visual recall which may 50% after three months. A woman's sense of smell is much stronger than a man's which probably makes the female of the species more suspicious of the two - infact many have stumbled upon infidelity primarily through smell:)
Very well written.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alok Bhaiya. Some more on smell -while the smell of new leather jacket or pair of shoes makes everyone happy, a new car smells best of all so much so that an artificial 'new car smell' is sprayed inside cars - and BMW has hired two PhD scientists only to ensure that it s newly rolled out cars smell in the correct German way. Different hotel chains and airlines have devised their own scents.
Deleteyou painted the abstract so well,am sure majority of the people might not have given a heed to this lesser utilized sensory organ...will now enjoy more the fragrance and aroma.
ReplyDeleteWell Didi, in some way this blog is a dedication to you because for nine long years you were without any sense of smell and yet you went about cooking and caring for us as if nothing had happened.
Deleteyour concern means a lot to me,not for dedicating the article in a way, but for the dedication you always had had for me,i still remember one of your phone calls from a foreign country where you had come across some medicine in this regard and you wanted to get some for me. i smelt all the love and affection of all my dear ones, all the more in those years when i was not able to smell madhavilata,the kannauji ittar and the french perfumes.
DeleteThanks Vivek once again. Reading you is a pleasure. Good, better, best are futile compliments while categorizing your writings. Fragrance or aroma whatever you may term has been explored in nearly all our myths and I am sure you know it too well. In Mahabharata there was this lady Satyavati who was called Jojon Gandha, i.e. who bestowed fragrance up to 1 jojan (miles, km, calculate that's not my forte. Then again our favorite Draupadi, even she made her presence felt merely by her sweet body odor.
ReplyDeleteWell, smell does travel far and many thanks for these two references. Did Draupadi change her perfumes as per the husband of the day?
DeleteOne more thing,not only within our body, smell travels through inanimate objects faster . Anyone who has kept Scotch bottles within the folds of moth balled quilts would have discovered that the bottle bleeds and the Scotch gets a napthalic odour and a bad stare from the guest.
What a pleasant surprise – a new article just on the heels of the beautiful game and on a completely different flavor (or should I say fragrance). Liked the conversation with alias names – I could almost see the episode in front of me Just the other day I was reading an article on recent research on Alzheimer’s where sense of smell is being used as the prime criteria for early detection. All that science is mind boggling and beats me but the very mention of Madhabilata brought so many thoughts of my childhood days – a tall one grew up all the way to our veranda on upper story. Expensive perfumes may mark social status (though forgettable) but the inexpensive ones – the one rupee bottles – sold in suburban local trains in the 70-s, especially before the Durga Puja, were those that I remember more.
ReplyDeleteIndranil, you are absolutely correct about this loss of smell as a possible precursor of Alzheimer's- primarily because of the close connection between smell and memory. Both are juxtaposed, so it is a possible conclusion that if something is wrong in one, the other is bound to get affected. Read on.
ReplyDeleteThe neural structure of the brain involved in the sense of smell or the olfactory bulb, has a direct pathway in the brain closely associated with the limbic system where reside the funny sounding and seahorse shaped hippocampus and the amygdala which are closely related with memory and emotion respectively.
You will notice that we have two kinds of memory- one is Implicit and the other Declarative which is further sub divided into Episodic and Semantic . Semantic memory might contain information about what a shoelace is, episodic could be about the memory of a particularly favourite fluorescent French Fuchsia shoelaces of sneakers brought by your Dad during a foreign visit while implicit is the memory which allows you tie your shoelace without as much as looking at it consciously and even thinking about that activity.
Papa. I love your style of writing. It's almost poetic how intricately you describe everything. In particular, this piece, where while reading it, one could even enjoy the smell of different perfumes :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Beta!!
DeleteSince, for me, the sense of smell is the only sense that really works, I could really appreciate it, specially, as you said, its ability to transport me to my childhood. Lovely!!
ReplyDeleteOnly sense that works, Nandita?
DeleteI always wondered why sometimes your balance is shaky:)
Jokes apart, thanks very much.
Took me wafting exactly like the molecules dispersing in air, no design, no linearity or pattern but all pervasive. From jogged memories to indulging the olfactory senses to the Khushwant Singh-esque description of the nose-buds. Beautiful trip again Vivek. I can now garv se kaho that I run my nose over a delectable dish before dipping into it.
ReplyDeleteYou spend so much of your life in the open, Anurag. Who would know better than you the power of nature's scent to presage the change in the diurnal 'pahars' as well as seasons and detail the plants and bovine cycles in your farm, the scent of the spread of manure and also of the arrival of lissome farmhands in their swishing ghaghras?
DeleteSmells are powerful. Very informative and lucid piece, Vivek. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThanks Arindam.
ReplyDeleteNice trapeze between the olfactory and the visual. The reader sees with your eyes and feels with your presence.
ReplyDeleteCan't think of any word to praise your writig Vivek! Starting from Madhavilata, travelling through the retronasal phenomenon, to the pheromons and then the ittars... the transition is so beautiful, interesting and intricately woven!
ReplyDeleteThe fragrance of Madhavilata took me down the memory lane... to the beautiful days in Sindri where we too had a big garden full of such divine, delicate beauties. Thanks for the wonderful trip...For sure, nothing can ever match the fragrance of madhavilata, harsingaar, raatraani, beli or mogra.
Talking of retronasal phenomenon, I remember, when we two sisters would not take any medicines or syrups, dad would say, " naak band karo aur pee jaao..".
And not to forget, your bhaiya is simply great! The O'la la of naughtily knotted, netted and deep neck adds zing to the writeup! :-) Well balanced and well put writeup! Just too good!!!!
Thanks Shikha for leaving such a lovely comment.Two things prompted me to write, one was my cousin's battle with anosmia or loss of smell- you can see above in the exchange with Deepa.
ReplyDeleteThe other was , yes, you are correct, Bhaiya who recalled being duped in Egypt. Actually alcohol has been used as a filler with many perfumes and at times adulterated with perfume oils- to the uninitiated, the quick drying and evaporating quality of alcohol causes the fragrance oils to evaporate faster than they would by themselves (up to 10 or 15 times quicker) thereby giving the impression that the Eau de Toilette, Splash Cologne, and Eau de Parfum are 10 or 15 times stronger than it actually is. That's why, when you first put on a fragrance, the aroma may sometimes seem overwhelming to those around you. It is also why the scent is almost all gone within one or two hours. The pure fragrance oils have evaporated along with the alcohol!
How as a child I would suck the sweet nectar off the long stalk of this fragrant flower. That too, along with the fragrance is deep-seated in my memory. Pity, that the flower was not given due respect then, due to its commonality perhaps.
ReplyDeleteVivek, Can’t you get yourself a Madhabilata and let it creepily grow on the trellis and on your nostalgia-ridden memories? I know you got a nice garden to boot. Just asking.
Olfaction, though tiny in humans compared to that of many animals, rules over all other senses for many. It totally controls me for sure…. My dad used to jokingly say that the sense of smell was inversely proportional to the size of the nose, obviously referring to my small flat one (likening it with the people of a particular region). With his shapely Aryan nose he was oblivious to most smells, on the other hand me with a nose no woman would be proud of, but overtly functional. The stench of urine, the odor emanating from a claustrophobic public gathering would attack my senses ruthlessly, as with most of you; but only I would get that faint smell of oshoodh (medicines for the uninitiated) in rosogollas, or a hint of added scent in sweetmeats making them repulsive, and sniff out a smoker from a crowd who probably just had that one puff for God’s sake or cringe my nose with the first sip from that expensive bone china. The odor trail left by the roaches after their dainty walk on that china, could go unregistered, as like many other smells, with many. I can conjure absurd smells in the most unlikely places and a little research would vindicate, all was not unfounded!
This blog like every one of yours is so well written, keeping the balance between humor, information and that unmatched story telling. A treat, like it is always:)
Well, it appears I stirred up memories and emotions of an olfactory genius, Pampa - such detailed illustrations in your lovely comment.
DeleteAs early smokers, we tried to chew guava leaves as an olfactory disguise to dodge parental detection.
I have planted a Madhavilata at at the base of a drainpipe that goes past by bedroom on first floor . But she remains there, trying to jump and flirt but is kept under the confines of strong vigil mounted by her rival Similata!!
Got completely lost in the fragrance and aroma of your distinctive style of writing...beautiful and vivid description of every aspect...completely loved it :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Rohit. Now come out!!
ReplyDeleteAn absolute factory of varied olfactory hues!! What a pleasant read and a yet more pleasant reminiscence of our shared childhood memories. Though slightly belated, the delay may not be misconstrued as anything else except my laziness and tight office schedule of late, coupled with networking problem in my phablet. Happily,this blog of yours has providentially come at a time when I have been alotted a new official bungalow with spacious lawns and gardens, stimulating my thought process to ponder on the choices of fragrant flower beds that I would like to create there. Once again, a beautifully composed piece of artistic flow of words and thought.
ReplyDeleteEvery word smells wonderful Vivek papa. Everytime i read your blog i am either hearing sounds, visualising events, tasting memories, or touching emotions forgotten in humdrum called life. Thank you.
ReplyDelete.I don't know whether you were told this or not in your childhood......As a child I vividly remember at times, sometimes usually in the evenings the atmosphere would be permeated with the sweet smell like that of agarbatti or itr. The elders would tell us softly to remain quiet and not to discuss about the fragrance. The sweet smell would fade within a minute or so. We were told later that the fragrance denoted the visit or presence of some holy spirit then and noise would have disturbed it. I believed.
ReplyDeleteI was also told by many that one must not apply perfume or wear fragrant gajra when going to bed...it attracts the spirits or ghosts....I believed that too. Do spirits or ghosts really get charmed by fragrant spirits??? One really doesn't know! It remains a mystery!
A delightful read!
It is true. Spirits and snakes by sweet fragrances!!
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time, we had a game where we would number 6 glasses and pour 6 varieties of Scotch, one in each. Each brand would need to be identified blind-folded, since some whiskies are also generally identifiable by their colour and consistency by the regulars. Of the two senses at play, the nose was always the first. The winner took home a bottle. Unfortunately now-a-days, games such as these are few and far between, though the competition, I suspect, would be fierce now.
ReplyDeleteOlfactory senses ought to have been inversely proportionate as suggested by Ms B above. Unfortunately they are not. Being blessed with a nose of generous dimensions, my olfactory sensors seem to have mushroomed beyond the permitted area. One of the first expressions I learnt coming into Bengal was "ki gonno". And it managed to upset my hostess, as she hurled her "paati punjabi" comment at me with some choice Bengali expletives. The smell was that of Shutki maachh. Surprisingly, and that was the saving grace, it tasted great !
Another controversial "aroma" is that of the Havana cigar. Dead rats to some of the fairer sex and a come-hither for others. Legend has it that these are hand-rolled on the inner thighs of nubile virgins in Cuba. And where there is smoke..........
Thanks Bro, for the continued and earthy pleasurable reads and might I add, very educational too ! Expecting more......
Belated Fragrant greetings! Once again, how you blend research with the reader-friendly format is simply amazing!! (and do not think i'm usually that generous) Same about your choice of topics.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I do not know the rules of sending across my responses, so bear with me if this sounds nonsensical.
Smelling smells, intrigues me! One can "smell" one's "way back" ( or "way to") in a manner that beats logic. Further, this smell causes the memory to arrange or/and re-arrange to conjure powrful emotions (passion maybe!) I mean, do we stop to even think about what a complicated process that could be?!
Your article does that...unconsciously taking us back and forth in times :) Speak, memory Speak!