Fragrance of memories...

Fragrances…more than what they are, they are more about what they bring to us.
The people, places, memories , feelings associated with them.
Written many times, many places, I take the tag too, here.


The first rains on the parched earth…this might be the most clichéd fragrance liked by almost all. What is it about the smell of the earth at the first rain that is so enchanting?
May be it emphasizes the saying that we come from, we return to and we all belong to the earth. Even I don’t know what it is about, but it takes my mood to a different level, which I may describe as mystic?

The fragrance of the starched clothes, dried in the sun. May be one of the sweetest memories from my childhood would be helping my mother dry her long cotton sarees in the sun.
Once starched, the saree is stretched out with me holding one end of it and mother at the other end and drying out in the sun. The modern day instant starches or the drier machines may have made life easier , but that sweet memory lingers along with the fragrance. And may be that could be one reason, I feel pictures of clothlines with clothes stretched out, a beautiful one.

The smell of coriander powder. The most basic ingredient to many of the Kerala dishes. The reminder of feasts..Christmas, Easter, special days. I know, some people may think it quite queer to consider the mundane smell of something so trivial as one of my favorites. But for me, the smell of Coriander is the first sign of something good in the making. The delicacy, however good it may smell, however good it may taste, the smell of the coriander from where it starts captures me more.


Strong coffee. Along with the fragrance of the coffee comes the feel of its addiction. May be its because I am addicted so much to coffee that I love the smell of coffee beans and fresh strong coffee. Be it to console my depressed mind, or to enjoy something sweet secretly, or to enjoy the rain, or to let out my anger over something, or to celebrate my solitude…I depend so much on coffee…and hence, may be, the smell of coffee enthralls me.


The smell of Cuticura powder. The smell of my mother. It may have been a wedding, the Sunday morning church or the first show at the cinema. The few occasions she gets ready to go out. Fresh from bath , sun dried saree and the cuticura powder. It’s the warmth, it’s the presence, it’s the touch. Its mother.


Rubber sheets put up under the chimney to be dried. I don’t know how many of you could recognize this smell…but for me it’s the smell of vacation. The smell of summer. The smell of my childhood. The smell of my roots. The dark rooms in the house and the dark courtyards outside. The kitchen where the fire and the smoke never died down. The bananas and the rubber sheets tied up above the stove to be dried. The togetherness of a joint family.


Medimix soap – Well, I have never been able to keep away those little craziness and this would be one of them. I feel the fragrance of medimix soap is one of the most romantic one I know of. No, I do not have any memory to associate with the smell , or any people…but for no reason, I love its fragrance.


Frankincense – {I googled the term } – Chirstmas night. I have been to the midnight service in church only a few times in my life but there is nothin else that comes to my mind as strong as the memory of the christmas night at church , with the smell of frankincense. The cold night, the sound of crackers and carols…the christmas star…the chirstmas crib…the twinkiling small bulbs and the content mind as I kneel down…pure bliss.


I may have missed so many of my memories…and hence so many fragrances…the smell of new books, the smell of slate pencils…the smell of Rexona and Cinthol soaps, the smell of broot, the fragrance of jasmine flowers, the smell of nutmeg, the smell of amrutanjan are all memories…old and new…fresh and torn apart…may be if not for the fragrances, I would lost the memories too, long ago…

Anyone want to continue?...