“I am blogging for #SmellyToSmiley activity at BlogAdda.com in association with Ambi Pur

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Bedtime was special while growing up and my brother and I looked forward to the tales my folks told us before “lights out”. Growing up at a time when there were distinctly girl stories and boy stories, my mother made sure my brother and I got our fair share of gender specific stories. My brother’s favourite was “Jack and the Bean Stalk” and he used to wait for the giant to roar “Fee Fie Fo Fum I smell the breathe of an Englishman.” His anticipation was palpable as Jack clambered down as fast as he could and chopped down the beanstalk in the nick of time!

Indeed, smells are dead giveaways and like the Giant,  I could tell a mile away what was cooking in whose house. I could also figure out who was the last person to have used the lift and always tried to guess the name of the perfume I could smell. Infact I used to have a sensitive nose – such a sensitive one that even clean water had a strange, clean smell – almost metallic and would go crazy with certain smells – like the smell of fish that came in with low tide or the smell of diesel fumes from the neighbouring bus stop. But strangely enough, after my babies were born, my sense of smell diminished and now only really strong smells affect my olfactory receptors. Perhaps this was nature’s way of protecting me from the natural odors of pee and poo that I had to deal with while washing baby bottoms and I used this opportunity  to upgrade my personal perfume preferences from the mildly fragrant lavender, lily and rose to the stronger and more robust musks and oriental jasmines.

Luckily (or unluckily as the case may be), this deadening of odour receptor nerve cells hasn’t completely killed all sense of smell and there are some smells that leave me on a positive high –

the aroma of rice cooking  – Basmati or Ambemohar that wafts through the house just before meal times,

the sharp smell of  toast burning or chapati as it  browns on the gas,

the clean smell of Lyzol  for swabbing my floors,

the gentle smell of baby  while my grandson is bathing,

the citrusy smell of aftershave that my husband loves to splash on, after he leaves the bathroom scented with Mysore Sandalwood soap,

the scent of lit incense stick mingling with the oil wick lamp comes from the pooja room,

the smell of freshly ironed clothes that are piled up on my bed,

the crisp fragrance of green vegetables, coriander and mint,

the smell of ripening mango that cries “Come, Eat me Quick!”

the smell of wet earth with the first shower of rain,

the smell of clothes whirling clean in the washing machine,

the smell of vanilla when the cake’s getting done ,

the smell of cheese melting, of sausages sizzling, of garlic and ginger and all kinds of spice, of saffron and cinnamon and everything nice.

But what about the few times when the smells in my house are horrible too?

like

the yucky smell of toe jam when socks are removed

the unmistakable “eau de toilet” of an unflushed commode

the damp smell of clothes in an endless monsoon

the head splitting stench of a freshly painted room

Or furniture polish that just won’t go.

the strong smell of ghee as it bubble on the gas

the eye smarting smoke from a red hot tandoor

the smell of burnt egg left to boil in a pot

A rat that’s been dead or a stinky blue cheese

of prawn shells and fish bones and over ripe bananas

Jackfruit and guavas and other fruit that do stink

The odour of mothballs and musty carpets

On the rare occasions that these awful smells do permeate the house, I have a very simple remedy – open up all the windows, turn on all the fans and generously spray a room freshener that leaves the house smelling nice. Then I tackle the offending smelling object and empty out dustbins and garbage that’s rotting , I sun the blankets and carpets and throw out the fruit, and as for that dead rat………he’s out like the cheese.

Before a party, I make sure that I have a can of Jasmine Air freshener to spray in case I can’t find fresh jasmine and mogra in the garden. I love leaving platters of these flowers to infuse the air with their refreshing fragrance. Apart from flowers, I like to use scented candles that add a special magic to the celebrations at night when there flickering flames dance on the walls. My cupboards have cakes of ODONIL, my linen cupboards sachets of pot pourri and for the bathroom I always use electronic air freshener dispensers

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As for smelly socks – I soak them in hot water and washing soda before washing them out and sun drying them.

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