Old Spice

There was someone else in the ladies compartment yesterday wearing Old Spice. And it wasn't me. The whiff of that fragrance brought back locked away memories of my father, images of my brother, of a friend long ago who gave me a bottle...... What is it about fragrances that can bring back instant images of good times, favorite people and places long forgotten? And how come we (at least I) don't usually associate 'bad' smells and memories?!!

A whiff of jackfruit takes me to Mangalore, summer holidays, my grandmother.... a hint of freshly baked bread takes me to a bakery in Frankfurt, lilies take me to funerals...

Images and sounds also have a similar effect, though not as dramatic : a crisp white t-shirt usually, for some very strange reason, takes me back to college and a dusty classroom on the 3rd floor with antique benches that left marks on clothes, especially during the rains; a strain of Swan Lake reminds me of a ballet that we did in the ninth standard - the words that we put to the tune still very fresh even after all those years; strong coffee will forever make me think of home and my mother; shirts with checks remind me of Mr.R and pink umbrellas of the song that a bunch of madcaps sung for me while watching the movie "1947 - A love story", eons ago. It's funny how memories bring back smiles, pictures of long forgotten friends, places and events flash by as if life were a slide-show... fading away rapidly as another one emerges to take its place..... It's not about reminiscing, it's about remembering and forgetting, only to remember again when some unrelated stimulus dredges that memory from the deep recesses of your mind...

I remember whole paragraphs from books I read years ago, yet I can't remember what yesterday's headlines were.....

I have a lovely quote on memory scribbled somewhere, I can even see an image of it in the notebook and I know what the context is, but I can't remember the words! My short-term memory is really short.

But each day brings its petty dust
our soon-choked souls to fill,
and we forget because we must,
and not because we will."
-- Matthew Arnold
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I wake up in the train
a distinct memory of
a smile on my face
the dream fading fast
when eyes opened.

It's sad to lose a dream......