A summer month, possibly Vaisakh, folio from a Barahmasa series, ca 1750, Rajasthan. In the collection of the Smithsonian.
It’s Spring but here in Pune, Maharashtra, we have had heatwave upon heatwave. It has been too hot to function, I keep falling behind on preparing peoples’ perfumey parcels and my brain has suffered a few glitches. Yet, despite the wilting, I have managed to accomplish a few things. I spruced up my website so the landing page reflects the current season and mood through an eighteenth century folio from Rajasthan. And the Shop page is better organised.
At the top section of our gorgeous art historical painting, the sun is drawn with sharp protruding rays that seemingly zapped the trees of moisture and life. The lack of foliage and shade has left the deer exposed to the four hunters who also appear to be struggling against the sweltering high-noon heat. The hunters rest under the shade of the only green and dense leafy tree, perhaps they splash some water on the towels on their heads while one of them takes a nap.
I have come to love this genre of paintings, not for the depictions of opulence and luxury of the elite but for the ordinary pleasures of ordinary folks that the artists chose to illustrate. Many a folio show figures of men napping in a garden or camping sites under the shade of trees!
“Naptime” is an entire chapter devoted to representations of resting and “doing nothing” within my project Bagh-e Hind.
There are numerous olfactory cues in our chosen painting. The scent of the sun, heat, animal fur, dried leaf, tree trunks, twigs, bark and dust flying in the hot salty air, are combined in a perfume I made a while back called “Sandstone”. With orris root and vetiver root extract, the salt, bitter, ground-nut, dirt and dust notes are accentuated to remind one of the spores that are dormant within the earth, waiting for moisture to hit so they can release notes of petrichor into the air.
In stark contrast to the leafless forest, the lower register of this summer-season illustration appears visually lush. Inside a hut made from hay and vetiver grass, four women, perhaps unrelated to the four hunters, enjoy a melodious afternoon surrounded by a cool enclave of well watered trees, a water fountain, and a lotus pond. To the far right, edging out of the frame, is the kewra plant creeping out from under a canopy of banana trees. Taking inspiration from these paintings, and from my Bagh co-curator’s gardening practice, I have finally had some success growing banana trees in my abundantly sunny bedroom. (They previously failed in my sun-less terrace). So in some way, I can “sleep under the shade of banana leaves” just like in these paintings. (Look out for the “Banana leaf” perfume I made last year that is still in stock).
Last month I brought home this stunning Kerala Red Banana variety from the Annual Flower Show at Empress Gardens, Pune.
It’s been doing so well, but eventually I would like to put many of my plants in the ground downstairs so everyone can enjoy this lushness. Eventually, it will fruit too.
Here are two more bananas that I moved out into my balcony, and a rose to the right that is also doing well.
Oh, I got distracted again! I was discussing the Summer folio because I wanted to talk about the scent of petrichor, mitti or geosmin. Every summer and monsoon, I formulate “Mitti” that captures the scent of rain. Most people are familiar with this fragrance because there are several articles on the internet, lavishing praise on this type of south Asian olfactory heritage. But I think that it is a touristy novelty item. The perfume distilled from clay cups and vessels is very faint and useless in building perfumery accords. Western perfumers will try to convince you otherwise, because it is indeed an exotic note. But come on, let’s really get into the wet soil rain-dirt notes. It’s too hot, and I need something light and watery.
“Mitti” radiates with the familiar fragrance of thunder clouds rolling in to dispel the unrelenting heat of the summer. This is the smell of moisture in the atmosphere, of soil anticipating raindrops that have yet to arrive. This year, I have used the following perfumery materials: Vetiver, a light dilution of geosmin, violet leaf absolute, lavender absolute, oakmoss, sandalwood, agarwood, ambergris, blended into a green grass and lotus pond accord.
Despite the heat induced dysfunction, I have also managed to continue my soap experiments. My friend Simar Puneet sent me this mould for a goldfish and asked me to try placing a soap-fish inside a transparent soap-block. Yesterday, i got the colours and transparency just right and I thought that more than an innocent goldfish this is reminding me of the movie JAWS. For 80s kids like me, this was peak trauma!
Speckled lavender clouds - Soap
The soap work is not listed on my website because I’m spontaneous about it. I make it if I feel like making it. Or if someone commissions me to make a box of soaps with different scents and shapes, that’s fun! Readers can hit reply on this newsie to commission me. Perfume may be too expensive and fickle to choose but a box of soapies may just be low-stakes delightful! I offer international shipping via FedEx at a flat rate of $75. Even though these rates keep climbing, I absorb the cost to keep things as accessible as possible.
Jasmine sambac CO2 extract blended in sugar
Now that I’m doing well, I’m being a bit brave and splurging on expensive materials. Last week I ordered 25 grams each of Jasmine grandiflorum and Jasmine Sambac CO2 extracts. I will formulate Edible Perfume with these and work on a new idea for a “Nocturnal Jasmine”, a perfume that radiates with a full on floral boom! I have disliked all the commercial jasmine perfumes I have smelled so far, and I want a Jasmine I can sink my teeth into!
Soap-Rose
Also, since I am finally out of struggle-life mode, I am taking my first holiday in about five years. I will be in Dubai for two weeks from 1st to 14th April. If you’d like to say hi and smell some perfume over coffee, let me know. I’m there to see family but I will make an effort :)
