Scents and Scentsibility

There I stood, facing my back to the paan shop that I visited as many times in a day as I felt the urge to smoke. As always, I looked around me, feeling the energies of passers-by merge with mine, each looking for their own vents...

Ramu Dada, the paan-walla sat cross-legged at his stall in a dhoti and kurta that had been yellowed with time. As his mouth chewed fiercely on a paan, the remnants of the paan that were stuck on his thick moustache also moved in synchronization. The lady in the car awaiting her paan was quite a character herself. Her facial expressions went from angst to impatience to glee as she saw her daily unprescribed dosage get prepared. The driver rushed out to collect the paan for his memsahib at Ramu Dada’s nod. Counting the money, Ramu Dada spat out the red liquid onto the street, exposing his brown teeth for the world to see. The smell of the paan got to me and I moved two steps away.

Chotu, Ramu Dada’s twelve-year-old assistant was trying desperately to light the lantern for the stall since it was almost dark. His sunburnt skin and confused face reflected innocence. This was, however, a farce because he had smoked next to me many a times, having probably stolen a Classic Mild from the box when Dada wasn’t looking. The strong smell of the burning oil filled the air as did the light emitted by the lantern.

As I bought my seventh cigarette for the day, I was distracted by legs that led up to blue denim shorts and a tight black shirt. She stood there, still an anonymous dream girl for me. Thoughts of her would occupy my head all day. Her straight hair blew in the evening wind as she gazed at the darkening sky. Her petite appearance, the twitching of her nose, her perfectly shaped eye brows, and above all, the pensive look she would bear on her face had me mesmerized. I closed my eyes and imagined the smell of her hair on my face when I would have her in my arms. I opened the eyes to my reality, stubbed the cigarette, and walked home, with the faint smell of the nicotine lingering on in my clothes…