An Olfactory Memory

Yesterday evening I went to pick up my cousin from a service apartment she was staying at. This was an old old house I’d visited around twenty years back that’s now been converted into a fancy service apartment. As I entered the hall, I saw this boiler in the corner.

Within seconds my head was flooded with the smell of coal and steam, and the smoke filled bath from the days of the boiler. This was memory from days in my grandmothers house in Barkatpura, the days of rambling houses and spread out compounds…..verandahs and swings, thinnas and chaatas. Thatha in his old wicker rocker chair and a look so stern, you could never even think of talking to him. Pinnamma and Ammamma who you could run around, cling to pallu and ask for that ten paise to buy an icecream from the bandi.

Back to the boiler…..the boiler was our method of heating water, and the bath used to be a big ritual. The bathroom with its red oxide floor, sack of coal, and full of steam. For one, at any point there would be atleast fifteen people in the house, just one bathroom…. so you had to book your turn well in advance. And that would be the cause of many a bantering and negotiating. Then before your turn you have to go and put in coal, and wait for the sign of steam. At times just stand in the bathroom, waiting for the water to heat, as if you go out, your turn is gone. It gives us an indication of the pace of things. 

Rest of day was spent climbing trees, or listening to stories, and eating the best biryani ever. Times bygone...times to reminiscence and look back to with a smile. Just a boiler…..and so much fond memory.