Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Books and Fragrances

Interest doesn't stir in me for just about anything. It takes a deep long while to let its grasping face come to surface. I need to crawl in my safe alcove, like a baby in her mother’s lap, put all the sound devices off and believe that life is only one thing, the one I'm involved in at the moment. Though once I get accustomed it becomes a velvety silken thread, effortlessly draped on a dummy.

Taking example of Reading, one of the several little things I heart to bits; a book, if written well, can transport me to a distinct world altogether. I don’t have to long for company then, the way I do while watching movies and playing Scramble. All I need to do is wriggle in those tiny black & white letters and feel them in my bones. Those blameless words don’t shove me if I make a mistake, nor do they burden me with extra responsibilities; they only enrich me with profound knowledge. At times they have such an influence, I replicate them in my dreams, over and again, every time with the same seriousness.
Such is the power of a good Book and of course, a good Writer.

Call me over-ambitious but I want to gift myself a library someday. A stack full of my favourite books dolled up as per themes and genres in a perfectly-lit room with glazing radiance over the glass windows. I would sit there for hours together and forget about everything. Just dig myself in the pages’ and read all-day long.

I’d share an old-incident here, one from my creative writing classes. This teacher who used to teach us picked unusual creative ways to gather attention. Her classes were terrific, with ideas ceasing to end. Once she bought old books and scarves, the latter smelled of some serious perfume, like left unwashed for days. She passed the two around the classroom, asked us to select either and write what the smell reminded us of. Taking a moment I penned about the purple-coloured linen scarf. The alluring scent recapped of a secluded beach, like a passive encounter with artful décor and lingering stillness; a solemn corner in the Bahamas where I’d go and enjoy the pretty luxuries of life. Had I picked the book, I’d have written about one of the rituals at some wedding. It had brief notes of saffron and sandalwood, maybe ylang-ylang too. She knew we’ll be hooked and she wasn't wrong.
Such is the power of a good fragrance and of course, a good imagination

Hey there reader, what do you think about books and fragrances?

11 comments:

  1. oh god...reading your post and i realised its been so long that i held a book in my hands...just yesterday i was about to start "a thousand splendid suns" when my sister said that it might make your mood more gloomy as you are such a sad soul already (haha) so i thought i better leave it for now...but soon, i hope, i shall resume. :)
    and speaking of fragrances, my latest post is about one such fragrance which takes you to another level - an addiction of sorts? :P
    Sadia Malik's Blog

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    1. A thousand splendid suns is a great book. I read it long time back and it still resonates crystal clear. But your sister is right, it's a little sadistic so don't expect it to cheer you up or something, read an upbeat cheerful book instead like those with wit and cuteness aplenty, such as, Austen's Persuasion, Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide (if you into Sci-Fi), Heller's Catch 22, kinsella's I've got your number, so on and so forth.
      And for fragrances Odamn they're so addictive Sadia, right at your page!
      Love :)

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  2. You have written this post very beautifully. The way you wrote about fragrances and books is just awesome. And I just love books and fragrances and you know that very well. You know my two favorite fragrances and how much I love books. I want to gift myself a library too. Just like the one which beast gifted to beauty. And I want to have a fragrance which is of books, papers and libraries. Oh God! We all owe to the person who created the idea of books and fragrances.

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    1. Oh You too :D Let me get very rich and I will bang your door one day with a similar library! And you bet we do, I assume she would be a girl and well, a super-smart-ass chick like one of us with a brilliant brain.
      Haha thank you sweetie, you make me blush :')

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  3. Aaaaaaah books. I love them as much as I loved reading this post. Beautiful.

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  4. Your words are as beautiful as always. For me, fragrance reminds me of people. I believe that each of us have an unique fragrance that can only be felt by people who are close to us.

    By the way,your creative writing class sounds interesting.

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  5. Wow, that indeed is a beautiful way of looking at it sweetheart!

    You know what I loved that class, interesting, O man, you bet.

    Thank you :)

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  6. That is some sublime imagination you got there! Fragrance can evoke some powerful things, clearly. On a different note, I kind of like the fragrance of books. If you notice, some smell old and others smell new, and maybe different degrees of new. Hmm. I like this post, it made me think!

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    1. Oh yes totally. There's something in those letters and maybe, print that adds to the overall smell-effect but it's so warm and obsessive.
      Thank you songbird for dropping by!

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  7. You've got a really pretty smile! ;)

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