Smells like......Bombay?

It seems like i was in Bombay eons ago! Actually, thats because it WAS eons ago. And the thing i miss the most are the familiar, exciting, disgusting, comforting smells of the city. The first thing that strikes you about Bombay (and i suppose everyone will say this about their city) is the smell. While I love Chennai, I have almost no smells that i associate with the city.

Bombay is a different story altogether. Odours of all kinds assail ones nostrils from the minute you step onto the tarmac at the airport or off the train at Dadar or VT or BCT.

I lived in Bandra, so the smell of Jude bakery when they would bring out the fresh pav was simply heavenly. So was the smell inside Brownie Point. (Where incidentally, i once met Uday Benegal of rock machine/indus creed/alms for shanti)

The smell of fish outside sassoon docks, from the 2nd floor of Kismet will always be etched in my memory. The smell of the first rains hitting the earth, the smell of chlorine at the sea-princess pool, the smell of casper when he got wet in the rain, the smell of food at Namrata's house - where i always landed up at meal and snack-time, the smell of the sizzling brownie sundae at bombay blue, the smell of kababs on Linking Road as you walk or drive past Jai Jawaan, the smell of Bade Miya all along Tulloch Road, the smell of the sea from the BPT Garden, the smell of the Parle factory as you travel by local train from Andheri to Vile Parle, the smell of the Golden Tobacco factory as you sit in your classroom day-dreaming, The smell of cakes and vanilla at Dinelle's house, the smell of rubber balloons and holi colours that disappear into oblivion when you meet someone who absolutely blows your mind, the smell of malli-pu and other flowers while you drive through the lanes of Matunga. The smell of samosas and jalebis outside Punjab Sweet House, the smell of milk from the Aarey factory at Worli seaface.
These are just a few of my favourite things.


Every Bombayite will have his or her Bombay-smell tale to tell. Anything you'd like to share, feel free..