Resisting Change

Vanitha Muthukumar
Aug 23, 2017 · 2 min read

Since birth we are connected to memories and relate to each one with an emotion. The smell of our mother’s clothing to the sound of prayer bells, birds and the sound of rain.

Our emotions vary according to our memory of smell, taste or sound. As a kid, I remember going back to my grandmother’s house in our native place and in my sleep I could smell the firewood and our famous South Indian filter coffee aroma which would arise my senses, before I could actually wake up. Waking up and going to the backyard, to brush and freshen up, our senses would further awaken with the smell of cowdung.

On Fridays our bath routine was elaborate soaked in seasame oil for an hour and rubbed with mud like tree substance. And turmeric. All had their aromas. And depending on the mood of the holiday, the smell would hold a special place in our minds or a bad memory.

School stretch most often held the memory of songs blasting from loud speakers or radio station. — - songs had the effect depending on the day’s classes. Rains would bring with itself, a wet memory, we as students always longed for, as we would be sent back home. With the umbrella I could get wet.

The time between 3.45–5 pm always belonged to my mother. It still does. I sit by the window, no matter where I am, giving that time for my mother. She would wait at the gate for my return, often waiting with a favourite desert of mine. Evenings anywhere has the fragrance of jasmine strings to the temple visits, with their own chain or frangrances, with the dancing elephants and their dung, a peculiar smell, and as we move into the temple premises, we would smell flowers and the inner corridors will have this — — only temples, smell of bats and their shit.

The inner sanctorum would smell of incense and camphor and oil wicks. Amidst all the smell of childhood now, our senses are blocked with artificial branded perfumes. But even those relate to the person, and a particular perfume smell. When I miss a person, I close my eyes and smell them through my memory.

Just as these hold a special place in our memory, so also, pictures and design and logos. I was particularly put off by Instagram changing its logo and for days, couldn’t relate to it or post photos as I did earlier. It took a long while before I could get used to it.

Just today while seeing my other apps I saw The MEDIUM logo change. I was upset. But quickly decided to write this post, welcoming the change.

CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT. IF YOU DON’T EMBRACE IT, YOU WILL BE LEFT BEHIND…

#change #memory #heartbreak #design #logo

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Vanitha Muthukumar

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corporate trainer,color therapist,cookbook,spirituality.Animals own the earth. stress research.