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When Smells Invoke Memories
They are called olfactory memories :)
It is amazing how many of our memories smells can hold and bring forth. Many times, when I’m in the middle of something, a whiff of a familiar scent comes along, and a memory from long ago gets triggered. It is so brief and so unexpected, yet it feels beautiful at that moment because it is usually tied to a pleasant memory — perhaps from childhood or a particularly happy phase of life.
Recently, I have taken to consciously creating a smell-linked memory trigger whenever I feel like it. Or, to be precise, I do this every time I make coffee at home.
We visited London last year. It was a wonderful experience, as family trips always are. We stayed at an Airbnb that had a kitchen, allowing us to prepare some of our meals and enjoy a sense of home even while traveling.
One of the first things we bought was a bottle of Tesco instant coffee, which quickly became a staple in our daily routine. That bottle sat on the kitchen counter, ready for use at least once a day, subtly becoming part of the memories we made during that trip.
It was a big bottle, and we couldn’t finish all of it in the 10 days we were there. Naturally, the bottle came home with us. We are Indians. We don’t throw away stuff if we can help it.
