Ah…the fragrance of Jasmine…instantly transports me to those late 80s and early 90s in Trichy. With long hair and wearing typical South Indian outfits, those were the days when all young girls prided ourselves with the length of our hair and appropriate adornments. And adornments were mostly flowers and especially for me it was specifically Jasmine.
Though I stayed away from home in an all women’s hostel/school/college combo, we had access to flowers through – we all called her “pookara patti”, every single day. None of us knew how old she was. She used look fairly young may be in her early 40s. Still we called her patti. And buying the jasmine was my single most expensive treat of teen years. Comb hair, tie up with ribbons and adorn it with oh so heavenly smelling Jasmine. The pink Star gazer jasmine (Jadhi malli) one day, little whity white bulb like Gundu malli, and the thin, white, Mullai the other day….
I am almost a life time away from those places and fragrances now. But my afternoon Jasmine tea brings back a rush of thoughts that crowds my thinking with days back then…
