I always though I was a visual person. That sights would remind me of places, of people.
Turns out, I was wrong. That day, when I caught a whiff of a certain face wash, I felt like I was back in my hostel in Bangalore.
Because I used it then.
So I closed my eyes and suddenly, it was not hot, humid and windy Mumbai that I was standing in. I was back in the wet, cold, wheezy Bangalore. Almost physically. I almost expected to open my eyes to my old bunk bed.
How little we understand our own senses and their connected snares.
Turns out, I was wrong. That day, when I caught a whiff of a certain face wash, I felt like I was back in my hostel in Bangalore.
Because I used it then.
So I closed my eyes and suddenly, it was not hot, humid and windy Mumbai that I was standing in. I was back in the wet, cold, wheezy Bangalore. Almost physically. I almost expected to open my eyes to my old bunk bed.
How little we understand our own senses and their connected snares.
3 comments:
I have a similar experience with music. When I listen to certain composition, the manner in which my state of mind from back then is re-created makes me think each song has a piece of my past is stored the song. The unseen stanza, a second rhythm, a padding of melody.
This is a thought even I have been having. Apparently, the part of the brain that stores memories and the one that recognizes smell are close to each other that's why smells remind us of people, places etc.
Smells of certain talcs, shampoos etc remind me of my childhood and the interesting thing is- that no matter how many other memories get attached to that smell, each time I will be reminded of that one original memory.
@Shaz: Your audible conditioning. My olfactory memories.
@Fio: The last bit baffles me too. Like an archetypal memory. Is that why we don't forget our firsts?
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