There are some smells that are so peculiar and particular that one can literally see them. Like that of the inside of a washing machine. Dank, musty, grey, cold, and if not opened in time after the clothes are done, add the smell of soap and wet clothes to the above mix.
Now one can wonder (and I hope you are, otherwise I’m just talking to myself again) why of all the things that can be smelled visually (you know, sugar and spice and all that’s nice…) why the inside of a washing machine?
Probably because I feel like I am living inside a giant washing machine and someone has forgotten to take the laundry out! Come rains, and everything refuses to dry –clothes, shoes, hair, bags and even umbrellas sometimes!
The house smells distinctly of clothes forgotten in the washing machine. In fact most of the house looks like a washing machine threw up. There are clothes hanging in every conceivable place where they are likely to dry. Anywhere there is a respectable amount of space empty, an aluminium clothes stand of can be found (every house in any city where the rain gods are meherban will have a clothes stand to aid in the difficult task of drying clothes).
Wearing clothes becomes a task of gargantuan proportions. One has to analyse and weigh the pros and cons of the colour, material and length before venturing out in the mud splattered, rain swamped roads. And then one has to think about putting clothes in for the wash. Will it dry? How many days will it take? Do I need to wear this in the next two weeks? And heaven help the person who put in 3 pairs of jeans to wash in one load! The clothes stand will have company for at least a week to come!
Living in Bombay is considered to be tough. People not used to the city cringe at the sight of the people and the traffic and the slums and the noise and the general you will get crushed if you don’t move fast enough feel in the air. I only say to get the real Bombay, try living here in the monsoons with just one pair of jeans.
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