Perfume Diaries (Part 3 of 4)

Part 3 of 4 – Perfume Diaries (Oct 4, 2018)

In the previous two parts of these diaries, you got to know how “Poeme” became the perfume of my choice for over two decades. In 2016 or so, I was told that the perfume was discontinued and that it would not be available for sale. I got into a panic. You take some things so much for granted that you don’t think twice about it. At each point of my life, I experimented with only one thing at a time and everything else remains the same. 

When I was single and finding out who my ideal partner would be, I stayed with the same company, Intel. After I got married, we moved into a home and we own that home even now. As I started experimenting with my career – from Intel to being a VC to Social entrepreneur to an entrepreneur from US to India, the rest of the habits remained same – Vamp lipstick from Chanel, Himalayan kajal stick, Poeme perfume, saree for the stage, standard pant, top and stole for the rest of the days, same dishes in handful of restaurants – be it baingan bhartha at the Amber in Mountain View or egg biryani at Lucky’s in Mumbai or spaghetti aglio olio at Toscano in Bangalore etc. So, when lipstick color Vamp was discontinued, I could get over it but when Poeme was discontinued, I was really upset. I wrote to the company, I even wrote a poem about Poeme. 

MARCH 29, 2019

POEME

Liquid Gold

Slightly sprayed on my skin

Lingering all day long

Seeping through layers of my skin

A love affair of over two decades

Becomes such a part of me

That it makes me smell like “me”.

I have always been a scent woman

As a newly wed

When my husband presented a

multiple choice of perfumes

I chose you.

Since then I bought you

In every possible size 

Without looking at the price

With no thought, no other explanation

I kept you with me always

When I sprayed a little on my wrist

The thought of my grand father

Spraying a drop of attar on his handkerchief

And tucking it into his pocket

Would flash by

The summer evenings in Eluru

When my aunts would sit 

With a mound of Jasmine flowers

Weaving into my hair

A five-hour art work

Layering my long hair

Filling the room with a fragrance

Intoxicating evenings

Inexplicable pride as I was

paraded through the neighbour homes

And the final prize would be

Presenting the work to my grand father

Who would ask me to turn around

Putting his hands on my shoulder

Pull me slightly closer to him

And inhale deeply the fragrance of fresh flower

And then turn me around 

And hand me some small change

For my patience to sit for so long

Making me feel like a rich queen

Who can splurge her earnings on

Treating oneself to an ice cream soda

------ All those memories flood by

Summer nights in our Hyderabad home 

When the terrace would be washed

With buckets of water

With heat rising by the touch of cold liquid

Floor cleaned

Mats laid

Covered by hand sown mattresses

Fresh white sheets spread and tucked 

Soft pillows completing the picture

A long line of mattresses pillows 

Welcoming us all to

Sleep under the stars

My Dad, grand parents

Siblings and visiting cousins

A long time of tired bodies

Falling asleep to the 

Breeze carrying the 

Fragrance of Jasmine and Mallepuvvu

From our back yard

Fun nights of stories and laughter

Slowly melting into a mixture

Snoring and silent breathing

I always imagined

A white handkerchief

Sprayed with Poeme

Adorning my body

As I am carried onto the funeral pyre

I somehow thought

That this was a death do us part deal

I had no idea that

Business decisions 

Would “retire” you

I was heart broken

When I heard that 

you were being 

"discontinued"

Sending an SOS to my Friends

to buy every last bottle they could find

I went to the Duty free Shops

Whenever I travelled around the world

To buy the few that were left behind

My panic rises when

I see that storage is dwindling

When my nephew commented the other day

“Do you still use Poeme?

I realised that you have become a part of me

 A signature for my entry into any room

How I wish I could create you

And keep you with me forever

For now

I am slowly getting used

To the idea to bid adieu

To my lovely Poeme

                                               

I felt so silly to be so sentimental about a scent. May be it happened at a time when everything else seem to be falling apart. Being an entrepreneur is a very tough journey. Especially when you start the journey in your 40s and feel as though time is passing by with progress in profits not as fast paced as you had projected. I made America my home for 25 years and the move to India was the most exhilarating yet exhausting transition I ever made. So, even a silly thing like my favourite perfume discontinued, felt like a personal attack.  

Like all things that seem insurmountable, something totally unexpected happened that gave me a whole new perspective and whole new hope. (I realized that week is too long of a break for my final edition. So, look out for the final part on MondayJ)