tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post3169609019087045355..comments2024-02-20T16:10:31.948-07:00Comments on First Nerve: Smellscapes of India: Alstonia scholarisAvery Gilberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18104017679971839738noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-15561288337149225282020-04-24T14:03:58.543-07:002020-04-24T14:03:58.543-07:00I had never felt this before, so many times in my ...I had never felt this before, so many times in my life I had passed through the roads between Ansal plaza (Delhi) to Siri fort audi. but I had never felt this fragrance of Alstonia like I did in the year 2018, 19. Words would not be suffice to be delivered in its praise. I can spend countless hours sitting under this tree. Dont know how it has become such a special fragrance for my life. Even I used to sniff the air and ask my love Jai to do the same to feel the same love as I do. Infact I used to play the song "Tujhko main rakhlu waha jaha ho khi mera yakeen" the time I was with him, knowing we are going to cross the Ansal road, holding his hand, sniffing the air in the late evening during the month of Nov-Dec. Neha Khanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03219003268756669471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-48342553522173745602019-10-18T10:44:33.508-07:002019-10-18T10:44:33.508-07:00It'not a question of who like and who don'...It'not a question of who like and who don't ,it depends how big and how many and how close they arejerpouhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001743921550297821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-48162489025632904992019-10-18T10:41:06.897-07:002019-10-18T10:41:06.897-07:00It'the most stinking smell you can imagine mal...It'the most stinking smell you can imagine male cat piss is a delight comparedjerpouhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001743921550297821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-54561220131639959222016-10-22T02:05:54.262-07:002016-10-22T02:05:54.262-07:00There are many alstonia trees in my college campus...There are many alstonia trees in my college campus almost 2-3 years old.I haven't seen its flowers. How old should be an alstonia tree to flower?<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17122845281223636889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-77425132693395909862016-10-22T02:05:38.178-07:002016-10-22T02:05:38.178-07:00There are many alstonia trees in my college campus...There are many alstonia trees in my college campus almost 2-3 years old.I haven't seen its flowers. How old should be an alstonia tree to flower?<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17122845281223636889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-81437319625750836832016-10-22T02:04:43.455-07:002016-10-22T02:04:43.455-07:00There are many alstonia trees in my college campus...There are many alstonia trees in my college campus almost 2-3 years old.I haven't seen its flowers. How old should be an alstonia tree to flower?<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17122845281223636889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-4826880838106854832016-10-22T02:02:22.521-07:002016-10-22T02:02:22.521-07:00There are many alstonia trees in my college campus...There are many alstonia trees in my college campus almost 2-3 years old.I haven't seen its flowers. How old should be an alstonia tree to flower?<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17122845281223636889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-55344745297033407752015-11-02T09:13:34.088-07:002015-11-02T09:13:34.088-07:00There is plenty of Alstonia fragrance right now in...There is plenty of Alstonia fragrance right now in Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana Punjab India. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-34020431966670429592011-11-17T20:29:44.309-07:002011-11-17T20:29:44.309-07:00girl:
So A. scholaris doesn't send everyone i...girl:<br /><br />So <i>A. scholaris</i> doesn't send everyone into sentimental raptures. Interesting. I'd love to know the tree's key aroma molecules, so we could search for lovers & haters.<br /><br />There are precedents: androstenone can't be smelled by a lot of people; others find it musky; still others thinks it reeks like bad urine.<br /><br />On the culinary side, cilantro is flavor/aroma that polarizes people to a remarkable degree.<br /><br />The working hypothesis is that these singular, distinctive reactions to specific compounds are genetic: the result of a variant odor receptor genes or variant wiring of same to the brain.<br /><br />Not a satisfying explanation at this point, but various labs are working on it.Avery Gilberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18104017679971839738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-65279702582360005152011-11-17T09:52:21.472-07:002011-11-17T09:52:21.472-07:00Interesting post!
I'm an American who has spe...Interesting post!<br /><br />I'm an American who has spent the last six years living in New Delhi, and I've always found the smell of this tree quite offensive. I find the scent overwhelmingly pungent, and it smells a a lot like hospitals in the US do. <br /><br />It seems that most people here in India like it (it's also a childhood smell for a lot of people). I've been told a few don't (and those who don't, REALLY don't). <br /><br />Could you please explain why it is that there are certain scents that people either love or hate? And has anyone postulated that there "supersmellers"in the way that there are "supertasters"? <br /><br />Thanks very much!girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17088817075143822410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-6163064524522596722011-10-16T18:53:18.914-07:002011-10-16T18:53:18.914-07:00Anonymous:
What a great comment. I've never b...Anonymous:<br /><br />What a great comment. I've never been to India and now I want to go, if only to inhale the <i>A. scholaris</i> one evening on a roundabout in New Delhi.<br /><br />Thanks!Avery Gilberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18104017679971839738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-13676087977570695962011-10-15T10:18:24.907-07:002011-10-15T10:18:24.907-07:00I had never heard of 'an olfactory psychologis...I had never heard of 'an olfactory psychologist' before but it actually makes eminent sense. Smells (bad word) Fragrances (better) are to me the most powerful memory KICKERS. It is not strange that I post a comment in the month of October about Alstonia Scholaris. I now live in Pune in Western India and the fragrance of the tree came wafting on the night breeze and it took me back at Warp 9 to a Round-about in Chanakyapuri in New Delhi which I drove past from my office to my home, usually late evening. An evocative, heady fragrance indeed which flashed past and I could never understand why I could not smell it round the year. I used to sniff the air when ever I passed the place but nothing. Once 'nosed' impossible to forget the fragrance of Peace and Contentment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-25810823030662036202011-08-09T20:49:42.169-07:002011-08-09T20:49:42.169-07:00~x~:
So do I.
But I don't get the evil spiri...~x~:<br /><br />So do I.<br /><br />But I don't get the evil spirits. Wouldn't a lovely night-time fragrance be the doing of beautiful, seductive spirits?Avery Gilberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18104017679971839738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8125354955146250762.post-74537545261634543182011-08-09T18:16:30.794-07:002011-08-09T18:16:30.794-07:00i like it.i like it.~x~https://www.blogger.com/profile/03096258576176694623noreply@blogger.com