Smell the Cold

When you catch a cold, what is that you miss the most?

I miss smells.

I can deal with a runny / blocked nose,a sore throat, an aching head, the frequent coughing and sneezing and in general all the bodily discomforts that cold brings with it.

( HOW I deal with those is an entirely different topic though! ;-) )

For me, the entire experience of fine dinning is dominated by the olfactory glands.
For any dish to register in my memories, it has to pass the smell test.
Tastes are strongly associated with smells in my culinary memories.
Am not so keen about the visual aspect of it. If it dosen't look good, but smells great, I will have it.
How many times has it happened, that you've had a very tiring day at work - in fact so tiring, that the fact that you are hungry,is overridden by the fact that you are tired.
And in this state, you yourself cannot indentify, that the main reason for this fatigue is lack of food, and not lack of rest.
My grandmom always can identify this case with any of us siblings.
If any of us were being particularly edgy and full of 'kurkur' just before dinner time - she says that 'hunger and sleep have been mixed up in these brats' -
One whiff of a strong tempering (tadka / phodni) with curry leaves or garlic, and the truth dawns on us, that its indeed a good dinner that will fix all kurkur.

( Kurkur is one word in marathi which aptly describes the persistent grumbling due to any sort of discomfort (known or unknown), which is not serious, but irritating enough for the person invloved and those in his/her vicinity)

Ok. I digressed.
This blog is about smells, or rather the lack of them in an event of cold.

Many of our small comforts in a day, come from smells.
A perfectly brewed hot cuppa coffee or tea starts your day on the right note.
The just right bath soap you use, gets you all fresh for the day.
The pleasant smell of your prefume puts you at ease to work with people around.
The smell of coffee in between work, pushes you on for more work.

Am sure there are many more such smells, which put you at ease, and wrap you with a comfortable familiarity.
But with a nasty cold, you feel so left out and un-familiar with the surroundings!

In my average day, my walk to office itself is a riot of pleasant, familiar smells.
I travel by train, and while walking out of the station, familiar smells always greet me.

One is a French pasty shop, from where smell of freshly baked bread whiffs by.

Then there is a shop dedicated to indulgence soaps.Handmade soaps with wild falvors of fruits,flowers,even chocolates!Passing by that shop is almost like passing by an open perfume stall.
Then there is StarBucks coffee, just at the exit of the station. I am no big fan, but I do enjoy the bitter, earthy aroma of coffee, on a cold, wet morning!

With my sense of smell blocked due to cold, I feel like an alien while walking past these shops, who is totally uncapable of understanding these worldly pleasures.

My appetite is linked with smells too.
You see hot steaming rice and dal, with a fiery lemon pickle - but alas!
You can't smell it!
It seems like eating wax or plastic food, and you struggle to break the invisible barrier that stops you from indulging into the olfactory pleasures of your daily lunch!

same is the case with all the comforting beverages served during cold.
Ginger tea?, honey-milk-termeric?, pepper broth?
HUH! Bring them on and I can down them with equal ease!
They are no different to me, as long as the steam coming from the cup finds its way into my nostrils! :-)

You see mum cooking a nice greens curry, with a red-chilly and garlic tadka, or making a mint chutney in a grinder, a sweet pudding with cardamom , even boiling cabbage for some curry - but what the heck!
Its like watching a cookery show! You see it, but nothing reaches you, because you can't smell it!

Not being able to smell is like like being cut off from the main stream for me.
And given the kind of nosey person I am (pun NOT intended),
this surely is a big punishment! ;-)