Attar Shop, If only it was closer....

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Flowers & dewdrops

Firoz Bakht Ahmed walks down the lanes of Old Delhi and finds that while retaining its old world charm, attar, like other things, is obtaining a modern avatar for itself.

Can there be anything that evokes a memory like the wafting fragrance of a real, desi perfume? In this regard, attar; the centuries old Indian art of blended perfumes, is redolent of times when the elegant, sophisticated, grand and unhurried lifestyle made people praise the aesthetic subtleties of grace and personal charm. Truly, attars were the perfumes that could melt the most cold hearted of maidens and the sternest of saints.

According to brothers Ram Singh and Krishan Mohan Singh, the proprietors of Delhi’s oldest attar shop, Gulab Singh Johri Mal of Chandni Chowk established in 1816, “It is not an easy job, collecting pure and fresh flowers for the purpose of extracting attar from them.”

The Singh brothers relate their tales of running from pillar to post in search of fresh and sweet-smelling flowers. For Rooh Gulab, the attar of roses, they visit flower gardens of Kannauj, Sikatra; near Aligarh, Ghazipur and Jaunpur.

The condition is that the flowers must be plucked at dawn and used before sunrise for after that, the fragrance begins to leave the blooms.

For chameli and motia blooms, they go to Sikandarpur and some villages in Varanasi. In the Ganjam district of Orissa’s Kellua Palli, Krishan and Ram Singh get keora, molsri and champa blossoms.

While Krishan Mohan Singh talks to me, his son Naveen, doles out little bottles of two, five, and 10 ml of Bela, Chameli, Shamama and Chandan attar. A steady stream of customers keeps pouring in, naturopaths looking for “essential massage oils”; young girls replenishing their stock of scents; old ladies in search of “chandan powder” and those few who seem led uncontrollably, their olfactory nerves overpowered by the varied smells.

Attar is obtained by distilling fragrances from around the world and is presented for sale in cut-glass decanters. Stolen from fresh flowers, the fragrances are whisked into glass bottles after quite a tedious process. The queen of all attars happens to be Rooh Gulab, said to have been discovered by Noorjehan, the wife of Mughal emperor, Jehangir. Legend has it that once while she went for her morning bath, she found an oily layer over the water kept to cool overnight. When distilled, at her orders, it turned out to be the costliest attar. Chameli and Majmua too are considered immaculate as far as aroma is concerned.

A speciality of Indian perfumes is that people remain faithful to the same perfume for years together, sometimes for their entire lives. The potency of the attars is widely regarded. Passages in Indian literature are replete with examples of attar being quite an aid to romance.

Young men dreaming of maidens walking in clouds of jasmine, roses and marigold scents and maidens confiding in their friends about trysts with lovers whose “handsome body smeared with sandalwood powder” send them into raptures, litter the pages.

Even Cleopatra is said to have used the heady potion helpful in seduction and a symbol of prosperity and culture.

Attars are not only classified according to their contents but also according to the time of the year in which they are to be used. The warm notes of the spicy Hina, prepared from musk and saffron, have the unusual quality of smelling different on every skin. Its aroma emanates only after direct contact with the skin. It is especially to be used in winter.

Apparently whenever, the famous poet, Mirza Ghalib used to meet his beloved during winter, he smeared his hands and face with attar Hina.

According to Naveen Gundhi, son of Krishan Mohan, “aromatherapy,” a new way of curing diseases by attars, was developed in India long ago. Oils that are used in making attars, are also known for their medicinal effects.

Lemon oil, for instance, is considered good for diabetes, asthma, boils and varicose veins. Migraine and hangovers can be cured by taking three drops of marjorem with jaggery. The simplest example of aromatherapy is attar Gill (sondhi mitti) that has the fresh aroma that emanates from the earth after the first summer showers. On being inhaled, it cures blood pressure and nose bleeds. Sherbet of attar khus is relished in summer as it provides a cooling effect to the digestive system. But this quaint way of keeping attar fragrant is gradually slipping into the realm of “antique things in our grandfather’s time,” laments Ram Singh but the younger brother Krishan is hopeful as he says, “Attars are very truly like flowers, as old as them but as fresh as tomorrow’s dew drops.”