If I asked you to choose between the smell of freshly brewed coffee, or that of wet earth after the first Monsoon shower, or your baby’s soft cheeks on a golden morning, what would you say is your most favourite fragrance on earth? 

I am Nupur Parik-Pandey and you’ve joined me on today’s episode of Straight From My Heart, an original from Motormouth Podcasts, and today we shall be sharing some olfactory stories with each other. As you know, this show aims to destress you and make you smile, distract you from the problems of everyday life and just relax as we share interesting poems written and performed by me and real, honest conversations that follow. And one of the most potent ways to destress for me, apart from poetry of course, happens to be through fragrance!

I’ve always been so fond of good smells. They don’t need to be perfumes. It could be the smell of freshly baked cookies or bread. Or French fries, if you ask my son. Or dried eucalyptus leaves in their crisp, decadent glory. Or the smell of your lover’s skin, rich with all those magical pheromones. It’s an endless list, even without delving into the bottomless barrel that we can fill with fancy perfume names. But the fact of the matter is that sometimes, when we need a pick me up or just a gentle reminder that life isn’t all bad, and there are good, happy things that exist too, a familiar waft of your favourite smells can make you smile. 

And now allow me the opportunity to share a poem that I wrote recently inspired by some of my personal favourite scents, that’s on the other side of this little break. Stay tuned.

Hi. Welcome back to Straight From My Heart with me, Nupur. And here is today’s poem. It’s called Fragrant. Here we go. 

I’ve started looking for

Smaller joys in life;

For example, it’s totally alright if

I haven’t impacted the world today

So long as I have had 

At least a minute to myself

Just to smile and smell 

The fragrant mogra and the sweet cadamba-

I now believe that real joy 

Cannot be everlasting,

It comes like fleeting wafts 

Of sweet perfume-

All you need to do is

Inhale, exhale, rejoice

And let go…

That was my poem for you. What did you think of it? Did it make you feel thankful for the little things that give us joy and that we take for granted on a regular day? Did it fill your nose and mind with joyous scents that you relish and recognise? Do write in to let me know what you think of it. 

And now we move on to that section of our show where I share my life hack with you that will help you straighten things out and just chill a bit. If you’ve had a bad day then just do this. Go to your kitchen and make some rotis (and it’s ok if they aren’t perfectly round), now put on your mask and step out of your house, onto your street. Feed these rotis to your local stray dogs or cats because God knows they need the food. Be that kind neighbour who takes care of all the dogs and watch how these wagging tails push good luck and blessings into your life. You can write In and share your experiences with me. I’ll be waiting!

With that we come to the end of today’s episode of Straight From My Heart with me, Nupur Parik-Pandey. Thanks for listening. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook – our handle is @MotorMouthPods

Check out more episodes of this show and other MotorMouth Originals on our website – motormouthpods.com

You can find music and other credits in the episode notes.

This episode was written and hosted by me, Nupur.

Sound production, design and mixing by Prateek Sharma

Our Creative Director is Gargie Sharma

Executive produced and created by Prateek Sharma, for MotorMouth Podcasts.

See you next week, and until then, stay safe, stay happy and go read some poetry!