Heaven Scent

Today I went to the Mysore palace. I have been to this city before and stayed here for 2 months and never went. I decided to change that and went to see one of the big tourist draws for this town. Well, I could have lived my life complete if I hadn't seen it. It's ok, very Victorian, opulent, very European. It looks like some baroque confectionery, it would be a great stage for a bollywood dance number. It was kinda crowded and kinda hot. I left and went downtown to the Mysore market.

Now to me, this is a palace of a place---food and flowers everywhere, actually everything everywhere. I experimented with the 'Flip' video camera while I was there, will get to posting those results once I figure out how.  I would film and then show the people what I shot. I remember doing this 6 years ago when I had a digital still camera about the same size as the video camera is now.

Anyway, I really enjoy the everything of the market, the people running around, working, stringing flowers, hawking their goods, the colors and the scents.....I love all the flowers. But this time a little boy said to me as I was photographing,'do you want to see me make incense?' I had never seen that before, let alone be asked to watch....So, I followed him down to the stall where he said he would show me. The stall counter was covered with glass perfume bottles on stepped platforms with boxes of incense off to the left.....I hadn't noticed a stall like this before. I shot his demonstration of making an incense stick, his older brother was intrigued by the camera, we chatted. His brother asked me to smell some 'watermelon oil'. WOW! My nose was completely hooked! Then he proceeded to blow scents at me, dab them on my wrists or scarf. Wonderful pure scents. This shop has been operating for 60 years by the same family. He showed me a notebook filled with people telling how much they like and use the oils. The shop is even listed in some non-English editions of Lonely Planet. A french woman comes here to get oils because she prefers them to French parfums and the price is much less. Mysore has a 'sandalwood' tradition and an essential oil tradition. The south of India is big on oils and Ayurveda which incorporates many.

It's another day in India. Just when you think you know what your doing and why your there, you just get turned upside down. In most cases, afterward, you are gently set down after the summersalt. Or you hope that you are. I guess that's why I keep coming back, there is has a magical quality, that can be totally aggravating or blissful and you aren't ever quite sure what you are going to get.