Sandalwood saga

To celebrate India's ancient sandalwood legacy, Krishnarajlyengar visits Mumbai's 97 year-old Heritage Sandalwood store.

- KRISHNARAJ IYENGAR

always boasted, silently and sanctimoniously over never having experienced the deadliest of the Seven Deadliest Sins-envy! But to my utter dismay, a Sudanese gent proud of his country's fragrance heritage put my false pride to test, with the words "turaathinayadadhammanas-sandaliyyah min al Hind" (our heritage utilizes Indian sandalwood oil). Seated beside me at a plush Mumbai fragrance boutique, he vividly described how his country's exotic incenses are soaked in Mysore sandalwood oil, a pillaring ingredient.

While phenolic, plastic-smelling synthetic imitations have flooded the Indian markets, pure and original Mysore sandalwood, historically deemed 'India's fragrant ambassador' has become a complete rarity, the name remaining merely a name to many. As an insanely passionate fragrance aficionado, my envy of the Sudanese gent reveling in my forefathers' fragrant legacy propelled me to make a beeline to Mumbai's ultimate sandalwood destination to immerse myself in my ancestral scent!

SANDAL SIMPLICITY Simply named 'Mysore Products', the shop is a non-descript one in the heart of Mumbai's bustling Princess Street commercial hub. It is run by Mr. Shankar Vishwanath Bangalore, a starkly simple, scholarly sandalwood expert, 'Bangalore', his native city's name being a part of his own, as per south Indian tradition. "We previously had hoards of Sudanese purchasing our sandalwood oil. Now, due to the ongoing conflict in the region, the numbers have dwindled", he confirmed.

Rightfully entitled, I buried my face in a tray of sandalwood shavings for an ethereal out-of-body experience as the woody, smoky, creamy aromas of the ancient Vedic scent created an olfactory trance!