Its not a very common question that's asked around, but when it IS actually asked, it is my personal oservation that many many people who have been asked about it mention 'the-smell-when-rain-touches-the-ground'. You must have figured that the question is 'favourite smell' or something close to that....Some other nice answers i remember are petrol and freshly ground coffee. Maybe i remember them because they are among my favourites too...including the holy ash 'vibuthi' and any yummy smelling food...!! (who wouldn't like that!) Anywayz, thank i don't know what for our olfactory senses....even though we cant be as good as dogs. Ok, am starting to blabber.... so i'll finish this.
A while back.. i was browsing the net looking for some info that my damn text book did not have...microbiology BTW. And i happened to come across something abt the organism in question, but obviously not exactly what i was looking for (serenditpity, i've heard they call it)...hell, if i write what i just read, in my answerpaper, they'd probably strike off the whole paper!
Anyway, i think serendipity is a nice word (other words that i think sound nice are 'rhapsody' and 'placid' They somehow seem to convey the meaning with just the way they're pronounced...now u know why i have both words in association with my blog)..... cuz the concept rocks! Even Alexander Fleming is said to have been serendipitous, because he was merely cleaning up his laboratory when he discovered that the Penicillium mould had contaminated one of his old experiments. Apparently, the word has been voted among the 10 English words that are most difficult to translate! isn't that cool? Before i completely deviate, and forget what i wanted to post....the article.
Most people notice a distinctive smell in the air after it rains. It's frequently linked with spring, as the smell of fresh cut grass is associated with summer. You'll find it in a lot of poetry and also on many inspirational lists of things to be happy about. But what causes it?
As it turns out, the smells people associate with rainstorms can be caused by a number of things. One of the more pleasant rain smells, the one we often notice in the woods, is actually caused by bacteria! Actinomycetes, a type of filamentous bacteria, grow in soil when conditions are damp and warm. When the soil dries out, the bacteria produces spores in the soil. The wetness and force of rainfall kick these tiny spores up into the air where the moisture after a rain acts as an aerosol (just like an aerosol air freshener). The moist air easily carries the spores to us so we breathe them in. These spores have a distinctive, earthy smell we often associate with rainfall. The bacteria is extremely common and can be found in areas all over the world, which accounts for the universality of this sweet "after-the-rain" smell. Since the bacteria thrives in moist soil but releases the spores once the soil dries out, the smell is most acute after a rain that follows a dry spell, although you'll notice it to some degree after most rainstorms.
Aaaah.... i had to look up something about the history of dear actinomycetes... ('dear' now, cuz i know wat they do...it was buggin a while back!)....n i ended up with something i've wanted to know for long! Funny....the way things work...
Why don't u tell us all what kind of smells you like? The Comments column awaits you!
Gotto get back to main stream microbiology...... :-(
Signing off...
19 comments:
tahitian orchids,
any type of food esp indian,
pizza,
swimmimg pool..cause it brings back good memories...
food..wait did i say that already??
smells that make me feel good, i guess...
what else...hmmm will have to get back to you about this.
LOL....anu! Will wait for the list to extend...! n yeah, orchids smell real nice...
I grow bacteria in the kitchen :P.
My favourite smells are mainly food-> I could smell what food my mother had cooked for me from the outside, usually from next to the lift. And i was right abt 80% of the time. The other 20%, she used to make the food item smell different :mad:
but still...the smell os rain is nice...and so is the smell of sandalwood.
tsb....she wud make it smell diff? LOL...am sure the stuff u cook now is nowhere close to smelling like wat its s'psoed to! Cuz it'll be a mixute of burnt somethin...n maybe a slight tinge of the 'yummy' smell... hehe
Formalin coming from dead ppl being cut open
Diesel slowly finding its way into the car's fuel tank while I watch the 'Price' counter running, in absolute horror
A pretty girl wearing a designer perfume
P.S.:I was obv kidding abt formalin
I have microbiology this year (actually a year and a half) too
Three classes up, and I still can't decide whether I like it or not
hey nik, u're in cochin! cool... and well, i think whether u like it or not, med col students just have to live with the formalin!atleast till u have anat. And... micro b can be very very dry...its not so bad though!
i m choosing a microbio course next yr.
microbio seems interesting though
the after rain smell is awesome..... yeah- anu......swimming pool smell too!! but my fav smell is that of tea leaves.......
yeah tea leaves....aah.
1)freshly brewed filter coffee. divya will make fun of Narasu's and me now :P
2)right now, good south indian food, namely onion oothapams and cocunut chutney.
3)the smell of sambar from Ratna Cafe in Triplicane, Madras. Just taste their sambar vada once and you'll be hooked. Their sambar is just amazing.
4)masala agarbathis, or atleast thats what the name on the box says
i associate a lot of things by smell unknowingly, for instance wheneever i get the smell of a cow, i m reminded of blr.
when i get the scent of a particular scent or hair oil, i m reminded of which scene/person had the same scent or hair oil before.
sometimes the smell of a swimming pool can bring back some bad memories too, right madhu?? ;)
hehe
tsb seems to have gone deep into this matter...good for you!
but yes there are a lot fo things that smell great but you cant point them out on the spot..
but i know that divs like the smell of her own sambar more than ratna cafe's sambar!! :D
wow tsb..better late than never huh? We're talking coffee and sambar and hair oil...so basically, india.n am not makin fun pal.
My list?
a)Rain, petrol, coffee, vibuthi that i already mentioned
b)The smell of something like a pizza topping (esp when u're standing in a lift/elevator n its the only thing u can smell!)
c)My 'sweet pea' hand wash that some friend of mine got me...!
d)Any sabzi that has potato in it!!
e)Burnt tomato in the bio organic chem lab...(that we felt like eating instead of extracting lycopene from!)
Anu...!! i haven smelt the ratna cafe one..!! n i cant make sambar di :(... i make daal! n am sure i love the smell...!!
i can cook more than you :P
But i m sure thats not a good thing :s
why isn't it a good thing?
ya the after rain fragrance is awsumm
n well i reely reely luv the aroma of freshly ground coffee powdr or mom's filter coffee
hmm yummy dat smell from a freshly baked pizza wid grt topings or dat frm d cookie man's shop
chocolates ( mayb i shud cut short by saying jus"yummy food'' loll)
n ya diva dat lycopene extraction expt jus filled d lab wid n aroma of it's own!!!
sand... i dono how i forgot cookie man cookies! LOL... and u bet the lycopene has a unique aroma... personally i think its because of the methanol and acetone that was added to it! ;-)
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