Saturday 7 June 2008

On Proust's madelaine

It is said that smells play an important role in unlocking memory. À la recherche du temps perdu was rather famously inspired by the memories evoked when Proust bit into an herbal tea soaked pastry known as a madelaine. The smell and taste brought him back to his childhood. I have similar experiences every time I drink Barq's root beer. For some reason, to me it tastes rather like the way the bathroom smelt in Granny's house on Upper Lansdowne. I know that sounds strange but trust me, it is a good thing.

Getting to the point, I was anointing myself with sunscreen today in view of trial run on Leonardo. The sunscreen I used was the one I bought in Spain. As I was applying it, I was momentarily transported back to Spain by the smell. Rather neat.

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