The Best and Worst of the Smells of Chennai

So, the second I got out of the air condition of Chennai International Airport and into the steets of Chennai a familiar smell came back to me... the smell of Chennai (as I know it). It could only mean one thing, I was back. As weird as it is to like the smell of 95% humidity and campfire, that’s what the overriding smell of Chennai is in my opinion. There are trash fires everywhere in the city but they usually don’t smell like burning plastic or other grossness but have a sort of campfire smell to them, I think I must have missed the place if that smell makes me happy though. Then, walking around the streets, I realized there were all kinds of other smells I missed (and didn’t miss) during my two weeks back in the US. A friend called India an ‘assault on the senses’ and I think there is often smell overload with all the sensations for your nose to take in, here are some of the other best and worst.

Chai/Coffee- Chai wallahs (chai tea vendors) are all over in Chennai. It smells like the spice cardamom and is a delicious smell. Coffee is also really popular in Southern India, although it is mixed with copious amounts of milk and sugar and is really hard to find good black coffee (my fave). However, there are many places that sell ground coffee, these shops smell fantastic and the smell wafts into the streets, I could stand in front of one for hours. You can get the ground coffee to go and make your own black coffee at home- this has been my taste of home while I’ve been here. India loves their caffeine just like I do, it’s a match made in heaven!

Diesel Fumes- All you have to do is walk down the street and you get a big lungful. It’s even worse when you’re stuck in traffic in an autorickshaw, which is exposed to the elements, you can even get lightheaded- who likes carbon monoxide poisoning???

Jasmine /Other fresh flowers- I have NEVER seen so many flowers anywhere in the world. There are people selling flowers everywhere and their smell is probably stronger than any I’ve experienced. In particular, women wear strings of little white jasmine flowers in their hair and it smells great, it’s a very particular flowery smell that I’ve never experienced.

Beedies- Tobacco wrapped in a plant leaf- it has a very particular smell to it, actually not bad, it almost smells like herbs burning. Maybe I just like them because I used to smoke them from time to time in high school. One of the most popular brands here is Ganesh Beedis which is weird to name a product that kills you after a god- can you imagine Jesus Brand Cigarettes???

Urine/Ammonia- By any wall especially, you get that strong ammonia/kitty litter smell. Men seem to think the whole city is their urinal here and I don’t think a day has gone by since I’ve been here that I haven’t seen someone sidle up to a wall and let loose. One of my first days here a co-worker told me not to walk so close to the walls and I was all like ‘what’s the big deal?’, but I quickly realized how wise his advice was.

Incense- You can smell it burning everywhere, from temples to people’s homes, I love the smell. My favorite is when a rickshaw driver has a stalk burning, which masks the diesel fumes a bit.

BO- With so many people around all the time, it’s inevitable that SOMEBODY forgot to put on their deodorant, or even more likely, just refuses to wear it. It’s in the air at all times though, I think that all the South Indian spices make BO even more pungent here than elsewhere in the world though.

Open Sewers- In some neighborhoods (like by my work in Guindy), there aren’t proper sewers, just drainage ditches filled with a slowly moving, milky-watery substance. Nuff Said.

Indian Food- Well, duh. Street vendors in particular, especially when they’re deep-frying something, smell delicious and are hard to pass up- too many varieties of smells to post here but trust me, there is a smell for every palate, from spicy to mild, from healthy to fat saturated in saturated fat!

Fresh fruit- Sold everywhere, it is often displayed and stacked beautifully and the smells make it too tempting to pass up, from mangoes to sweet limes (they look like tennis balls but are actually some kinda combination of an orange and a lime, not sour at all like our limes), from jackfruit to oranges there is always something sweet smelling and delicious when you walk past a fruit vendor.