Mummy ki khushboo

I remember small things... instances... from the time I was growing up. Before our house underwent extensive reconstruction, the door mostly used for entering and leaving was the one in the gallery instead of the one in the kitchen.

The gallery was (is) this long hallway, a good 20-30 feet ( I think... Im bad with estimates), lit by a number of small dome lights that filled the place with a warm orange glow. There, at the end of this hallway, was a big aquarium with different fish, most of them gold fishes, maybe because that's what was most easily available in quetta.

What I remember most vividly about this gallery was when mum would use this door to leave for work. I remember her dressing up, the good bye hugs n kisses we would get, the click-clackin of her heels, her disappearing form and her perfume in the hallway.

I remember lingering in the gallery for the longest of times after she would leave, standing in front of the aquarium, watching the fish swim. Amii used to wear Chanel No.5 and you could still smell it there for hours after she would leave. To us, as kids, the name of the perfume never held any significance. That smell was simply mummy ki khushboo.

Today, as I dressed for uni, I opened my cupboard and there it was, a whole bottle full of mummy ki khushboo. I sprayed on a little so the smell would linger around me for the rest of the day, reminding me of her, tricking my mind somehow into thinking that she was around there somewhere nearby.

I dunno. Maybe Im just missing amii a lot...