I was born and raised in India where my childhood was filled with an abundance of
fragrant tropical flowers. From a very young age I was surrounded by precious
attars, the choicest of incense, resins, and aromatic spices.

I developed a keen nose for scents and a deep connection with fragrances very early on.

One of my earliest memories is being around my grandmother. She owned a small block of real Mysore Sandalwood. For special ceremonies, she'd give me the very important task of making Sandalwood paste.

I would grind that precious block of wood on a sahan―a special stone meant for just this purpose.

For days afterwards my fingers would stay perfumed. My soul is forever imbued with the divine scent of Sandalwood.

In my family, we gave special attention to fragrances on various festive occasions.

Every year, my father and I would go to a small, artisan perfumer in an old part of town. We'd buy expensive attars for our guests. Attars are handcrafted, artisanal perfumes made by centuries-old process and sold mostly as soliflore extraits.

Mom would call the aggarbatti-wallah at home. He would bring two bags full of the various brands of incense from all parts of India. Mom and I would spend a long time smelling and evaluating them to select the very best. We'd burn guggul & raal―resins from the local Sal trees and perfume the house.

The best part was going to the flower market. We'd buy Jasmine garlands that we wore in our hair. Kewada flower was a luxury afforded only once a year. Mostly we would buy marigolds that I strung into garlands.