Divrina Dhingra’s Pleasantly Aromatic Research
Suman Bhagchandani
THE PERFUME PROJECT: JOURNEYS THROUGH INDIAN FRAGRANCE by By Divrina Dhingra Westland Non-Fiction, 2023, 174 pp., INR 599.00
September 2024, volume 48, No 9

The book is a rich tapestry of vivid descriptions of the perfume-making process that will remind the reader of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, a popular movie about scents bottled from natural resources. Divrina Dhingra in every chapter, without any gruesomeness of the movie involved, painstakingly reveals the details of how scents of different kinds are produced, through scientifically calculated labour. The mechanism of producing these aromas is elaborated in a manner that will naturally make the reader appreciate the organic chemistry shared between its initial science of production and the subsequent intercourse with its wearer. In an almost seductive way she writes, ‘traditional perfumes demand something of a wearer. A commitment, a little patience, as the perfume communes with skin and reveals itself’ (p. 30).

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