“You want to smell like Ghalib? I’ll tell you where to go,” grinned Vishesh Talreja, 33, a fierce fragrance aficionado and childhood buddy. Whenever he had that twinkle in his eye, I always knew he meant pleasant business!

Dogging hand-pulled rickshaws around Old Delhi’s alleyways, the legendary Urdu poet’s “Bas ke dushvar hai, har kaam ka asan hona. Adami ko bhi muyassar nahin, insaan hona” (Indeed, it is difficult, even to accomplish a task easily. It isn’t easy for a human, even to be human) sung by the evergreen songstress Begum Akhtar resounded in my mind’s stereo system. As an unmistakable scent bubble emanating from a non-descript corner of the Dariba Kalan quarter caught my nose, the crowd of customers smelling their wrists told me I had arrived. At a distance on the wall, an 1855 England-made grandfather clock ticked in perfect time.

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The kaleidoscopic array of colourful fragrance oils resting in ornate decanter jars with royal elegance reminded me of how the historic Hindustani vocalist Ustad Rajab Ali Khan once bought all the irresistible attar oils a vendor wanted to sell to his disciple, the Dewas Maharaja, and bathed himself with each of them! But I was jolted out of my eccentric urges by a boisterous ‘Ram Ram ji’. It was a Gen Z gent who introduced himself as Vinamra Gundhi, the eighth generation torchbearer of the Heritage House of Gulabsingh Johrimal.

That’s where I had landed, I realised, though half-dazed and distracted with the mind-boggling olfactory extravaganza laid out before me.

HALOED HERITAGE

“My ancestor, Lala Gulab Singhi ji, and his son, Lala Johrimal Sahab, established this perfumery way back in 1816. Right from Nawaabs to new-age gizmo-freaks, we’ve catered to them all,” Gundhi (Sanskrit for perfumer) explains. The last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was once their esteemed customer. Today, fragrance lovers from around the globe revel in their sheer versatility. Celebrities, expatriates, students, corporates, classical music mavericks are all under the Gundhi family’s scented spell.

“But what about Ghalib?” I gushed. Excusing himself to a corner of the quaint perfumery, Gundhi returned with an exquisite decanter containing a viscous, dark liquid and placed a dab on the back of my hand. Attar Hina, it was called, and it smelt vintage. The mélange of spicy, herbaceous and woody accords resurrected the romanticism of Ghalib’s intricately linguistic embroidery. “This is actually the very decanter from which my ancestors once poured Ghalib, this liquid elixir. It’s a blend of numerous natural Indian spices over a Mysore sandalwood base. Being a warming winter scent, he’d smear it on his flowing white beard as he sat by the candlelight, penning poetry on nippy winter nights, a few blocks away at his haveli,” Gundhi gleamed.

As he laid out a mesmerising selection of diverse oils and incenses, it dawned upon me that the young, promising perfumer had indeed inherited not just the subtle nuances of the craft from his illustrious ancestors but also the gift of versatility.

INDIAN EXCELLENCE

Vinamra Gundhi’s mentors, namely his father Mukul and his elder uncles, perfumers Praful and Atul Gundhi, have honed his nose in India’s endearing, millennia-old fragrance tradition. The family still distils extracts of various indigenous flowers in the 5000-year-old deg-bhapka method. With a passion for innovation, he has caught the pulse of the international market, keeping himself abreast of the latest trends and contributing to India’s aromatic tradition.

For Janamshtami, my apt selection of Krishna agarbatti sticks, namely Musk, Rose and Sandalwood, brought back childhood memories of my great-grandmother’s ancestral home in a quaint seaside town on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border. An indolic, lush, seductive Royal Juhi took me to the endless flower markets of Madurai.

Madan Mast, a cult classic worn by generations of die-hard patrons, was a surreal few moments of speechlessness. Thanks to the deep, dark labdanum, oakmoss, camphor, damask rose and musk.

ARABIAN OVERTURES

“Oud is trending. Many customers, infatuated with the scent of Dubai, want the Sheikh’s scent to fragrance their clothes,” Gundhi smiles. Laying out a stunning selection of Arabesque blends, my first and instant buy was Black Oud FIR. Its balsamic, woody, amber opening, unveiling sophisticated tobacco, hints of saffron and a creamy musk, was my ‘aha’ moment.

Sensing my penchant for rugged, smoky Arabian scents, Gundhi deftly dabbed Oud Emirati on my arm. An enchanting, smoky Indian oud, saffron, sandalwood, dried roses, patchouli, and I was muttering ‘rau’ah! rau’ah’ (Arabic for magnificence)! Inspired by the traditional fragrances of the Khaleej (Gulf States) during a Dubai trip, Gundhi decided to bottle the city’s magnetism through this formulation.

However, the finest Arabian fragrance oil from my Gulabsingh Johrimal collection turned out to be their all-time classic, Amiri Oud. With an outright woody facet, it projected bright Indian sandalwood, Omani frankincense, Yemeni myrrh, spicy notes and a touch of oud, all for just 600 for a sturdy 10 ml bottle. “None can resist this one. A Spanish lady customer went berserk by just the first whiff!” he reminisces.

To my delight, Vinamra Gundhi’s exemplary selection of Arabic ‘Bakhoor’ incenses had me nearly miss my flight back to Mumbai. Bakhoors Oud (burning agarwood chips, deep, earthy), Sandalwood (woody, creamy Indian sandalwood), and Classic (a bouquet of rose, saffron, oud and musk) had me journey from India’s national capital to Bahrain’s old coffee houses, the gregarious banter and quaint warmth!

FRENCH FINESSE

French perfumes come with notorious price tags. “If we can buy an oil that is more long-lasting, portable and costs a couple of zeros less, we can give the Calvin Kleins and the Armanis a break,” opines Krishnan R, a regular buyer of French-style fragrance oils at Gulabsingh Johrimal. During official meets, vacations or even a daily workout, Gundhi’s French compositions, he says, provide him with a classy olfactory experience and win him compliments.

Known for my mature nose, I narrowed down on Cigar Oud, a Sicilian mafioso kind of a leathery number with a burning Tuscan cigar accord; Suede Leather—a smooth, masculine leather and oud; Blue Premium to beat the swelter with its cooling St Tropez Mediterranean oceanic vibe; a whisky and woody Royal Oud Cedar that took me back to the old pubs of Ireland; Royal Nights, a mysterious labdanum, lush violet leaf, saffron and rose; and finally CW Premium, a citrus, aqua and amber party scent, quite like the one my high school crush complimented me about during our batch’s farewell party…(ah…l’amour!).

Finally, strolling past Ghalib’s haveli, now a heritage site, quite inebriated with olfactive bliss, a large cloth bag full of fragrant goodies in hand, I spontaneously composed a couplet, summing up my experience: “Aye the hum, le kar aarzu e Ghalib ko. Le ja rahe hain ab, bu e Ghalib ko” (I had arrived with the desire to meet Ghalib. Now I take back with me, his scent!)

The author is an independent writer, Hindustani musician, polyglot and perfumer with a fierce passion for fine scents, sounds, cultures and creative expressions.