A to Z challenge - J for Jasmine

It wasn't just a fragrance then... As a school child when I was fascinated by the long strings of white flowers that adorned a girl's braids.  

Summer vacation was the time when the jasmine vines were decorated with buds. By evening, girls would set out for the jasmine pandals (as we used to call them) in the neighborhood. 

We learned from our grandmother how to pluck the mature buds that would bloom the next day. She also taught us how to tie them in a long string using fibre from plantain tree. It is easier to tie them as buds; not when fully bloomed. There were different varieties with slim buds, fatter buds and the one with layers of petals. The fragrance differed with each variety.

Refrigerators were not common then. We would hang the long string of buds on trees that would be a thick string of flowers by morning. The aroma would waft across the area. 

Sometimes we wouldn't want the buds to be open fully. Then we would fold the string of buds in a fresh plantain leaf and keep it overnight. The result will be flowers in half-bloom, which used to be a hit among girls then. The highlight was that it would retain the aroma and remain fresh throughout the day. 

Any wedding in the neighborhood, there would be an army of girls to string heaps of jasmine together. It was supposed to be worn by all women/girls in the wedding house. Not sporting flowers on hair in a wedding house was considered to be inauspicious.

The heartburn when a cousin gets a longer string than mine and the thrill of having a string almost my length... It was all gone when we grew up and the string soon became out of fashion for our attire and style. It is not a must even at weddings now. 

In the concrete jungles I lived later, the reminders of the humble white flower were many -- perfumes, deodorants, talcum powder, room fresheners, floor cleaners... Only the flowers were missing.