For a visitor, the room in which old Shah Nawaz works and lives resembles the cell of a condemned prisoner. But the old man, who is definitely in his eighties, doesn't probably think so. He takes long, deep drags of his bidi, his sole indulgence, and surveys the huge cauldrons simmering in the dimly-lit brick-laid room - which is his world - with some fondness.
The room is a furnace. But the singeing, baking heat hardly bothers the octogenarian. His bed is the floor near one of the pots. A tiny makeshift hearth with a few aluminium pots and pans constitute his kitchen. And he can't even think of leaving this room for the next three months. "It will take that long for the henna leaves to brew to the right temperature before they start giving out perfumed steam," he explains with a smile.
This art, known only to the inhabitants of Kannauj - once the wealthy capital of Harshavardhana's glorious empire but now another dusty, almost obscure town in Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh - is a part of almost every household here.
The itr (perfume) makers of Kannauj almost possessively adhere to a technique referred to as "Deg bhabka" that is said to date back to the Mohenjodaro era. Deg is the pot while bhabka refers to the steam distillation technique. Huge vessels made of copper, properly sealed with mud, are left to boil on primitive hearths. The contents of the pot have to be kept boiling at a controlled temperature. Finally, the perfumed extract is collected in another vessel resting in cold water, through a siphon.
Says J.P. Pathak, who has been in this business since 1943: "We have attempted to modernise this method. And though it results in a higher yield, the quality is poor."
For all the perfumes, regardless of the floral extract - rose, jasmine or henna - sandalwood oil is the common base. Explains Rajendranath Mehrotra of Kedarnath Perfumers: "There can be no substitute for sandalwood oil as it has a unique quality of absorbing the aroma of other flowers and subduing its own." Besides, even at high temperatures it has the capacity to retain the perfume. But this dependence on sandalwood oil has a lot of perfumers concerned of late.
An increasing shortage in the supply of sandalwood has resulted in the closure of several units. Of the 22 sandalwood oil factories in Kannauj, only four are operational. "If we do not get adequate supply of this oil, then we may have to wind up our age-old business," adds Mehrotra. He has prepared for the rainy days ahead by opening a cold storage. "We have to have a second business running to meet our demands," he explains. In this, Mehrotra is no exception. With a surplus yield of potatoes practically every year, there is a demand for their proper storage. Consequently, many perfumers are investing in the business in this region.
Paucity of sandalwood has resulted in a severe price hike of itr produced in Kannauj. What was being sold at Rs 12,000 per kg in January has registered a 50 per cent hike. To compound this hopeless situation, the perfumers expect no assistance from the administration. An office was opened to take care of the perfumers, but it only helps in testing the various samples of sandalwood oil. But administrative disinterest is not the only problem. Lack of initiative and the laid-back attitude of perfumers is equally responsible. For instance, the latter still bottle their products in clumsy glass or aluminium jars. Besides, their main buyers now are pan masala and tobacco companies, and the easy profits to be had from this link-up has narrowed their vision.
Says J.B. Pathak, another perfumer: "We sell 85 per cent of our itr to these people, so what's the need for fancy bottling?" The popular preference for western perfumes and deodorants does not upset them. The reason is simple: their target customers, pan masala manufacturing units who use these scents in their products, do brisk business. Says Sudhanshu Gupta, owner of Makhulal Ayodhya Prasad Perfumers: "As long as people enjoy the taste of pan masala, we shall continue to earn profits."
Since most of these perfumes can be consumed, they are added to various consumable tobacco products to improve their flavour. As a result, only a few perfume manufacturing houses are interested in selling itr as cosmetic perfumes. One of the main exporters of cosmetic itr, Mohammed Ayub Mohammed Yaqub, have made a niche for themselves in West Asian countries and even Pakistan.
Explains one of their partners, Abdul Ahsan: "The religious beliefs of Muslims is what keeps our trade going." Alcohol is prohibited in their holy book. So, they prefer itr to other upmarket Western perfumes which have methyl alcohol as their base.
To catch the imagination and fancy of their potential customers, this company has exotic names for its products: Shama Matool, Amber and Roohul Ward, names related to jannat (heaven). But barring these Islamic countries, there aren't many takers for this age-old pure floral scent.
The perfumers themselves admit that, as cosmetics, not only do they leave a stain, but are also extremely expensive. The cheapest extract is that of khus at Rs 17,000 per kg. Save for khus and kora, most flowers are available in and around the city - the former is found in Rajasthan, the latter is grown only in Orissa.
To extract the oil from these flowers the perfumers have set up their manufacturing plants in these states far from their hometown. But everything else is the just same - the pots, the hearth and even the labourers are all from their very own city. In fact, the change of location for some of these perfumers has helped them innovate and invent. For instance, they have created yet another itr meant especially for pregnant women in Rajasthan. Gill itr made from soft clay is processed using the same technique. This too is in great demand in the indigenous tobacco industry.
No plot of land in Kannauj is without flowers. No house lacks the familiar sweet fragrance. Even the dust-laden summer winds bring with it heady whiffs of roses and sandalwood. Yet, no one in Kannauj has any romance in his or her heart for the enormous acres of roses, marigolds or jasmines that bloom here in abundance. The heady perfume, which had inspired the famous Chinese scholar-traveller Hiuen Tsang - who spent eight years in Harshavardhana's kingdom in the seventh century - to spout poetry, no longer casts its magic on people, not even on the locals. For them it's mundane business that will help them earn their living, somehow.
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