Don't ask ...
Don't ask whether India stinks or not.
Let me tell you, the airports in New Delhi and Mumbai are like novice - protection zones, an illusion. The India you think of is the faint, international - style fragrance in the airports.
When you finally muster up the courage to push open that door and step out...
There's a "bang".
It feels like the air of the whole world has been instantly replaced.
It's a 3D surround - sound kind of smell. How to describe it? It's the most primitive smell of human excrement, mixed with the thick, indissoluble curry and spices on the streets, and then overlaid with the body - sweating smell of a population in the millions.
Really, with the first breath, it feels like your lungs are given a jolt.
Your nose will stop working first, and then your brain. You desperately try to pick out a familiar smell from it, but it's impossible. They come at you as a group.
After staying there for a few days, do you think you've gotten used to it?
No, you've just become numb.
That smell will seep into your hair, penetrate your skin, and stick to your clothes. It's not just a simple odor; it's an atmosphere, a powerful aura that wraps you up completely.
When you return to your home country and open your suitcase, that familiar smell rushes at you, and you might even be in a daze for a moment.
During those days, you live in that smell. It becomes the most profound and indelible physical memory of that country for you.
別問印度到底臭不臭。
我跟你說，新德里、孟買的機場，那是新手保護區，是幻覺。你以為的印度，是機場裡那股淡淡的、國際化的香氛味兒。
等你鼓起勇氣，推開那扇門，一腳踏出去……
「砰」的一聲。
感覺整個世界的空氣，被人瞬間換掉了。
那是一種3D環繞立體味兒，怎麼形容呢，就是人類最原始的排泄物味道，混合著街邊濃到化不開的咖喱和香料，再給你疊加上百萬人口級別的人體汗蒸味兒。
真的，第一口呼吸，感覺肺都被嗆了一下。
你的鼻子會先罷工，然後是大腦。你拼命想從中分辨出一種熟悉的味道，但根本做不到，它們是抱團來攻擊你的。
呆個幾天，你以為你習慣了？
不，你只是麻木了。
那股味道，會鑽進你的頭髮，滲進你的皮膚，粘在你的衣服上。它不是一種簡單的氣味，它是一種氛圍，一種強大的氣場，把你整個人包裹起來。
等你回國，打開行李箱，那股熟悉的味道撲面而來，你甚至會恍惚一下。
那幾天，你就活在那個味道裡。它成了你對那個國度，最深刻、最無法磨滅的身體記憶