Capsules of memories

Memories come in various forms and sizes... they are like capsules, wrapped in colourful rice paper, all seeemingly harmless and largely similar.  But each tiny package hides within it various remedies for diverse maladies. Little details tucked away into corners of one'e memory are just like nameless capsules. You don't know what it is for, until you take it in and understand what it does to you.

My mind is a repository of many capsules, large and small, innocuous and potent, deep and superficial. And no capsule can be unlocked at will... each capsule has a key that opens it.  The beauty of these capsules lies in the fact that until unlocked, I am in blissful oblivion of their existence. And I do not know the key that releases the fine powder of memory within. And once unlocked, the powder of memory within is so special to me: it can be retrieved again and again... to another, it just a tiny white cloud of dust. 

The keys are unknown until they perform the very act of unlocking the capsule... and the keys... ah, the keys themselves are deceptively clad... A particular aroma wafting from a nearby kitchen could trigger poignant memories of a childhood outing. A certain tune could unlock a high school memory, long since forgotten. Travelling down a certain road could trigger a wonderful memory of a boisterous schoolday excursion.

Scant would I have thought that an olfactory sensation would transport me to teenage days... or that a cherished memory was trapped in notes of an old song. 

Years of unlocking old memories have shown me that a sizeable number of my memory capsules are hidden in musical ciphers... to me, listening to music is  to be transported to a tranquil world of unlocked capsules and puffs of memory released into  my conscious mind. Not all capsules bring happy memories though... which is why I vehemently block out certain pieces of music or avoid some fragrances. 

Some capsules are memorable... cherished... like the olfactory trigger that takes me back to middle school days and bathes me every time in reclaimed joys of childhood. Or the tune that brings back first days in college, and how I met my best friends...And then, there are those elusive capsules of memory that I try in vain to unlock.. but which are stubborn and unyielding... 

The happy memories are safe in their capsules... to be unlocked and to be relived as I wish. Atleast there are some treasures that are only mine, never to be taken away...