Ive always loved the smell of petrol, pulling into a petrol bunk, its another matter the price of the petrol and the heart burn that it involves burning this fuel for the environment and for my lungs, that is not inclined to the good sense in me. But recently at IndiaWood 2026, specifically at the mattress expo I was made painfully aware of the presence of petro-derived products in my sofa foam, mattress and worse in my pillows too, obviously even after tossing all the polyester in my wardrobe still kept me in the petro loop!
When I asked Gemini what is the love of the smell of petrol called it said: You likely enjoy the smell of gasoline because its high aromatic hydrocarbon content—specifically benzene—triggers a, sweet scent that activates your brain’s reward pathway, causing a minor, temporary sense of euphoria. It is also linked to nostalgia, evoking childhood memories, or a physiological response to inhaled hydrocarbons.
As the west bombards the east for political reasons, the mines of petroleum that span across the region are going to create ripples across the globe, not to mention the devastation that war brings. World leaders scramble some to condemn and some to laude the attack as a way of the good winning over the evil. But the decimation of one does not mean there will not be the rise of the other. But as the repressive policies of nations are challenged and the fight is for peace, the nature of the oxymoron remains unchallenged. The love of the scent of petrol or the flash of the polyester clothes or the softness of the petro foam is no excuse for the use of fuel that only burns to damage not just itself but in the very environment it is a part of.
Vedasri Siddamsetty 