Nandita of Mumbai are marketed in the West (mainly via the Wonder company) in the usual outlets as a Satya competitor, though with a slightly more modern edge. Much of their output - domestic and export - has the usual names and images as other Indian incense houses - Bulgarian Rose, Golden Coin, Arabian Oudh, etc. They are decent and attractive everyday masala sold at a reasonable price - often around £1.50 for 15g. The fragrances are generally soft and attractive. Nothing too heady. And nothing cutting edge or unusual.
This Fruit Blast is machine extruded and then rolled quite thinly in a melnoorva powder - this is highly likely done just for the appearance as the paste formulations for machine made sticks tend to be drier than hand rolled formulations, so the finished sticks are not sticky and don't need the powder to dry them. People buying masala styled incense expect to see the melnoorva powder, so a number of incense houses will provide it even when its not actually needed.
This Fruit Blast is machine extruded and then rolled quite thinly in a melnoorva powder - this is highly likely done just for the appearance as the paste formulations for machine made sticks tend to be drier than hand rolled formulations, so the finished sticks are not sticky and don't need the powder to dry them. People buying masala styled incense expect to see the melnoorva powder, so a number of incense houses will provide it even when its not actually needed.
The scent on the stick is perfumed, highly attractive with a commercial sweetness - vanilla and jelly beans or fruits. It's not an interesting or divine scent, but it is damned attractive in the way that sweet cocktails or kiddies sweets can be attractive. It's a bit of fun now and again, but it's not something I'd have or want to have every day, nor for special occasions.
The stick is slow to light, the flame is low and reluctant, and there's no black smoke. It settles into a fairly meagre burn with a rather thin column of smoke - not an incense to use for smudging, or for those who like to see swirls of incense smoke. The scent on the burn does have a slight masala edge, but it just as well could be a perfumed incense. This does fit into the Wonder Incense style of attractive border-line masala incense such as New Moon. I've heard from several sources that Navan of Wonder makes incense for several well known brands popular in the West. And the address given for Nandita in Mumbai, doesn't look as though incense is made there on an international scale. (Though I haven't seen the premises that Wonder use).
The stick is slow to light, the flame is low and reluctant, and there's no black smoke. It settles into a fairly meagre burn with a rather thin column of smoke - not an incense to use for smudging, or for those who like to see swirls of incense smoke. The scent on the burn does have a slight masala edge, but it just as well could be a perfumed incense. This does fit into the Wonder Incense style of attractive border-line masala incense such as New Moon. I've heard from several sources that Navan of Wonder makes incense for several well known brands popular in the West. And the address given for Nandita in Mumbai, doesn't look as though incense is made there on an international scale. (Though I haven't seen the premises that Wonder use).
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| Nandita's headquarters in Mumbai |
Anyway, be that as it may - and there always seem to be rumours of one sort or another regarding Indian incense production, such that they should generally be regarded with scepticism - this is an acceptable and fun everyday incense.
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