PANAJI
She always found some resonance with jasmine, her association with that fragrance going back to her childhood when she would spend a lot of time in her grandmother’s jasmine garden. Monika Ghurde started off her career as a photographer but a fortuitous meeting later in life saw her grow to become one of India’s top perfumers.
She moved from Mumbai to Chennai in 2002, and in 2005, she co-founded Graf Publishing. Four years later, as she got more and more interested in perfumery, launching her into a different universe. A couple suggested she learn more about perfumery, and so she did. She left photography behind and immersed herself in the world of perfumes, training with expert perfumers and working with Picot Laboratories in the UK. Her ‘nose’ was acclaimed in India and abroad and she has worked with some of the best in the business, leading her to visit Paris, the global perfumery hub on a regular basis.
She settled in Goa and travelled across the country and the world, especially in South East Asia and Europe. She then founded Molabs through which she conducted research on jasmine, held olfactory developmental classes and also ventured into art. She taught adults how smell influences everyone on a conscious level and sub-consciously as well, in decision making. In Goa she conducted workshops at Alliance Francaise and Sunaparanta.
