Dil ka Chor: Anand Mahindra decodes the name of the smell after rain, says Indians may have a better term for it

Do you know that the distinctive smell of soil after the first rain has a name? It is called petrichor. The term recently became the subject of an interesting discussion after billionaire industrialist and Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra shared a post on X about the origin and meaning of the word.

In his post, Mahindra said he had recently discovered that the fresh smell of the earth after rain is known as petrichor. Curious about its origins, he looked into the word’s etymology and found that it was formed from two Greek terms: “petra”, meaning stone or rock, and “ichor”, the fluid believed in Greek mythology to flow through the veins of gods instead of blood.

Explaining the meaning, Mahindra wrote that petrichor could roughly be translated as “the blood of the stones” or “the essence flowing from rocks”. However, he added that even such poetic definitions fail to capture the emotions associated with the first monsoon showers in India.



Referring to the anticipation many Indians feel before the arrival of the monsoon, Mahindra said people in the country wait for the season’s first rainfall with almost romantic excitement. For that reason, he suggested that “Dil ka Chor” might be a more appropriate name for the beloved earthy fragrance.

The post quickly attracted reactions from social media users, many of whom related to the emotional connection Indians have with the smell of rain-soaked earth.

One user wrote that they had never imagined the meaning of petrichor would be so deep and praised Mahindra’s suggestion of “Dil ka Chor”, calling it the perfect desi interpretation of a feeling that accompanies the first raindrops of the season.

Another user highlighted India’s long-standing tradition of producing “mitti attar” in Kannauj. The user noted that the fragrance, often described as the essence of soil, is extracted from parched clay and distilled using ancient techniques, earning it the nickname “Earth’s perfume”.

A third user remarked that while petrichor may be described in Greek mythology as the blood or nectar of stones, in India the monsoon is much more than a season. The user wrote that the first shower after weeks of scorching heat, along with the aroma rising from the soil, has the power to steal anyone’s heart.

Adding a humorous twist to the conversation, another user joked that if petrichor is essentially the perfume of the gods, then people are unknowingly inhaling “divine cologne” every time rain falls on dry rocks and earth.

Mahindra’s post resonated with many online, turning a discussion about a scientific term into a celebration of the emotions, memories and nostalgia that often accompany the arrival of the monsoon in India.