A sound dispatch for the homesick

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The smallest detail can catch us unaware at the most unexpected moment. A familiar aroma, a once-forgotten sight, a sound imbued with memory. The Cities and Memory project is an archive of the third kind of nostalgic sensory detail.

It puts together original tunes and documented sounds, mapping 120 countries. The documented sounds are recordings of a key moment. For example, the entry from Goa's Canacona features the sound of gentle waves and beach goers, as they await a spell of rain.

The memory versions in each entry are a musician's take on what they associate with a city. At Varanasi, it is an interpretation of the offerings made to the Ganga - a calming, rhythmic tune that turns introspective. The submission from Kerala's Manjeri is a "Corona Pattu" or song about the COVID-19 pandemic - indicating the project's potential to document history.