Others may have been swamped by chores during the lockdown but Jyoti Kakarania squeezed out time to develop a new hobby. Gardening has kept her engaged since last year and she already grows flowers, fruits, vegetables, bonsai, cacti and more. Being a graphologist and parenting coach, all her work is now online, allowing her even more time to do what she loves.
Ever since I started gardening on the terrace, it has become a hub of activity. I started going for a walk up there, I feed crows there in the morning, sometimes the family goes up to have tea… And every time I’m up there I get to check on the plants.
My father-in-law has grown an interest too and gets me saplings whenever he crosses a nursery now-a-days. But his leg ache doesn’t allow him to climb the stairs every day so I shoot videos of the plants on my phone and share them on our family WhatsApp group for all too see.
One tree that holds special significance for me is the Bel right outside our house. It was gifted by my father, who is no more. This tree sustained us during the lockdown too. Since we weren’t buying puja flowers and leaves from the market, we were plucking a few leaves from this plant and offering the Shiva idol at home.
We also pray to the Tulsi plant daily and the Banana plant on Thursdays. In fact, whoever eats Bananas at home knows he is not to discard the peels. I cut these peels, keep them in water for a few days and then pour that water on plants. It acts as a natural fertiliser.
I’ve also picked up some discarded boxes from our factory to grow plants in. A Tulsi grows out of this now, as does Aloe Vera. We have been using the juice of the Aloe Vera on our skin too.
We have a Brinjal plant but it only bears one fruit at a time. A Pomegranate plant bears fruits but they are neither red nor sweet. The Lemon plant is excellent in every respect. I’m trying to create bonsais out of two Mango trees and have another bonsai Orange. The tiny Oranges look cute but are too sour even for birds to peck on.
Another reason I love the garden is because it helped me forge bonds with birds. All through the lockdown, whenever I went to tend to my plants, two eagles would fly over from a nearby Coconut tree and circle the terrace, as if to greet me.
If you have a garden you tend to yourself, send your address and contact number to The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001 or email to saltlake@abp.in