No one will guess she’s 88. Independent and optimistic, Sabita Ganguly is as passionate about her life as she is about her garden. Despite battling several ailments in the past, she has managed the upkeep of many plants on her terrace, backyard and driveway and believes gardening to be a hobby that keeps the mind pure. Fruits, flowers, foliage — she grows them all.

Every year, as if on clockwork, my Easter Lilies bloom in April, around Easter and this year too they were on time. Next in line are the Tiger Lilies and then Ball Lilies.

I also have Hibiscus, Nayantara, Togor and fruits like Kul and Lemons, although I joke that the Lemons must have got Covid as they are simply refusing to flower!

There are some Chillies and Tomatoes nearly ready to be plucked and some Aloe Veras whose gel I rub on my hair for nutrition.

The walkway into the forest

Plants are my favourite gifts and I love gifting away saplings of my plants too. I love the thought of them spreading branches everywhere around.

I feed crows and pigeons but these birds also have an appetite for my Petunias and Tomatoes. So I’ve planted in these pots flags that blow in the wind and resemble scarecrows. They seem to be keeping the birds at bay.

A couple of years ago, the Soumitra Chatterjee-starrer feature film Sanjhbati was shot in my house. Top stars came by for the shoot and my garden was part of the attraction. There was scene with actor Dev watering my Cacti and Milies and a Holi scene showing the stars playing on the terrace in the backdrop of a Krishnachura tree in full bloom.

That tree, along with a Radhachura, were the first tall trees on this street. I had planted them back in 1988 when I moved to this neighbourhood.

My son, who lives in Ghaziabad, keeps asking me to go visit them but they live on the eighth floor, from where trees look like dwarfs. But sitting right here in my BB Block living room, I can see so much greenery at arm’s length. I love it here.