Being a drug discovery scientist keeps busy, lockdown or no lockdown. But her favourite pastime, especially on weekends, is to spend time on the terrace, sipping tea and watching the sunset amidst the fresh air and her beautiful blooms. Every season has a different look in her garden —— if it’s Dahlias in winter, it’s Sunflowers now in summer.

I grew up in an air force family and have lived all over the country in houses with lovely green patches attached. My father was especially fond of gardening and from him, my mother and I developed an interest too. We moved to Salt Lake in 2008 and even now, despite not being in the best of health, my parents keep tabs on the plants and give instructions to the gardener on their upkeep.

I usually ask the gardener to get new saplings but recently I made my first online purchase of seeds. A friend had done the same and she had posted pictures of her beautiful Zinnias. Hope my owns grow well too!

Our front yard has Sunflowers now but in winter it is full of pink miniature Roses. We had a good Guava tree there too but it fell off during Cyclone Amphan. Storms and cyclones have indeed broken my pots but this tree has been the greatest casualty.

Our backyard has Gondhoraj Lebu and Mangoes. This Mango tree must be 20 years old but it only started bearing fruits last year. And it bore lots of them. My mother and cook delighted us with Mango chutney, pickle, morobba… I’m a gourmet chef myself and like to pick fresh Sweet Basil or Lime from the kitchen garden for my dishes.

Among flowers we have Hibiscus, Bougainvillea and Adenium and among vegetables we have Brinjal and Tomatoes but, truth be told, they don’t ripen easily.

The terrace garden is a perfect venue for barbecue parties and I held one such up there for New Year’s Eve last year. In fact, when friends came over till a few months ago, it was up there that we chose to socialise. The open air ensured safe distance and the flowers provided a beautiful backdrop.