“For someone to move from the dense town of Nagercoil to a bustling city like Chennai was like swallowing a hard pill. I never knew that the city life would be starkly different from the town I grew up in. I moved to the city after my marriage and being at home the whole day started to gnaw at me. I wanted to have something to keep me occupied in the time between my morning routine and night routine. Thus entered plants!

It started with a measly number of 12 plants. And then it began to grow and grow. I became a plant collector! I started investing time and effort in bringing up my own slice of heaven. With time, I entered a beautiful community of gardeners on Facebook and that brought with it an exposure I never knew existed before.

From flowering varieties, vegetables, fruits, succulents, indoor varieties and many more, my garden grew in size and number. Little did I know then that this would one day earn me fame and a name. Finding creative ways to use old and dilapidated materials in the house, I started to recycle all my discardable as plant pots. From an old bathtub to steel containers which were discarded by others, all of them found a space on my terrace and are home to some beautiful plants.

Currently, I have a collection of more than 3500 plants of which, some of which were exported from different countries like Thailand and Austria. I also sell plants on my own by harvesting the bulbs in small pots and shipping them to different parts of India. When the lockdown rolled in, I could safely count on my garden to provide me with the essential vegetables that I needed on a daily basis.

I have been featured by a few TV channels as well through this initiative of mine. It is a hard feat tending to the whole garden without the help of anyone else but the reward of witnessing the blooms up close makes up for all of it. The only message that I would like to leave my followers with is that every single one of us should have a terrace garden if they can help it. We can all grow and harvest vegetables from our garden without having to rely on external sources. More than the quality of the vegetables, gardening is an excellent means for improving your mental health. Composting your waste and adding it back to your plants helps reduce our waste on the planet as well. All this takes is a small inspiration; if I can inspire even one person to pick up gardening I would consider myself a grand success.”