“My love for plants precedes everything else in my life.It started with a small initiative in my colony. We decided we would add some trees to greenify our area and hence, with the help of all our community members, we pitched in money and planted around 50 saplings. Most of them have grown into huge trees now.

Encouraged, I started my own kitchen garden. We planted different vegetables and fruit varieties and it became my full time hobby. Owing to our former chief minister’s 60th birthday, she had announced a contest for home gardeners. I applied and won the first prize! Soon, my word spread around and people started approaching me to set up a garden at their place.

Having tried different entrepreneurial ventures, I decided to give this a go and planted the first seed for this in the year of 2014. Starting there, the business spanning 7-8 years grew into a huge successful tree with multiple ventures and outlets.

By then I had also completed courses and a diploma from the TN University of Agriculture. Seeing my enthusiasm, they started to encourage me and promoted my business and products on my behalf. Slowly, my word and fame spread and we set up business successfully. We have set up gardens in so many houses and they are growing quite well!

More than this, I have also given guest lectures and workshops in multiple schools and colleges. I even had the opportunity to do a full fledged course in gardening in one of the institutions before the lockdown came through.

My honest wish for the world is that everyone propagates a green thumb in their family and actively participates in setting a garden in the house. Plants purify the air around us and help bring in good oxygen to our lungs. People shriek away with the idea of responsibility but gardening as a hobby is a wonderful wonderful exercise which holds so many benefits for humans. In my quest to put a garden in every household, I hope to inspire many more to join me on this journey of making this world a greener place.”