Veena Mani By Express News Service CHENNAI: What was your favourite hobby as a kid? Do you continue to pursue it even as an adult? In Shyamala Rama Murthy’s case, it was gardening and she continues to pursue it even now, at the age of 64. Gardening helped city-based Shyamala earn a name and identity for herself in Mogappair. Ask anyone about her and they refer to her as the person with a variety of fruits in her house. Shyamala nurtures an array of fruits, vegetables and flower- bearing plants on the ground floor, first floor and the terrace of her house. Giving us a tour of her L-shaped green area in the balcony and verandah, she says that she managed to source most of her plants without her husband’s knowledge. “He doesn’t like it when I go out to buy plants. A vendor regularly sells saplings outside our house. When my husband is not around, I buy plants from him. If he happens to be at home, I’ve instructed the person to leave some plants at the doorstep in one corner and collect money from me later,” says Shyamala. Trial and error While Shyamala’s interest in gardening has been intact from the time she ventured into it as a young girl, she rues that neither her siblings nor her children are inclined to practise as much as she is. “Because of this, I currently only own around 50 plants. Shyamala Rama Murthy nurtures an array of fruits, vegetables and flower-bearing plants at her house ? P Jawahar Though I would like to nurture more, at the moment, I can manage only these many,” she shares. Everything she has learned so far about gardening has been through trial and error. “My sister’s daughter-in-law has a terrace garden. She loves gardening and is the only one who shares the interest with me. I talk to her about my plants and share tips and she, in turn, tells me about the new plants in her garden,” she enthuses. Gardening on-the-go When Shyamala travelled across the country for 35 years, along with her husband who is a retired Air Force officer, she had the chance to learn about different plant species. “My husband was posted in Rajasthan and New Delhi, among other places. His last posting was in Chennai. Every time we’d move to a new city, I’d pray that we get a quarter on the ground floor, so that I could set up a garden. I had capsicum, tomato, papaya and many other plants. I had the chance to explore and experiment with my garden,” she recalls, adding that some of her plants have been her constant companions throughout her journey. She recounts how she packed some of her plants and brought them to Chennai by train, taking the 2nd AC compartment. “AC would keep the plants fresh. That’s why I did that. I could not stand the idea of leaving behind my plants. Everyone on the train was amused by seeing my plants. But I had to do it,” she smiles. Instead of investing in pots or bags, she uses plastic water cans, metal containers in which people had gifted her sweets, and old buckets for her plants. While she does know how to tie her climbers so that they grow in order, owing to her age, she has appointed a worker to ensure her climbers are firmly tied, clipped and well-maintained. Apart from climbers, she also houses guava, chickoo and brinjal, among other plants. She is currently waiting to harvest the brinjals in her garden to get seeds for the next crop. A healthy harvest Shyamala Rama Murthy says she does not use any manure; her plants are healthy because the soil itself is fertile. She doesn’t mix her soil with cocopeat — an otherwise usual practice done to strengthen the soil. Her tip for home gardeners is for them to ensure that pots have a proper outlet for the water to seep out. As she waters her plants, she points to one of the pots and explains how the water stagnates there because of an improper hole at the bottom of the plastic pot.

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