Growing Green "Peace" on Your Roof

Her den of nature feels like heaven for Vani. After all, she created and nurtured it with care and love. Every plant, every herb and every creeper feels like her baby. Some of them grow wildly, while some show restraint in spurting out very slowly. 'That's nature's way of balancing things out as she asserts herself with every living being', Vani thinks. Whatever is the pace of growth, it is nothing short of a miracle to her when a tiny stem with tinier leaves bursts out of the seed. When she is amongst them, she simply wouldn't notice the passage of time.

It had rained the previous evening and her garden always looked a shade brighter after the rain. It was as though a magic potion was poured over them. The leaves looked greener, shinier and happier as they danced in the morning gale. While the flowers looked dazzlingly bright in their reds, yellows and maroons, the quenched soil looked renewed.

"If it feels so good to see them grow in pots, how it must feel to see a field full of ripe crop!" she wondered. Now she understood why her parents spent most of their time out in the fields when she was growing up. She felt very bad when she thought how she used to get annoyed to see her father come home covered in mud many a time. 

"Mud" now held an altogether different meaning for her. She knew why they called the soil the "mother earth". That's where most of the life on the earth sprouted from and that is what took care of most of the life on the planet, just like her own mother took care of her family. But back in those days, she was silly and foolish to realize this profound truth.

The best surprise awaited her yet. As she walked towards the far end of her roof garden, taking pleasure in watching the new leaves here and a fresh flower bud there, she came to a grounding halt as she approached the pot where she had planted Okra seeds more than a month ago. While the Okra plant had grown steadily out of the pot, there was no sign of Okra itself. Well, not till now. She was bowled over to see the heads of slender Okra deceptively blending with the long leaves of the plant for the very first time. She had almost given up hope of being able to harvest Okra. Seeing those small Okra pods as they wavered in the blowing wind, she found herself tearing up.

"How silly it is to become so emotional over some Bhindi" she thought to herself as she took out her mobile phone to click some photographs of the plant. 

She sent them over to her daughter Sidhi in the USA. Within a few minutes, she received her call.

"I hope you are happy now Amma. Finally your Bhindi have arrived" Sidhi taunted her mother.

"I am so happy Ammu, I almost cried."

"Oh, I can image that. I now wonder whether you cried over Anna's birth or my birth as much as you are crying over the birth of your plants."

"On the contrary, you can imagine how much I would have cried at that time, now that you know I cry over these things too."

"I am happy about your crying Amma, as strange as it may sound."

"You know I was so scared about my days after my retirement, now that both of you are away abroad. Your father is so busy with his factory work. I never thought I would find something so very enriching at this juncture in my life, Sidhi."

"Anna and I are very happy that you are finally going after what matters to you, Amma."

"I too am happy Sidhi. My BP and sugar are under control and I am able to sleep well in the night. I don't buy vegetables any more. I am finding that the satisfaction of eating out of your own garden cannot be measured in material terms and hence I don't want to talk about the savings" Vani rattled on. 

Sidhi's eyes turned moist when she felt how happy and positive her mother sounded. Her brother and she were quite relieved about her mother's well-being these days thanks to that green patch on the roof.

Vani's sister Veena who lived in Bhopal dropped in at her place after a week. It has been quite a while since Veena paid a visit to Vani. Veena had retired a year earlier than Vani from her job. It was Veena's mental state after her retirement that had made Vani worry so much about her own upcoming retirement. With her only son working abroad, Veena was constantly in a state of anxiety over her dwindling health.

As they sat down for a chat over a cup of tea, Veena started venting yet again about her ailments and how scared she was now that she and her husband were all alone in that big independent house. After a while, Vani could take it no more. She got up and said "Akka, Come, let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"We are going for a walk on the terrace."

"But you know my knees are aching. I cannot climb two floors."

"You can and you will. I will help you. Come. I want to show you something."

"What do you want to show me there which cannot be shown here?" Veena asked as she slowly got up.

"The cure for all your ailments." Vani said with a smile as she led her sister upstairs.

This is loosely based on a true story and is dedicated to all the "green fingers" out there.