Scholars and medical experts all state that consciousness plays an integral part in our metabolism. Recently, a chance encounter at New Delhi’s ITC Maurya brought me close to the house phones and to a glass lid bowl in which were an array of evergreen potted plants. The leaves inside the quaint glass container seemed to signify an eco-spiritual sanctuary — a little botanical pot parade of lush green foliage that could uplift one’s senses in the twinkle of an eye.
A few queries to the hotel’s e General Manager Anil Chadha brought forth the green thumbed horticulturist — an avid green lover of responsible luxury called Yashpal Singh Yadav.
Yadav, with ITC for the last 25 years, creating endless little islands of foliage and succulent some things all around the hotel. He explains how he goes about creating these foliages in glass pots. He uses soil and manure and little pebbles and stones and leaf compost to create a bed that is nourishing and moist in parts.
He then puts the leaves on top and says that this potted plant can last up to a year provided one sprays it with water just once a week. One needs to keep it part in shade and part in light, near a window, so that the leaves remain green.
The indoor plants that are evergreen are the best. Plants themselves are living systems when they are used as punctuations in lifestyle interiors. Botanists state that plants are an aggregate of physical elements and energy — very much a life force field by themselves.
In today’s fast-paced life, it makes sense that we derive nourishment not only from the macro and micro nutrients in foods but also from their life force energy in their very state of physical being.
Yadav’s effort is one such example of this aspect of lifestyle. His green fingers exemplify the truth that potted plants can be created within our homes too. All it needs is a little passion, a visit to a nursery and a few indoor plants that will fulfil our green instincts. After all, a verdant green potted plant can indeed become an island in the sun.
