“F ifty rupees a kilo!” Patel Dada’s grouchy voice reached Prahladh as he sat in his ground-floor balcony, playing Scrabble with his friends. Obviously, it was the high prices of vegetables Dada was grousing about. He and his wife Lalli Daadi lived on the first floor by themselves. Their three sons lived abroad.
The old couple managed on their own, never complaining about anything or anyone — except the high prices of vegetables, of course. But everyone knew they were lonely.
An idea
Prahladh looked over the balcony and said, “ Daadhu ! Hold on, I’ll carry your bag.” The Patels lived on the first-floor and had the advantage of a huge balcony. Prahladh had an idea. After dropping off Dada’s vegetables he ran back to tell his friends. Their new teacher, Ms. Pinto, told them that any available bit of space could be used to grow plants.
“We can brighten our flats with greenery. Growing greens and vegetables gives us pleasure too,” she said. She mentored them through a programme to use food waste and vegetable peels to make organic manure.
On their balconies sat pretty-looking terracotta (pottery) containers which turned kitchen waste into manure with the help of earthworms. The next part of Ms. Pinto’s project was to use the manure to grow plants at home.
Several kilos of manure was ready, so they set in motion their joint-action plan, with the advice and help of their parents. And of course, without the knowledge of the Patels. Now the stage was set: Prahlad’s parents “managed” to run into the Patels during their morning walk, and requested their help saying that they had mistakenly purchased a dozen large pots that were far too large for their balcony. Would the Patels mind accepting the pots for their own use — or at least store them — as they had a much larger balcony? The elderly couple agreed, though doubtfully.
The secret plotting and planning continued and soon the Patels became the bemused owners of a dozen large pots filled with rich soil and organic manure, as well as various vegetable seeds and some flower-saplings from the local nursery. A few gardening implements, a garden-hose, and so on somehow found their way in.
Before long, the old couple caught on with what was happening, but they chuckled and played along. Their garden was now flourishing and they could distribute the flowers and vegetables among their neighbours. As the veggies grew ready for harvesting, visitors streamed in to admire their garden.
The Patels were experiencing the joy that comes when people, especially lonely people, tend to plants. “Even plants in pots in a balcony in a dusty city!” enthused Ms. Pinto who dropped by frequently to monitor the garden, while the children pitched in on Sundays.
The parents now cooked up another strategy, aware that the elderly couple would refuse to sell their flourishing veggies.
They prompted Mrs. Soli, the Secretary of the colony, to ask the Patels if they could sell their surplus vegetables to her as she was particular about using only organic veggies for her family. With a bit of coaxing, the old couple agreed and were able to make a little income from their balcony “farm”.
The colony, with the joint efforts of Prahladh, his friends, their parents’ and Ms. Pinto, had also helped a lonely old couple forget their loneliness. Yet another wonderful thing happened. The colony saw more and more balconies begin to sprout great-tasting, do-grow-it-yourself vegetables!
