The wisdom of mindful gardening

‘Gently darling’ I coaxed my daughter, noticing her tiny fingers pressing the soil around the little marigold seedlings. ‘Beautiful…’ I added, proudly smiling at her, as she squinted her eyes, while looking up.

“Yes, loosen the soil, in the middle, place the plant and gently pat the soil around it’ I continued. She is certainly getting the knack of it, I smiled with the thought. 

With temperatures dipping to 9 degrees celsius in Delhi, my six year old Rebecca is a bundle of wool, as we climbed the steps to our terrace. For us, the Covid 19 Pandemic set of, the gardening bug. Our terrace, for the past year and half has become our garden. Plants, soil and leaf compost from Delhi’s Aurobindo Ashram now occupy a range of containers. Kitchen waste and recycled water regularly disappears into the containers. In our garden - spiders, caterpillars, butterflies, bumble bees, geckos, sparrows, bulbuls, raucous jungle babblers, iridescent pale-billed sicklebills, snails, slugs, earthworms, marauding monkeys, envious neighbours - are all fair play. I am yet to accurately decipher Rebecca’s shrieks, namely to match it with the creature she encounters in our garden. Her eagerness to clamber up the steps and talk to her creepy-crawly and winged 'friends' and plants, easily translates to dirty hands and soiled clothes - Reena’s torment. 

‘Why can’t you just wash up, on the terrace itself …?’ Reena shrugs, ‘coming in and spreading the mess all over the place…’ she admonishes. Rebecca glances at the finger on my lips as I gesticulate hiding behind Reena. Our code for, ‘just don’t say anything …let her scream for a while …’. Gosh, what am I teaching my daughter, I wonder. I am struck by how quickly she is learning. 

Children, I’ve heard, are like seeds. Planted in good soil they will bloom and flourish. Yet, there are those who claim children are raw uncut and unpolished gems, waiting to be discovered. Both perspectives include the stress and storms of life that are integral to the growth and development of children. But what if children, were to be viewed as a verdant plot land. Imagine the variety of flowers, fruits, vegetables, bushes, shrubs and trees that a plot of land could bring forth and the creatures they’d attract - a veritable eco-system. Easy to imagine the gems that could be lying deep inside some of these plots. A well tended plot of land stands in stark contrast to a neglected plot. How do we till and care for our ‘precious plots’ our children?

What do we choose to sow each season? Imagination and technology continue to defy and stretch traditional perspectives and boundaries of land use. Interestingly, the yield from fertile plots are always for 'the other'.

Imagine a classroom of multiple plots facing different directions. What are the north facing parts of a plot? What are the roles of teachers? Teachers as mature plots of land, seeking to pollinate virgin plots? The ravages to a mature plot and the wisdom of fallen leaves offer valuable lessons. The possibilities are fascinating. 

Placing her tiny palms into mine, I ask her, ‘what are you planning to plant after the marigolds?’ almost immediately her face lights up with her toothless grin, ‘some sadabahar, jasmine and rose? … she asks. ‘Why not …sure, we have to get some good mogra, this time …’ I reply. A more pressing question, though, What do I intend to sow … in the precious plot, now snuggly cuddled on my lap …  I begin to wonder.