Custom Search

My Green Sisters-in-law

by Vimala Ramu
(Bangalore, Karnataka, India)

My sisters-in law are GREEN. The green colour I associate with my five sisters in law does not infer their attitude (jealousy) nor to their general state of health(biliousness). It applies to their green fingers.


Though I have lived in houses with kitchen gardens, once we moved to our own house I decided to do away with kitchen gardening and use the space available to grow flowers and decorative plants. Our front yard had a magenta bougainvillea creeper trained up two floors. Two coconut trees had been planted by our mother –in law. We had Hibiscus, Ixora, Muessanda, Easter lily, crotons and cacti along with potted plants. The back yard had been planted with plants of fragrant flowers like different varieties of jasmine, champak, nandi battalu etc along with a short lemon tree. A papaya tree had come up on its own and had treated us to some tasty fruits.

But when we had to build the garages, a concrete one at the rear and a grill enclosed one in front of it to accommodate two cars, all the trees and plants had to be removed and the driveway was also concreted. As for the front, even the little patch of green had to be concreted as I could no more maintain it. As for the plants left in the front, my husband is so ‘military’ in his attitude that he believes that even plants and hedges should always be trimmed and lawns always manicured. When the colorful blooms and shoots burst forth spontaneously on the advent of spring, he treats it as waywardness on the part of the plants and so proceeds forth with the clippers and chopper to give the plants a crew cut.

But my sisters-in law have bigger plots and more freedom to plan their garden. The first of them has a large industrial site in which in addition to a front rose garden, many mango seedlings from the previous occupant shot forth and she distributes raw mangoes to the rest of the family every year. My sister –in law no.2 has a lovely patch of garden maintained by a gardener and she always shares her ‘doddapatre’ leaves,pungent and acrid , which make a unique chutney with curds. The sister-in law no.3 sends us vegetables and fruits- cluster beans, brinjals, ladies finger, bananas, sapotas etc from their two farms throughout the year in addition to a year’s quota of tamarind. Sister in law no.4 has 3-4 banana plants in the rear which yield very tasty bananas and which along with banana stem (which makes crisp eclectic salad) she shares with the rest of us. Sister –in law no.5 who has her house in a posh area in Bangalore has each and every plant in her garden handpicked and planted. She has the greenest fingers and attends to the plants personally. She shares her rare decorative potted plants and the choicest mangoes when the season is on. Her parties are a veritable feast of mango juice, mango gojju, aamras and mango ice cream.

Sometimes I feel guilty about being the recipient of this unidirectional bonanza. The only consolation I have is I used to share my coconuts with the others before their trees started yielding fruits and before mine were cut off because the coconuts would fall on our neighbors’ pots and break them.


****

Comments for My Green Sisters-in-law

Average Rating starstarstarstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

Nov 07, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar
welcome
by: vimala ramu

Hi Sumana,
Welcome to my blogsite. I didn't know that you also go through the nonsense I pen. Thank you for the encouragement.

Nov 06, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar
Green comes in many shades :)
by: Sumana

Don't feel bad, aunty! My gardening highlight is the Thai chili plant currently flourishing on my kitchen windowsill :) The rest of the garden, according to dear hubby, looks like a moonscape!

Nov 05, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar
cooking
by: vimala ramu

Well, they all are good cooks, But we prefer to cook the dishes in OUR kitchen to OUR taste and enjoy them. Right now, the smell of vaangibhath is permeating the whole house!

Nov 05, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar
laugh
by: vimala ramu

Laugh, my dear young Sneha, laugh. My situation has become that of a laughing stock(or is it stalk?), ha, ha.

Nov 05, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar
Unidirectional gifts ?
by: Seetharam

Your appreciation is as good as a gift in return.In fact you can go one step further by inviting yourself for lunch or dinner. I am sure they are good cooks too !

Nov 05, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstar
Thanks!
by: Sneha

The last paragraph made me smile and laugh.... and it's so interesting to hear all these tales about thy sister in laws ! Beautiful work, my dear queen of non-fiction.

Nov 02, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar
Thanks
by: vimala ramu

Thanks Safia, I think my good sisters-in law deserved this tribute.

Nov 02, 2013
Rating
starstarstar
Good read
by: Safia

Nice reading about your Green sils!:)

Oct 31, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar
Thanks
by: vimala ramu

Thank you, Pankaja, Happy Deepavali to you.

Oct 31, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar
Good
by: nuggehallipankaja

Makes good reading.

Click here to add your own comments

Return to Perspective.