I remember having spent summer days at my Aaji’s (maternal grand-mother’s) bungalow in Pune. Visits to Saras bag – a large public garden with a Ganapati temple set in a smallish pond filled with lotus flowers, and Peshwe Park, the zoo, were a regular feature. Aaji’s bungalow was named Aanandi (joyous). The most important part of these visits was the bungalow itself and the huge garden around it. Aanandi bungalow meant cool, lazy rooms, dark and peaceful; time spent with an assortment of cousins and with Bapu (my maternal grand-father) in the garden.
Aaji and Bapu used to reside in Mumbai but visited the bungalow very often. They would stay for some months at a stretch when they visited. They were very fond of gardening and cared lovingly for their garden. I remember lying under the mango tree, half-asleep. I recollect having eaten toor beans right of the plants…and the raayawale (small amla)…we ate those till our teeth could no longer bear it. There was a beautiful kawathi-chapha tree with lovely white flowers, aboli, mogra (jasmine), gulbakshi. We used to make wreaths of madhu-malati flowers that hung on the entrance arch. Going up the scray ladder to the roof to watch the man drop down coconuts with a long bamboo stick with a hook at the end was a big thrill. Over the outdoor washing place hung a tondli creeper. The lime tree was close by. There was a chikoo tree and a pomegranate tree. There was also tulsi and korphad (aloe vera)…the complete list is much longer ! Till date I swear by the flavour of the kadipatta leaves from Aanandi bag (baag means garden in Marathi). There is none with that strong a smell anywhere else in the world !
About ten years ago, after Bapu’s demise, Aaji’s visits to Pune and Aanandi bungalow gradually reduced in frequency. Even when she did visit, she could not single-handedly take care of the garden, although she loves gardening so much. Now she is rather old and hence it is out of question for her to stay there alone, leave alone tend to the garden.
Today the garden is no longer in its full health or beauty. Lack of affection and attention has taken its toll.
In 2005 when I visited the bungalow on one rare occasion, I slipped into nostalgia of all the good times I had spent in the garden and the bungalow. I thought, I want to change this. I want to restore the garden to its full health and beauty. I spoke to my friends and many of them were very enthusiastic to join me and it took the form of a project. We discussed this with my Mama (maternal uncle) who was very glad to hear about this and offered me complete support.
My friends (Pradeep, Saket, Meenakshi, Smita, Rahul, Ashish, Saurabh, Amruta) and I got together one fine morning, 30th April 2006 to be precise, and started working on it. The work was overwhelming…there was so much cleaning to be done ! Additionally, on the footpath adjoining the back compound of Aanandi, there were shanties of bat-makers who lived there with their children and pets and made and sold bats right there on the road. They used the back-garden like their private dumping ground. We worked through the month of May 2006 to clean up the whole of the back garden, which, incidentally, is 6000 square feet or even more in size. It was quite frustrating sometimes because after we cleaned up and left, through the whole week the bat-makers would litter on the grounds and we would begin with cleaning, again, the next time. Yet we persisted. At the final stage of cleaning, we employed labourers for a day for that final burst and got the whole back-yard cleaned up completely. The next weekend we tilled a small part of it and planted rows and rows of vegetable seeds…brinjals, okra (lady-finger), beans, carrots, tomatoes. As we wrapped up our work and started for home, it started raining heavily…and that year it didn’t stop for a week ! All the seeds were washed away, and along with it, our remaining motivation. The project ended there.
In Diwali 2009 I visited Aanandi since Mama, Mami, my cousins and their wives, my little nephew and most importantly my Aaji had specially come there to spend Diwali at Aanandi. As I walked to the back-garden, I was tremendously surprised to see that there was a huge concrete wall instead of the weak compound. The bat-makers too had vanished. I also saw that the garden had gone back to its unkempt state. It resembled a jungle ! It suddenly struck me, however, that due to the protection of the wall, cleaning the garden now would not be a pointless activity. We would be able to progress beyond cleaning and actually create a beautiful garden there.
I took it up with Mama again and he was supportive, just like the last time. I spoke to all my friends who had worked on the project the last time and some new ones too. Some have now moved to different commitments and cannot participate. The others jumped right in.
So here we are, back on Project Aanandi Garden again, and happy to be so. We intend to create a healthy and beautiful garden.
This time I am also going to narrate the whole journey, with pictures added for fun, to all those who would like to travel with us. We invite you to visit Aanandi garden physically or virtually and be a part of this exciting project :)
This time I am also going to narrate the whole journey, with pictures added for fun, to all those who would like to travel with us. We invite you to visit Aanandi garden physically or virtually and be a part of this exciting project :)
