Rooted in nature... my leafy companions!

I was not so much in favour of growing plants because it means that you get emotionally attached to them. However it so happened that a couple of years back I was gifted a plant. My sister-in-law got it too. She had a problem looking after it and asked me to take it home. Now I had to take care of two instead of one! I started watering the plants daily and was happy to see them growing. Before I knew, I had already started loving them and had developed a special kind of bond with them. I had an unusual sense of contentment as I saw them thriving.

A few years later, we decided to renovate our house. I had carefully kept the plants in a safe place so as not to cause any harm to them during the work. To my dismay, while I was away for some time, one of the labourers put a huge pile of debris on the plants. Work continued and the load kept piling up. When I came back and asked about the plants, the labourer told me that the plants were dead. I was shocked and heart broken! The work finished and I put the house back in order. The debris was gone and there were the plants. To my pleasant surprise, I saw that the plants were still alive. Not in a good shape, but they had managed to survive. I was so happy that I bought a nice big pot and replanted them. Now like before, my daily plant care regime began and the plants were back to their full glory. I was quite inspired by their tenacity and resilience to survive even in the face of adversities and adapt to changing circumstances.

Then one day, our society enforced a new rule of not allowing residents to keep any plants in their apartment. I was too attached to leave my plants in just some garden. Not knowing what to do, we decided to take them to our native home. Our native home has a huge garden and we decided to put the plants there. We planted them ourselves. We dug a hole, planted them, covered them with soil and watered them.

The plants were now back to the earth. The place where they rightfully belong. I won't see them everyday now, but I know that they are in the right place and that they will flourish. They have come a full circle of life and growth. This gave me a deep sense of contentment and closure. Without realising, I had already started calling them "my plants". Its queer but nice! I think I will no more be afraid of this emotional attachment. I guess I'm ready to have a few plants at my new home!