Celebs discover their green thumb during quarantine

Coronavirus has spread throughout the globe like wildfire, but one positive way of looking at the pandemic is the luxury of leisure, which has allowed us to rekindle our passions and explore hobbies. Recently, on Instagram, many Bollywood divas posted images of them gardening - something they could never do - as their ‘malis’ are on leave.

For some, it came as a pleasant surprise. “During the lockdown gardening chose me, a new love and hobby that I found. The mali is not able to come so I had to google a few things and take a few tips from my friends who know about it, so I water them correctly. It is very therapeutic to work with your hand. There is a tulsi plant which is in the memory of my late nani and that was not growing properly as it didn’t have enough space in the pot to grow, so I had to take it out and replant it. That’s when I realised how much I enjoy it. I love it,” says actor Sonnalli Seygall.

For others, it was something they always wanted to do and couldn’t find time for it. “I have a lot of plants, but I couldn’t nurture them. Nature has always served us unconditionally. We do appreciate nature when we travel and take pictures, but we hardly get time to serve it back. With this philosophy, now that I have time on my hands, I give back, love them and serve them. It is an interdependent relationship,” confesses actor Amrita Prakash.

Even actor Esha Deol posted a picture of herself while tending to her plants on her Instagram account. She wrote, “We have been happily taking turns to water our beautiful plants at home with no Mali.”

Tips:

Don’t water the plants anytime during the day. “You should have a fixed time so that they complete a 24-hour cycle, you can’t water them a time in the day and next time in the evening. Also, you can’t water the plants between 11am-4pm as apparently they sleep during that phase,” adds Seygall.

Similarly, Prakash feels it should be given love to blossom, “One should not treat nurturing a plant as a chore or a task, you need to shower them with love,” adds Prakash.