Sowing the seeds of activity with gardening in Mumbai

Deonar resident Sugosh Vardarajan, 35, was looking for ways to give a new lease of life to a long-forgotten hobby as frequent travelling for business left him little time for his garden. At HT’s No TV Day kitchen gardening workshop and nature trail, Vardarajan found just what he wanted along with 20 other participants — the simplest ways to maintain a garden.

Deonar resident Sugosh Vardarajan, 35, was looking for ways to give a new lease of life to a long-forgotten hobby as frequent travelling for business left him little time for his garden. At HT’s No TV Day kitchen gardening workshop and nature trail, Vardarajan found just what he wanted along with 20 other participants — the simplest ways to maintain a garden.

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At Bombay Natural History Society’s (BNHS) Conservation Education Centre (CEC) in Goregaon, participants explored deciduous forests abutting Sanjay Gandhi National Park and learnt tricks of kitchen gardening.

Participants listened with rapt attention as CEC’s senior education officer Priti Chogale introduced them to a variety of medicinal plants, herbs and quirky trees such as the ‘Ghost Tree’. “Visiting the CEC centre was a novel experience. My daughter Ananya was thrilled to see various insects and butterflies,” said Vardarajan, a software engineer.

For Dina Hiranandani and wife Vandana, this was their first visit to CEC. “We have been to tiger reserves and sanctuaries, but never to CEC. The serenity of the place is great and thanks to No TV Day, we stepped out of our home for this activity,” said Vandana.