The rain had just stopped and Asha stepped out into the garden. Her science teacher had told the class to prepare the soil in a pot, sow seeds or plant seedlings and bring it to school after it started giving out new leaves.
Asha was not so keen to sow seeds and watch the plant grow. She had seen her mother plant a bright green stem with a few leaves in a pot last week. So she made up her mind to take that plant when it was due to be taken to school.
Pot luck
As she skipped her way through the pots lined in neat rows in one corner of the garden, Asha stumbled on a stone, but she held on to a small shelving unit near the wall, which held garden supplies. Out fell a packet of seeds into a pot just below the supplies rack. Asha was a little scared. Her mother was an avid gardener and she knew what to plant and when. She organised her packet of seeds well so that she could plant them in the right season.
Aghast at what she had done, she looked into the pot to find that some seeds had spilled into it. She was scared her mother would scold her when she found that some seeds were missing from the packet. Crouching down near the pot, she thought about what she should do. It had been raining on and off for the past few days and the soil in the pot was wet. So she could not get the seeds out of the wet soil. The only thing she could do was to cover it with more soil and she left the place quickly.
A few days later she was helping her grandmother pick guavas from the garden. As she passed the supplies rack, she remembered the fallen seeds. She quickly knelt beside the pot and to her surprise found that there were little green shoots peeping out of the soil. She was so excited that she got up to run and tell her mother. However, she decided against it, wondering how her mother would react when she hears about the missing seeds.
Now that she had witnessed the growth of the new plants, Asha could not contain her excitement. She was scared to pour water on the plants lest they die, so she sprinkled water carefully on the shoots and waited with bated breath on how the full-grown plant would look. She also began taking interest in the other plants her mother had planted.
There was a designated place for every kind of plant. There was small corner where different coloured roses bloomed. There was a corner for Hibiscus, cacti and flowerbeds, which were planted according to the season. The far corners of the garden had a vegetable patch and some fruit trees like guavas and sapota. While surveying the garden she was proud that her parents took time to tend such a lovely garden. She made up her mind to help her mother in her gardening chores.
One day while she was sprinkling water, her mother came by and looked at what she was doing kneeling in front of the pot.
She saw the plants, which were now growing in a cluster and told Asha, that they were Marigolds. She also said that she had some seeds in a packet and she could plant them in another pot if she wanted.
So Asha now told her the truth that she had spilled the seeds on to the pot and that she was watering it regularly and watching them grow. Her mother was happy that she was sensible enough to take care of it by watering regularly.
The next week when it was time for her to take a plant to school, Asha proudly took her pot of Marigold to school and told her teacher how she had planted them.
Published in The Hindu Young World Nov5, 2013
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