Chhendipada: Block development officer (BDO) here, Sunil Kumar Kerketa is passionate about gardening and wants to indulge in it as long as he can.
“Gardening may be tiresome at least for those who are not full time into it. But when one reaps the fruit of toil, the feeling is something quite different,” said Kerketa.
Unlike some officers, Kerketa, now posted here in Angul district, never employs peons or domestic helps to get his personal work like marketing, planting saplings and watering them, done.
Kerketa lives a very simple life. He starts his day with gardening. Getting up early in the morning and after finishing his morning chores, he goes straight the garden on the premises of his residence. He toils a minimum of two hours in the garden.
Now Kerketa’s garden has 18 varieties of vegetables including brinjal, tomato, lady’s finger, radish, bitter gourd, cauliflower, cabbage, beans, peas and other varieties.
Kerketa said that he gets immense pleasure in eating home-grown vegetables. “This way one can also avoid vegetables sold in the market that are grown with the help of fertilisers. Then one tends to remain healthy through gardening as it is an exercise,” Kerketa pointed out.
Kerketa was born at Jhunmur village in Sundargarh district in 1973. After completing his school-level education in his village, he did his graduation from a college in Darjeeling in 1997.
There after he did his PG in English from Rourkela Government College and taught for four year before cracking the OAS exam.
Kerketa started his career as a land acquisition officer for Rengali Irrigation Project in 2005. He has been working as a BDO since 2011, the first two years in Nuapada then till date here.
“Farming provides me a relief from my busy life and helps me relax. Even in office, I try to keep everyone happy and jovial. When I succeed in doing that I feel satisfied,” Kerketa signed off.
PNN
