Banarpal: While many people dump them giving little to no reuse value. Her eyes could spot the merit thus using discarded plastic and other materials she has developed a garden, envy to all.
Meet Monalisha Patnaik, wife of Arun Patnaik who works as an additional manager of Nalco Smelter Carbon area in Angul district. It is one thing that she is a good homemaker and it is another thing that she is equally good at gardening. She has applied a different concept to her gardening. Her concept is to add beauty to the ugliest and discarded things.
If anyone pays a visit to her quarter (B/2328) in Nalconagar, their eyes automatically get attracted to the well manicured garden. Different varieties of colourful flowers are adorning her garden. Visitors cannot help praising Monalisha when they come to know the beginning of the garden, which got her first prize in Nalco flower exhibition.
She collected over 4000 thrown away plastic bottles and other things that can be doubled for flower pots. Then she got them painted and cut to give them an artistic look. Thereafter, she filled them with cockpit and cow dung, instead of soil. Her final job was to select flower plants and get them planted in these containers.
And her garden now stands testimonial to her imagination and untiring effort. All varieties of flowers including Rose, Lilium, Pitunia, Gerbera, Dianthus, Dahlia, Marigold, and Cosmos are attracting one and all. The most striking feature of her garden is that she has not used even a single earthen pot in her garden.
She feels all should develop a garden on their premises so that they can have some greenery nearby as greenery is fast giving space to concrete jungles, resulting in catastrophic changes in atmosphere. This apart she also advocates for use of such things which would otherwise have a bad impact on environment.
When asked as to how and when a penchant for gardening grew inside her, she said, “I have a love for flowers and foliages since childhood days. In those days I would often spend time moving around gardens and dreaming for a garden.”
After marriage I could fulfill my wish. When we were staying at Damanjodi as my husband was posted there, my rooftop garden brought me praises from friends and relatives,” she goes on.
She further says, “My father Bijay Kumar Behera and my husband have never let me down. Rather they are providing all help and tips.”
While her garden stood first in Nalco flower exhibition, held January 28, for flower and vegetable arrangement, in earlier exhibitions in different areas she was also felicitated.
When asked about what new could be added to her garden, she says, “My effort will go on. I am mulling over incorporating more discarded objects into my garden in coming days. This apart I will ask people to go for at least rooftop garden if there is space crunch.
PNN