As a BA final year student, my exams were to be held in March, and I was fully prepared to do my best and score well. But it was declared that the exams are being postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak. I was not worried about it as I was sure that it would not be spreading too much.
Rather, I was happy because it was a chance for me to study harder. I was preparing myself to lean towards every topic that I’d ignored due to time shortage. Every day was a fresh start with extra enthusiasm and the hope that everything will become normal, and we all would be living our normal lives like always.
Everything was going well, but gradually, the calendar indicated the end of the month and my patience too. I was losing the zest to cope up with the situation. The increasing of Covid-19 cases was so distressing. It started to affect my mental stability—suddenly, every effort seemed to be futile. I stopped concentrating on my studies and was spending most of my days doing nothing. Days passed, weeks passed, and my productivity was drowning in the sea of idleness. My creativity was decaying, and nothing seemed good.
What I was worried about what was next… Exams were not supposed to be held, and there was no necessity to brood over the notes to produce good answers. I was devastated. I felt lost. Life seemed useless.
But one day, I was going through my social media feed and saw some posts about gardening and plantations. I discovered different methods of planting—using plastic bottles, pots and earthen pots. I ignored it the first time, but then, when I started thinking about it, I couldn’t stop. The first task I did the very next morning was collecting of waste plastic pots. I filled them with soil, but since plant shops were closed, I had nothing to plant.
But nothing is impossible when you decide to do something. When you search for opportunities, you definitely discover one. And my discovery led me to the Aloe Vera plant that was left neglected outside my home. I tried to pick one from there carefully and planted it in my pot. The happiness that I gained from it was incomparable to any other thing. It was a priceless sensation.
There was no looking back. There was a neglected money plant tub at my home as well. I picked a branch from it and put it into a jar filled with water. Since then, there’s been no stopping for me.
Planting gave me a lot of satisfaction. I was feeling productive. And the best thing was it helped me connect with nature. When the Aloe Vera plant sprouted its first leaf, there was nothing more precious to me. Every time the Money Plant was growing a bit, I felt I was growing along with it. I was getting rid of my anxieties.
Now when the lockdown is over, I have gifted more than 20 plants to myself. Some of them are flowering plants, some are not, but the happiness they give is the same.
They give me the utmost happiness, and I feel fulfilled with joy. Watering them every day has become a habit to me. I do not feel idle anymore. As a student, it is very important to be productive and continue your studies; it is important to keep your mind fresh enough to let the knowledge get in. And the freshness providers are my plants.
They taught me to bloom in all the situations, be it sunny, rainy or cloudy. They taught me to adapt to every situation. They are now a part of my life. The pandemic has given me a new life, which I’m sharing with my plants, and I’m enjoying it.
Nature never betrays you, if you invest your love in it, it will return that love to you with interest. You cannot have a bad day if you have plants with you. You will be getting up in the morning with the hope of a new flower’s bloom or sprouting of a new leaf. You can enjoy the colourful bliss they offer you.
You would understand the value of that one leaf that is going to shed after getting yellowed. You know it’s natural, but still, you cannot take the grief of losing a leaf that was a part of your plant. Your emotions are nurtured by them. A strong feeling of satisfaction is there in nature’s lap. Just be a part of it, and you would never get disappointed.