“Organic fruits and vegetables do not look perfect or shiny but they taste divine. Perfection comes by human intervention, which is not healthy"__ Anu Ganapathy, Founder , It’s Thyme To Garden
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Having a conversation with her was like taking a motivational session . Talk of nature or gardening, she goes on to speak with the verve , glorifying the greens . Words pour like the showers of cherries and you feel like bathing in them.
A proud native of Bengaluru, Anu is blessed to have a beautiful family, with two kids, her husband , her mom, and her pets. Having double degrees of MBA, one from India and the other from US, she has served the corporates for quite a long time. Balancing family and work with a little kid and the other in the making , within her, seemed to be an arduous task at one point of time to her . This was the critical juncture, where she had to decide …work or family ?
Answers to such questions do not come in a very comfortable way. Usually people get stuck in a catch 22 situation and a lot of constraints play upon the thoughts, to make matters more perplex. To Anu, it came very organically . She got automatically driven to her little kid and the one breathing within her.
“ I never wanted to drop into my home in a formal attire and then juggle through the chores, finding no time for my kid" she says.
Although Anu Ganapathy has worked for years in the corporate world , she decided to quit only to cherish priceless moments with her family.
Her workshops are extremy popular and crowd pleasing , however, it was really surprising to know that she had no idea about gardening or organic farming in the beginning . It all started when Anu read an article in a newspaper, during a vacation with her family in Hong Kong . The article was titled; “ Bengaluru, a city of garbage or gardens ?“ .The write up had a picture of a cow, digging its head into a big mound of garbage , in search of food . It took her veins to blues and there and then she decided that being a responsible citizen of the country, she would no more add to the chaotic expansion of dumpyards .
“,Believe me ,not even a single grain from my kitchen went into the dump. I started composting my kitchen wastes.”___ Anu Ganapathy.
Here are the excerpts from the interview
Q. How did gardening become your full time profession?
Anu : Well, I never planned anything . I didn’t even know a bit about gardening . A lot of debate and talks were going on about GMO crops. I felt if we could grow things for our kitchen , ourselves, it would be a brilliant idea and a healthy step taken for our loved ones . Then I had started composting my kitchen waste and peels , simply to reduce the garbage of the city. I gradually felt like growing vegetables and my inquisitiveness to see nature's wonders on my terrace brought me deeper into gardening . A single chilly that was homegrown, was celebrated . Gradually my friends started visiting my terrace and together we did beautiful things with the soil . Later I created groups of my very close friends. People started talking about my terrace and the organically produced vegetables. I visited places to spread the logic of organic farming. All this was taking a lot of time . It was only then when I decided to organize my teachings into workshops . It happened very organically to me .
Q. Tell us more about your workshops
Anu ; Yeah, sure . When my sessions started growing and getting me more involved, I along with my family thought of a name,” It's Thyme To Garden “. Thyme is a herb , used in Italian cuisine . It was interesting. In my workshops , I train people for producing fruits and vegetables organically. No synthetic fertilizer or pesticides are used . Some are so novice that they need handholdings for the gardening tools. I have a Whatsapp group by which I answer their queries .
I literally help them in having their own GREEN PATCHES . It’s not only one workshop, it’s a forever bonhomie with my learners .
Q. Do you ever get pissed off when your endeavours go futile ?
Anu ; Honestly speaking never . Gardening teaches you a lot . It is a life skills enrichment programme . You learn to be patient . You are ready to accept nature in all its avtars . Sometimes when things don’t turn right , you learn to move on and believe in the next chance. Gardening teaches you to rise after every fall. There's so much to learn . It is a stress buster. I love to play with the soil and coat my hands with the dirt . It is an ethereal experience.
Q. Gardening involves installation, cultivation, harvesting, maintenance and much more . Isn’t it difficult to handle all single handedly ?
Anu ; Oh no..not at all.. It is all fun . Yes, hardwork and love go into it but to me it is like being with divinity .
Q. What is your mantra in life ?
Anu ; Do only that makes you happy . I really don’t understand why people yearn for vacations and weekends ? Why do they feel the Monday Morning Blues ? If you do the work that your heart finds solace in, you would never be worked up .
Q. Your message to the people?
Anu ; Have a green patch of your own. Anyone can befriend gardening . Even a small space is enough, a couple of plants at the side of your coffee table can bring the fresh zephyr of positivity in your lives. There’s nothing like Green Thumb. It’s all myth .
Q. Any future plans ?
Anu ; Yeah , I want to take gardening to a higher level. Community gardening would bring people together and I am really planning to initiate it. How pleasant it would be to connect to people from your neighbourhood . People rarely find time for each other but community gardening will surely bring back the age old therapy of spending evenings together, amidst fun and gaiety.
“As we age, we must shift to higher goals and once you work for higher goals, you automatically give your hundred percent to it “____ Anu Ganapathy
Here’s the link to the PODCAST
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