How much does one think of other, what about a person
who has been thinking mostly about others. There was this person whose name is
not important because he was popular as Mali Aja (normal Odia word for the maternal grandfather) to juniors and
Mali Mausa (typical Odia word for
uncle). This was so because of the fact that he was indeed a mali, a connuesior of flowers, flower
pots, vegetables and trees. All old timers of REC campus shall vouche for the
beauty that was in and around the institution and few houses which had the
touch of this gem. Trees standing today bear testimony to the efforts of this
person who had no idea about his real date birth and he also did not remember
the classes which he had studied (he had not sat for Matriculation, for sure).
But yes, he did remember the names of the various
flower plants which would seldom be covered in our school books, the exact
period for which a grafting is required to be attached to the tree, which species
of plants had a better chances of bearing fruits faster if raised through
conditioned germination and if a barren patch of land were to be converted to a
flower bed what cheap ingredients were required. He had answers to all questions
of plants, trees and plantings. Numerous mango trees, rubber trees and pineapple
bushes still bear his signature though he is no more.
He came from a non-descript place of Odisha but that
is not at all important. Be it the dispensary where he was posted or the
library to which he was attached for substantial long time, all had a unique
style of brick-layout for seasonal plants and each season bore a different set
of colours w.r.t to the plants that breathed life into. While he was spotted
making cow-dung syrup (that is the best word that I can use) at places, at
times he could be find dirtying his hands in cow-dung spreading them for the
sun to kiss them and he was also seen making a bed of sand-mud-dry leaves for
some non-descript life to be born. It seemed as if plants and plant-making were
his life; that was his first love and the last purpose of his existence.
Lastly the point on how I was connected to this
non-descript entity; well, I still conjure the best memoirs of the vegetables
which were planted, watered &tended by him, I still feel nostalgic with the
typical cow-dung smell in my nostrils (I used to detest the same in kidhood)
and I have grown seeing sheer miracles happening with non-flowering plants
bearing fruits.
It instilled in me and my father a deep sense of
regards for Mother Nature. My father at a later date went on to fill every
single vacant square feet our ancestral village with trees and he went to plant
trees in the vacant spaces of government offices. Employment Exchange at
Rourkela still bears the mark of the seed that was planted in the form of
plants that were planted by Mali Aja.
He had a great popularity among the employees of REC;
all the employees of any department of the institution in which he worked would
throng him with requests for guiding them on grafting, lawn making and flowering.
Numerous kids along with the parents have developed the taste of gardening
because of this person.
The other learning from him was the financial
discipline which he maintained. At this age, we are aware of systematic methods
of saving and expenditure. In those times, he used to miraculously manage his
small salary with a fixed debit towards his family (used to stay at his native
place) and a fixed savings every month (which most often used to land in Post
Office or as advised by my father).
Now he is no more but the undying spirit of passion
towards plants has been ingrained in the minds of almost every individual who
came in contact with him during his lifetime.
