Six years ago, her garden waited for more than two weeks, patiently, for her to come back from the hospital, only to bloom full strength when she was home - that was just one of the signs visible to us of the bond, the conversation that she has with her plants every day. And today we heard that Aai gets the second prize in the city's annual competition this year. in the category for family gardens. The prize is not for the flowers you see in the photos here though - it is for the amazing variety of useful plants she grows and uses, it is for the many eco-approaches she has been practicing for years before the city admin started appreciating it, it is for the obvious love she shares with her garden. The judging committee dropped in un-announced last month and was thrilled to see that her garden is not a landscaped one - I haven't seen such a happy judge ever for any competition!
Aai has made a real garden for the family - we use what grows - all sorts of veggies, the jhadoocha jhaad for brooms, fruits (tutti, jambhul, bananas etc) are left for the birds and the bats. There is a biogas in place, a solar cooker that has been in use for decades, composting pits that digest 'waste' not just from our kitchen and garden but also leftovers from two bhaajiwalas round the corner (she hasn't bought manure or soil from outside in decades)...actually, the list is just too long to put down here!
Her garden exemplifies her good nature (over the years, she has tolerated all the 'damage' done by the dogs, as well as an archaeological dig and an insect hotel set up by an enthusiastic grandson) and her unending curiosity to try out new experiments. It is her garden that brings her calm (she shrugs of any sign of a bad mood with a walk with her plants)... and we all, of course, happily feed off that good feeling! 
What else can I say to the most chilled out mother-in-law ever - Congrats! The prize is just public recognition of all that we have been blessed with!
