Is it just me or has gardening become the latest fad and I hope it becomes a permanent one. Maybe, it’s Instagram and all of those beautiful pictures of people with lush green plants turning their homes into a tropical jungle that has sparked this craze.
Malini Kalyanam; Surya Dinkar; Nivedita and Indhu
Chennai:
Malini Kalyanam, a social activist/ pottery specialist, feels, “A home without a garden is like a married woman without a husband.” This made me laugh and you can see the same whimsy and sense of humour in her gardening style. Her sustainability philosophy extends to the ‘pots’ she has used for planting. They can be anything from discarded boots to WCs to old jeans. Malini has quite the green thumb and for her, gardening is a way of life and not just a hobby. After Cyclone Vardah, Chennai has lost a lot of its trees; so what little you can contribute in terms of a terrace or balcony garden can help the city. Trust me, with gardening, a little goes a long way. I might be having some fun with the phrase: plant lady is the new cat lady. But gentlemen, this is a unisex hobby!
Surya Dinkar, a former model-turned-entrepreneur is someone who has always walked the talk. This beautiful lass is very passionate about living an organic lifestyle and has been this way for as long as I have known her. Surya tells me, “If we are the ‘cat ladies’ of the green movement, then so be it. We not only feed ourselves but enhance the micro-ecosystem of our dirty urban surroundings by increasing the population of bees, butterflies and insects which feed birds and of course my favourite, squirrels.” Speaking of cute, furry creatures, Surya can be called as the mother of squirrels for she has been rescuing and rehabilitating them. In fact, we have had them backstage at fashion shows taking turns nursing them. Surya has also been refurbishing water bottles and turned them into a DIY vertical garden.
Malini Kalyanam, a social activist/ pottery specialist, feels, “A home without a garden is like a married woman without a husband.” This made me laugh and you can see the same whimsy and sense of humour in her gardening style. Her sustainability philosophy extends to the ‘pots’ she has used for planting. They can be anything from discarded boots to WCs to old jeans. Malini has quite the green thumb and for her, gardening is a way of life and not just a hobby. After Cyclone Vardah, Chennai has lost a lot of its trees; so what little you can contribute in terms of a terrace or balcony garden can help the city. Trust me, with gardening, a little goes a long way. I might be having some fun with the phrase: plant lady is the new cat lady. But gentlemen, this is a unisex hobby!
A skin-care brand that follows paati’s home-made recipes
As March came to an end and we moved on to hot April, I feel like everyone is done talking about women as Women’s Day is behind us and now is when I’m going to begin. For many of us ladies, we love our skin and cosmetic brands. We hear about all of these female-owned international brands and I started my search closer to home. Nivedita Shanmugham and Indhu Gopalakrishnan, the lady boss duo behind the skincare brand Sachi Rituals, have been doing a wonderful job. Growing up, most of us took for granted home remedies and recipes that were passed down generations. These two grew up using their grandmother’s home-made recipes made from natural ingredients. They tell me that they didn’t realise its value until they saw how coveted they are in the market today.
“We wanted to create products from our own traditional ingredients like avarampoo, marikozhundhu, ashwangandha, mogra, etc. Sachi Rituals is inspired and derived from the land we live in,” said the duo. They have a farmer-friendly, sustainable and clean brand and I’m hoping they scale up and become a household name. The who’s who of the fashion and media industry has been raving about their products especially their serum. This is one product that is granny approved! So give your skin some much-needed love in this scorching heat.