NURTURING THE NATURE : Anjayah

By Soumya , Kashish and Lahari(for translating) 9A

“I love working in open areas, around nature,” says Anjaya.

We recently interviewed the school gardener-Anjayah. After speaking to him, we realized his love for nature especially flowers and trees. He seemed to be an extremely kind and generous man who loved his job.

Interviewer: HI Anjayah! Can we just have a small talk with you for our school magazine?

Anjayah: Yes, I would love to talk to you all!

Interviewer: What do you love the most about your job?

Anjayah: I love working in open areas, around nature. My favorite part of being a gardener is looking after trees, as I have a strong affection for them. Seeing trees grow from small saplings to colourful flowers arising from branches just make life look so much better and prettier!

I: What thing motivates you to keep gardening?

Anjayah: The only thing that motivates me to keep gardening is the smile on the face of the parents when they see the beautiful garden. Every term I work hard to make Manthan look prettier than ever before,
I do so to bring a smile on the parents’ faces. I wish every time that the parents enjoy walking in our school premises and appreciate my hard work.

I: Are you a nature-lover? If yes then from when did you develop this passion?

Anjayah: I have always been a nature lover. In fact, I spent most of my childhood lying down in the garden and adoring nature. It has always been very close to my heart.

I: Nowadays many people are cutting down numerous trees. What is your opinion about this?

Anjayah: I disagree with the idea of cutting down trees but sometimes the government has to chop down trees for the development of our India, however I would love if they keep this practice to the most minimum level possible. I can’t really do anything with the chopping of trees in our environment, but I always make sure that no tree is cut or even harmed in Manthan.

I: What are the your most favourite trees in our school?

Anjayah: I love all the trees here but I can narrow down to four. Those would be : Sapota, Mango, Papaya, and Banana. Seeing these trees give fruits feel as good as seeing a child being brought into the world. We make sure that these fruits are organic and fresh, later the children are also served these fruits as snacks.

I: What things have you done in gardening which has made you feel very proud?

Anjayah: Well, I make sure that whenever our trees are sick or weak I take extra care of them and provide them with good pesticides and fertilizers. Seeing them grow back to normal makes me feel extremely proud and happy. Another incident was that when our football field was made, we needed stalks to surround the field. The only problem was that there was only one stalk available in the market that I went to. I was very sure that I wanted only that plant to surround the field hence I started growing several more plants from that single plant itself. And today you all can see the result!

I: If you had a choice to create another garden for Manthan, can you tell us the flowers you would select and why?

Anjayah: Well, my choice would be:
1. All of the different coloured Roses
2. Hibiscus
3. Yellow elder or more commonly known as yellow trumpet bush
4. Tulips
5. Calla lilies ( these are dark-bluish/violet coloured, single-petal flowers)

I would choose these flowers as they all are very radiant and they symbolize happiness. They bring a smile on my face every day and I hope that they do the same for everyone else too!

I: Thank you so much Anjayah! It was a pleasure talking to you !