Her Story!

There was a place where everyone did gardening. Her parents' house was surrounded by a garden where they grew colorful flowers. She would sometimes help her parents by watering the plants or giving a hand in mulching. Her most favorite thing was the walk in that garden with her parents holding their hands in hers. Her second favorite thing was to play with her siblings in that garden. Her mother had created a small area in one corner where she and her siblings loved to make mud towns with castles, bridges and canals. She would come up with new ideas and invent innovative methods to make the water flow through those canals and under the bridges.

There were many neighborhood gardens but she never paid much attention to them. She loved her parents manicured garden and all the flowers in it. There were always flowers on the tables inside the house as well. The smell of Jasmine flowers always greeted her when she would open her eyes in the morning.

When she came of age, she left her parents' place and moved to her own land. Unfortunately there was no area vacant near by, so the one she got was very very far away. She knew that one day she would have to grow her own garden. That's what everyone was supposed to do and did. She was ready for it and eagerly waiting to start growing her own beautiful garden.

She had watched her parents do gardening all her life. She knew what to do, so she tilled the ground, planted the best seeds, watered every day and waited excitedly for the sprouts to come up. Day after day she checked every morning hoping to see small tiny green heads popping out of her carefully prepared soil but nothing happened. When it was absolutely positive that nothing was growing, she researched and tried sowing some new seeds. When this failed, she tried fertilizers but nothing happened. One after another, she tried different things but to her dismay, nothing got root.

She started looking around. There were some very beautiful gardens in her neighborhood. Some people had just green trees while others had blooming shrubs. Some had a mix while others had vegetation. Then there were some that were completely neglected and the owners did not care at all.

She paid some more attention in order to learn and noticed various things. She noticed that some people did not have to work very hard. They hardly ever watered but everything grew strongly regardless of the neglect. Then there were others who did take good care and it also showed. Some people cut down their plants while others did not even pluck a leaf. She absorbed all that while never giving up her own futile efforts to grow something.

She observed, analyzed and for the first time it struck her that the land she got might be barren. It was the most painful realization. It broke her heart and for a short time she completely gave up on her attempts to grow anything. That was a very dark period. She loved her land and loved gardening. She could not believe and accept that she would never be able to grow anything in her life.

Then one day, she came up with an idea. She had to try this new technique. She dig a very deep hole and lined it up with thick plastic. She went and bought rich soil from the market and filled the hole with it. She then planted some seeds in that hole and watered every day keeping her fingers crossed. The day she saw two tiny greens trying to push out of that store bought soil was the happiest day in her life. She had found the solution.

She started digging more holes. It was a very tiring process. She was a tiny girl with not much strength but she had the willpower. She was relentless in her pursuit to grow beautiful flowers. She had the full understanding that she would have to work extra hard than others but she was not going to give up. Every night when others were asleep, she would get up to dig deep holes. When the sun would come up, she would go to the store to buy the bags of soil after watering the previously planted seeds. There was no delivery system. She would carry every bag of soil by herself to the holes and fill them after which she would plant the seeds.

She has a tiny garden now. It's not as big or green as the ones in her neighborhood and nothing compared to her own parents' but she is happy. Her happiness is double folded. First she has something growing and secondly, she found a solution. She is happy that she never gave up. She knows all this extra hard work is taking a physical toll on her health. She is not getting much sleep and is tired all the time but it is all worth it because she can see a half dozen buds that are ready to bloom in the coming days. She knows that over time, with her hard work, there will be more and more. She hopes that one day there would be enough holes to fill the whole land and so many flowers that she would not be able to count!