Associated with numerous organisations and social ventures apart from running her own children’s hospital, Dr Purnima Usgaokarfrom Ponda is a busy woman indeed. Yet she finds time to indulge in gardening.
A cancer survivor who has undergone almost a dozen surgeries, Dr Purnima is the IMA state co-ordinator for Aao Gaon Chale Abhiyan, IMA Ponda chairperson, a trustee of organisations including IMA Ponda Charitable Trust, Matruchaya, Peaceful Society, Dr K B Hedgewar Vidyalaya (Ponda), Shree Sharada Granth Prasarak Saunstha, Mobile clinic of Snehamandir. Apart from this, Dr Purnima also plays a dual role of a mother and a doctor for the 60 odd kids at Matruchaya (an orphanage at Dhavali-Ponda) while also mothering her 320 odd plants blooming in her terrace garden with love and affection.
But how does she find time to nurture her plants in her busy life? “Where there is will, there is a way,” she smiles, adding, “Ours was the first children’s hospital in Goa and initially, my husband, Dr Narayan Usgaokar and I had to work hard and give our 100 per cent. Now that the hospital is settled and my daughters who are doctors too, are our helping hands, I can devote time to multiple jobs. Nurturing plants is one of it.”
Her kitchen garden grows all that goes into her food “ onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, chili, pepper, pudina, tulsi, lemon grass, curry leaves, ajwain, coriander and vegetables like kidney beans, tendli, tambdi bhaji, brinjal, tomatoes, toor and even sugarcane and basmati plant.
“Some of my terrace produce comes as return gifts from pigeons, in the form of rice plants that germinate from the rice grains they drop whilst drinking water from pot plates giving birth to beautiful rice pods,” smiles Dr Purnima who has also grown over a dozen banana plants of various varieties “ velchi, saldati, raspali, gavthi, maydoli etc “ all of which yield fruits. The other fruits that one can spot in her garden include guava, chickoo, mango, tamarind, lime, bimla, karmala and amla. Fragrant lowers like roses, jasmine, hibiscus, sontakka, sonchafa, champa, parijat, anant, mogra, jai, juhi, sayali, kanher, aboli, sadafuli, gulbakashi and many others adorn the sides of the terrace and the balconies of her third-floor apartment. There are medicinal plants and herbs too. Suran grown in pots is used for making yummy khatkhate for Ganesh Chaturthi and terrace grown sugarcane comes in use during Tulsi vivah festival. The pulses grown are used for cooking delicious tonak.
The building she lives houses her hospital as well as her home that helps in one way to take care of both simultaneously. “I find time to look after my plants during my free time from my routine duties in domestic as well as professional fronts. The routine weeding work of the pots in box grills starts early in the morning. Depending on the requirements, I work on the terrace plants, once a day or on alternate days or whenever time permits,” shares Dr Purnima. She admits that the soil in the pots is not changed at all but loosened at intervals on demand as per the condition.
The plants grow on the fertile feed, rich compost, made at home. “In addition to this, I use dry cow dung powder like goat dung soaked in water and sometimes organic ready-to-use compost available in the market,” explains Dr Purnima who does not use any pesticides at all. Sharing her tips with for gardening she advises, “Water the plants up to the bottom of the pots so that little water starts draining out. This helps prevent the ant nests at the bottom of the pot. The already infested parts should be wiped off with a piece of cloth or cut out if heavily infested.”
The oldest of her plants are the rose and hibiscus of different varieties. “ These I have been growing since 1985 while the fruit bearing trees are 10 year old,” she reveals. While she earlier used clay pot, she has now shifted to using specially designed and moulded fibre drums. “The weight on the terrace has to be maintained. The cement pots are discarded from the terrace and kept on the ground floor. I line up the pots with coir, coconut shells and sea shells from the kitchen. This way the soil becomes rich and then the plastic doesn’t matter much,” states Dr Purnima.
