Anju Agarwal (53), Gardening consultant 
Citizen

LIVING THE i LIFE: ‘I am learning baking and cooking from my daughter'

The ongoing lockdown has forced many of us to alter the way we go about our daily routine. Chennaites share tales of the changes they have made to adapt to the new ‘normal’ of living and working with limited interaction

migrator

Chennai

My husband is at home with me. Our younger one is studying in Hyderabad but was lucky enough to return to Chennai for an internship. So both my children are at home with me now. The fact that everyone is here makes a huge difference. With the lockdown, it’s a big plus to have my daughters at home. One of them is studying culinary arts She’s always making delicious meals for us. It’s a nice phase because we finally get to see her skills at work. I have an organic garden on my terrace. I work with a gardening consultation business called Green Goddess. It’s a blessing. I’m getting most of what I need fresh and daily. I have greens coming out every four days. Every summer, I try to close down my garden, but we’ve replanted and resowed the seeds. Some of them, like the ladies fingers, have begun sprouting now. Frankly, there are many who want to learn gardening. I have a WhatsApp group with people all over India. I had a spurt of calls asking me how to start gardening now. In a way, it’s really nice to share whatever little I know. Our normal workdays are so busy that we never got the time to try things we wanted to do. Even during the lockdown, I am still doing what I was doing before the lockdown, while also following my passion. I have always accommodated time for passions. Right now, I am focusing on gardening. I’ve also started baking and cooking. I’m learning a lot from my daughter. I used to write a little earlier. I used to write my thoughts, and I’ve gotten back to it. I used to read a lot, and if I disagreed with the book, I’d wrote it down. Now also I’m getting a chance to read, and my viewpoint on some things have changed with age. I haven’t experienced any anxiety or wanting to return to the former situation. That’s because my days are so full. I’d leave my phone and come back to 200 messages. People are sharing old photos and it’s a lovely experience to go through it. I think we should make the most of this time, invest in hobbies, passions and relationships

Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!

Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!

Click here for iOS

Click here for Android

Tamil Nadu's coconut farmers in distress over delay in purchase of copra

Bioearth a solution for forest restoration, finds Anna University study

Governor as Chancellor: A colonial relic past its time

DMK cites Congress betrayal, to boycott INDIA bloc meeting

Overcharged by Re 1 for Fevicol, Chennai consumer gets Rs 12,000 relief