Aakanksha N Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, April 7
Doctor Yash Mitra, who works at Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and is a retired Civil Surgeon from Amritsar, is a real protector of the environment and ecosystem. He has dedicated his terrace to nature where he does kitchen gardening, composting, has hybrid and fruit trees, different variety of flowers, bird nests to attract birds, butterflies and what not!
The wonders on his terrace don’t end here. Whenever at home, he likes to indulge in activities related to gardening and using natural products to create different useful things. He has also made ‘house cleaner’ (bioenzyme) using natural products like peels of citrus fruits, jaggery and water. The house cleaner can be used as a phenyl, for cleaning of floors, and other things.
The doctor also grows micro-greens such as chia seeds at home, and makes peepal bonsai. Presence of organic vegetables at Mitra’’s home like spinach, coriander, cauliflower, brinjal, peas, Okra, etc are like a blessing when almost everything today one consumes is adulterous. There are fruit trees of kinnow, papaya, banana, grapes, guava, oranges, jamun. Medicinal plants such as tulsi, ajawain, insulin, clove and elaichi can also be spotted. One gets transfixed on seeing flowers like roses, lilies, bougainvillea, marigold that festoon the rooftop.
There is a regular gardener who visits and looks after the garden, and whenever the doctor comes back home, he doesn’t forget to sit with his wife Anu Mitra on the terrace amid beautiful chirping of the birds, blowing winds and colourful flowers and they both look after their green babies with care and love.
“There is a lot of positivity in this area. I grow organic vegetables; I use kitchen waste for composting. All these activities give me a lot of happiness,” he said. He keeps on attending workshops related to kitchen gardening, also watches videos on social platforms to keep him updated.
As a doctor, Mitra feels that stress is the reason for so many diseases such as hypertension, heart diseases, etc. “So, having an environment like this at home is a stress-buster.”
The doctor also shared his next plans, which includes growing mushrooms and keeping a beehive for collecting honey and is open to experimenting with aquaponics. Soon there’s going to be Korean grass grown on the rooftop transforming it into a lawn.