After Brain Stroke, 67-Year Old Retd Professor Finds Peace Growing 600+ Plants at Home

Retired professor Dr Mohini Gadhia from Surat recovered from a brain stroke and healed mentally because of her gardening hobby. She grew a variety of fruits and vegetables in her home garden. 

For 67-year-old Dr Mohini Gadhia, gardening is a part of life. She is forever grateful to her green paradise, which she says has helped in her speedy recovery from a brain stroke that happened a year ago. 

Dr Mohini, a professor of Aquatic Biology, has been living in Surat since 1982. Her flat has a large terrace of about 600 square feet, where she used to grow some ornamental plants. In her busy routine, she hardly found time to do gardening. Later, she came to know of and attended a few terrace gardening workshops. In 2017, she completed a course in terrace farming and started growing some all-season veggies.

In October 2020, Dr Mohini suffered a brain stroke, after which she was not able to walk properly. Recalling those days, she says, “I couldn’t do gardening on my own for a year, so I hired a gardener. But I wasn’t satisfied and wanted to do everything myself. For the past few months, I have been back in the garden. Now I do all the work, including composting and cutting. During the months of illness, I realized that plants can also do the work of a therapist.”

She says that of all the things she grows, brinjals and beans yield the most harvest and that she distributes them among her neighbours. Other major crops include fenugreek, soya, mustard, spinach, radish, coriander, tomato and turmeric. Fruits like dragon fruit, mulberry, cilantro and plum can also be spotted in this home garden. Dr Mohini says, “I have planted bananas too, but the fruits have not yet grown. More than fruits, I grow vegetables. There are more than 600 plants in my garden at present.”

Credits: The Better India. 

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