THARU’S GARDEN

Tharu never saw much in her garden until her grandparents came to stay with them for a few weeks. Before, her garden was somewhere she liked to ride her bicycle in and play catch with her little sister.

The very first day her grandparents came to the house, her grandmother began to pull up the weeds that dotted the edges of the space and got out a few plants she had brought from her own garden.

Tharu and her little sister ran around while she weeded and after they began to feel a little tired, sat on the carpet of grass and started to watch her.

“What are you upto Achchi?” questioned Tharu. “why are you getting your hands muddy?”

“Mud is always good for the soul,” Achchi laughed her joyous laugh.

“Mud is yucky,” Tharu’s sister, Mahi said quite indignantly.

Achchi clicked her tongue,“come on over here and I will show you something,” she signalled to the two girls.

They ran over and Achchi pointed at the earth she had loosened by the wall.“this ‘yucky’ mud is going to grow something beautiful,” she said, and out of the plastic bag came a stick with a few leaves and some thorns on it.

“This rose cutting will grow beautiful roses in a few months,” Achchi said as she placed it firmly in the soil and began patting the earth around it.

“Months? That’s a LONG time,” Mahi said.

“Well growing things take time,” Achchi said.“but let me show you something that will grow a little faster, I need your help to find a pot for it though.”

The girls were eager to help, and ran to the kitchen to ask their mother for a pot to ‘grow things’ in. After much searching, they found a half-broken cooking pot which was handed over to their grandmother.

“Perfect!” she smiled and began filling some earth into it. And then she took out a few pieces of what looked like tiny, rubbery branches and began to gently place them into the earth.“now these are called Dubai Roses and they take no time at all. But it’s you girls’ job to water them every day so they don’t wilt and die ok?” she said. And Tharu nodded eagerly. This growing thing sounded like fun.

So from the next morning Tharu and Mahi began watering the pot and staring at it for a little while hoping something might suddenly appear, until their grandmother told them they had to be a bit more patient before a bud appeared.

As more than a week went by, Mahi began to lose interest, but Tharu continued to water the plant. And finally one morning she let out a little squeal.“i can see a little bud Achchi!” she shouted.

Soon the bud turned into a flower, and Tharu began to water the rest of the plants her grandmother had set around the garden.“when you are patient you will see your garden grow into something wonderful,” Achchi reminded her. She taught Tharu how to loosen the soil around the plants that needed more ‘space to breath’ and how to turn leaves into fertilizer in the back yard.

Tharu began to love the garden and asked her father to find her more plants to grow.

Soon her once empty garden began blossoming and blooming, and above all Tharu learnt that good things come to those who wait.