Respected Sir/Madam,

As I come to my desk to write this letter to you, I tripped over the hose pipe of the vacuum cleaner and I hit the handle of the Exercycle..Fortunately, my specs and eyes got saved. There was a protective layer of a thick towel on the arms of the Exercycle.

Ever since my son Janakiraman (alias Jan) left home for his studies and later work, his room is an extra room in the house. It is a no-man’s land when he is not here. Opinion is divided about its use. I use it as a study where I can write these letters at peace. Mangalam thinks it is an extra store room. A dungeon for useless things.

The condition of this room got worse thanks to my yet another self-created problem.

Every year, Mangalam visits the annual Flower Show usually held in January with her friends in the Ladies Club. She would bring home a few potted plants, a mix of decorative plants and a few flowering ones.

These followed a natural cycle of life and death. Most plants rarely survived the Chennai summer. Our main balcony was enough to house these plants.

2020 was a different year for the plants also. Most of the plants survived. Thanks to adequate water and a lot of care by Mangalam the plants have survived and even grown well. Many rose plants that rarely ever flowered after leaving the nursery, have actually been blossoming regularly .

Mangalam has been posting selfies with her plants and flowers in our balcony garden on her Facebook page. Some friend even commented on it “ Are you in Brindavan gardens!!”. Mangalam has found a lot of joy over gardening. I am happy with anything, that keeps her mind of me !!

When Mangalam was lamenting about no flower show this year, I suggested why don't we visit the Horticultural Garden on Cathedral Road.. She readily jumped at the idea.

Whole of Chennai seemed to have landed at the garden this Sunday. It struck Mangalam that it was Valentine's Day. Guess, some smart Chennai people think why to buy a bouquet of flowers when you can present a plant that keeps giving flowers!! Honestly, not my thought. I did not even know it was Valentine’s Day.

With her new found enthusiasm for plants, Mangalam went berserk. She had ordered many plants without thinking where to keep them. While she was ordering I was busy chatting with the Manager . He was happily narrating about how his business had boomed after the pandemic.

Once the van with the plants arrived I realized the enormity of her order. We had to hurriedly find some space for it. Main balcony is totally packed. Between a huge porcelain flower vase, some decorative show pieces and plants, there is barely some space for two chairs. Mangalam suddenly thought of why not use the small balcony attached to Jan's room. Not that the small balcony was empty. It had an Inverter which we had bought before our complex had a generator. It had a Bakasura size vacuum cleaner that Jan presented to his mother when she cribbed about the errant maid. The prime space in the balcony was accorded to Jan's Exercycle. In last two years, it has been used exactly two days for exercise. Rest of the times it is a clothes hanger.

Now with a new set of plants all the occupants of the balcony are now inside Jan's room. I can't even complain because the room is not mine. Also, I was the one who took Mangalam to the Nursery and did not even stop her when she ordered all those plants.

Aiyo, green thumb and all may be fine for the environment. What about the home environment? Between potted plants, flower vases and useless things will there be some space for a poor husband. Thank God we don't have a dog.

Yours in exasperation,

J Bhoothalingam