ONGOLE: For Chenna Venkata Nagendra Rao (45) and his wife Malleswari (38) of Chirala nothing is waste. Believing that there is value in everything, the weaver couple has been growing a wide variety of plants in used tyres, broken cups, and other discarded items for the past 15 years by converting them into innovative plant holders. Their children are also wholeheartedly engaged in the pastime of promoting greenery.
The family’s greenery includes 200 to 250 varieties of plant species. Cactus, crotons, xerophytes, flower and vegetable plants, herbs, and rare plant species of the geographic region are part of it.
A variety of flowers and other plants, including hibiscus, sunflower, turtle vine, tangled heart, purple heart, water apple, fern, lotus, marigold, chrysanthemum, oleander, coneflower, zinnias, lily and vinca, are seen blooming in different discarded items on the premises of Rao’s house.
He cultivates hobby with dedication
The house is also adorned with gooseberry, cherry, guava, jackfruit, banana, mango, naseberry, custard apple, pomegranate, papaya, pineapple, blueberry, and other plants.
Steel boxes, vessels, iron chairs, tables, and other scrap are also used to raise a variety of plants in different themes to promote the green cover. The family used to purchase scrap from auto garages to raise plants after converting them into novel plant holders.
Rao is the sole breadwinner of the family and his earnings are hardly sufficient to maintain it. He performed the marriage of his elder daughter Pravallika recently. His younger daughter Supriya (20) has just finished her BCom degree. Despite financial constraints, Rao cultivates the gardening hobby with dedication.
“Ours is a lower middle-class family. Our earnings are very limited. On average, we spend `2,000 per month for the purchase of new saplings and scrap to pursue our hobby. But fortunately, no one in our family feels that the expenditure is a waste,” Rao told TNIE.
The weaver family believes promoting greenery amounts to giving back to mother nature, who blesses people with abundance.