Exciting changes in the garden today!
Amjad Sahab, the driver, came up to take a look at my plants this afternoon when he came back from prayers; coming from an agricultural background, he has become my garden advisor. He gives good advice, some of which I completely ignore and do what I know best instead. This system seems to be working pretty well. So I showed him where I had watered this morning, and all my okra sprouts that were coming up, and the place where I had sewn more squash since it just doesn't seem to be germinating. I did not tell him how I replanted one cucumber and one bitter melon sprout so they would be distributed evenly in the pots, and how I had dug in the clay looking to see if the seeds were germinating (one was...I put it back). I know he told me that the shoots were too tender to move, but I was really careful and they are getting their true leaves now so I think it's ok.
So the plants are coming along, sprouting and growing little by little. But the exciting thing happened when I jokingly suggested my idea to Amjad that I needed to get a manjhi (aka manjha aka charpoy) for the end of the terrace with all the veggies, so I could have the complete dehat ka mahaul, 'rural atmosphere.' (I think I may have mentioned this earlier on this blog somewhere). Amjad laughed and then said, "But they have a charpoy in the store room!"
I couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Really? Can I use it?" He took me around to the store room at the little rear balcony, sliding the creaky wooden door as gently as possible, and there, under a stack of mattresses, it was! It's metal and not wooden, a folding-type manjhi, but a manjhi nonetheless.
Amjad told me, "Don't tell them who showed you this...just say you saw it the last time you stayed here." So when the house manager came back from some errands or something, I just said "Hey, if you're not using that manjhi in the store-room can I put it out on the balcony?" There was no objection, so all of us, Amjad, Mushtaq the cook, Razzaq the manager, and I trooped up to the store-room to get it out.
Meanwhile, also in the store room, I found some old camel ornaments: a bell and two jingly camel anklets, which I have now hung up on the wall in my bedroom. Why not use it for decoration? It's not like there are any camels around here who will mind.
I was grinning like an idiot as they set it up there; it was exactly like I pictured it! "Pura dehat ka mahaul," I told them, so satisfied. Mushtaq took a rag and in grand ceremonial style wiped the dust off of the rusty blue metal sides and faded stripey fabric. Someone pointed out that all I needed was a huqqah for the complete rural Punjab experience, and everyone laughed. For the finishing touches, Mushtaq produced from somewhere two gol takiye, round pillows you lean against. I may never go inside again. Now I sit on the manjhi and wave at the neighbor aunty when she comes to hang up her clothes, I'm leaning against the gol takiya as I write this, enjoying the evening breeze, comfy as can be. My manjhi even gets WiFi. If the AC goes out at night (which it almost certainly will due to extreme load shedding) I'm definitely sleeping out here. Now all I need is the huqqah...
Amjad Sahab, the driver, came up to take a look at my plants this afternoon when he came back from prayers; coming from an agricultural background, he has become my garden advisor. He gives good advice, some of which I completely ignore and do what I know best instead. This system seems to be working pretty well. So I showed him where I had watered this morning, and all my okra sprouts that were coming up, and the place where I had sewn more squash since it just doesn't seem to be germinating. I did not tell him how I replanted one cucumber and one bitter melon sprout so they would be distributed evenly in the pots, and how I had dug in the clay looking to see if the seeds were germinating (one was...I put it back). I know he told me that the shoots were too tender to move, but I was really careful and they are getting their true leaves now so I think it's ok.
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| Little sprouts getting bigger |
So the plants are coming along, sprouting and growing little by little. But the exciting thing happened when I jokingly suggested my idea to Amjad that I needed to get a manjhi (aka manjha aka charpoy) for the end of the terrace with all the veggies, so I could have the complete dehat ka mahaul, 'rural atmosphere.' (I think I may have mentioned this earlier on this blog somewhere). Amjad laughed and then said, "But they have a charpoy in the store room!"
I couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Really? Can I use it?" He took me around to the store room at the little rear balcony, sliding the creaky wooden door as gently as possible, and there, under a stack of mattresses, it was! It's metal and not wooden, a folding-type manjhi, but a manjhi nonetheless.
Amjad told me, "Don't tell them who showed you this...just say you saw it the last time you stayed here." So when the house manager came back from some errands or something, I just said "Hey, if you're not using that manjhi in the store-room can I put it out on the balcony?" There was no objection, so all of us, Amjad, Mushtaq the cook, Razzaq the manager, and I trooped up to the store-room to get it out.
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| I was not allowed to help move anything. |
Meanwhile, also in the store room, I found some old camel ornaments: a bell and two jingly camel anklets, which I have now hung up on the wall in my bedroom. Why not use it for decoration? It's not like there are any camels around here who will mind.
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| Accessories for the stylish camel |
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