On a humid summer afternoon I stood on my terrace and wondered where I should flee for the holidays. The usual options – cool Hill stations, picturesque retreats – hovered through my head. But then I noticed something unexpected.
On the other side of the roof, a color burst. Bees summed up flowering flowers. Butterflies leafed through the leaves. There were no people, no crowds, only calm, targeted life.
This was not a kindergarten or a community park. It was someone at home.
And in the center of this green port, Vealakshmi, a gardener and environmentalist -based gardener and environmentalist, stood in a sanctuary of over 500 blooming plants.
“It all started 15 years ago when I wanted to grow my own meal,” recalls Vealakshmi. What were used up as a few pots of herbs and greens to something much larger – a mission to transform the roofs into ecosystems.
From one roof to a city -wide wavy effect
In 2014, after years of experimentation, Veeralakshmi officially started Chennai Organic Farmers, an initiative that helps others found their own gardens on the roof. Since then, she has helped more than 1,500 people to transform empty terraces into living, living rooms.
Today, the organization offers a number of practical services in consultations, workshops, sensitization campaigns and even a 15-day internship in which people can learn how to build a garden from scratch and take care of a garden, and go away with a certificate and a little more confidence.
“When I started, it was all about doing something for myself, for my family,” she says. “But slowly more and more people were enough. They were curious. They wanted to try. I noticed that this could become something collective.”
“Grow what you eat, eat what you grow”
For Vealakshmi, terrace gardening is no longer a personal hobby – it is a philosophy. A deeply rooted conviction that changes do not have to start to play a role.
“Your concept should be: grow what you eat, eat what you grow,” she says. It is a line that she often repeats, but it is more than a slogan – it is a memory that every meal can be an act of sustainability.
Your motto, Be more producers than consumersSpeaks to a greater truth: that we have become too separate from the way things are done, grown and thrown away. For them, sustainability is not about big gestures – it's about daily decisions.
She quickly recognizes that no terrace can reverse climate change. “But imagine every terrace looked like this. These plants would behave like trees. They would make a difference together. Unity is where power is.”
Not just a garden
In addition to its environmental value, Veeralakshmi believes that gardening offers something quieter and more personal – a way to connect again. “It is the most beautiful form of therapy,” she says. “It is somewhat deeply healing when something grows under your care.”
She calls on never underestimating what is possible. “Apart from the coconut tree, you can grow almost everything on a terrace,” she laughs. “I even know someone who grows Paddy on his roof!”
Your dream is not far -fetched. It is built on earth, water, sunlight and calm determination. “We often travel to the hills to experience nature,” she says. “But why are you waiting to go somewhere else? Why not build here in our own houses?”
In a world in which climate headings often bring despair, Vealakshmi offers a seed of hope. She does not raise her voice, but her work speaks louder than most others.
And if you listen closely, you will hear it: in the rustling of your terrace trees, the fluttering of butterflies, the gentle rhythm of something that is worth grown up.
Not all heroes wear them. Some wear gloves, dig their hands into the ground and green around the world quietly, lovingly.
Published by Vidya Gowri and Khushi Arora; All pictures with the kind permission of Vealakshmi