S K Singh Rose Nursery

Out in Vile Parle West, I spend most of my time tending to the plants and dealing with the soil. S K Singh Rose Nursery is basically my life’s work and how I spend my days. It’s not a huge, fancy garden center like the ones you see in home magazines, but we have a lot of variety if you take the time to look closely at the rows. I’ve got roses of all colors, some that smell amazing and others that are just very hardy for the city heat. It’s a lot of manual digging, watering, and dealing with the usual bugs that come with a garden. My hands are usually stained with dark soil, and I’ve got more than a few scratches on my arms from the thorns. People come by looking for something for their small balcony or a gift for a friend. I try to tell them how much water the plants need, but sometimes people forget and the plants don't make it very long. That’s just how nature works, I guess. The weather here in Mumbai can be quite tough on the younger saplings, so I spend a lot of time moving pots into the shade or under plastic covers when the monsoon rain gets too heavy. It’s a quiet life compared to the rest of the busy city. I don’t have an office or a laptop out here.