As a child, Aditi admired how her grandparents tended to their gardens. Intrigued by their joy around their home-grown veggies and variety of flowers, she began her little experiments at home. She brought shrubs thriving on the roadside, planted them in her garden, and loved watching them grow! Having inherited her mother’s creative abilities, she loved painting and spent her summer vacations learning something new. While she chose Media Communication as her profession, art and gardening continued to be her leisure pursuits. Dynamic at her job, Aditi enjoyed hitting milestones at work.
Plant Therapy
In 2017, Aditi was blessed with a daughter. As much as she enjoyed becoming a mother, she didn’t expect to feel so anxious! She began working from home but in the next two years, she felt increasingly vulnerable. Clinically diagnosed with post-partum depression, Aditi decided to take a break and quit her job just before the nationwide lock down. Since she loved her work, her decision surprised everyone in the family. However, this break allowed her to reflect upon her life with a fresh perspective. She observed how she loved DIYs, recycled old things in the house, designed her balcony, and indulged in colors and aesthetics. Aditi decided to switch her field and embrace art and gardening professionally, but it wasn’t going to be easy! She had no idea how to make money out of something which she had only practiced as a hobby. With no history of business in the family, she had to figure this out on her own.
The Most Innovative Start-Up
To start from somewhere, Aditi chose Instagram as her ‘journal’. She named her account ‘The Greenish Affair’ and documented everything that she cultivated, upcycled, or created. As luck would have it, this was also the time when people turned to social media for inspiration and solace. Within a few weeks, her posts attracted many followers. The attention and love boosted her confidence. From being a journal, the pictures of her home on Instagram turned into her virtual portfolio. Incidentally, her professional work experience with architects and designers had helped her understand space planning and landscape designing. Aditi’s first two assignments came from her friends who wanted a makeover of their balcony and terrace. They were a game-changer!
Having found her path, Aditi registered her brand 1.5 years ago. And this year, ‘The Greenish Affair’ was awarded the ‘Most Innovative Start-Up of 2022’! Today, she’s an Urban Landscape Designer, providing design solutions for the outdoors. What started with transforming a 3 ft wide balcony, has grown into a business that now designs for renowned brands and sprawling farmhouses!
My Green Box
Aditi introduced gardening to her daughter when she began walking. Besides her usual content, she shared videos of her daughter playing with mud and watering the plants. Many young parents were fascinated with how a young kid could repot a plant with such care! Countless queries around gardening for kids and her association with international brands prompted Aditi to take ‘green’ workshops for children. She also created a product called ‘My Green Box’ that had everything a parent could need to introduce gardening to youngsters. It became an instant hit and Aditi received videos of kids as young as 3-year-old, growing fruits on their own!
Finding Yourself
Being a 90’s kid, Aditi identifies with the challenges of modern living. She emphasizes how gardening helped her overcome depression and has proved therapeutic to many like her. Social media gave her a chance to share her story with everyone, inspiring people everywhere. She was recently invited to give a TED Talk, celebrating the momentous decision of chasing her dreams and the journey thereafter. Coming from a middle-class family that was bound by conventional rules of life and work, Aditi broke them all with her ‘greenish affair’!
