Mali (gardener)

We have been living in Delhi since 2007. Starting Munirka > Gurgaon > Saket > Mehrauli which is home now. Everywhere we chose houses with terrace and lawns to keep plants, as gardening is one of our passions. All the spaces were rented and didnt had hard ground, we had to keep potted plants, which require a lot of maintenance.

We both work and had to keep Gardeners to maintain and look after our potted plants, especially when we traveled. In the process we crossed 4-maalis, all from western UP, especially from around Lucknow. I dont know why all were from there, but seems the areas has a age old tradition of small garden / farms. Need to inspect more on this.

Meanwhile below a small description / bio of our current Maali. He is a expert in his field, understand plants like a mother understand children. He is a born famed and has a experience of 24-years in Delhi.

Mali Ram Narayan Maurya

Caste: Kaachi (OBC)

Age: 44 years

Family: wife + 5 children (3 boys & 2 girls)

Eldest one is a boy of 19 years who has completed matriculation and currently doing apprentice work with a photographer. Narayan is sad, none of his children want to assist him or pursue his profession. They are somewhat ashamed of it.

Narayan is from a village near Rai Bareilly U.P. He lost his father early. His 2 elder brothers were not able to support him from the meagre income from a 3 bigha plot  (aprox 1 acre). Left with not much choice he had to move to Delhi. He initially worked on a temporary basis assisting another senior mali at a DDA park in Vasant Kunj. Like many others he was hoping to get a Government job one day. But the work was hard and he soon fell sick. He had to go back to village to recover, after-which his mother didn't let him come back, worrying the big city might harm her boy. 

After losing father as a child, another tragic loss came at this time, in the form of a brother dying of brain tumour. He left behind a widow and a girl child. The sister-in-law did a remarriage and is no more linked to this family. Luckily the lower one is in the caste ladder, the better his chances of breaking through barriers, better chances of remarriage, affairs etc.

The loss of brother, a earning hand, brought the family to a standstill and this made Narayan to leave his village permanently for Delhi. 

Narayan has now been in Delhi for over 24 years, most of which he has been employed as a caretaker at a Architect's Bunglaw in Sulatanpur farmhouses. There he does daily errands of vegetable shopping, repairs, maintainence etc.

He managed to keep his farming side alive by managing gardens and small hobby farms for others, many of them on the rooftop. WHich is a extreme place, as the exposure to sun is smore, amount of  moisture coming directly frome arty least and strong winds etc. Also potted plants are quite vulnerable to Delhi frost or hiugh heat.

This gardening work gets him much desired extra money, which is crucial for his family of 7. But this means he has to start his day 4.30 am, cycle 6kms and reach first garden and go on like this managing 4-gardens on a thrice weekly basis and then go to main duty in Sulatanpur from 11am - 7pm. After which he cycles back home. A full packed day!

But over-all he is happy, he considers this Maali job to be a honest and respectful work. He has personal attachments to his plants, feels miserable if he cant attend to some. When he is sick or out-station he worries about all his vegetables and flower plants.

The only sad part is he can hardly taste the fruit of his labour, most vegetables he grows are by hobbyists and the quantity is not enough to be taken back home as extras.