A tête-à-tête with plants

The prospect of travelling 30 km to participate in a walk at 7 am would not, generally, enthuse me. But this was something novel – a chance to accompany Delhi-based landscape designer Kush Sethi on his 'Garden to Table' walk in which he forages through Lodhi Garden, looking for edible plants and herbs, and then turns them into a meal.

The walk begins at the herb garden inside Lodhi Garden where Sethi introduces participants to familiar herbs like basil and ajwain, as well as lesser known species like 'nuni', a tiny succulent. As he walks, Sethi rubs a leaf between his fingers or a seed on his palm, noting the smell, colour, or taste, encouraging participants to do the same. He stresses the importance of noting where a plant is growing and which ones attract bees and butterflies. It's a lesson, he says, that applies to the home garden too.

The second half of the two-hour walk involves preparing a meal using ingredients picked during the walk. "We collect 15-16 ingredients, including wild succulents, something fragrant, food dyes, and some greens to go as the base and citrus fruits for a dessert or welcome drink," says the 27-year-old.

The walk, for which Sethi charges Rs 2,000, is one of four he conducts. The others are a silent moonlit walk in Sanjay Van, a portion of the Delhi Ridge that was severely degraded and is now being restored, hopefully, into a bird sanctuary; a neighbourhood 'DIY gardening walk', and another called, 'scavenge & grow it yourself: a walk-shop'. Sethi charges Rs 400-Rs 900 for these three walks.

A postgraduate in green chemistry from University of York, Sethi returned to Delhi in 2013. Clueless about job prospects, he started attending seminars and workshops related to urban affairs and sustainability. "There, I was introduced to a Toxics Link project to map the Delhi Ridge and spread awareness about Sanjay Van."

Since then, Sethi has visited every forest in and around the city. In 2014, he began offering walks, the first being the Sanjay Van walk.

"I used to go to Sanjay Van in the day but was curious to see it at night. But I was scared to go alone. So I took a few friends along. It has been four years since," says Sethi. The 4 km walk, which Sethi conducts once a month on full moon nights covers the highest points of the forest overseeing the entire landscape. It is meant as a sensorial experience and participants aren't allowed to use phones or torches. "Often one can hear animals and their movements," he adds.

The DIY neighbourhood walk focuses on observing gardening styles in the neighbourhood, while the 'scavenge & grow it yourself' walk-shop has participants go to a forest or park and look for unique foliage, fallen objects, decaying matter, soil and rocks. They also identify and pick objects that can be used as planters and garden accessories. Examples displayed in Sethi's studio include a shoe and a broken statue of Buddha.

Earlier this year, Sethi started a company 'HaraMe' – a pun on the Hindi word for illegitimate, and a combination of 'hara', Hindi for green, and 'me' in English – to offer landscape consultancy and advocate wild, easy-to-maintain plants. "Some plants grow naturally in limited space and harsh conditions. They don't need anyone to maintain them, and grow back even if pulled out. The idea is to celebrate these plants," adds Sethi, who is against plants being used as mere accessories. "Look at malls or roads or offices – they all have the same plants. Why can't we be more experimental and include easy-to-grow and low-maintenance plants?" he asks.