A space for relaxation within the comfort of one’s home is a rarity in today’s fast-paced life. Sprawling parks and calming beaches have now turned into crowded, noisy and polluted hangouts on evenings and weekends. Vijaya George, an early resident of Jawahar Nagar, Trivandrum has created the perfect relaxing ambience for unwinding right at her home in the heart of the city.

Tucked away in the corner of an intersection, Vijaya’s house bordered by strip lawns, multi-coloured bougainvillea and neatly trimmed hedges, paints a pretty picture. Taking a peek into her elegant home, one is struck by the instantly calming cool, tranquil garden setting just off the busy road. Neatly planted rows of bonsai in every nook and cranny meet the eye in this not-so-large-garden. An inviting garden bench in the midst of the plants offers a relaxing spot and a tiny pond with koi carp and gold fish complete this Zen-like setting.

Hailing from Kozhancheri, sixty-five year old Vijaya has lived in Trivandrum since her marriage. Tending to plants and gardening is second nature to her having been brought up in an estate.

"My mother loved gardening and I may have inherited this trait from her. When my husband and I shifted here after marriage, I brought a lot of plants from my home, that was part of my childhood memories," recollected Vijaya. 

Coming across pictures of bonsai plants in Japanese books kindled her interest to have a bonsai garden of her own.

"When I saw very old trees in small containers, I got excited and decided to try it myself. I read up a lot and researched on growing bonsai. Most of the plants here are the result of my trial and error efforts," said Vijaya. She also attended a bonsai workshop in Bangalore about fifteen years ago.

Vijaya styles the bonsai plants to closely resemble trees in nature to create stunning, miniaturized and realistic depictions using the techniques of pruning and wiring. These plants need re-potting every two years when their shoots and stems need to be cut off and roots cleaned.

This beautiful garden is home to different styles of bonsai - formal upright, informal upright, branching, rock bonsai, multi-trunk, cascading, and slanting among others. For this garden enthusiast, a bonsai garden was a natural choice due to her passion and interest in these trees with their unique beauty. She brushes aside the notion that growing bonsai plants by limiting their growth is cruelty towards nature.

"They are a way of preserving rare and soon-to-be extinct trees for the younger generation. Our grandchildren may never be able to see some of the trees in future except in a picture book," sighed Vijaya sadly.

Vijaya's collection is a tribute to such trees that are fast vanishing from our country's rich wealth of flora giving way to concrete jungles. Bonsai of tamarind, cherry and various types of banyan trees are a delight to connoisseurs of this fascinating art.

Going a step further, Vijaya's creativity is reflected in the tiny figurines of animals and idols that adorn the earthen and terracotta pots enhancing their visual beauty and recreating scenery inside a pot.