Of Bunt women and plant nurseries……

Reminiscing as I drive the distance from Udupi to Mangalore about the number of nurseries that catered to a variety of plants: flower plants, fruit plants, indoor plants, and others, I wonder: was it something that evolved as a hobby or the need for structured horticulturists in coastal Karnataka? Penning my understanding of the growth story of these Nurseries run by successful Bunt women entrepreneurs….

I remember Bunt women like Girija Shetty from Kapu, popularly addressed as Girjakka or Girija Shedthi, and the like and her lineage as passed on to her daughters, who run successful nurseries to date. Tall as compared to women of her age, this lady would run a successful nursery named Canara Nursery after the South Canara belt of Tulu speakers. She had her team of women workers who tended to the nursery from morning to evening, wore aprons, and covered their heads with a scarf to shield themselves from the heat of the afternoons. As they tended to the plants in the nursery, gradually these women started wearing loose shirts on top of their saris to protect their saris and cover their backs from the scorching heat.

Most of these nurseries evolved from the backyards of these Bunt homes and were owned by Bunt women. Gardening for these Bunt women was probably not just leisure or a hobby; it evolved into a subsidiary business. These women entrepreneurs catered to the gardening requirement and the requirement of good saplings for the large stretch of land owned by their families.

While the Bunt men supervised the farming activities in the fields and tended to the orchards owned by them, the Bunt women grew the required saplings in these nurseries. The Bunt women thus evolved as entrepreneurs who provided jobs to the women of the neighbourhood. While the men set out to the farms after the morning meal, these Bunt women entrepreneurs realised the need to keep the women occupied with chores. Household chores having grown redundant in the manor houses, these women entrepreneurs must have realised the need to keep the women occupied and pay them labour for tending to the nurseries. The weaving of coconut fronds, preparing papads, or what is called ‘happala’**, and also rice dumplings, called ‘sandige’**, from the orchard owned by them, was soon classified as seasonal labour. These were snack and ready-to-eat foods that were activities that generated employment for women and the Bunt women. Gradually, these evolved into subsidiary businesses for some women in the neighborhood.

Apart from these, the nurseries gradually emerged as profitable businesses for the Bunt women. Saplings were sold wrapped in paper and gradually in black plastic bags, and what we gather today is that the ones that survive even supply plants and saplings online based on bookings received. Gradually, these nurseries became innovative hubs that worked on low-maintenance garden plants, hybrid plants, and imported varieties of plants and saplings. They evolved as specialists and indigenous nurseries that catered to the requirements of landscaping and fruit tree sales, and many larger estate owners and gardeners bought relevant plants and saplings from these nurseries. Some of the layouts of these nurseries were more like English gardens in the early 1900s. Slowly, the decor of these nurseries improved, with tables and chairs set up under the shade of trees, small ponds that added beauty to the otherwise bland line of plants and trees, and a decorated layout of the stretch of these beautiful gardens seen on the patio of the manor houses. Fertilisers were made available by these nurseries, seeds were packaged and sold, and plants and decorative benches could add to the aesthetics of many homes and their gardens. A small venture supporting the main occupation of farming in the larger households gradually mushroomed as a business venture by many women in these coastal areas.

I remember the efforts put in by one of these Bunt women entrepreneurs, Vasanthi Shetty, the daughter of Girija Shedthi, Kapu, who also got into the family business of owning a nursery along with her mother. Mudanna Nursery, Kapu, named after Girija Shedthi’s husband, flourished along with Canara Nursery. The family moved a step ahead and got into the packaging of fruit and the export of tinned fruit, as well as beverages that were made out of fruit: Biccola and Bikojoy. These were popular beverages at all weddings and big events. One enjoyed the otherwise seasonal fruit by buying it off the shelves of many shops. Larger enterprises and corporate giants may have today taken over and brought in variety of beverages and tinned and packaged fruit and squash, but the flavour of these beverages and household favourites linger…. The importance of these nurseries today is well recognised but along with remains memories of women raised in these matrilineal communities who were entrepreneurial in their own ways.

Happala: a thin crisp wafer made out of fruit like jackfruit and sweet potatoes which were deep fried and eaten with hot porridge and rice

Sandige: fried snack that was made out of grains or pulse and which was dried and kept to be deep fried and eaten during monsoons or other days with rice