Sitting in her living room and looking out towards the balcony, you could almost believe you were at a resort deep in the jungle. A glass door opens to a large balcony with potted plants, and beyond it rise the tall trees of the park next to City Centre. Birds chirp, butterflies hover and you take a deep breath, absorbing the slice of nature that Sangeeta Ray has worked so hard to cultivate.

I grew up in Gomia, Jharkhand, a piece of heaven that had huge gardens and plenty of greenery. So years later, when our Salt Lake house was being remodelled, I wanted the interiors to be bordered on all sides by balconies so I could grow plants everywhere. The request proved a bit too much for the architect and, though my original wish didn’t materialise, I am very happy with the spacious balconies in front and at the back of the house.

I grow herbs, fruits and vegetables like Ginger, Garlic, Betel Leaf (Paan), Lemon and Mint, and flowers such as the aromatic Raat Ki Rani and the beautiful Birds of Paradise. But beauty is secondary for me — I keep just five pots of seasonal flowers. Mine is a garden with a purpose.

I want my plants to attract nature — birds, butterflies, ladybirds…. Even till 2017, I would see six or seven colours of sunbirds in the garden, but now there are only five or six of them in total. So my criteria for choosing which plants to pot depend primarily on how much nectar they have. I have Hibiscus, Madhabilata, Allamanda and Lemon as their flowers hold a lot of nectar, which attracts birds and other creatures.

For the same reason, we don’t pluck fruits from our plants either. We leave them for the birds and bats to eat. In fact, I feel delighted when we leave the doors of our two balconies open, and they fly in through one and out through the other, using our house as a thoroughfare.

Three or four years ago, I embarked on a mission to propagate greenery. I am a teacher, and I ask my students to bring me seeds from whatever fruits they eat. I then sow the seeds, nurture the plants till they are sturdy and of a decent height, and then gift them to those who have the space to grow these tall trees.

I’ve given away many mango trees like this — Himsagar, Langra, Amrapali and even Alphonso — and the stars of my garden now are the Jackfruits that are growing and waiting to find homes. I’ve been distributing 15 to 20 plants a year like this. I feel a tad sad letting them go, but then console myself knowing they’ll be trees soon.