People do all sorts of things as a hobby, and what is the harm if a hobby turns into something great? She has done just that with her hobby garden. She earns a good income selling plants from home while keeping up her studies. If a hobby at home brings in money, where is the harm? That is how Ferdousi Lomat Jahan Rumpa sees it. She sells plants online and is nearing the end of a BSc in Computer Science and Engineering. She is now a familiar name among hobby plant lovers.

Her mother used to garden, and the courtyard of her grandmother's house was full of plants. These inspired her to garden. Facebook-based plant groups hold various events, and Rumpa takes part in them regularly. Within a very short time she had collected 15-16 kinds of hibiscus and roses, indoor plants, aquatic plants, succulents and several kinds of cactus.

Space is scarce in a city of brick and stone, so she could not expand her garden much. While gardening she saw that there was great demand for various indoor plants and cacti, and that people wanted to buy them at affordable prices. So that people could easily get good-quality plants at home, she went into the plant business herself. In 2021 she joined a page called "Elkov" as a seller. Her page is called "Leaf-Love".

Rumpa lives in East Kafrul, in the Dhaka Cantonment area, with her father and younger sister. Her mother died in 2019. Rumpa buys plants from others and sells them. She said various cacti, succulents, euphorbias and sansevierias are imported from Thailand. Although thorny, the colourful plants are people's top choice. Besides the beauty of their spines, cacti have very beautiful flowers, so demand is high. Because cacti are small, they can be kept in pots in little space.

Those who need lilium, amaryllis lily, ranunculus, saffron, tulip, cosmos, poppy, gazania, salvia, dianthus, calendula, petunia, daisy, verbena, helichrysum, antirrhinum, lupin, carnation, pansy or aster can contact Rumpa.

She currently has about 70-80 species of cactus and other plants. Prices range from Tk 300 to Tk 25,000. She does not just sell plants and bulbs: Rumpa also explains how to plant them and how to care for them. When people do well with the plants they got from her and the plants bloom, hearing about it makes her very happy.

"When a seed becomes a seedling and then flowers, they send me a review," she said. "I can't describe how much peace that brings. It inspires my work. They share that joy with me. It's a very different kind of feeling."

Women can certainly do business online from home, she believes; there is no shortage of the environment, facilities and opportunities for it, and spare time can become colourful. Family support matters most for this, and Rumpa has it. Her father encourages her work. "I can't remember my father ever stopping me from doing anything," Rumpa said. "He respects this work. He wants me to keep giving priority to gardening work, as always, alongside another profession."

Rumpa runs the plant business alongside other work, so she cannot give it full time. Even so, she earns an average of Tk 15,000-25,000 a month. She spends part of the income on herself and also invests in the garden. And it is not just the income: she has been able to build a position for herself, starting from nothing.

"Most importantly, I have been able to change my position from zero, at least a little," Rumpa said. She believes greenery is the pulse of life and the key to survival. To inspire the next generation, awareness of greenery must be awakened, she says; only then will our future generation be well.

The writer, Muhammad Shafiqur Rahman, is assistant manager, sales operations, at Fair Distribution Limited.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.