I really don’t know why I love money plant so much. I have always had a little plant sitting in a bottle of water. ( and as such there has never been a shortage of bottles..green ones with long neck is my favourite)

The first time I saw a money plant was in Chengannur house. There was a huge one growing on the mango tree. The heart shaped, marbled green and white leaves were very pretty. My father taught me about epiphytes and I was fascinated.

The church we used to attend also had a money plant growing on some tree. What I remember the most is that my sister was a member of the choir and got to wear a scarf. I too wanted a scarf and instead of buying me one for no valid reason, Amma enrolled me in the choir. I was 6 and I couldn’t read. I also couldn’t tell the choir master ( a very close friend of my parents ) that I couldn’t read. The only way out was to hide somewhere during the practice. I chose the tree with the money plant growing on it. Suffice to say that I got in to so much trouble.

Aunty S, who was my neighbour loved growing money plants. She taught me to wind coir ropes on a broom stick and train the plant to grow on it. Every year, she kept aside a Balarama diary/notepad ( only meant for the staff at MM publications) for me and though she passed away, I still remember her fondly. (She also taught me that it is the number of the sarees/dresses you have that would make you shine in front of your friends, not the cost of the saree/dress. Something I followed religiously all through my medical college. Most of my salwars costs less than 100 RS and I had plenty even when I was dirt poor in the final year ! And now Yaya follows the same rule)

I don’t know who said to me that Money plant must be stolen from some one’s garden then only it will grow well. So I was on a mission to steal a plant when I was in Bangalore. Finally I found one in a house next door to Arjun’s. Most of the houses in that street were occupied by the Marwari clan and there was a sense of liveliness like joie de vivre in the street. Except this particular house. It was a huge house, but the windows and doors were always closed. Arjun told me why.
The house belonged to an Aristocratic family. Father, mother and two daughters. The oldest daughter was a top student, she did engineering and when the time came, they got her married to a very famous lawyer from another aristocratic family. He moved in to the girl’s family home. They had a daughter. There were always laughter in the house, till the younger sister got pregnant and gave birth to the lawyer’s child, The shame was too much for the parents. Mother committed suicide and father too died shortly. The older sister moved to another home in another town with her daughter leaving the younger sister and her child alone in the family home. The younger sister was 17 when she gave birth. She didn’t complete her schooling.
It was because of this story that I could forgive chechy and not judge her. I could accept the truth that we all make mistakes in our life..sometimes small mistakes cause such huge repercussions !!
And I stole the plant and it lived happily in my room in a UB beer bottle and I wish I could say it lived happily ever after ! Unfortunately I was too gullible and after reading the helpful hints in femina magazine where some idiot wrote that adding vitamin pills to plants would make them grow better. I checked my stash of physician samples and found the one that had 100% of USRDA of most vitamins ( my precious plant deserved nothing less!) and added it to the water. The next morning my plant looked like it was nuked !

I couldn’t find a money plant in UK, but I had ivy growing in water. ( It doesn’t, so every once in a while when the plant dies, I cut another one from the hospital garden!)

When I came back to KL, I bought a pot of money plant from the nursery and hung it in such a way that the aircon drain was pointing to the pot. ( saved me from watering it). It grew 4 feet long and it looked beautiful. I have always had friends over for meals and everyone used to admire my money plant ( not my gardening skills, but the sheer will of the plant to survive such a hostile gardener and didn’t die for 4 years.)
All was well till the Danish Ambassador came for a meal My mother chopped the plant completely, telling me that it looked ugly.( Not dropping famous names la, the plant survived the visits from Chinese, Malays, Indians even Nonyas, it wasn’t ugly then, but became an eyesore when the ambassador came for a meal)  The plant didn’t recover after such brutality !

I was given a money plant in Canada and because I used to grow them in water, I thought the plant needs constant watering ! I drowned it.

I bought a money plant from Bunnings when I came to Australia. It was a hot summer afternoon and I kept the plant near the drive away. I was meant to have taken it indoors and by the time I remembered, the leaves were burned to a nice shade of brown. I still have the plant and it has three leaves ! and I am still dreaming of growing it successfully like Aunty S. ( I already have a broomstick covered with jute rope in readiness for the day the plant will grow)
One day it will happen, I am sure!