#longread The Resilience of a Tulsi Plant: Lessons for the New Year. Tulsi plants love my garden. At any point in time, there are about 20 of them growing on their own in different parts of the garden, but there is a special one that is growing in a neglected corner of my tiled garage that has my heart. It is a corner where no one’s hand had sown seeds and no watering can has ever lingered. Yet, a tiny tulsi seed decided to defy the odds and plant roots there. The plant grew in a mere chink between the stone tiles, fenced in by the garage gate, in a corner where sunlight was scarce and water was an occasional mercy. This Tulsi wasn’t pampered. Nobody fertilised it or cooed over its progress. I didn’t even know it was growing there, till I saw the deep green leaves peeping out through the slats of the garage gate. It didn’t throw a tantrum over neglect. It simply lived. And more importantly, it thrived. The secret? It reached deep. Beneath the cold stone tiles, its roots found sustenance. Somehow, somewhere, the Tulsi plant discovered what it needed to survive—not because someone else benevolently tended to it, but because it searched deep within and found nourishment for itself. And isn’t that the most extraordinary metaphor for life. Imagine if we could do the same. Instead of waiting for the perfect job, the understanding boss, the ideal partner, or the applause of others to validate us, what if we rooted ourselves so deeply in our own strength that we found nourishment within? As 2024 has melted into 2025, I am struck by the life lessons this Tulsi offers. What if, like that tulsi, we decided to stop waiting for the right conditions? What if, instead of chasing happiness outside, we nurtured the joy within? Because here’s the truth: the rains may come, or they may not. The sun might shine, or it might sulk behind clouds. But your ability to grow depends on how deep your roots go—not on how generous the weather is. The tulsi is quietly persistent. It grows where it stands, unassuming yet unyielding. And isn’t that what we need to be in 2025? To be resilient like the tulsi, with roots deep enough to survive life’s occasional droughts and storms. As we welcome a new year, let’s embrace the spirit of this Tulsi plant. Let’s grow, thrive, and reach for the skies—not because the world handed us the perfect soil, but because we decided to thrive anyway. And if anyone calls you stubborn, just tell them, ‘I’m not stubborn; I am just deeply rooted like the Tulsi Shefali Vaidya

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