Neyveli-resident and engineering professor Thayumanavan Kunapalan’s Facebook cover photo is a painting of a farmer ploughing the land with two bullocks. His social media bio reads, “passionate urban gardener”. And he is rightly so.
Thayumanavan grew up in Karaikal, Pondicherry. His father Kunapalan maintained a beautiful garden with flowering plants, vegetables and medicinal herbs. As a child, Thayumanavan assisted him in these activities and slowly developed an interest in the field.
He grew up to become an electrical engineering professor currently teaching at the University College of Engineering, Panruti. Till 2015, he was not able to pursue his passion for gardening due to space constraints in the rented apartment. But after shifting to his own house in Neyveli, Thayumanavan is growing everything under the sun.
“I have a 1300 square feet terrace and 5.5 cents of land behind my house, both of which are completely utilised for farming. Almost all vegetables…