A passion for colour that has changed lives

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Onam Market (‘Onachantha’) held every year during the festival of Onam by the Prisons Department at Poojapura Central Prison has always been a hit among the city dwellers for the reasonable prices they offer even during the festival season. The crops and vegetables cultivated by the inmates of the prison are the commodities that were sold at the market.This year, however, their menu card has just got bigger and more colourful with the most sought-after commodity of the season - flowers. The flowers that are cultivated by the inmates of the Central Prison  will be on sale at the Onam market.It was about three months ago that gardening was introduced at the Central Prison by the Superintendent, B Pradeep. The move was intended to provide a new job opportunity for the inmates that would also generate some income for the prisons fund.Both the authorities and the inmates worked together to turn every available piece of land into gardens that have started to yield a visual treat. Now they cultivate volumes of flowers of different floral varieties such as marigold, chrysanthemum, jasmine, amaranth and cockscomb.The authorities also chipped in with their bit. Head wardens K C Yogendra Sharma and Shine Babu, who took up the responsibility of supervising the works, and daily wages warden Shajahan, who took the flowers to the vendors at Chalai market for trade."I had aimed at maximum benefit with low investment when I decided to introduce gardening among the prisoners. Now, after about four months, we could already contribute a sum of about Rs 10,000 to the prisons fund from the flower business,’’ says Pradeep.He also said that flowers that they grow were all commonly seen among bushes around us and they just collected and cultivated them in large-scale in the gardens.However, the benefits of gardening proved to be beyond money. The words of the inmates who are involved in gardening are a testimony to this fact."It is such a relief to see some colour inside the prison,’’ says a middle-aged convict, Yohannan, who is undergoing a 30-month imprisonment.He also said that the atmosphere of the entire prison changed after everyone started gardening. Now, the inmates of each block inside the prison have set up a garden in front of their respective blocks and there exists a healthy competition among them to produce maximum results, he said.