My Den / Nirja Shah

Who would imagine the hi-flying publisher of an equally hi-flying magazine like Elle to be kind of woman who'd buy a house on the grounds o...

Who would imagine the hi-flying publisher of an equally hi-flying magazine like Elle to be kind of woman who8217;d buy a house on the grounds of a terrace?

But then, that is what Nirja Shah is all about. And her favourite place in the whole world is nothing more than testimony to her wild, wanton and wonderful personality.

A spacious terrace in an equally spacious top floor house was exactly what she had in mind when she bought her home five years ago. quot;All my friends and relatives thought I was crazy to buy a top floor apartment. But look at the beautiful view. Would you want to trade this for anything in the world?quot; she asks.

No. Perhaps not. The little pagoda standing tall in one corner of the terrace looks down at a variety of fauna that would make the greenest of thumbs envious.

There8217;s everything here from flowers to wild tea and ajwain. A ledge on the walls all around drops creepers down like Rapunzel8217;s locks, dotted with the occasional flower here and there.

And peeking from behind the pagoda are sunsets that can put the most disturbed souls at ease with themselves. But Nirja8217;s strongest link is between herself and her precious plants.

quot;My plants actually have a very definite form of communication with me. Like there was this time when I had a maali who just didn8217;t seem right, but there wasn8217;t anything wrong with him either. So I took him on.

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quot;But my plants started rebelling in the most amazing way. Leaves yellowed, flowers wilted. Eventually, I asked him to leave, and they recovered. Just like that,quot; she says, firm in her belief that this wasn8217;t just a figment of her imagination.

quot;And even otherwise, I8217;ve had some of the most wonderful times of my life right here, on this terra firma. I threw a party for my parents8217; golden anniversary here. Then there was my own 39th birthday I refused to celebrate my 40th and my son Rishab8217;s 13th birthday. The times that have been the best in my life have been right here,8221; she says softly, withdrawing into her own world as she flips through photo albums.

quot;Parties outdoors are really something else. You have the best of both world, quite literally, stars and the moonlight, and good company down here,quot; she says.