THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Preetha has no relation with Japan. But if one wants to see ‘Kokedama’-the special Japanese planting style, just visit her house at Panathura in Kallambalam. She is becoming a star amongst homemakers through her ‘Kokedama’, which can be used for decorating interiors.

After marriage, she went abroad to Saudi Arabia with her husband Prathapan. During day she had lots of free time. In order to overcome boredom, she started making different figures from discarded things, through Youtube tutorials. She came across ‘Kokedama’ while browsing on the internet. Mud should be made into small balls and water weed should be fixed on its surface. But for this, soil from Japan is required. So she kept this idea to one corner of her mind and continued her experiments with other things.

Preetha returned to Kerala after giving birth to her son Pranav. ‘Kokedama’ was still in her mind. Her attempts with available local soil failed. So she experimented with cow dung and coir fibre waste. It was successful. She grew ‘Kokedama’ on bottles, coconut shells, pista shells, etc. Preetha who was interested in art and photography, tried her creativity at home. She grew a ‘Kokedama’ garden at her house. “Kokedamas are a rarity in houses”, said Preetha. Preetha is the daughter of Adv. Bhaskaran Unnithan and Vasumathi. She is a graduate in zoology from S.N. College, Varkala. She also has a PG from M.G. University.

Kokedamas have good demand in the market. Price of ‘Kokedama’ product range from Rs. 350 to Rs. 5000.