In January 1965, Khagendra Limbu was recruited by the British Army and sent from has native Nepal to fight in the Malaysian conflict aged only 17.
59 years on he prefers a quieter life – with a gardening trowel in his hand.
The 76-year-old and former Gurkha warrior – known simply as Mr Limbu to neighbours – now spends his time sprucing up Cornhill Gardens.
He works his way around his shared flat block each day, planting rhubarb, mint and various other colourful flowers for summer.
And thanks to he and his wife’s hard work, the Cornhill estate has been in bloom ever since.
Cornhill Gardens transformed by retired gardener
When he first moved in five years ago, Mr Limbu thought it strange that a place called “Cornhill Gardens” lacked any flowers.
He started changing that straight away.
He said: “When I came first came here and we were given this flat, me and my wife were walking around and we seen a sign which said ‘Cornhill Gardens’.
“With me being an old man, an ex-Gurkha, to us a garden means that there must be flowers.
“So, I just thought that I wanted to start gardening.
“At first I was afraid of the neighbours, they might think ‘why is that old man down there gardening?’ Nobody else does the gardening around here.
“I started from the front row, and did it little by little.
“Within this community, people often have no time in-between going to work and resting. I understand.
“But the old Gurkha man from Nepal has no work to do, so I started the gardening.”
Nepalese Gurkha’s journey to Aberdeen
Proudly displayed in Mr Limbu’s living room is a collection of medals accumulated during his 36-year service to the British Army.
Just adjacent, are his collection of antique kukri knives – the curved-blade weapon of the fearsome Nepalese Gurkhas.
Gurkhas, Nepalese soldiers, were recruited by the East India company after they failed to conquer the northern territory in 1815, at the height of the British Empire.
150 years later, Mr Limbu was trained by the Gurkhas to fight in Malaysia.
After six months of training he was handed a gun and sent to the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, and earned a medal for his time there.
He would go on to serve for more than three decades before heading back to Nepal to retire.
He was eventually promoted to work as a recruiter for the Gurkha Brigade, and also worked for their social services division afterwards.
However, after a devastating earthquake which razed the country in 2015, his family – already living in the Granite City – convinced him to move in alongside them.
Mr Limbu continued: “At first I didn’t feel like living here because of the lifestyle – it was so different.
“After the first two months I went back to Nepal, but my wife wanted me to live here because of the lack of pollution, clean water and also the nicer weather.
“So 2020, I came back here and started to live here – and here I am today.”
Neighbours praise Mr Limbu’s gardening efforts
Ashleigh Campbell, a 32-year-old dental nurse, also lives in Cornhill Gardens and can’t hide her gratitude for the tireless work gone into the street.
“The way that the grass is cut around here doesn’t always look the best. It can be quite long and shaggy,” she explained.
“He tries to make it look nice for the people here and those walking past.
“When the flowers are all in full bloom with all the different colours, it makes it quite bright and makes it that much nicer to come in and out of the street.
“It’s just something that he does, he’s never asked for any payment.
“I have a young daughter, so it is nice for her to see the flowers around the area – it’s lovely.”
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