Benevolence extraordinaire

The ordinary act of reaping paddy by a group of women turned out to be an extra-ordinary one as these women, mostly solvent housewives and female college students, are doing the work solely for a benevolent purpose.

The 30 to 35 women were beaming with graceful smile while singing Marma folk song in chorus as they will donate the money gained from selling the paddy for construction of a new building of Keyaka Pru Bihar, a Buddhist temple at their village in Golabari Headman Para under Khagrachhari Sadar upazila.

They remain engaged in reaping paddy for a few hours from noon daily during the ongoing harvesting season.

In the evening, they gather in a tea stall to have homemade snacks together.

"This season we harvested crop from 25 bighas of land and the total amount earned form the work will be given to the temple," said Happy Marma, a college student.

"We are doing the work for the temple for two consecutive years. Last year we bought a refrigerator for the Bouddha Bihar with the amount we got from selling paddy reaped by us," said Reimraso Aung Marma, a housewife.

Their initiative has drawn appreciation from locals.

Everybody should learn from them, said Kalachan Chowdhury, an elderly person of the village.