Housewife makes magic mats

Villagers at Kechhuadubi in Magura Sadar upazila collecting meley plants (left) and a housewife making a mat on a locally made tool.. PHOTO: STAR

Every year thousands of mats made from meley (a cane-like plant) plant find their way to adjoining districts of Jhenidah, Kushtia, Razbari, Faridpur and even to Dhaka, the villagers benefiting from the innovation told this correspondent during a recent visit to the village.

A few years back, landless poor villagers of this village used to face extreme poverty. Their bad days are over now, thanks to the efforts made by Kajal Rekha.

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Eighty families out of the total 150 are now well off from 'meley-plant' (a plant that grows in marshy lands) cultivation and by making mats from those. Locally, the mat is called 'pati'.

About 16 years back, Kajal Rekha came to the village as a housewife. She and her her day labourer husband Gour Adhikari had bad days. Their sufferings increased with the birth of a daughter. Her landless husband failed to feed the family of three members.

'My elder daughter had to work as a domestic health at a house in Magura town. But it was hard for a minor girl to work as a house-maid', Kajal told this correspondent.

Fortune smiled on them when Kajal's father suggested her to cultivate meley plant and to make mat with those to earn some money.

Kajal brought some seeds from her father's house and sowed those on the bank of nearby Fatki river about eight years back. When the seeds sprouted, she with the help of her husband planted the seedlings on the same land. They cultivate meley plant in the Bangla month of Agrahayan and harvest those in Falgoon. Meley can be harvested twice after sowing the seeds once, they said.

Mat-making with meley plants is a simple process. Only a locally made tool locally called 'shan-machine' is needed. It costs only Tk 300, Kajal said while making a mat.

A big size mat costs Tk 35 to 40 and it is sold at Tk 85 to 90 while a smaller one costs Tk 20 to 25 and sold at Tk 55 to 60.

Every Saturday, Kajal supplies mats to wholesalers who come to their house from Jhenidah, Kushtia, Rajbair, Faridpur and Dhaka.

'Now on an average I earn at least Tk. 6,000 per month. My two daughters go to school”, a smiling Kajal said. They have already built a tin-shed house with the profit.

Kajal's success inspired other families in the village who also started meley cultivation and making mats. Now 80 families are involved in the business. They include Namita, Nirapada, Tapan , Nisikanta, Ashit, Nikhil and Gurudash.

Gurudash, a father of one son and three daughters, said he is well off by following Kajal's advice. He has been involved in the work for about three years. His earnings now reach up to Tk 5,000 a month.