Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SP)
Pics: Janet Barboza
Udupi, Sep 5: A farmer from Mudarangady near Padubidri has been silently engaged in the service of Mother Mary since long. He also stands out as a symbol of religious harmony, as the ears of paddy corn grown by him are offered by both Christian and Hindu believers to their deities.
The Christian brethren welcome the arrival of new harvest by offering freshly harvested paddy stalks to Monthi before taking them home and using the peeled corns of rice in cooking. Hindus too offer newly harvested paddy crop to the God likewise as a thankful gesture and tying the corns to some strategic points in and outside the house for prosperity.
Paul D'Souza, a resident of Kunjigudde in Mudarangady, has been growing paddy crop specifically in a piece of land for the specific purpose of helping the people to celebrate their respective festivals. The bunches of paddy stalks grown by him have been making foreign trips every year since the last nearly three decades.
Out of four acres of paddy crop Paul grows, he has set aside half an acre exclusively for the above festivals, without seeking anything in return. To ensure that the ears of corn are ready by the time festival arrives, Paul sows paddy seeds sufficiently in advance by second week of April and completes planting of seedlings by third week of May. These seedlings grow into healthy stalks by the time Monthi fest arrives. Paul says he is helped in this task by wife, Flavia, and and son, Pradeep, who is undertaking research for earning PhD degree.
The paddy stalks from Paul's field are sent to various cities in India including New Delhi, and foreign countries like Dubai, Kuwait, Bahrain, USA, England, Israel, and several other countries. He also provides lush green paddy stalks he grows to several temples and Daivasthanas in coastal Karnataka for their festival of new harvest. Anyone who needs paddy stalks for festivals is free to walk into his paddy field earmarked for the purpose and collect the stalks grown by him without any need to obtain his permission or making payment. Although thousands of people have benefitted by the generous gesture of Paul, he has never sought publicity, and his identity came into the fore in the recent past through certain articles.
Paul however, prefers to remain humble and down to earth. He says he has been doing this service as per the inspiration he got from Mother Mary. He confesses that a sense of contentment he gets out of this service is more than enough to compensate for the hard work he puts into growing paddy crop.