Three flower plants he had lovingly planted beside the graves of his grandmother and father were stolen. Instead of anger or revenge, a young man set out to fill his whole village with flowers. To teach the thief a lesson and stop flower plant theft in the area, Howlader Shamim Ahmed of East Shyampur village in Sadar union, Sadarpur upazila, Faridpur, has planted 1,500 flower plants in front of 500 homes.

A few months ago Shamim Howlader planted three flowering plants, a hasnahena, a kamini and a shiuli, beside the graves of his grandmother and father. With regular care they grew, and one of them flowered. But the morning after it bloomed, he went to the graveyard and found all three plants, including the one in flower, had been stolen.

Shamim was hurt, but rather than showing anger towards the thief he saw it differently. In his words, whoever stole the plants must love flowers. From that thought he decided to plant flowers not just in one or two places but across the whole village.

He then hired workers at his own initiative and began planting three plants each, 1,500 in total, in front of 500 homes on both sides of about two kilometres of road in East Shyampur. In front of each home he planted the same three species that had been stolen: hasnahena, kamini and shiuli.

Shamim was seen going from house to house planting all day. He is not stopping at planting but is also asking residents to look after the plants.

Villagers are delighted. They say that when the plants flower in a few months the whole village will be filled with fragrance and will look much more beautiful. Such a positive response to a theft is rarely seen, they said: one person's private loss has produced a lovely initiative for the whole village, which is truly praiseworthy.

Local resident Tanvir Tuhin said many people believe Howlader Shamim Ahmed's unusual initiative, a positive answer to a negative incident, will inspire others.

Howlader Shamim Ahmed said: "I thought whoever stole the plants probably loves flowers, so I didn't try to find him. Instead I arranged for there to be flower plants all over the village. Through this programme my plants may have reached the thief's house too. If he sees it, regrets it and never does such a thing again, that will be the biggest reward."

"My aim is not just to teach the thief a lesson," he added. "I want the village to be full of flowers and fruit. In future I plan to plant flowering and medicinal plants in every village in Sadarpur upazila. This will help keep the environment in balance, increase people's interest in greening and make the villages more beautiful."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.