Dheki becomes obsolete in Naogaon villages

NAOGAON, Sept 8: Dheki, a device made with wood and used for husking paddy, is now rarely found in the villages of the district.
Earlier Dheki was found in every house in rural areas. Villagers used to husk rice from paddy and make rice powder by crushing rice. But, due to the advent of modern machines, the traditional Dheki is now history.
In 90s, many villagers here used to process their entire year's edible rice in Dheki. The husking used to continue the whole night. Besides females, males also used to assist them in running Dheki. After husking rice, the women used to reserve it in earthen drums. People enjoyed healthy life taking the rice husked in Dheki.
Nowadays, mechanical paddy husking mills have been set up in every village. People get rice from these mills easily and within short time. Some days ago, two or three Dhekis were found in villages but now both wet and dry rice are crushed in mechanical machines.
While visiting Islampur Village in the upazila, a Dheki was found on the homestead of one Bokul Hossen. He said many foods can't be made with rice husked by machines. So, he has kept the Dheki for husking rice and making foods with the rice. Some people of the locality husk rice at this Dheki once or twice a year.