Aranmula residents Jasmine and Haneefa were making arrangements for their long-cherished dream of going on haj and were prepared to sell their land to raise funds for the trip when they had second thoughts. Instead, the couple, married for over three decades, decided to donate its 28-cent ancestral land to LIFE Mission, the State government's flagship housing scheme for the landless.

The couple's decision came after it saw the plight of a neighbour-family living on rented premises and found it difficult to cremate the body of a family member who died recently.