An eight-year-old boy who had emptied his piggy bank to help a community kitchen feed the poor during the lockdown has got as a gift what he was saving for: all Harry Potter books.

The Telegraph had on May 18 reported Mriganka Das’s gesture. A reader of The Telegraph from Dubai reached out to the family, residents of Habra in North 24-Parganas, and had the complete set delivered on Wednesday.

“An aunty from Dubai has gifted me the books. I love them. I’m very happy,” Mriganka said on Friday. He has started reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Navanita Varadpande, a former student at Pratt Memorial School who had moved to Dubai in 2007, bought Mriganka the books after she was “moved to tears” by the boy’s act of kindness.

“As I read the report (Food for needy over Harry Potter books), I was moved to tears. The empathy shown by a small boy towards humanity is what touched me! As if on a reflex, I just knew that I had to send him the full set of Harry Potter books. And of course there is the saying ‘one good deed begets another’,” Navanita said.

“His piggy bank had Rs 500, but his contribution was invaluable and has struck chord with many. He has inspired us all amid the crisis,” said Anindita Dutta, who is spearheading the community kitchen initiative in Habra, to which Mriganka donated his savings.