Project Description

Dear Memory,

Remember me? I still look out for you in lanes, some blurred, few hazy as fog. You & your missing pieces of puzzle. Let me cut to the chase.

Remember the Dhopkol, with all its glory? Back in 1937, Rai D.N. Dasgupta as chairman of Rajshahi Municipality (with help from the Rajshahi Association intended to provide water fountains installed at street corners as part of Water Works project lead by patronage from Maharani Hemanta Kumari. Later it was named after her, eventually as Dhopkol in short.

It soon became a symbol of communion where people engaged as community while collecting water for daily use. We still find them today, at random places in the city- some as ornaments, few barely working, as reminiscence of the past.

What if we retrofit the concept with newfound purpose. Maybe with new sources at usual urban nodes serving people, even stray animals too. What if a Dhopkol with subtle modification with shed from green to calm down & makeshift seating provision to relax can bring a community back together in this era of isolation & conflict. Sharing the burden definitely heals the scars.

Why not Dhopkol to exist as if a piece of you, peace of our mind is rejuvenated- healing ourselves with water, green & nostalgia. Besides what is healing if not it can restore our identity, sanity among chaos, revive the will to move forward & you- memories.

Sincerely yours,

The poetry of Water, Green & Nostalgia