The Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Last Cry of a Legend
29 May 2009
33, Paridas Road, Dhaka, Bangladesh

When my school friend Riel called me and proposed a photowalk, I couldn’t resist. It seemed too good an offer. Riel had access to this building through one of his friends, which gave us such a unique opportunity. All credit goes to Riel for arranging such a wonderful venture.

The building located at 33 Paridas Road in the old parts of Dhaka was over a century old. According to the dwellers, who happen to be relatives of the current owners of the house, the building was around 170 years old. A building of this age isn’t that common in a tropical area like Bangladesh, where stones are not available for building construction. The building was constructed by an individual named Peari Das, who happened to be an important government official working at the municipality. He constructed a narrow road up to his house, and according to the then municipality rules, the short road was named after the constructor. There are many other roads in Old Dhaka with similar history. People who constructed buildings like these were wealthy people, holding important places in the society. Peari Das was no exception. The residents couldn’t mention the exact dates of construction. The building also doesn’t have an inscription.

How did this building become so important to us? When Riel told me that the building was about to be demolished within a short time, I could realize the importance of it. We had to listed to the last cries of this legend. We organized the photowalk using “Through the Lens: Bangladesh” (TTL) group of Flickr. Shawon Da came from Sylhet along with a friend of his. Fakrul Bhai didn’t have to come from Sylhet, as he was already in Dhaka. Our TTL buddy Rezwan joined in, so did Saadi, a childhood friend of mine. Thanks goes to all of them to make this venture a successful one.

We rendezvoused at Gulistan Circle by around 6:30AM and took rickshaw from there to reach Paridas Road. By around 7:05AM, we were there outside the building and we didn’t waste any time there watching. We straightaway unleashed our cameras and began to shoot. Riel had arranged permission beforehand and had some tough time convincing the owners that this venture was not going to harm them in any way. Anyway, we were really lucky to get the go-ahead from the owners. The owners don’t live there.

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Its not a child's play anymore..........

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

The fate is locked..........

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

The western face...........

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Windows.........

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Old, but stylish.......


The building was a west-faced one. The morning sun was behind the building. The front face was thus a bit gloomy. The front of the building showed off the grand pillars that resembled the days of the Zamindars. The two stories visible at the front had big balconies decorated with pillars. There were some trees surrounding the house, making it very difficult for us to get a clear shot of the whole building.

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Morning shines..........01

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Morning shines..........02

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Morning shines..........03


We spent some time shooting at the front, and then moved to the middle of the building after getting permission from the dwellers. The house had a wonderful courtyard in the middle. Morning light was peeping in to hit the western part of the courtyard. The western part was three stories high. That’s the part of the building where Peari Das lived hundred years ago. Some other members of his family lived in the eastern part. There were two kitchens for two types of food habits. One was for the vegetarians and the other one for non-vegetarians. This was related to Hindu culture of those days.

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Top view.........

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Morning shines..........04

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

In.........

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Out.........


We moved to the first floor quickly. This part was not in use for years. We had to maintain caution while moving around the floor. The first floor wasn’t as big as the ground floor. There were some open balconies there along with some rooms. We didn’t go into each room, but would’ve well appreciated that. We got some great view of the ground floor from above.

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Closed.........

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Of pillars and frames........

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Of pillars and designs.......

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Point of contact.........

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Metal designs........01

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Stairs and corridors...........

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Metal designs........02

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Metal designs........03

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Metal designs........04

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Metal designs........05

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Stairs.........


Anyway, we moved around until we ended up on the western face of the house on the first floor. The grand pillars stood there like guardians. The floor wasn’t that strong in some parts of that big balcony, especially towards the stairs that led to the second floor. Riel repeatedly warned me not to spend time near those stairs. The stairs didn’t have any support below. The walls were also not giving full support. Some parts were being penetrated by overgrowth.

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

An untimely death..........

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Spotlight on silence........

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Memories.........01

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Memories.........02

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Light still comes in.......01


We moved to the second floor and got stunned. This was the floor that contained most amount of mystery. The floor was in complete ruins. One room was full of destroyed books, newspapers, furniture, and what not. We even discovered some old family pictures in the ruins. The second room was virtually empty, which led us to the big roof. We could now get an idea where the building stood. There were high-rises going up everywhere. No wonder that the owners took the opportunity to hand over the building to developers. There was already a signboard outside the building, showing off the particulars of the developers. The building was counting days.

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

Light still comes in.......02

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

The last cry.......


We could feel the heat in the open roof, even though it was hardly 8:15 in the morning. We spend some more time on the second floor, getting to feel the environ and also to find some more ideas. We came down to the ground floor, but couldn’t leave. Our host was just too generous to entertain us with a bit of breakfast. We finally left the building by around 9:00AM.

We walked and tried to utilize the tour even more. We visited the legendary Beauty Boarding and was impressed by the old building beside it, which had an arch constructed under it, letting vehicles to travel under the building. The building was being used by the police. Anyway, we didn’t really spend much time over there. Shawon Da and Fakrul Bhai left the scene and they had some other engagement. The four of us hard breakfast at a local restaurant. After the meal, we found the weather a bit too harsh to continue the photowalk without any problem. It was hot and it was humid. We decided to call it a day. The adda was great, mind you.

To summarize the tour, we had a great experience there among those old bricks. The designs, the textures, the feel of those damped-out walls would be in our mind for some time. It was actually hard to swallow that something as valuable was not in the protected list. We had to accept the inevitable with a heavy heart. I told Riel to keep an eye on the demolishing date. That might be a melancholy experience.