THE LONELY DRINKING WATER FOUNTAIN - Kusumbala’s fountain

In Bombay about a 100 years back, there lived a man called Lowji Megji a cotton merchant who ran a very successful business exporting cotton. He lived with his wife, mother, 5 sons, 1 daughter & 4 servants in a large mansion in Bombay.

Lowji Megji loved all his children but he loved his daughter Kusumbala just a little bit more. Nobody minded this as everyone who knew Kusumbala also loved her just a little bit more. She was a kind hearted, happy & cheerful soul, who always spread joy wherever she went. She loved going with her father to his cotton godown & giving drinking water to the workers who loaded & unloaded the cotton bales. The workers too loved her a lot & would wait for her visits to the godown eagerly.

Unfortunately, such visits were rare as Kusumbala was a sickly child & prone to frequent bouts of some illness or the other. In her 13th year, her frail body could not withstand yet another bout of illness & she finally succumbed. The family was disconsolate & Lowji Megji devastated. He lost all interest in his business & if it hadn’t been for his faithful employees, he would have been ruined

One hot summer’s day, a few months after the death of Kusumbala, Lowji Megji was half-heartedly supervising the unloading of cotton bales at his godown. As he was walking around the godown, he overheard a worker telling another, “If Kusum baby were here today, she would be running around now giving us water.”

At any other time, this remark would further grieved Lowji Megji. But this time, it triggered an idea—why not build a public drinking water fountain in the memory of Kusumbala? It would be a fitting tribute to his beloved daughter. Once this idea crystallised in his mind, Lowji Megji was like a man possessed & within a year the drinking water fountain was built on public land near his godown at Reay Road & inaugurated amidst great fanfare.

It was a much appreciated gesture by all those who used the drinking water fountain every day, the cotton loaders & unloaders, the bullock cart drivers who transported the cotton to the docks for export, visiting traders. For the workers, it was as if Kusumbala herself was there to give them water.

The years passed. Lowji Megji died, his business disintegrated, India gained Independence & the ownership of the godown changed. Lowji Megji’s cotton godown & other neighbouring sheds were acquired by the Food Corporation of India for their laboratories & offices.

The water fountain did not remain unaffected by these changes. Slowly, it fell into disrepair, first the brass taps were stolen, next the buffalo-headed water spouts were vandalised & as the water fountain stopped functioning, weeds took over. Soon, the water fountain became a place to discard broken & empty alcohol bottles, used condoms, plastic bags, cigarette & beedi ends, gutkha & supari packets, etc. Nearly a 100 years on, this is the state of Kusumbala’s fountain today.

So where is Kusumbala’s fountain? If you are travelling on the Harbour Line towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), look out left after you leave Cotton Green station. As the train comes down the gentle incline from Cotton Green and starts slowing down for the Reay Road station halt, you will see this beautiful structure on the left.

Credit - Sudhir Singh Bawa on FB