A far ay from today's bustle, the Comilla town that Zonayed Mustafa grew up in was calm, clean and leafy. Ponds were translucent, songbirds plentiful. While the artist can't literally re-create yesteryear, he does let boyhood memories guide him as, with his wife Janvi Tonni's help, he designs the latest mural to be painted on a wall at a street side rubbish dump. Of their own accord the couple are reimagining Comilla, bringing striking and vibrant colours to precisely the places where one might least expea to see them.

"Comilla has become so crowded," Zonayed laments. "Many places stink of garbage. It's the exact opposite of how it was. Through our murals I hope to share sweet recolleaions of a past Comilla. I hope to take people closer to nature, to imagine again sunlit fish in sparkling ponds or the aroma of blossoms that once wafted from roadside trees."

Zonayed first shared the idea to use the walls of rubbish collection points as his canvas with an uncle, freedom fighter Nazmul Hasan Pakhi, who last April introduced the artist to Monirul Haque Shakku, the city's mayor.

"The mayor gave verbal permission to proceed with our project and he also covered some of the cost of the paint," Zonayed says.

The couple began by painting walls in Thakurpara before moving on to the Fire Brigade Pond area. With five murals already finished, artistic efforts are currently focused around Nanua Dighirpar.

"It's not easy to complete each mural,"

Zonayed says. "We have to stand and work beside putrid garbage. We do wear masks but they can't hide the entire stench. Often we work at night and sometimes it takes us the whole night to complete one. But when we see the finished result, we forget all discomfort."

Zonayed, who also directs television commercials, has a fine arts background from Dhaka University. But to name the

ultimate inspiration for his artistic pursuits he goes back further still. "It was my mother Hasina Chowdhury who encouraged me to learn to paint and to play the guitar," he says.

Tonni meanwhile is a business administration graduate who has gained an appreciation for art from her husband. "I've found that really enjoy painting," she says.

"I am proud to be an artist," Zonayed

says, "I dream that this project can be replicated right across the country. But paint is expensive; to complete a single mural including paying for wall-cleaning labour and paint costs at least Tk 10,000. It's not easy for us to bear such expense. We do it because we hope to encourage a renewal of art and culture in Comilla. We do it, quite simply, as an expression of patriotic love."