Reportage: Archana Masih
Photograph: Jewella C Miranda

At the site where CST stands today stood a hanging ground for offenders.

'It was called the 'Gallow's Tank' … and was filled up in the 1850s and the gruesome spectacle ceased,' write Sharada Dwivedi and Rahul Mehrotra in their book, Fort Walks.

Stevens, they write, was given a Rs 5,000 bonus for his design that he had drawn in hand. The design was exhibited later at the Royal Academy in London.

The architect was assisted by two Indians -- Sitaram Vaidya and M M Janardhan; the models for embellishments were undertaken by students of the JJ School of Art.

Covering an area of 1,500 feet on the main road, the stately station was once the most photographed building in India after the Taj Mahal. Scores of Hindi films used it as a backdrop to show the arrival of their heroes into this magical city of dreams

For the city and its commuters, CST remains a part of their lives. It always will. They converge on its concourse briefly and set off to different worlds of their own.

Only to return again.